“Oh Emily, that’s not true,” Angela rushed to say. “Admittedly, I was shocked that you helped, but you did the right thing. Ben would be proud of you. It takes a really strong and wonderful person to do what you did. You–”
“Who cares about being strong?” Emily spat, all humor vanishing. “Who cares about being wonderful? I’m alone. Will being strong and wonderful bring Ben back?”
“N-no,” Angela admitted shakily. “But–”
“I doubt Ben would’ve wanted you to feel guilty, Emily,” Nina tried tentatively. She had given up trying to get saliva back into her dry mouth. All she could taste and feel was fear; bone crippling fear. “Like Ange said, you did the right thing. Ben would have wanted you to help Hugh–”
“Shut up,” Emily screamed the words out, making both Nina and Angela jump. “Just shut up. You didn’t even know Ben.” Her hard eyes whipped from Nina to Angela. “Neither of you knew him.”
Nina bobbed her head in a nod. “You’re right…I’m sorry, we…we didn’t know him.” Glancing covertly at Angela, they exchanged a look. At Angela’s barely perceptible nod, they each began slowly edging toward Emily—Angela from the left side of the lake, and Nina from the right.
“You’re right, Emily,” Nina repeated, teeth chattering from both the cold and the fear spiraling through her. “We didn’t know Ben, but Jake did, and Jake knows you. He cares about you. He’s going to be devastated when he gets here and sees you like this. He’ll–”
“Don’t be so dense, Nina; Jake’s not coming.”
A ball of lead settled at the base of Nina’s stomach. “What do you mean he’s not coming?” She forced herself to speak calmly, refusing to believe she’d heard Emily correctly. “You said you told him that we were going for a walk. You said he’d be joining us out here.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “I lied. I didn’t tell him anything. He’s sound asleep.”
Angela’s hand flew to her throat. “Oh, my God,” she moaned.
Too stunned to speak, Nina stared at Emily; she was unsure which emotion was uppermost—terror or disbelief.
“Goodness; for lawyers you’re so gullible. How on earth do you win so many cases? If I’d told Jake that I was coming out here, he would’ve insisted on joining me like an anxious Mother Hen. He would’ve ruined my plans.” She smiled widely, her face a mask of madness. “Couldn’t have that, could I?”
Nina felt ill. “You – we …I trusted you.” She fought to get the words past lips not just stiff with cold, but of terror. “I believed you when you said you’d let at least Jake know what we were doing.” She could barely speak past the rapid beating of her heart. “W - what have you been planning, Emily?”
“This.” With a triumphant smile, Emily walked out onto the frozen lake with the cricket bat clutched firmly in both hands.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jake roused from sleep with a strange feeling at the pit of his stomach. Rubbing a hand over his beard stubble pricked his hands. He hadn’t shaved in two days because he didn’t have any razors. What pilot packed razors for a short drop-off? But shaving was the last thing on his mind. He’d never liked it much anyway, and now he had the perfect excuse not to bother. He sat up, cracked his knuckles—a nervous habit from childhood—and then rolled his stiff shoulders. He frowned at Emily’s sleeping platform, surprised not to see her slight form atop her sleeping platform. She had to be as tired as he was. Cocking his head, he tried to listen for sounds outside their room. Not a peep from anywhere in the cave.
Uneasy, he left the room and walked down the corridor, poking his head into the other rooms. Neil, Shayna, and Luke slept peacefully, as did Drayton and his brats in their room.
But Nina and Angela’s room was empty, and Emily was nowhere to be seen.
They’d probably all gone outside for more water
, he thought. It wasn’t a bad idea, and going back to his room, he collected his gloves and climbed outside the cave to join them.
Except there was no sign of them.
The hairs on the back of his neck tingled, but he called himself a fool for worrying. They were grown women, for goodness’ sake.
But Emily had gone without telling him, something they were trained not to do when on a job. Granted, this had ceased to be a job some time ago, but the system worked, and they didn’t change a system when it worked.
Water forgotten, he returned to the cave and entered Neil’s room, waking the other man up by nudging Neil’s shoulder.
Neil awoke quickly, eyes fluttering up at Jake. “What?”
“Seen the women?”
Neil blinked twice. “What? The women?” His gaze immediately cut across to Shayna who slept peacefully with Luke.
