If Nigel's instructions had been to prepare Dawn... he had done a pretty poor job of it. The blonde reporter found herself standing on the frigid ice lake located just outside the Winter Cabin. Standing might have been an incorrect description. She was hopping from one foot to the other as she stood there on the ice in her bare feet with nothing more than a flimsy pair of sheer black pantyhose for protection. And no, the reinforced heel and toe did not provide support in this instance, if you must know!
And that's to say nothing of the biting wind that swept across the open region making mockery of the already useless black cocktail dress that hung with the barest of modesty on Dawn's lithe frame. She blurted her frustration into the tape covering her mouth, but nobody seemed to be paying any attention to that. Nigel and Sinclair had marched her from the warmth of the Cabin out across the snow and onto the ice. The very big, dangerous, and ice covered lake.
Did Dawn mention that Nigel had done a piss-poor job of 'preparing' her? Because he did! While these ruffian bastards were sensibly dressed in winter hats and coats, she looked as though she were waiting in line at the bar for a cocktail!
And while the cold was making her toes feel numb, her heart still felt plenty of fear. For the first time in her life, she felt like perhaps she had pushed it too far with her investigations into Sinclair.