Page 29 of The Anniversary Party

“So, we probably can’t count on the cavalry showing up.”

“No, but it’s worth monitoring the channel for the local police to see if I can hear Duncan calling in. Bodhi and I didn’t have a lot of time to listen, but from what we could tell, it’s chaos out there between the icy roads and the whiteout conditions. The governor issued a State of Emergency declaration, so all the roads are closed now. But they’ll be clearing accidents for hours. And thousands of people don’t have power. So they’ll also be responding to calls from folks with medical conditions that require access to electricity.”

Sasha sighed and squared her shoulders. “Come on, Connelly. Let’s get through a few more of these interviews so we can turn our attention to dinner.”

“Who do you want to do next?” Leo asked.

“It sounds like you two might want to talk to Paul,” Hank suggested.

“Better gird your loins,” Leo told Sasha. “Paul’s extremely agitated.”

“Yeah, it’s clear Paul Conklin does not want to be here,” Hank agreed.

“He should join the club,” Sasha grumbled.

“Hey, at least we have power.”

Before Sasha could scold him for jinxing them with the announcement, the office lights flickered, and then the room was plunged into darkness.

“You havegotto be kidding me.”

CHAPTER13

After they rifled through the desk drawers and found several heavy-duty flashlights with batteries, Sasha, Leo, and Hank hurried down the dark hallway toward the parlor. They could hear high-pitched, nervous laughter and the lower, rumbling buzz of voices rising from the room where the others were gathered. The beams from the lights in their hands cast distorted shadows on the walls. Outside, the wind seemed to howl more loudly in the dark.

Leo was in the process of telling himself that it was his imagination when Sasha whispered loudly, “Is it me, or has the wind picked up?”

His wife wasn’t prone to the heebie-jeebies, so he figured the wind had gotten more fierce. But before he could answer, a loud thudding came from the porch. He and Hank pivoted in unison toward the front door. The door flew open, and his ordinarily unflappable wife shrieked and clutched his arm.

“It’s Aroostine and Carl,” Hank said in a calm, soothing voice.

Sasha released Leo’s arm and shook out her hands. “I forgot they were out there,” she said with a shaky laugh. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Leo told her.

She turned toward him. Even in the near-total darkness, he could tell she was glaring at him. “I will apologize because I’m acting like a minor character in a horror movie. Someone who’s going to die before the midpoint.”

He passed his flashlight to Hank and gripped both her elbows. “Don’t even joke about that.”

His voice held far more fire than he’d intended. And that’s when he realized precisely how rattled he was. He released her arms, took a breath, and reclaimed his flashlight from Hank.

“We’re so sorry,” Carl said. “We didn’t mean to startle you.”

“So the lights went out here, too,” Aroostine mused.

Hank swung his flashlight toward the pair, who’d already switched their lights off. “Are they out somewhere else?”

“Everywhere. They cut off in the farm manager’s house and the cottage at the same time.”

“Along with all the exterior lights,” Carl added. “We were plunged into total darkness. But only for a moment. The lights came right back on.” He rubbed his hands together to warm them.

“Well, the backup generator should kick on any minute, right?” Sasha asked.

“It should have started automatically if it’s connected. The others did,” Carl told her. “Where is this generator?”

“I don’t know. But Hatty and John said they have one in case we lost power.”

“Are you sure they didn’t say this one was a portable generator?” Carl probed.

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