“The other two – Angela and Nina aren’t in their room – Em isn’t in ours, either.” The last thing Jake wanted was to cause worry, but he couldn’t quell the feeling in his gut that something was wrong.
Neil slowly sat up, eyes narrowing. “You’ve checked outside?”
“Not there.”
Neil was awake now. “Well, where could they be for heaven’s sake? It’s not like Ange and Neen to go anywhere, especially in these circumstances, without letting me know. Are you sure Emily didn’t say anything to you?”
“Not a word.” He would have been less worried, if Neil didn’t look so anxious now. As it was, the man was up and tugging on his boots and gloves.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, clearly we have to find them.” Neil’s words were short with tiredness and impatience. “Most likely they’ve gone for a walk, but I can’t believe none of them said anything, especially Neen. That’s not like her at all. She’d leave a note at least. What was she thinking?”
“Maybe we’re overacting.” But Jake didn’t believe his own words.
“We can’t afford
not
to
overreact,” Neil snapped. “We’ve already had too much go against us. What if another avalanche hits while they’re out there?”
Jake swore. Neil was right.
“What’s going on?”
They both turned to see Justin in the doorway. He wore a white long-sleeved fleece top and black jogging bottoms. Battered Adidas trainers encased his feet.
“You Draytons have a nasty habit of sneaking up on people, don’t you?” Jake said in exasperation. “I thought you were all sleeping.”
“This Drayton is obviously awake. What’s going on?”
“The women have gone,” he explained with reluctance.
“It’s probably nothing,” Neil added, “but Jake and I are going to go look for them.”
Justin yawned loudly, unmindful of Shayna and Luke still sleeping. “They’re probably outside chatting. What do you think has happened? The Bogey man came and carried them off?”
Jake’s mouth tightened. “If you can’t add any value–”
“Neil?” Shayna’s sleep-clogged voice broke in. Pushing her heavy curtain of hair away from her eyes, she peered at him in the dark. Luke remained sleeping, securely snuggled in the curve of his mother’s stomach. Shayna looked from Neil to Jake to Justin, and then back at Neil. “What’s going on?”
“We’re just going out to get Ange, Neen, and Emily,” Neil told her softly. “It’s best we go together. Go back to sleep. We won’t be long.”
Justin muttered something and left.
“Get them?” Shayna frowned. “Why? Where have they gone?”
“We’re not sure, but I’m sure it’s not far.” Neil continued to look for something in the room. “Jeez, where are my gloves?”
Jake had to smile. “You’re wearing them.”
Neil stopped and rolled his eyes. “Thanks. This is what happens when I’m on edge.” He focused on Shayna again. “They likely went for the same walk we took yesterday. Jake and I won’t be long.”
Jake looked from husband to wife and made a rapid decision. It irked but he knew it was the right one. “Stay with your wife and kid, Neil. I’ll ask Justin to come with me.”
Neil and Shayna looked at him in shock. “You two can’t stand each other,” Neil reminded him.
“I’ll ignore him. It won’t be hard. I’ll go ask him.”
Justin spoke from the doorway. “Ask who what?”
Jake swore. “I thought you’d left.”
“Looks like I came back. Ask who what?”
“We need to go find the women.” Jake bit the words out. “You and me. Neil’s going to stay with Shayna and Luke.” He and Justin eyed each other in mutual dislike before Justin glanced at Neil.
“I think you’re both worrying about nothing–”
“Even so,” Neil said patiently. “We all have to look out for each other. We can’t afford to have people wandering off. Anything could happen.”
Justin sighed. “Fine. I’ll go get ready.”
“Make it quick,” Jake ordered. “I’ll wait for you outside in case I spot them, and that way we won’t have to spend a moment longer in each other’s company.”
“Neen, what’s she doing?” Angela breathed in horror.
“I don’t know…” Both she and Ange were rooted to the spot, too stunned to make their legs move forward. “We can talk about this, Emily,” she offered again, hoping her words didn’t sound as desperate to the other woman as they did to her. She wanted to break through the suicidal fever that appeared to have gripped the other woman, but she didn’t know where to start. “Please. There’s-there’s no need for this. We can–”
“You’ve all been lying to yourselves.” Emily moved to the middle of the large lake. Her skin had taken on a bluish tinge.
