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crossed to the phone, picked up the receiver and raised it to her ear.
    And heard nothing.
    It took a second for the echoing silence to sink in. She waited, still expecting the sound of a dial tone to kick in, to hear something, anything.
    Then reality hit her like a blow to the chest, panic rushing through her veins. “No, no, no...” With growing desperation she pressed on the switch hook several times, hoping the dial tone would finally kick in, praying there was only some kind of delay. She glanced at the base and where the cord disappeared into the wall, confirming everything was connected as it should be.
    The receiver remained utterly, terrifyingly silent.
    Dead.
    When there was no way to deny it any longer, she slowly lowered the receiver and stood there, trying to process the situation. Behind her the windows shook under the force of the howling wind. The sound seemed to echo in the emptiness of the room, until she was surrounded by it on all sides.
    “Nothing?” Tom asked softly.
    He must have stopped in the doorway. His voice sounded very far away, making her feel more isolated. Like she was. Like they all were.
    Meredith shook her head. “There must be a line down somewhere.”
    “Do you have anything else? Maybe a radio of some kind?”
    “No,” she had to admit. “The previous owner was pretty much a recluse, and probably never saw the need of trying to get in touch with the outside world if the phones went out. We talked about getting a satellite phone just in case we ever needed one, but never got around to it. We didn’t have any blizzards like this last winter and never lost phone service. And it’s only October. None of us expected a storm this bad so early....”
    “We barely made it up the mountain to begin with, and that was seven hours ago,” Tom observed. “The storm’s gotten a lot worse since then. I can’t imagine there’s any way we’ll be able to get out.”
    Meredith would have given anything to say he was wrong, but she couldn’t. “No,” she agreed. “We have a plow that can be attached to the front of a truck, but it can’t possibly be safe to use in these whiteout conditions. That’s even if we could get to the garage through the snow. And even though the weather never got this bad last winter, there were still a few times it took us a day to dig out. I have to think it’ll take at least a couple days to dig out from this—and that’s after the storm ends.”
    They fell silent, the implications terrifying—and impossible to ignore.
    “So we’re on our own then,” Tom said gently.
    She nodded shortly, trying to fight the panic rising in her throat. “Yes.” On their own. Trapped. For days.
    With a killer among them.

Chapter Five
    Tom watched the emotions wash over Meredith’s face. Dismay. Fear. Resignation. He’d seen them lurking beneath the surface as she’d dealt with the situation upstairs, but she’d done an admirable job hiding them as much as possible, keeping a cool, calm facade. That was gone now, her feelings bare and plain to see. She looked lost, as though the world had just come crashing down on her and she had no idea what to do next.
    It wouldn’t have been a good look for anybody but somehow seemed especially wrong on this woman’s face. His gut clenched at the sight. He automatically stepped forward and started toward her, the need to do something, say something, to make it better rising from the pit of his stomach.
    Before he could, she abruptly lifted her head and spun away toward the door. “I have to get to Ellen and Rick,” she said, her voice wobbly. “Make sure they...know what’s happening.”
    He had a feeling make sure they’re all right was what she’d started to say. “Okay,” he agreed. “Let’s go.”
    She was already brushing by him as he said it, her strides long and full of purpose. He quickly moved to follow as she pulled the door open and plunged back out into the hallway.
    She headed toward the back of the