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“Do you really think they’ll take our opinions into account?” Hanna asked.
“I’d think they’d be about ready to cut their losses,” Nate said. “We’re two down now. We’ll be working our butts off to accomplish everything we’re charged with doing.”
Maddie shrugged. “I guess it depends on how strongly we’d oppose a decision to leave. Every one of us would have to agree to stay. Take tonight to think about what you want to do.”
“Don’t take anyone else into your consideration,” Nate said, looking at Hanna. “Do what’s right for you. There will be no judgment.”
Nate went to a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a small flat box, paintbrushes, and then half-filled a glass of water. When everyone stared, he shrugged. “Choose your own way to meditate on this.”
The room emptied, everyone threading through the doorway, most heading down the hall to their rooms.
Gunn followed Maddie, who headed to Mateo’s office. Once inside, he closed the door behind them and leaned against the wall as she uploaded the data she’d retrieved earlier today.
“You must think I’m some kind of robot,” she said.
“Nope. You’re going through the motions. Anything to keep your mind from dwelling on what happened out there.”
“I can’t imagine the pain Perry suffered…the fear…”
Gunn remained silent.
When she finished her upload and pulled the data card from the computer, she turned in her chair. “Did you find the bear dead?”
Gunn shook his head.
“I understand. Thank you.”
He cleared his throat. “Do you buy it? Perry’s confession.”
“Why would he lie?” Her eyes widened. “You think it was Em.”
“Perry seemed to be…easy-going.”
“He was an environmentalist, through and through,” Maddie said. “And not a blow-up-the-earthmovers kind of tree hugger. But…Em?”
“Something about her never felt quite right to me,” he said. “After Mateo died, she was quick to decide to stay when she’d appeared so devastated at first. It was almost like she was waiting for someone to talk her into staying, but when that didn’t happen, she pivoted on her own.”
Maddie frowned. “Do you think she had the strength to strangle Mateo?”
“If she surprised him somehow, coming up behind him. Think about the amount of clothing he wore. The gloves. Could he get his fingers under whatever she used to strangle him? All she had to do was keep behind him while he tried to get his feet under him…”
“So, it’s entirely possible.”
“And Perry loved her. If he figured it out, he used his last breath to give her an alibi.”
“How do we prove it?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know if we can. Polardyne will be happy to close that chapter. Any evidence, if there was any, will be lost in the snow and the melt-off.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to vote tomorrow. I don’t know if it’s my place. I’m just the babysitter, but I don’t feel comfortable knowing it’s possible she’s behind all of this.”
Gunn sighed. “And how can we tell anyone else when all I have is…suspicion?”
Maddie rubbed a hand over her face. “I’m going to shower, then head to bed.” She glanced up at him. “Join me?”
CHAPTER15
Long after Maddie fell asleep,Gunn lay there holding her while he stared at the dark ceiling. He had some thinking of his own to do.
