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Sandrine straightened her spine and scoffed. “You’re really out to get me, aren’t you? That is one of the most absurd things I have ever heard in my life.”
Nicola took a step toward Sandrine, her eyes blazing with anger and hatred. “Is it? Is it so absurd to think that you would kill someone?”
Sandrine did not back away. She thrust her chin forward and gave Nicola a mirthless smile. “I suppose next you’ll tell me that the blizzard is my fault as well.”
In her way, she was trying to bring the temperature down in the room. Before anyone else could speak, a resounding crack came from the wood stove. It had the effect of a gunshot going off in the middle of the room. Everyone jumped. Alice bumped against her chair, sending it toppling.
Josie stood up and righted the chair. “I don’t think it is in any of our best interests to start accusing one another of crimes right now. Yes, Meg was murdered. Perhaps I should have shared that with the group, but I didn’t. Now all of you know. We don’t know what happened to Taryn.”
“Yes, we do!” Alice insisted, her tear-filled eyes turned toward Josie.
Josie gave her the best reassuring look she could muster. “No, Alice. We don’t. All we know is that she walked up to her cabin and did not return. That’s it. Jumping to conclusions, fighting—that’s not going to help any of us. At first light, we can do another search for Taryn. Right now, we just need to focus on staying warm and fed until help arrives.”
“You’re kidding me, right?” said Nicola. “You just expect us all to sit here together and eat dinner like nothing is wrong?”
Alice shuddered. Then she walked toward the front door and took her coat from the rack beside it. “I can’t stay here under these conditions. I know you’re trying to keep us calm, Josie, but this is too much. Someone in this room killed Meg and Taryn. I can’t just eat and sleep and chat with all of you knowing that. What’s to stop the killer from coming after the rest of us? Especially now that he knows we know about him.”
Brian jumped up out of his chair. “Him? Did you just say him? It has to be me, is that what you’re saying? Because I’m the only guy here?”
Sandrine said, “Alice, where will you go? It’s not safe out there alone and you need warmth and food.”
Alice pulled her coat on. “Not as much as I need to stay alive.”
Brian said, “Don’t be ridiculous. If you are afraid of me then I can leave. If that will make everyone feel better, I don’t mind doing it, but I’m not leaving Nic alone with you three.”
“Yeah,” Nicola said, moving closer to Brian. “I don’t want to be alone with you guys. What if—what if the cop did it?”
Josie felt a new pinch in her chest. All eyes went to her. Nicola pointed at her. “She’s kept us away from Meg’s body. She didn’t tell us that Meg was murdered. She went to the rage room alone today. Why would she do that? What does she need to do there? The only thing down there is Meg’s body, and she doesn’t want any of us near it. She’s hiding evidence! Plus, Taryn disappeared while she was there!”
Josie felt her face flush. It was tempting to confront both Nicola and Brian right now, in front of Alice and Sandrine, but without knowing more about why they were there and what they wanted, she wasn’t comfortable doing it. For all she knew, they’d conspired together to kill Taryn. Maybe Taryn had decided not to go along with whatever plan they had in place so they eliminated her. All Josie wanted was to get off this mountain without anyone else being harmed. It was better to simply try to defuse the situation and bide her time. “I never even saw Taryn after I left here. I didn’t do anything to her. I’m not ‘hiding evidence.’ I’m preserving it as best I can until rescue comes. I told you. I went to the rage room to try to contact my colleagues and see how soon they’ll be here.”
Alice’s hand rested on the doorknob. “What did they say?”
“That they’re working on it and to check back later.”
“Later?” Alice said, tears in her eyes. “How are we supposed to do this? How are we all supposed to stay alive up here when one of us is a killer?”
“We split up,” Brian said. “We already have—Nic and I are staying in the game room and you can all stay in the other room.”
“No,” said Sandrine. “The only way to do this is for all of us to stay together. No one does anything or goes anywhere alone. We will all bring our mattresses back in here. We will all sleep together in the same room tonight just like last night.”
“Are you crazy?” Nicola said. “What’s to stop the killer from coming after any one of us in the middle of the night?”
“Numbers,” Sandrine said. “Eyes. Two people stay awake while the others sleep. We can take shifts.”
No one argued. Sandrine turned toward the breakout room. “I’ll stay awake first,” she said over her shoulder.
Josie said, “I can also take the first shift.”
“This is a stupid plan,” Nicola said.
Alice moved away from the door, turning to follow Sandrine into the breakout room. “Do you have a better plan?”
Brian said, “Sandrine is right. Staying together makes the most sense. But since we don’t trust each other, I should take the first shift with one of you.”
Without turning back, Sandrine waved a hand in the air. “Fine. Whatever. Brian and Josie can take the first shift. Hopefully we only have one more night to get through.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
