The Best Man to Trust - By Kerry Connor Page 0,16

He hadn’t gotten much of an impression of the woman that evening. Truth be told, while they were being served dinner, he’d been too busy watching Meredith to pay much attention to the other woman. She’d simply been a smiling presence working beside Meredith.

She wasn’t smiling now, of course. She looked appropriately shocked and scared. He just didn’t know her well enough to know whether the reaction was genuine.

“Of course,” Ellen said. “Just let me get dressed.”

“Go ahead,” Meredith said. “Let me wake Rick. He needs to know what’s happening, too.”

“What’s going on?”

The voice came out of nowhere. Tom quickly jerked his head to the side to spot the man a few yards away, standing in the open door of another room farther down the hall. It was Rick.

Tom nearly swore. The man had managed to come out into the hall without any of them noticing. Tom was going to have to do a better job staying on guard and aware of his surroundings.

“Rick,” Meredith said. “We were just coming to get you.” She quickly explained the situation as she had to Ellen. “Will you come with us to the main living room?”

“Sure,” he said, without hesitating as Ellen had.

He didn’t seem at all disturbed by the idea that there was a killer in Sutton Hall. Or maybe he figured he could take care of himself. From the look of him, Tom wasn’t sure he could disagree. A big man in his thirties, Rick was tall and clearly muscled even beneath the baggy sweatshirt and shorts he wore. When he’d helped them with the bags, he’d been friendly and all smiles. There was no trace of that now, his expression serious and attentive. Something in his steady, watchful gaze made Tom think of a soldier or a police officer. He wondered again what the man’s background was.

Ellen’s door opened, and the woman stepped out, now wearing a robe over her nightclothes.

“All right,” she said solemnly, looking at the three of them. “I’m ready.”

With a nod, Meredith turned to lead the way. Ellen followed her. Tom motioned for Rick to precede him. From the way the man eyed him, Rick wasn’t sure he wanted to. Maybe he figured it made sense for him to bring up the rear, since he worked here.

After a moment, Rick moved to follow Ellen. The tightness in his chest easing slightly, Tom fell into line behind him, casting one last glance back.

Maybe he was being overly cautious, but Tom wasn’t ready to put his back to the other man. Or to the cook, for that matter.

Meredith might trust them but, for the time being, he couldn’t afford to.

* * *

THE LIVING ROOM doors were shut when they made it back to the front foyer. Tom wasn’t surprised. Given what was happening, he couldn’t blame the others for wanting to feel a little more secure.

Instead of heading toward the living room, Meredith crossed the foyer to the front door. Unlocking it, she pulled it open.

The wind immediately burst in, lashing at them. Standing a few feet behind her, Tom saw his earlier conclusion had been right. In fact, seeing it for himself suddenly made it seem so much worse. The snow came up to the middle of her thighs, and that was just by the door. It seemed to get higher the farther out he looked. The vehicles they’d driven up the mountain had been left in front of the building, but there was no sign of them in the snow. And more flurries continued to flood down from the sky, the air nearly as white as the piles already on the ground.

Meredith pushed the door shut, filling the hall with silence once more.

“Not getting out of here anytime soon,” Rick observed.

“No,” Meredith agreed softly. “Let’s get back to the others.”

She quickly moved to the living room, the rest of them following close behind. Reaching the door, she hesitated briefly, then knocked before opening it. Warning them someone was coming in so they weren’t surprised and scared by someone yanking the door open, Tom figured, impressed by her consideration.

Everyone in the room looked up as they entered. As the last one in, Tom pulled the door shut behind him.

“Did you reach the police?” Rachel asked, a touch of hope in her voice.

Meredith took a breath. “No,” she said calmly. There was no hint on her face or in her voice of the devastation he knew she’d felt after the call. “The phone is out. It looks like