He squeezed, digging his fingers into Theo’s soft skin. It didn’t take long before she was gasping for air. She kicked and bucked, trying to get the man off of her. She swatted at him, using her right hand to land punches, and her left to slap his face.

“Stay awake,” she told herself, holding even tighter to her keys, the metal cutting into the palm of her hand.

She couldn’t get enough air. She gasped like a fish out of water, but he was holding on too tight. She felt panic starting to take over as she began to lose consciousness. She bucked again, this time bringing her leg up. It was almost a spasm, her body’s way of reacting to the panic she felt. Luckily for her, she managed to knee the man hard enough in the groin that he instinctively let go of her throat to clutch at himself.

He rolled off Theo and she writhed on the ground, trying to get a breath of air. She knew she didn’t have any time to waste, and she’d only made him angrier. When he could move again, he’d be sure to finish her off.

Still gasping, Theo struggled to get to her hands and knees. Her eyes were watering and it hurt to swallow. Her head was thumping as she moved forward slowly. She knew the only way to escape him was to get to her office. It wasn’t even three yards away, but it felt like a mile. She pocketed her keys again and continued to crawl. Then she scrambled to her feet and stumbled toward the open door. She heard the man behind her. By the time she’d gotten to her office, he was only a few feet away.

Theo’s eyes scanned the shelves to her left. They were filled with history and law books, some of her favorite fiction titles, a smattering of knick knacks and framed photographs. She briefly caught sight of the Murphys in Disney World, Theo as a six-year-old child with curls gone out of control in the Florida humidity. Cleopatra had her mouth open, and her eyes were wide. She had her arms stretched out like she was performing a cheer, only in Theo’s head, she heard her sister yell, “Get out! Get away!”

On one of the shelves sat the oversized snow globe Glory had mentioned in her email. It was almost ten inches high, and the globe was six inches around. Inside was a miniature version of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. She remembered Glory trying to talk her out of the souvenir but Theo could not be swayed.

Theo wrapped her fingers around the base and swung it around like a left-handed batter standing on home plate. Instead of connecting with a baseball, Theo managed to connect with the left side of the man’s head. She hit him so hard it reverberated down her arm. She lost her grip on the base and the whole thing fell, the globe breaking and water and bits of plastic snow exploding all over the hardwoods.

The man howled in pain, falling sideways against her desk. The blow didn’t knock him out, but it did knock him off balance. Theo took advantage and hopped over the lower part of his body. If she couldn’t lock herself in her office, she’d have to lock him inside of it.

She slipped in the water and careened forward, hitting the doorframe hard with her shoulder. Blinding pain shot through her chest, and she had a hard time getting the keys out of her pocket again. She made it over the threshold, but the man wasn’t far behind. She pulled the door shut as he was trying to keep it open.

“No!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, only the voice that came out of her wounded throat sounded croaky and deep, much more of a whisper than a shout.

Through the foot wide opening between the door and the frame, she saw the man slip in the water. His body went backward, and he let go of the door. Theo had been pulling it so hard that it slammed shut with a loud bang. The noise surprised her, and she fumbled with the keys, trying to find the right one to fit the deadbolt.

“Come on,” she told herself, trying to push a key into the keyhole. Wrong one. “Shit,” she muttered, trying again. She heard noises on the other side of the door, and she pushed another key inside. This time it fit. She engaged the lock and heard the man twisting the knob from inside.

“Goddamn it!” he yelled.

Over the roar of pain that was throbbing in Theo’s head and the cursing that was coming from the other side of the door, Theo could faintly hear the music box of the destroyed snow globe slowly playing the notes of “A Foggy Day (In London Town)”.

“Theodora!”

Theo blinked and turned toward the front of the office. Vivienne was standing outside. She’d pushed the wreath aside and was peering through the glass with her hands on either side of her face.

“Theo!” she yelled again.

Theo walked toward the front door, taking a few seconds to reach down and pick up Ashley’s phone. She glanced at the screen and saw that it was intact. She had to hand it to the guy. He’d been thorough when he planned this whole thing out.

“You fucking asshole,” Theo whisper screamed out of her damaged throat, turning to throw a scathing look at the thick oak that separated her from her attacker.

