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“None of this makesany sense, Han,” he said.
The rain came down hard, a million fingers drumming loudly on the roof, pouring down the windows in sheets. They’d left the hot tub cover open and Hannah watched as it overflowed, pouring onto the deck. A lightning flash, a rumble—maybe further apart a little, less intensely loud. It gave her hope that the storm was passing.
Cricket was tending to Joshua who sat over on the couch. She’d cleaned the cut on his head with paper towels and dish soap, obviously more concerned about him than she was about Liza. Cricket had dug around for a first aid kit but hadn’t found one. Joshua did not look well, wobbly and—scared. Yes, that was it. He looked scared.
Mako did not look well either, pale and sweating.
Bruce’s phone rang and he picked it up, putting it on speaker.
“Hey, it’s Bracken, your host. Everyone okay?”
Bruce gave him the abridged version—one of their party had left in the storm, the lights were out, Josh’s accident and the news that a tree was down, closing them in. He didn’t mention the blood in the bed, the marital strife. He wouldn’t. If Mako was quick to anger, Bruce was slow to react. Measured and calm. Thank God.
Because panic was a winged bird in Hannah’s chest. She should have known not to leave Gigi. She’d had a sense that this was a mistake. As usual, she hadn’t listened to her own instincts. Why did she never learn that lesson? Now what? Liza was missing. Joshua was clearly hurt and they were all trapped.
“There’s a generator up there.” Bracken’s voice sounded tinny and distant, the connection poor. “It should have kicked on when the power went out.”
“Well, it didn’t,” said Mako. “Obviously. I run a business. I can’t be out of contact like this.”
God, he really sounded like an entitled asshole. Hannah didn’t like the way Bruce was looking at Mako, annoyed to the point of being disgusted. She realized that her husband looked at her brother like that a lot. She found—especially right now—that she couldn’t blame him.
“Okay,” said Bracken. “I hear you. You’re stranded without power and that’s upsetting.”
Mako moved closer to the phone, pointing an angry finger at the screen, nostrils flaring.
“Don’tmanageme, dude,” he said, voice sizzling. “What are you going todo about it?”
“He can’t control the weather, Mickey,” said Hannah.
Mako cast her a miserable look, then sank onto the sofa, deflated.
“Look,” said Bracken. His voice had grown harder. “The bad news is that the weather is going to get worse before it gets better. I’ll try to find someone to help me move that tree, but we’ll have to wait for a break in the storm.”
Hannah and Cricket looked at each other.
We’re stuck here, Hannah thought.We’re trapped.Cricket’s eyes went wide as if she was reading Hannah’s thoughts.
Mako spoke up again. “Tell your guys whoever is willing to go out in the stormright nowto move that tree, I’ll give them a thousand dollars.”
“Mako,” said Hannah. How fucked was that?
There was a pause on the phone that expanded. Hannah could hear the other man breathing, but he stayed silent.
Was he not going to help them? Hannah thought about all of the reviews that said he went above and beyond. But they were all on the curated site. There were no reviews on any of the other major booking apps. Were they off the grid, at this stranger’s mercy? Had that been him by the lake? If so, was he on the property somewhere? Her eyes fell on the bone sculpture over the dining room table.Remember that you must die.
“You sound upset. Is this an emergency?” said Bracken. “Is there something else going on?”
What was that supposed to mean? Hannah walked to the sliding glass back door and looked out into the darkness.
“I’m not sure I’d say there was an emergency exactly,” said Bruce, looking at Hannah uncertainly.
Wasthere an emergency? Where was Liza? What was all that blood on the bed? And what about Joshua? She glanced over at him. He had his head back now, an ice pack Cricket had found in the freezer over his head. He’d insisted that he was fine. But how bad was that injury? They were stuck in this isolated house, couldn’t leave if they needed to. What if he actually needed medical attention? What if Lou called with an urgent issue? They wouldn’t be able to get home. Her chest tightened.
Breathe, she told herself. Just breathe. She was about to speak, but then Bruce did.
“But my wife and I have a small child at home, and since things have gone a bit sideways here we’d like to get back sooner rather than later.”
“My wife ismissing,” said Mako. “Is that not an emergency, Bruce?”
