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The last one read:
You hanging in there?
She tried to call Gretchen, but it dropped after only a couple of rings. Two more attempts also failed.
She glanced out the door to see Sandrine and Alice making their way back to the building. Bringing up the text messages again, she wrote:
Still here. Need to get off this mountain ASAP. Supplies will run out in 24 hours.
She hit send. A moment later, a reply came back, causing her to whoop out loud.
Anything I can do?
Without thinking, Josie tapped back:
Can you or Heatherrun these names for me? I need a better idea of what I’m dealing with in case we don’t get out of here soon. Also the deceased had a stalker/kidnapper. He was out on bail in Texas and fled. Can you check him out, too. See if there is any word?
She gave Gretchen the name of Meg’s stalker and then listed the names of everyone on the retreat, including Cooper, Alice, and even Meg. She gave their approximate ages and where they’d said they were from.
On it
Josie typed back:
Also, is there any way you can get in touch with the caretaker or property owner to find out if he intentionally hid cameras on the property?
Will try
The caretaker had a SAT phone with him when he left on Thursday. Has anyone heard from him or tried to call the phone?
Will look into this, too.
“Taking an unauthorized break, I see,” Alice joked as she came through the door.
Josie held up the phone. “I got in touch with my colleague. They’re doing everything they can to get to us.”
Sandrine came in behind Alice, smiling broadly for the first time in hours. “That’s wonderful news.”
The three of them gathered what little was left in the rage-room area. It wasn’t much. Still, Josie tried to delay their trek back to the main house as long as possible, hoping that Gretchen would get back to her with something. It would take a while for her to run the names Josie had given her but the phone call to the property owner or Cooper should not take very long at all.
Alice picked up a large, splintered board that had once been part of a credenza. She held it in one hand and used her other hand to knead at her lower back. “I hate to sound old, but my back is killing me. All that shoveling was worse than working a twelve in the ER!”
Josie said, “You should take a break. If you want to walk back up to the main house, I can finish up here.”
Alice gave her a meaningful look. “I’m not leaving you alone, Josie.”
“I’ll stay,” Sandrine said. “I don’t think there’s much more here to gather. I can help Josie finish while you rest your back for a bit.”
Alice waited until Josie gave her a subtle nod before picking up the small pile of wooden fragments they’d gathered and heading back to the main house. While Sandrine picked through the room, Josie turned away from her and checked her phone again. No service. She returned to the place she’d been standing earlier and within seconds two bars appeared, but no text notifications popped up. She thought about trying to call Noah but knew the call probably wouldn’t go through and if it did, she didn’t want to talk to him for the first time since their rift in front of Sandrine—or anyone. She pulled up his cell phone number in her contacts to send him a text but stopped. She still didn’t know how to start or what to say. Every time her fingertips neared the tiny keyboard, her mind fixed on the look of disappointment on his face when she told him she couldn’t give him a child.
“Is there an update?” asked Sandrine.
Josie quickly sent the screen back to lock mode and slid her phone into her pocket. “No. Not yet.” She walked over to the door and looked outside. High above them, Nicola and Brian were still shoveling paths to the last of the cabins. Josie was alone with Sandrine, and this was a good opportunity to stall for more time until Gretchen could get back to her with something. Once they returned to the main house, there would be few reasons that Josie could reasonably give to keep coming down here so she could check her messages. She could say she was checking on the progress of rescue efforts, but how many times could she do that before arousing the suspicion of the others? “Sandrine, I had an odd conversation with Brian last night. About you.”
Sandrine sighed. “I’m not even sure I want to know. He will go along with whatever Nicola tells him to do. I don’t know why but she clearly believes I’m a fraud.”
“I’m not sure that’s it,” Josie said. “I don’t think it’s your methods or your education they’re calling into question.”
“What then?”
