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Josie fished in her other pocket for her gloves. “Do you know if Meg is the type to make her bed?”
Sandrine blinked. “Why are you asking me all these questions?”
Josie slid her hands into the gloves. “I’m trying to help you locate Meg.”
“You sound like…like you’re investigating a crime.”
In truth, a bud of anxiety had bloomed in the pit of Josie’s stomach the moment she saw Sandrine’s face. It was far more likely that Meg had tried to leave or taken a walk and gotten lost or stuck in the snow than that a crime had been committed. In fact, the greater concern was the bear that Josie and Cooper had encountered. Josie couldn’t stop thinking about its beady brown eyes and the loud clacking of its massive teeth. Hopefully, Meg hadn’t run afoul of the beast. Josie forced a smile onto her face. “Sorry. Habit. I’m sure Meg is fine but if we want to locate her quickly, we have to eliminate certain things.”
Sandrine swiped at the snow in her hair. “Things like what?”
“Like if she’s not in her cabin, how long has she been gone? If we can ascertain whether or not she slept in her bed, that could help. On the other hand, if Meg is the kind of person who never makes her bed, then it will be impossible to tell.”
“Oh, well, I don’t know if she made it or not.”
“What about her wood-burning stove?” asked Josie, gesturing for Sandrine to move away from the door.
Sandrine shuffled to the side. “The fire was out.”
“Stove still warm?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I didn’t feel it.”
Depending on how many logs Meg typically loaded into the stove at bedtime, this could mean nothing. Or it could mean she’d left her cabin many hours ago. Perhaps she’d never loaded it at all the night before.
Josie opened the door and stepped onto the porch, which was little more than a three foot by three foot wooden slab atop four rickety steps. All of it was covered in snow. Josie estimated about twelve to fourteen inches. Deep footsteps, already being filled with new snow, were visible from below the main house to where Josie now stood. On the deck of the main house, Taryn stood hugging herself and stamping her feet. Nicola stood in the open doorway of her cabin. Brian wasn’t visible.
Josie counted off the cabins in her head. From the bottom of the slope, after the rage room and the main house, first was Sandrine’s, then Nicola and Brian’s; Taryn’s, Meg’s, Josie’s and Alice’s at the top of the hill.
There were no footsteps to or from Alice’s cabin. Josie headed there first with Sandrine in tow. The wind whipped more snow into their faces as they battled the short distance to Alice’s door. She opened it after the first few knocks. “What are you doing he—” The question died on her lips as she looked beyond Josie and Sandrine to the snow coming down. “Shit. This retreat just got a lot longer.”
ELEVEN
They stood in a loose circle in the great room of the main house. Everyone wore their winter coats, hats, gloves and boots except for Brian who had trudged in with nothing on but a T-shirt, basketball shorts, and a pair of sneakers. No socks. Snow melted against his ankles but if it bothered him, he didn’t show it. All eyes were on Sandrine. For the first time that week, the preternatural calm she exuded in every moment was gone. Wringing her hands, she looked toward Josie.
Taryn was on Sandrine’s other side, eyes wide, her teeth working at her bottom lip. When no one spoke, Josie said, “Did anyone see Meg after dinner last night?”
Alice said, “She stayed here for a bit after dinner. Taryn and I did the sound bath in the meditation room, and she joined us.”
“Yes,” Taryn said.
Josie looked to Sandrine who nodded.
Josie had retreated to her cabin after the scene at dinner, her mind still on Noah.
Nicola pushed a hand through her short strawberry-blonde locks and sighed. “What does it matter when anyone saw her?”
“Nic,” Brian whispered.
Nicola glanced at him and then her gaze swept downward. Quietly, she twisted her wedding band around her finger. She fiddled with it so much that the gold’s sheen had dulled.
Josie said, “I’m trying to figure out how long she’s been missing.”
Brian put a hand on Nicola’s shoulder, but she shrugged it off. “Is that important?”
It was an odd question from a mother whose daughter had been abducted and murdered. Then again, Nicola had spent almost no time at all discussing the police response or logistics of what had happened, only how the loss had affected her.
Josie glanced at the wall of windows. It was a white-out as far as the eye could see. Even the naked tree branches were no longer visible in the onslaught of snow. “If she walked off somewhere, it will give us an idea of how far we need to search. If she left at eleven last night, she might have gotten to the bottom of the mountain, but if she walked off early this morning, she might still be nearby.”
