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“Something didn’t smell right about his confession,” Gunn said. “Perry didn’t strike me as being capable of murder. But I wasn’t going to share my suspicions with the group because that was all they were—my suspicions.”
“And now, Em’s out there in the dark…” Nate said, his eyebrows lowering. “In a fucking blizzard.”
“I think I might know where she’d go,” Gunn said. Looking at Nate, he said, “I’ll need your GPS.”
“No fucking way. I know this iceberg better than you. I won’t get lost or flip my machine. Tell me where you think she is or come with me.”
Gunn glanced at Maddie. “Before you say a thing—you aren’t coming. We don’t need to risk more than Nate and me to the elements. We’ll bring her back.”
Maddie scowled but gave him a sharp nod. “Take a radio—”
“And a rifle,” Nate finished.
The two men returned to their rooms to dress in their thermals. Then they sped to the mudroom to finish dressing. Both pulled rifles from the locker. Gunn grabbed a charged radio.
Maddie stood next to the door leading outside as first Nate and then Gunn stepped through. Gunn turned in the doorway and gave her a quick, hard kiss before he shut the door behind him.
“Let’s take two snowmobiles,” Nate said, once again leading the way.
“Still got that GPS?”
“In the compartment on my snowmobile.”
“Man, I hate to break it to you, but she took your machine. It was closest to the door.”
They strode through the open garage door and searched until they found another GPS. Then, they dollied the machines out onto the snow and closed the garage behind them.
“So where is she going?” Nate asked.
“Back out to her platform. Back out to where Perry died.”
Nate nodded. “Let’s hope we get there fast. If she’s decided to end herself…”
They started their machines, and Gunn followed Nate into the darkness.
The darknessaround them felt heavy, nearly suffocating. With the only sound being the hum of the engines, Gunn felt as though everything narrowed to the space lit by their headlights. Remembering how the polar bear had surprised them from the side earlier that night, he had to fight the urge not to stare into the darkness. He had to keep his focus on Nate’s machine, or he’d collide when he slowed or lose him if he moved too far ahead, cut off from sight by the snow swirling around them.
If they didn’t find Em where Gunn thought she might have gone, it wouldn’t make sense to look elsewhere. They couldn’t see a wide enough area in front of them. They’d be hunting in endless straight lines, perhaps passing by her within mere feet and never knowing it.
But the GPS devices had their sites programmed. Hopefully, Em had used hers to get to her destination.
Ahead of him, Nate raised his right hand in a closed fist and slowed.
Gunn slowed to a stop behind him.
Both men vaulted off their machines. Gunn came alongside Nate’s, which still had its headlight beaming to cut through the darkness. Dead ahead, he could see a figure sitting in the snow.
Em’s outer cold-weather gear sat in a neatly folded pile beside her as she sat cross-legged next to the spot where Perry had died.
Gunn and Nate arrived by her side. Although sitting, she was unconscious. For a second, Gunn feared she was frozen in place, already dead.
Nate picked her up and turned her to face the light. Her eyes were closed, her skin blue-tinged. He felt for a pulse on the side of her neck.
“Her heart’s still beating,” Nate said loudly, “but it’s slow.”
“We need to get her dressed.”
The men began pulling on her clothing, a difficult task requiring them to remove their own gloves. But at last, they had her dressed and pulled on their gloves over their quickly freezing hands.
