Page 66 of One Step Too Far

Neil, Miguel, and Scott exchange glances. “The story just kind of evolved,” Miguel says vaguely.

I roll my eyes at them, protecting one another to the bitter end. “It was Josh, right? He didn’t want others to know he’d punched out his now missing friend. You were all more worried about Tim than Scott. Why, because you guys had beat up Tim?”

“Josh didn’t hit him that hard,” Miguel grumbled. “But... we were just plain scared. Tim had taken off and was now God knows where. Scott had disappeared around the same time as those terrible animal sounds. We needed help. And we thought... we thought if we admitted what we’d done, people would be less likely to want to search.”

“We always step up.” Nemeth frowns at them. “Even when the lost are idiots, we still commit to finding them.”

Martin steps closer to the fire, peering hard at the three men. “You lied about the happy evening.”

As a unit, they nod.

“You lied about why Tim left.”

More nods.

“But he headed back toward the main trail. You’re sure of it?”

A slight hesitation. Miguel nods.

“Did he have his headlamp on? Windbreaker, pack full of gear?”

“Yes, sir.”

Martin swings his gaze to Scott. “You really wandered off in your sleep? You honestly don’t remember anything after that?”

“I truly don’t. I wish I did. You have no idea—”

“Shut up.” Martin raises a hand. “You understand what your lies cost the original search efforts? We thought we were looking for an experienced hiker in a sound frame of mind. Not a half-drunk and injured young man stumbling around in the dark. Every minute matters in a rescue operation and you cost us years.”

Neil, Scott, and Miguel don’t say a word.

“Did you know?” I ask Martin.

“About what?”

“About what really transpired that night?”

“Hell no. If I did, I would’ve taken that into account when planning my own search efforts. And maybe have had success.” He glowers at the former groomsmen again.

Good point. I can’t see Martin sabotaging his own expeditions just to cover up his knowledge of their lie.

“Who have you told?” I address the trio in general. Because someone must know. Hence the food tampering, Neil’s bashed skull. Not to mention the sense of being watched. That we’re here, but we are not alone.

Scott finally raises a hand. “I told Latisha. Everything. Before we got married. I felt I had to.”

“So you’re a better husband than friend,” Martin comments bitterly.

Scott returns the man’s stare. “I wasn’t that bad a friend. I’d never blamed Tim for Latisha. And once we all sobered up, I’m sure we would’ve sorted this out, too. Maybe not Josh and him, but...” Scott shakes his head. “But the rest of us... Tim wasn’t the only one who could be an asshole, not to mention, most of his ‘sins’ happened when we were young and stupid. He’d grown up since then. I liked to think we all had.”

Except Tim hadn’t made it out of the woods and they hadn’t told the truth and now, five years later, they were still living with the guilt.

“How did Latisha take the news?” I ask Scott, very curious about this woman who’d captivated three different friends.

“She understood. She forgave. Some people know how to do that.” Scott’s turn to glare at Martin.

“You two tell anyone?” I look at Miggy and Neil. Both shake their heads. Which leaves us with: “What about Josh?”

“Don’t know,” Miggy provides. “He’s pretty much gone his own way since.”

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