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Brian was already halfway to the main house. Alice held up her lantern so that Josie could see the look of hesitation on her face. Josie managed a smile for her. “It’s fine,” she said. “Go ahead.”
Josie watched until both Brian and Alice were inside the main house. Then she turned toward Nicola. “Let’s go.”
She expected Nicola to protest again but instead, she tromped up the steps and unlocked the door. Pushing it open, she stood aside, ushering Josie in. Josie held the lantern up, moving it back and forth so she could see each corner of the room. There were a couple of small bags but no Taryn. Nicola stood by the door as Josie made her way into the bathroom. No sign of Taryn there either.
“She’s not here,” Josie said, returning to the main room.
Still in the doorway, lantern at her side now, Nicola was just a shadow. “I told you.”
Josie slowly swung the lantern back and forth again as she walked toward the door. Some object on top of the dresser glimmered in the passing light. Josie stopped and walked over, holding her light closer to the scuffed wooden surface. A gold ring. Nicola’s wedding band.
“Hey,” Josie said, picking it up between her gloved thumb and forefinger. “You left this here.”
Up close, she saw that the ring was pitted and scratched. It looked older than Josie had initially thought. She turned it in the light, noticing that there was an inscription on the inside of the band.Till Death. Love, B.
The words were faint, the “v” and “e” in “Love” faded. Josie saw the curve of the top of the “B” had also dulled. Nicola rushed into the room and snatched the ring out of her hand. “Give me that!”
Josie stepped back from her, almost tripping over the empty bed frame. Her lantern swung wildly as she tried to get her footing. Nicola offered no help, merely clutching the ring in her fist and watching Josie struggle.
Finally, Josie’s free hand found the wall and she righted herself. Nicola held her own lantern near her face so that Josie could see her glare. “Don’t touch my ring.”
A few choice expletives rested on the tip of Josie’s tongue, but she held them back. “I’m not interested in your ring. I’m surprised you left it in here.”
Nicola put her lantern on the dresser, yanked off her left glove and shoved the ring onto her finger. “I didn’t mean to leave it.”
Josie moved into the doorway, keeping her body at an angle as she stepped outside. She no longer trusted Nicola enough to turn her back. The wind whipped around her, cold stinging her exposed face. “Let’s go. I want to search the other buildings.”
THIRTY-FOUR
They met Alice and Brian at the steps to Sandrine’s cabin. Josie and Alice searched inside while Brian and Nicola waited on the path. After that, they searched the rage room, even though Josie had been inside it when Taryn disappeared. Then Josie unlocked the shed where Meg’s body lay and took a look in there.
No Taryn.
Finally, they returned to the main house. While the others warmed up, Josie searched there as well. This time, she entered Cooper’s small sleep area. There was nothing inside but his cot and a small end table with a lamp on top. Josie got down on her hands and knees to look beneath the cot but found nothing.
Taryn wasn’t in any of the buildings.
There were also no footprints leading away from camp.
Once everyone was sufficiently warm, Josie insisted that they go back out and look again, this time circling each structure to see if Taryn was behind or beside one of them. She was not. Finally, with the waning power left on their lanterns, they formed a line and trudged down the path they’d tamped down the day before when they found Meg and brought her back to camp.
Taryn was nowhere to be found and there were no footprints except the ones they’d made themselves.
With each moment that ticked past, the dread in the pit of Josie’s stomach became more and more unsettling.
At the main house, they broke the news to Sandrine and then everyone gathered around the stove again, still in their coats, gloves, and hats. They crowded together, hands extended toward the orange glow behind the glass, stamping their feet to bring the feeling back. While they were gone, Sandrine had loaded the stove with pieces of wood they had scavenged from the rage room. Behind them, she set out plates and silverware on the table. Glasses of water stood by each place setting. A large bowl of pasta sat in the center beside a wilted salad. It seemed so strange to see something so normal in circumstances so bizarre and frightening.
They were stuck on this mountain in almost three feet of snow. One of them had been murdered and now one of them was missing. At least three people on the retreat were imposters of some sort. Josie still couldn’t figure out why.
Why lie? Why go to so much trouble? What did they want? Why was one of them now missing? Had the other two done something to her? Or did they truly know nothing about her disappearance? They’d both willingly searched for Taryn, seeming concerned. How much of it was an act? They’d been putting on an act all week pretending not to know her.
“Come,” called Sandrine. “Sit down and eat.”
Reluctantly, they all peeled off their coats, gloves, hats and scarves and made their way to the table. As usual, Alice sat next to Josie. She stared at Josie with wide, mystified eyes. They silently asked the same question Josie’s brain was trying to work out.
Where the hell was Taryn?
Sandrine sat across from Josie and Alice, beside Nicola and Brian. In the dim light, Josie could see that her eyes were red-rimmed from crying. She motioned toward the bowls. “We only had gluten-free pasta and a cream sauce and that is what’s left of our fresh vegetables. There’s a half-bottle of balsamic vinaigrette as well.”