She walked a few more steps, then pushed her feet into the boots that were still sitting next to the desk. She grabbed her backpack then unlocked the door and let Vivienne inside.

“Oh, dear god,” Vivienne said, reaching up to touch Theo’s bloody chin. “What in the hell is going on over here? Are you okay?”

Theo shook her head. She wasn’t okay. “He’s locked in my office,” she gasped. “He says he’s the one who killed Mina … he got Ashley, too.” She shoved her keys into Vivienne’s hand. “Call Ames. Tell him we need people here, and we need them up at the cabins. I think that’s where he took her. Send an ambulance up there. Please hurry …”

The man was pounding on the door and yelling at the top of his lungs. Theo wasn’t worried that he might get out. The only thing that worried her was what she would find when she got to the cabin.

She heard Vivienne’s voice as she ran down the hall to the kitchen. She already had someone on the phone before Theo had pushed herself through the back door and into the cold, winter night.

16. CABIN NUMBER FOUR

Mina had been found in cabin four, so that’s where Theo headed. There were no lights on this side of the lake, and the back roads were treacherous because of the recent snowfall.

Theo touched the screen on the dash and listened to the phone ring when her call connected.

“Hey, T.J.,” Jordan said.

“Ashley’s in trouble,” Theo told him.

“What? I can barely hear you.”

Theo swallowed and tried again. “Ashley,” she said. “She’s in trouble.”

“What’s wrong with your voice?”

“Jordan, the guy who killed Mina … he showed up at my office tonight …”

“What are you talking about? Are you okay?”

That was the second time she’d been asked that in the last five minutes. “No,” she answered out loud this time. “I’m at the cabin. Viv’s already called Ames, but I need your help. Please come …”

The Jeep rocked and bounced over the snow and Theo gripped the wheel with both hands trying to make a path to the cabin.

“Are you hurt?”

“Yeah, but I’m not worried about me, Jordan. I’ve got to get to Ashley.”

“I’m coming, T.J. I’ll be right there.”

Theo slid to a stop in front of cabin four. She looked up to see a faint light burning through the window. She knew a camper had come to stay in this cabin, but when he’d gotten here, he’d found Mina’s body. There was no longer crime scene tape around the door, and Theo wondered if someone was camping there, or if the light had been left by the man she had trapped in her office.

She reached over and pulled the foot long flashlight Jordan had given her from the glove box. She had a love/hate relationship with this particular flashlight. It had been used to break her left leg a few months ago. When the police had released it and asked her if she wanted it back, she almost declined. Now she was glad that she hadn’t done so.

“Ashley!” She wasn’t sure anyone could hear her in the state her throat was in, but she tried again anyway. “Ashley, are you here?”

Theo tromped through the snow and moved around the cabin. She peered in the window. At first she couldn’t see anything, but in a few seconds her eyes adjusted. She thought she saw a boot. She squinted. She’d seen Ashley’s boots a lot in recent weeks, and she was sure what she was looking at did indeed belong to her secretary.

“Ashley,” she cried, scrambling to the door. When she tried to open it, the door wouldn’t budge. “Damn it,” she huffed, stomping back to the window.

She didn’t think about it before she used the end of the flashlight to break the glass. Shards fell and hit the floor inside the cabin. Theo threw one leg up and over the sill, dropping the flashlight gently inside so it wouldn’t break. She pulled herself through the window, a noise that sounded like an injured animal emanating from her tortured throat when a jagged piece of glass bit into her arm and sliced it open. She dropped down into the tiny, one room cabin. She scrambled to find the flashlight again, cutting herself once more as her fingers grasped the handle.

Her boots crunched on the glass as she moved forward toward the boot. When she got closer, she realized that Ashley’s foot was still inside.

“Oh, no,” she said, moving the light upward. “Oh, my god …”

A small camp lantern engulfed Ashley in a small circle of yellow light. Her jeans and panties had been pulled down to her shins, and both of her legs were twisted. She looked like a rag doll who had been flung across the room, her limbs landing in impossible angles. Her shirt had been torn, and her bra was ripped in half, leaving most of Ashley’s body uncovered. She wore no coat, and her lips were a frightening shade of blue.