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Sandrine and Alice started to follow her into the woods. As they walked, Josie took off her gloves and got her phone out again. Holding it up in the air, she walked from tree to tree, waiting for it to show any connection to the cellular network. Finally, two bars appeared. Josie waited a moment to see if any notifications would pop up. None did. She punched in 911 and hit call. At first, it didn’t ring. On her third try, the sound of the line ringing on the other end made them all whoop with joy.
Finally came a click and then a tinny voice, “Nine-one-one. Where’s your emergency?”
“We’re at the Sacred New Beginnings Retreat,” Josie began.
“What’s the address, ma’am?”
Sandrine stumbled over and put her face near the receiver, shouting the address. The 911 dispatcher repeated it back and then Sandrine confirmed it.
“What’s your emergency?” asked the operator.
Before Josie could answer, the line went dead.
“What happened?” Alice cried.
“It disconnected,” Josie flexed her fingers, trying to fight the numbing cold. “I’ll try again.”
The call went through once more on her fifth try. Again, they gave their location, this time advising that they were stuck, and a member of their party was deceased but once the word “deceased” was out of Josie’s mouth, the line died again.
They tried again and again until the phone had dropped to forty-nine percent and the three of them were shivering badly. Josie’s legs below the knees felt like they were encased in a block of ice. The wind stung every inch of her exposed skin.
Alice brushed snow from her shoulders and hair. “It’s not going to h-hold. They’ll n-never get to us.”
“They’ll have to send someone,” Josie said. “Even if the call wasn’t completed. They’ve got a location.”
For the second time that day, Sandrine’s teeth chattered. “H-how can you be s-sure?”
“Because that’s how this works,” said Josie.
Alice moved closer to Sandrine and put an arm across her shoulders. “But what if they don’t send someone?”
“They will,” Josie said, but already doubt ate at her insides. She was sure that the county’s emergency services would investigate the multiple partial calls, but would they prioritize them? Cooper had left with a SAT phone and yet, no one had come for them when the snow was still navigable. Josie questioned how quickly authorities would be able to get up the mountain now.
Alice hugged Sandrine close to her side. “You’re sure?”
“Yes,” Josie replied. She looked at her phone again, this time pulling up text messages. Nothing new. She tapped in a message to Gretchen. It had worked before.
Blizzard hit us full force. Trapped with few supplies. One member of retreat is deceased. Looks like a homicide. Tried to call 911. Call keeps dropping.
Sandrine clung to Alice. “We need to t-try again. To be s-sure.”
They did, making asymmetrical patterns in the snow as they moved around the clearing to try to get and maintain a connection. Alice and Sandrine stayed huddled together, trying to warm one another, as they followed Josie around. She tried 911 several more times. But the calls wouldn’t go through, or they would drop so quickly that Josie didn’t have enough time to explain their situation. With the phone down to thirty-two percent, Josie stopped. The screen kept getting wet with snow and her fingers were numb. She checked her text messages again but there was no response from Gretchen. Yet.
Alice dragged Sandrine over to a large sycamore tree and leaned against its trunk. “You are a police officer. Can’t you bypass 911 and just call someone you know?”
Josie was about to point out again that Sullivan County was not her jurisdiction but then she realized it didn’t matter. If she could get hold of any member of her team, they could intervene on her behalf. Fingers trembling, she pulled up her contacts. Noah was on top of it, favorited. She hesitated. Would he pick up if she called?
Of course he will, the voice in the back of her head told her.He was the one who wanted you to talk things over. Gretchen said he was a mess.
“Can you d-do that, Josie?” Sandrine slumped against the tree, sinking into the snow beneath her. Wind shrieked through the branches over their heads. “Call one of your colleagues? Can they help?”
She could just as easily try calling Gretchen, or the Chief. They would help her. She left Alice and Sandrine at the tree and started walking again, circling back to the places where they’d found service. Suddenly, three bars appeared. Before she could think about it, one of her shaking fingers pressed down on Noah’s name. Then came the sound of ringing.
Relief flooded through her.
Then a voice that was not Noah’s answered. “Hello?”
Josie hesitated. She took the phone from her cheek and stared at it. She had dialed Noah’s desk phone at work, not his cell phone. “Wh-who is this?” she said, realizing that her own teeth had started to chatter.
