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He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Nicola walked up behind him, her arms crossed over her chest, eyes like deadly lasers. “What do you want?”
Josie looked up and down the path. Taryn was coming out of her cabin, now wearing her hat, scarf, and gloves, a tote bag over her shoulder. Josie said, “I heard you two shouting. I just wanted to make sure you were both safe. Can I come in?”
Brian stepped out of Josie’s way to admit her while Nicola said, “It’s none of your business what we were shouting about.”
With the three of them inside, the space felt claustrophobic but while she was here, she might as well look for any evidence of a hidden camera. She quickly scanned the area behind Nicola for any evidence of one but saw nothing.
Nicola said, “Are you even listening to me?”
Josie gave her best conciliatory smile. She had Nicola as alone as she would ever get her here in this freezing cabin. Josie was still curious about what had made Nicola and Brian believe that Sandrine was a fraud, but she wasn’t going to get any information out of them while Nicola was trying to cut her down with a deadly look. “I just wanted to apologize for before, for forcing the issue about your…sister, and then for being insensitive to you earlier at breakfast. It wasn’t my intention to publicly embarrass you or Brian. Everyone is on edge, myself included. I just wanted to say that whether it happened to your daughter or your sister, it’s a horrific tragedy and I’m very sorry for your loss.”
Josie could sense Brian staring at his wife. Quietly, he said, “Nic.”
Nicola’s expression softened. “Thank you.”
“Yeah,” Brian muttered. “We appreciate that.”
Josie turned toward him, taking the opportunity to do a visual search of that side of the cabin. Nothing that looked like a camera. While they had a few bags tucked away beside the dresser, the place was otherwise empty. “Can I ask you something, Nicola?”
With a sigh, Nicola said, “I guess.”
What Josie really wanted to know was what they had been talking about when she walked up to the cabin. Who was a closed book? What did they want? Nicola had already made it clear that it was none of her business, so she asked, “Why do you think that Sandrine is…what is it that you said at breakfast? ‘Not all she’s cracked up to be’? Did something happen between the two of you or did she do something that made you feel this way?”
In the silence that followed her question, Josie heard the crunch of snow under boots outside. Was Taryn eavesdropping? Or waiting for them to come up? Or had Alice or Sandrine come looking for them?
Nicola folded her arms across her thin chest. “Why do you care?”
Josie tried to think of an answer that might persuade Nicola to confide in her. “Because we all spent a lot of money to be here this week and someone died here. If there’s something you know that the rest of us don’t, I think you should share it.”
From her periphery, she saw Brian’s gloved hand close over his wrist. His coat covered the burn scar but he still rubbed it. Nicola’s teeth worked her bottom lip. She glanced at Brian for a beat and then said, “I don’t know anything that the rest of you don’t. I just think…I think maybe Sandrine is hiding something.”
She was lying. Making it up as she went along. But Josie couldn’t force her to tell the truth. “Hiding something like what?”
Nicola’s gaze drifted toward Brian again, but he had no answer for her. While a silent conversation went on between them, Josie heard more footsteps from outside. She was certain there was more than one person now.
When it became apparent that Nicola wasn’t going to respond, Josie said, “How about this? Did you feel this way about her when you signed up for the retreat?”
“No,” Nicola said instantly.
Brian added, “We wouldn’t have come if we thought she was a fraud.”
Josie shifted her feet again, trying to stimulate the circulation in her frozen legs. “Then something happened to make you feel that way while you were here. What was it?”
More silence. More footsteps from outside. Brian and Nicola were so focused on one another and coming up with an answer for Josie, they didn’t notice. After a moment, Nicola blurted, “Meg.”
Brian said, “What?”
Nicola forged ahead. “Meg. She let Meg come on this retreat when her trauma isn’t even really over.”
Josie kept her tone even and non-accusatory. “Nicola, you lied about your own trauma to get onto this retreat.”
“That’s not the same thing. What happened to me—to my sister—that was ages ago. Meg’s trauma is ongoing. I mean, she was on the run from her stalker! How do you process everything he did when you know you’re not even safe from him?”
Josie said, “I don’t think that’s how it works, Nicola. From everything I’ve been told by psychologists, it’s never too soon to start getting help after you’ve experienced something traumatic.”
“But she put the rest of us in danger!” Nicola said, her voice higher-pitched now. “Meg’s stalker is still out there! He could have followed her here. Sandrine never even took that into account. We’re talking about a guy who was so sick, he took secret photos of Meg and then he kidnapped her and her sister! Her sister died because of him, and Sandrine knew he was still out there somewhere and thought it was a good idea to allow Meg to come anyway. I mean, I know that’s not what happened to her, but there’s no saying it couldn’t have happened.”
Josie flexed her fingers, trying to urge feeling into them again. Her gloves felt like they were made of ice. Whatever warmth they’d provided initially disappeared hours ago. “You’re saying that you think Sandrine is hiding something, or that she is a fraud because she allowed Meg to come here while her stalker is still on the loose?”
