Page 87 of Snow River

“It doesn’t matter.None of that matters.”His voice rose.“She’s gone, they’re all gone.The only thing that matters is my son.He’s good, not a fuckup like me.He’ll fix everything.I gotta do this for my son.It’s all for him.”

The other man cleared his throat, and Hardwell snapped to attention.“Last chance,” the other man said to them, before putting his hand on the doorknob.

“Wait,” said Bear.‘There’s a blizzard coming.Trust me, I know the weather patterns here.You’d better wait on that fire.”

The other man muttered something to Hardwell, and then practically shoved him out of the cabin.

Lila collapsed against the wall, feeling like a rag doll with the stuffing torn out.“Is there really a blizzard coming?”

“Yes.I saw the clouds coming in through the gap, and I can smell it.You know how everyone says I’m the best at predicting first snowfall?Yeah.It’s my thing.Hopefully they’ll pay attention and we’ll have the night to get out of here.”

Lila worried at her lower lip.It was chapped from skiing in the cold air, and her fingers were numb, even with her insulated gloves.It was cold in this cabin.She thought about those forty or so women—possibly more, if not everyone had been able to leave their name.“I can’t believe they couldn’t find Nancy’s diary.Gwen must have hidden it really well.”

“It might not be here.She could have found a hiding place for it after she escaped.”

“Yeah.”She sighed.“Poor Paul Bowman.He loved Gwen and he was trying to keep her from getting murdered.He wasn’t a bitter man, he was an honorable one.At least we know the truth now, and we can tell the world if we get out of here.”

Bear shot her a worried glance.“Are you okay?”

Lila realized she was shifting from foot to foot.“I have to pee.In that incredibly gross shit-hole.”She dragged herself toward the pallet in the corner, already dreading the process.“They didn’t leave any toilet paper for us.”

“Stop,” said Bear, voice tense.“Hang on a minute.”

She froze.Had she been making too much noise?

“The shithole.When they searched for that journal, I bet they didn’t look there.”Bear strode across the room toward the palette and peered down the hole.“Can’t see anything.Give me a hand here.”He set the palette aside and dug his headlamp out of the backpack.“Hold the light while I take a look inside.”

“You know, this is the most Alaska thing ever, potential evidence hidden inside an outhouse, although an outhouse would actually be better.”

He lay on his stomach, his face at the edge of the hole, while Lila played her light across it, as he directed.“How frozen is it down there?”

“It’s frozen.No getting down deep without a shovel or an excavator.”

“Well, it was worth a shot.”The sour taste of disappointment gathered in her stomach.“No journal, no accountability.They’re going to get away with it.”

“Even if the cabin burns down, this will still be here because it’s underground.We can come back afterwards.”He started to draw his head back from the edge.

“No, keep looking.Just one more minute, Bear.We owe it to these women.”

“Intuition?”

She nodded, though she wasn’t sure if it was exactly that.Energy lingered here, desperate but hopeful.

Without another word, he went back to work.She held the light for him and let him explore.The smell didn’t bother her.By this point, it was earthy rather than stinky.All the fecal matter had probably composted by now.

“Over here,” Bear said as he reached into the hole.He bent his arm so he was touching the dirt wall closest to him.It was slightly undercut there, impossible to see from aboveground.“I feel something.It’s plastic.”

“Maybe it’s a package of toilet paper.”

“It probably was, once.It feels like that.It’s stuck to the dirt wall.”He felt around some more.“Here we go.There’s something holding it in place.Feels like a hair pin.”

Lila felt a surge of pride in the long-ago woman had concocted such a clever hiding place.“Be careful when you pull it out, so it doesn’t drop into the poop.”

He grunted.“Come here, you can help with that.I can’t get both arms in at the same time.Mine are too big.”

“I guess being such a stud is a disadvantage sometimes?”she teased him as she moved next to him.

“Don’t make me laugh.I might mess up this whole operation.”

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