Page 27 of So Dark

“Three nights ago? Yes, Robert and I went out to dinner in Anchorage. I’ll give you the number for the restaurant. They’ll confirm we attended our reservation there. I’m not really a restaurant person, but Robert likes it, so once a month, I let him take me out. That was our night. Was that when the two of them were murdered?”

“That’s when Ethan Holloway was killed. Valerie was killed a week before.”

Her eyes widened. “And I’m just hearing about thisnow?I can’t believe the others haven’t said anything!”

“What others?”

“The rest of the group! That’s why you’re talking to me, right? Because I’m the leader of Nature’s Guardians? Well,wasthe leader of Nature’s Guardians.”

Faith raised her eyebrow. “Nature’s Guardians has disbanded?”

“Yes. We… well,Ididn't really think through how difficult it would be to get a bunch of egotistical people like me to get along. Or a bunch of independent free-livers to work together as a group. I don't know. I guess I just wanted people to talk to.Don't get me wrong, Robert's amazing, and he puts up with all of my crap, as you can tell by our house."

She gestured around, and Faith took in the handmade goods, and most especially the lack of appliances. There was a fireplace and a wood-burning stove, but no electrically powered items of any kind except for the lights.

“But he doesn’t have a passion for this,” Lisa continued. “He’ll go out with me on short camping trips, but… well, I would live forever like this if I could. Off the land, I mean. I wouldn’t even have lights or books or anything that I didn’t make with my own hands.” Her eyes came alive. “I just feel so…real… when I’m out there. God gave us this beautiful world, and we insist on masking it and covering it up and pushing it away. I feel like we’d be so much happier if we just enjoyed the gift God’s given us.”

She sighed. “Anyway, I founded the Guardians because I thought I might meet some people who really understood what living off of the land meant. And I did. It just so happens that most other people who think like I do are extremely introverted. We did a few group activities, but it all just turned into haggling over who knew better about x or who should listen to who about y or some other crap. We had a final meeting two months ago, and I just said frankly, ‘If everyone thinks that they’d have more fun doing this on their own, then let’s say goodbye here and go our separate ways.’ And they said goodbye. Without hesitating.”

“Who’s they?” Faith asked.

“The others in the group.”

“Names?”

“Oh yeah. Um. There was me, Ethan, and Valerie. There was Jake, Kelly and Graham. That was it. Just the six of us.”

“Do you have full names for the last three?”

“Sure. Jake Thornton, Graham Nash and Kelly… Connell? Connelly? Connor! Kelly Connor.” She chuckled. “I had troubleremembering her name for some reason. I dated a Connelly for five years before I met Robert, so I get it confused.”

“How well did the group get along?” Faith asked. “Well, I guess you said not well. Did it ever become serious?”

“The squabbling? No, not serious. There were no fights or anything. People would just talk crap to each other. It was honestly really juvenile. I was kind of embarrassed for them sometimes.”

“Did anyone hold any particular animosity toward Ethan or Valerie?”

“Not that I could see. Valerie was really quiet, probably the quietest of the group. She kind of kept to herself. She’d talk to Ethan sometimes, but even then, not much.”

“Did they have a romantic relationship with each other?”

Lisa seemed to find this utterly hilarious. She threw her head back and laughed uproariously. “Valerie and Ethan? Oh no. No.” She stifled her laughter. “Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. Um, no.”

“Why is that funny?” Michael asked.

“Well… Ethan was divorced, and it wasn’t pretty. His wife was cheating with her boss for years. He was crushed when he found out. He never got over her. I don’t think he ever had eyes for another woman. As for Valerie, she never had eyes for a man ever, if you know what I mean.”

“She was lesbian.”

“Yes.”

“All right. And the others? Tell me more about them.”

“Well, Kelly was the youngest of the group. The rest of us were in our late thirties to our late forties, but Kelly was twenty-three.”

“Is that unusual?”

“It’s…” she cocked her head. “Not especially common. There are young survivalists, but they’re not usually so committed to the lifestyle. That’s something that really set us apart from othergroups. We are all, for the most part, deeply committed to this lifestyle, or as deeply committed as we can. We’re all held back in our own ways. I’m held back by my husband. Oh God, that sounds terrible! I didn’t mean it like that.”

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