The phrase hung in the air, and something cold settled in Nick’s stomach. George was fishing for something.
Nick looked at Kelsey again, noting how she’d gone completely still, like she was trying to disappear into the background.
“What kind of business?” Joe asked innocently.
“Oh, you know.” George waved a hand. “Sometimes people need to meet somewhere private. Discuss things they can’t discuss in town.”
“Sounds mysterious,” Joe said with a nervous laugh.
“Nothing mysterious about it. Just practical.” George’s attention shifted to Kelsey. “I imagine a smart woman like yourself would understand the need for discretion sometimes.”
Kelsey’s head snapped up, and for just a second, Nick saw something like panic in her eyes before she looked away again.
“I should check the windows,” she said, pushing herself away from the wall. “See if the storm’s letting up.”
“I’ll help,” Nick said, following her toward the boarded windows facing the road.
“I can manage,” Kelsey said, but her voice was tight.
Nick positioned himself where he could talk with Kelsey while keeping an eye on George. “Everything okay?”
“Fine.” But her hands were shaking as she peered through the gaps in the boards. “I just want to get out of here.”
“The storm will pass.”
“I know that.” Kelsey’s voice was sharper than he’d ever heard it. “I just...I don’t like being stuck.”
Nick studied her profile, noting the tension in her jaw, the way she kept glancing back at George. “Kelsey, do you know him?”
“What? No, why would I know him?”
But she answered too quickly, and she still wouldn’t meet his eyes as she walked away.
Nick shook his head and moved to check the window he’d done the repair work on earlier. Back near the camp stove, George was asking Brooke about her training schedule. Nick half-listened to the conversation while keeping an eye on Kelsey’s odd behavior. She’d gone back to pacing the room and refusing to look at the others.
“So, you’re training for some sort of marathon that’s one hundred miles?” George was saying.
“That’s the plan.” Brooke’s voice carried that manic edge again. “If I don’t mess it up like last year.”
“What happened last year?”
“I failed. Everyone said I wasn’t tough enough, wasn’t prepared enough.” Brooke’s laugh was bitter. “They were right.”
“I doubt that,” George said smoothly. “Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we plan. But there’s always another chance to get it right.”
Something in his tone made Nick look over. George was watching Brooke with an expression that wasn’t quite sympathy. More like calculation.
“What do you do for work?” Brooke asked suddenly.
“Consulting,” George replied without hesitation. “Business consulting. I help people solve problems.”
“What kind of problems?”
“All kinds. You’d be surprised how many people get themselves into situations they can’t get out of alone.”
The hair on the back of Nick’s neck stood up. The conversation felt loaded with meaning he couldn’t decode, but the undercurrent was there.
Gina moved up beside him, close enough that he could smell her shampoo over the musty air of the old hotel. Her nearness put him at ease more than he wanted to admit. “That wind is really blowing.”
