I awkwardly stood, dropped the ore into my pocket, then blew out the candles and opened the blackout shade. Very little light came from outside. Closing my eyes to accustom them to darkness, I opened the door, moved to the window, and peered out. A figure with a flashlight was moving toward the lodge. He carried something under his arm.

I grabbed the binoculars from the table and trained them on the figure. The physical outline of the person was indistinct because of a hat and coat, but the object under his arm wasn’t. He was carrying my prosthesis.

I almost dropped the binoculars.

When he’d disappeared around the back of the lodge, I turned and studied the cabin for signs of a second killer. The lights were off. Taking a breath, I opened the door and softly called Maverick to my side. As quietly as possible, I followed the man.

With Maverick’s help, we stayed fairly close. We reached the corner of the lodge and spotted him walking away, now no longer carrying anything. He had to have stashed the prosthetic leg nearby. Unless he threw it into the woods, the only other place would be the staff quarters.

I waited until I could no longer hear his footsteps. Before I could start toward the staff house, a thin line of fire wrapped around the edge of the wall, moving swiftly. I couldn’t take my eyes off the blaze. It raced to the front of the building, which burst into flame.

*  *  *

A whoomph! and then a crackling sound. Smoke blew into the room.

The building was on fire.

Bram’s gut tightened. He struggled to get to his feet, then pitched forward onto the floor. Already the room was hot and filled with smoke.

The air down low was clearer, though still choking him. Using his body and feet, he started to worm his way toward the door. He was moving toward the fire, but there was no other escape from this room. If there were fire alarms or a sprinkler system, they didn’t seem to be working.

*  *  *

Clearly no one was going to call the fire department or come swooping in to rescue us. The only advantage I could possibly have over this killer was surprise, but with only one leg, I could neither run nor really fight.

I’d never be able to get through the front door or even the front windows of the staff house. If my limb was in that building, I would have to go get it.

Maverick didn’t want to approach the blaze. I urged him around the side and to the rear. Two small windows were on either side of the chimney with a stack of wood under one. I crawled up the wood and did a chin-up on the window ledge to see.

My prosthesis lay in the center of the room.

Movement drew my eyes to a door leading to another room.