“You heard what Jake said.” Emily squatted down on the lake, making Nina’s heart leap into her throat and Angela issue a cry of panic. “There’s no way out. Lie to yourselves if you want, but I’m facing reality. We’re all going to die out here so we might as well start the ball rolling.”
With a small tilt of her head to Nina, Angela indicated they should begin moving toward Emily again.
“There’s no food so we’ll all die of starvation,” Emily went on relentlessly, locked into her own conversation. “It’s a horrible way to go, and I’m not going to be part of it.”
Heart hammering, Nina carefully lowered onto her stomach, shuddering as her chin connected with the ice-cold surface of the lake. She didn’t give too much thought to the risk she and Ange were taking; she just went with it, unable to bear the thought of losing someone else. Struggling to draw air into her starved lungs because the cold was stealing her breath, she had to pause and take a moment to breathe. The lake’s slippery surface made movement treacherous, and she was unable to grip anything. Her gloved hands slid on the smooth lake surface with each slide toward Emily.
Then the other woman began hammering at the ice with Ben’s cricket bat.
Nina flinched as a chunk of ice cracked near Emily and the other woman plunged her hand into it.
“Cold,” Emily reported, her tone emotionless. Her hand dripped with blood from the jagged ice edge, but she didn’t appear to notice.
Nina squeezed her eyes shut. “Emily, please…”
Ignoring her plea, Emily began hammering again, attacking the ice like a woman possessed. Which, Nina thought as she slid toward the other woman. Which was what Emily resembled. Emily’s eyes narrowed in concentration as her muscles flexed with each strike of the frozen surface of the lake with Ben’s bat.
Another chunk of ice broke, twice the size of the earlier one, but evidently not large enough for Emily. She wailed in frustration, and swearing, she raised the bat again.
“For goodness’ sake, will you slow down? I’m not good on an empty stomach.”
Ignoring Justin’s testy complaint, Jake gritted his teeth against the pain in his quads and forged ahead. He was furious that the women had left without telling any of them, dragging him out here and forcing him to utilize energy he didn’t have. Right now, fury and resentment were fighting a battle for priority.
What on earth had they been thinking?
“You hear what I said?” Justin demanded from several yards behind him.
Jake threw him a brief glance over his shoulder. “I heard. What makes you think I care? This isn’t about you.”
Air puffs formed as they spoke, the temperature cooler than it had been this afternoon. Keeping his flashlight on, Jake scanned the area as they walked. The sun had almost set so the extra light helped.
Justin struggled to keep up. “I can’t walk that fast in the snow, dammit. Slow down. What’s the hurry?”
Jake kept up the relentless pace despite his own pain. “Neil and I told you what the hurry is.”
“They’re probably fine; you’re acting like an anxious pop.”
Jake’s lips curved up in amusement despite himself. “I’ll wear the label. I can’t handle anyone else being hurt.” He slanted a look back over his shoulder. “Well…some people I can.”
“How did I know that was coming? Look, I resent being blamed for what my little brother has done.”
Jake kept his gaze trained on the beam of the flashlight and didn’t reply.
“Hugh’s not a bad guy, he’s just...” Justin trailed off.
“Spoiled?”
Anger snapped into Justin’s voice. “Nothing about either of us is spoiled.”
Now Jake gave a burst of derision. “Right.”
“He may not have said it, but Hugh will be sorry for what he’s done. Though he acts like the way he does, not taking responsibility for it, he’s regretful.”
“Of course,” Jake drawled, “because he’s all contrition isn’t he?”
“You don’t know us.”
“I don’t want to.” Jake stopped and turned to face the younger man. “But from what I can see, whatever issues Hugh has, which appear to be plenty, they’ve become my problem. I resent that. I resent that very much. A man’s dead. A good friend of mine. Ben was–” Breaking off Jake swallowed, took a deep breath, and forced himself to go on. “I’m not going to get over it in five minutes.”
Justin looked away before looking back at him. “I’m surprised you haven’t killed Hugh already,” he admitted.
“I’ve thought about it, believe me.” Turning, Jake resumed walking. “Haven’t you?”
“Kill Hugh?” Justin drawled with humor. “Hundreds of times. That’s part of having a sibling.”
“I wouldn’t know.” With restless eyes Jake studied the horizon. He hadn’t seen or heard anything that remotely sounded like the women. No sign of life except for the occasion bird that flew overhead. Where in the hell were they?