Ball & Chain (Cut & Run 8)

“What? Why? What’s going on?” Deuce demanded as he took to his feet.

Ty shook his head. “Don’t panic. Will you just help us gather everyone for me, get everyone together in that big sunroom? I promise I’ll explain.”

“Wait, the sunroom?” Kelly asked. “That doesn’t sound safe at all.”

“You can see through the walls, Doc,” Ty whispered.

“Oh, good point,” Kelly huffed, then patted Ty’s shoulder and jogged away.

Deuce stared at Ty for another moment, then nodded. “Okay.”

Ty left them there without further explanation, running after Kelly to head back to Zane and Nick. Finding the killer amongst them wasn’t the priority right now. Making sure no one else wound up in that freezer, that was Ty’s goal.

They met Nick and Zane emerging from the study, both men looking like they’d discovered something important.

“We need to get everyone together,” Ty called to them.

“We need to get to the freezer,” Zane told Ty as he and Nick brushed past them. Ty and Kelly shared a confused frown, then turned and followed.

They were almost to the kitchen steps when the lights flickered around them and went out.

The entire house was thrown into near darkness. The great hall had no windows, nothing to let light in except for the patio doors at the very far end, which were still covered with the massive tent. The storm was darkening the horizon, and the winter light was waning. Zane couldn’t see a goddamn thing. He turned and reached out, cracking his knuckles against someone’s hard muscles and earning a surprised whoof in return.

“Sorry!” he whispered, grabbing at the man he’d hit.

“You better know it’s me if you’re grabbing me there,” Ty responded wryly.

Zane snorted and pulled him closer, hugging him tight.

“What the shit is this?” Kelly asked.

“Goddamn it!” Nick shouted. Something banged in the darkness as they all remained still to let their eyes adjust. “Unfuck your shit, Scotland!”

“Storm hit the generators?” Ty asked hopefully.

“Or someone hit them,” Zane said softly.

“This place is run off a single power generator?” Kelly asked incredulously.

“It’s run off wind, solar, and hydro power, just like all the other island communities in the Hebrides.”

“How do you know so f**king much about these islands?” Ty shouted at him.

“I watch Discovery Channel when I can’t sleep!” Nick shouted back.

“I . . . I did not know that,” Ty said, sounding both angry and apologetic at the same time.

Zane grunted. “Okay, everyone calm down. The power being out isn’t a big deal. We need to get to the freezer to check that body. We have a theory.”

“And we still need to gather everyone in the sunroom,” Ty added.

“Why?”

“No one’s safe in this house alone. And right now everyone is separate and alone. Hell, it’s the only place with light now. Why are we going to the freezer?”

Nick flicked his phone on, shining the light of the flash on the floor.

“Just . . . you two head for the generators, see what’s going on out there,” Zane said as he trailed after Nick and his light. “We’ll meet you in the sunroom and help gather everyone.”

“Hold on,” Ty hissed, following and grabbing Zane’s elbow. “Are either of you even armed?”

“O’Flaherty has his gun.” Zane squeezed Ty’s arm. “We’ll be fine.”

When Nick disappeared down the steps, the light went with him, and Ty’s face was enveloped by shadow. “Well that’s great, Zane, but Doc and I aren’t armed so I’d rather not go out into the stormy night to check the generators that some psycho with an ax probably just killed, not without at least a sharp stick or something.”

Zane nearly laughed. “We’ll stay together then. Come on.”

The flashlight reflected off the stainless steel of the kitchen, and Nick moved carefully toward the freezer, checking any blind spots and making certain they were alone down there. Kelly pulled the freezer door open, and Nick shined the light inside.

“What the hell are we doing down here, anyway?” Ty asked again.

Zane glanced at his shadowed face. “Nick is itchy.”

“Again?” Kelly asked.

“It’s the walls,” Nick said. He had his knife out, cutting through the thick plastic bag they’d wrapped Nikki Webb’s body in. He and Zane moved closer, handing their phones off to Ty and Kelly.

They examined the girl’s arms and legs, finding several scratches. The skin was reddened and torn in some places, just like Nick’s forearm.

Nick was nodding as he looked her over. “She mentioned being itchy when I interviewed her. I didn’t think anything of it. But whatever’s making me itch, it got to her too. She’s been inside the walls.”

“Wait a minute, so she’s one of our doers?” Ty asked. “Son of a bitch.”

“Looks like,” Zane said. “She could be the woman we saw on the beach. Means her partner killed her. He’s tying up loose ends.”

“Allies being killed means the endgame,” Ty pointed out. “And we don’t even f**king know what game we’re playing yet.”

“Hide and seek?” Kelly suggested.

“Shut up,” Ty huffed.

“Watch it,” Nick growled. He sounded truly angry. He and Ty stared at each other in the light of Kelly’s phone.

Zane could sense something coming to a head. He just hoped it waited until they were off this island.

Kelly subtly moved to stand between them. “We could be after just one person now. That’s good, right?”

“We shouldn’t assume that,” Zane told him. He took his phone back from Ty. “Let’s get back upstairs, check the power, and get some questions answered.”

They vacated the freezer, closing it carefully behind them. Zane took Ty’s arm and held him back as Nick and Kelly went up the stairs. “What’s going on with you two? What set him off?”

“What do you mean?” Ty asked, though he sounded a little too nonchalant to truly be clueless.

“I mean why does O’Flaherty look like he wants to deck you? And why’s it all coming out now?”

Ty shrugged, glancing up the steps. “Stress, I guess.”

“You didn’t say anything to him about him and Kelly, did you?”