Gunpowder and Matches

Juliet knocked on the door of the cabin. Shawn opened it before she could knock twice. "Jules! You made it!"

"Thanks Shawn. Now let me in. It's snowing cats and dogs out here!"

Juliet quickly scrambled into the cabin. "I figured that it must be the right cabin considering that there is food still in the microwave and there is a bullet behind the clock indented into the wall. I assume that it's a sign that something went down here."

"Haha, I think you may be onto something Shawn. Let's take a look around."

Juliet and Shawn began to scan the room for any suspicious signs. Shawn started by inspecting the windows and the furniture. His eyes passed over the rug when he noticed that one of the floorboards was unevenly spaced compared to the others.

He kneeled down and pulled out his pocketknife. He began to carve around the perimeter of the floorboard and then tried to tug on it. Shawn gave the board a hard tug, and the board broke free of the ground.

"Jules, come check this out!" Shawn gestured for her to come over. Shawn peered down the hole in an attempt to see something. "Do you have a flashlight?" asked Shawn.

"Shawn, I don't carry-"

"Never mind," Shawn interrupted, "I have one in my back pocket." Juliet began to laugh as Shawn switched on the flashlight. Shawn spotted a ladder and began to climb down, closely followed by Juliet. When they reached the bottom Shawn let out a typically high-pitched scream.

"What is it Shawn?!"

"Oh…umm…I was expecting to see something creepy and disturbing and…well-I guess not, haha." Juliet laughed and dropped down the rest of the way. Shawn found a light switch and flipped it on. Light consumed the room and Shawn began to look around.

"It's…empty." Juliet said with surprise, "It's completely empty. I can't believe it." Shawn looked about. Hoping to find a trace of something within the nothingness.

"There must be something here, there must be." Shawn insisted. He continued to walk around the room in the hope that he'd discover a huge break through of some sort. After five minutes of looking around the empty room for proof that it wasn't really empty, they were ready to call it quits. Juliet began back up the ladder when Shawn noticed something. The ground was black in some parts and in the others it was grey. It's like there was charcoal or something all over the ground.

"Jules, wait a sec. There's something on the ground." Juliet turned around and walked back towards Shawn. Shawn had his hand on the ground and was attempting to figure out what it was. "Jules, step back." Shawn said as he pulled out a match. He lit the match, threw it on the ground, and stepped back quickly.

The flame jumped up in a small explosion. "Shawn, is that gunpowder?"

"That's what is seems to be. Why he has gunpowder all over the ground, I'm not sure. NRA member?"

"Haha, right. Actually, considering that we're in a hidden compartment underneath the cabin I'd guess they were doing something illegal. Probably an arms dealer." Suggested Juliet. "Also, chances are if this place was cleared out and Derek was attacked, they had to hide the gun racks and accessories somewhere. Wanna check outside?"

"Sure, why not? My guess is they'd most likely be buried in the front. It's probably not buried that deeply in the snow, just to cover it up for long enough for the trail to go cold. No pun intended."

Shawn and Juliet stepped back outside of the cabin and were assaulted by snow. They were also surprised to find that it was almost dark outside already. Shawn and Juliet pulled on their mittens and began digging. Shawn quickly hit something solid in the snow. He pulled it up and found that it was a gun rack.

"Just as we thought. I guess your arms dealer idea might just be right. So, are we gonna ski down Jules?"

"I don' think so Shawn. It's pretty much dark out and it's like a blizzard out here. Also, all the lifts are closed. I guess we'll have to sleep in the cabin tonight."

"Okay, that's fine. It's freezing out here anyways. Let's head back inside."

Lassiter couldn't believe it. After he finished his case the department had booked him a hotel room at Heavenly Mountain. However, some how they had managed to book the wrong hotel. So when he got to the Heavenly Hotel he didn't have a room there, instead he had a room at the Heavenly Motel.

The bed in the room felt like a solid rock and there wasn't even a mini bar. Lassiter lay down in preparation for a long night.

"Want anything to eat Jules?" Shawn asked from next to the refrigerator.

"I'm good Shawn, thanks though."

"There's pineapple! We could make a pineapple drink!" Shawn exclaimed.

"Haha, that's okay Shawn."

"Are you saying no to pineapple?"

"I guess-" Juliet was interrupted by all the lights in the cabin flickering once, and then going out. "Shit."

"Don't worry Jules, we'll live. We've got pineapple!"

"Shawn! It's not about food, we're gonna freeze to death!"

"You're right, and I've heard that the best way to stay warm is to huddle for warmth and take off our clothes."

"Shawn." Juliet reprimanded, "This is serious."

"Fine, do you have a signal right now on your phone?"

"No, don't you? You picked up your phone while here, right?"

"I…well, I forgot to charge my phone. It only had one flickering bar left for battery. For my phone that means it only has like one minute of power left."

"Only one call then I guess." Shawn pulled out his phone and turned it on. "Who are you calling?"

"Lassie, he's on speed dial."

Lassiter woke up to the sound of, "Don't stop believin', hold on to the feelin'." He rolled over and picked up his phone and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Lassie-Face, how are ya?"

"Spencer, why are you calling me?"

"Well, ya see, Jules and I are kind of trapped on the mountain in a cabin. It is located below the Galaxy Woods glade. The power went out and we kind of need help."

"Dammit Spencer, you better not be joking. I'll be there as fast as I can with some help.