him to reconsider. Thought about telling him there was no point in him risking his life just for her. She wasn’t worth the trouble, when he had his own safety to think of. But when she looked into his eyes, she wavered. The hard stare that dared her to contradict him silenced her. There was no talking him out of anything. Least of all this.
He’d kill for her. Jane knew that without having to ask.
With her hand still in his, they walked to the others to talk over their next plan of action. They soon settled on getting something to eat and then barricading themselves in one of the enormous bedrooms on one of the upper floors. There was a bathroom and a kitchenette close by, so the room seemed well chosen.
Ordinarily she would have found the room cozy, but terror pervaded everything. Jane was too exhausted to point out her fear. That in trying to keep the danger out, they might have been unwittingly locking themselves in with the killer. For all she knew, the manservant was just waiting to turn his rifle on them all and finish them off.
She shivered as she headed over to a mattress to claim it.
Though the storm was still raging outside, the groundskeeper made yet another phone call to the authorities to inform them about Berta’s disappearance. Once again the police promised to get to Wintergarten as quickly as possible, but they were having a hard time getting through so many feet of snow.
There was nothing they could do but try to stay alive and wait out the storm. When night fell, they got onto mattresses and into sleeping bags that Agnes had insisted on laying out for them. Then, with Gabriel taking charge, the men decided to keep watch through the night, with the groundskeeper taking first watch.
It took forever for Jane to sleep. Between the howling wind and her fear that she was trapped in the bedroom with a murderer, sleep didn’t come easily at all. Only Gabriel’s presence, as he got into the sleeping bag beside her, calmed her enough to eventually drift off to sleep.
She woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee.
Gabriel was shaking her shoulder gently, a steaming mug of coffee in his outstretched hand. “Morning. Thought you could use this.”
Jane took the mug gratefully and took a sip that warmed her. “It’s chilly in here.”
“The fire died down, so the groundskeeper is getting it going again,” Gabriel said, gesturing to the fireplace. Everyone else was already awake and seemingly glued to their cell phones for some reason. “Sleep well?”
“Well enough.”
He helped her to her feet and they moved to sit by the fireplace. “Got some good news this morning.”
“You’ve found Berta?”
“No, unfortunately,” he said with a sad shake of his head. “Cell phone service and Wi-Fi are back.”
“So, does that mean the police are on their way?”
“They’re trying to get through the snow now since they’re still unable to fly in this weather,” he replied. “The storm has died down somewhat, so they’re going to attempt to get here.”
“How long will that take?”
“They said between twelve and thirty-six hours,” he said grimly.
“I hope they get here sooner rather than later,” she said.
“Yeah, we all do. Plus, the Wi-Fi is still pretty spotty. Messages and calls seem to be coming in, but it’s been hard to log on to anything.”
“Better than nothing.” She took a sip of her coffee. With the police now trying to get to them, her spirits felt a little lighter. There was light at the end of the tunnel. They just had to outlast the killer long enough for the police to arrive. “Any other updates?”
“The cops contacted Berta’s family.” He sighed. “Naturally, her family is frantic.”
“Oh, shit. Of course they must be worried.” She chewed her lower lip. “With some of the services returning, I don’t know if I even want to tell my mother what’s happening. I don’t want to scare her.”
“I can’t tell my parents,” he said.
“Don’t want to scare them?”
“They’ve already lost one child. My brother,” he said softly. “They won’t survive if something happens to their remaining son.”
“Oh, Gabriel.” Tears stung the back of her eyes. She blinked them away, surprised at how much she felt for him. “I didn’t know.”
He gazed at the fire, his eyes seeming to look beyond the flames. It was as if he was in a completely different place now. Far away from the terror of the castle, drowning in his