Page 39 of Face Her Fear

All heads turned toward her.

Taryn opened her mouth to speak again but Nicola leaned forward, elbows on the table, and glared at Josie. “What did you just say to me?”

Calmly, Josie said, “You heard me. We don’t have time for this. There are two feet of snow outside and it’s going to take us the better part of the day to shovel the paths. Whatever beef you’ve got with Sandrine, it has to wait. Also, stop abusing Taryn. She hasn’t done anything.”

There was a moment of silence. Only the wind could be heard outside, still whistling through the trees. From her periphery, Josie noted Brian’s mouth hanging open, Taryn’s saucer-wide eyes, and Alice’s smirk.

“How dare you talk to me like that?” Nicola demanded, slamming her palm on the table. Coffee sloshed out of her untouched mug.

“Hey!” Josie shouted. Everyone reared back. Sandrine bobbled the dishes tucked into her arm before regaining control of them. Even Alice took a tiny step away from Josie. Of every person on the retreat, Josie was the calmest, the most even-tempered, the least likely to cry. All because her body thought that her high-alert state and her rest and healing state were the same thing. Everyone seemed shocked to hear her raise her voice. She stood up and reached over, taking Nicola’s mug. “Don’t waste perfectly good coffee!”

She felt their eyes on her as she slugged down the contents of Nicola’s mug in several long gulps. Before she finished, she heard Alice laugh. A few seconds later, Taryn joined in.

A muscle in Nicola’s jaw twitched. “This isn’t funny!”

Alice stood up as well and started clearing silverware and cups. “Oh, shut up.”

Josie finished the coffee and eyed Nicola, issuing a silent challenge. The color in Nicola’s cheeks went from rosy to cardinal red. Her lips pressed into a thin line. Josie noticed her fingers trembling on the tabletop. Before she could say or do anything, Brian leaned over and put a hand on her forearm. “Come on, Nic. Let’s just go.”

“Don’t touch me.” Nicola ripped her arm from his grip and pushed her chair back abruptly. Glowering at Josie a final time, she walked away from the table. Brian followed her into one of the breakout rooms again. From behind the door came more muffled arguing.

Josie turned to Taryn. “Same groups as yesterday.”

The smile on her face died. “I don’t want to be in their group. I’m not pouting, I promise. I just don’t like her. There, I’ve said it. She lied to all of us! And she thinks Sandrine is a fraud! She’s mean!”

“Oh, Taryn.” Using her free hand, Sandrine squeezed her shoulder. “I know this is difficult. You can go with Josie and Alice. I can handle those two.”

“No!” Taryn cried. “I don’t want you to go with them.” She pointed at Josie and Alice. “One of these two—”

Alice cut her off. “I’m with Josie. Period. I don’t want to be around them either. Josie and I will shovel from here to the shed while Brian and Nicola take the upper part of the slope. Then we’ll get what we can from the rage room to burn. I don’t care what either of you does.”

Sandrine made a hushing sound. “This is silly. We’ve only got two shovels. We don’t even need to be in teams or groups. Taryn and I can just rotate. Doesn’t matter whether it’s going up the slope or down. Now, Taryn, help me with these dishes.”

Placated, Taryn followed Sandrine into the kitchen. Alice nudged Josie again, whispering, “I hope we get rescued today because I don’t know if I can take one more hour with Liar McLiarPants. Well done, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Josie muttered. It wasn’t lost on her that Nicola had all but accused Sandrine of murdering Meg. But why? Did Nicola somehow know that Meg had been murdered, or was she just theorizing? If she truly thought Meg was the victim of a homicide, what made her think Sandrine had anything to do with it?

As Josie helped clean up the breakfast mess, her mind kept returning to what Brian had said to her about Sandrine.

I’m not sure she is who she says she is.

TWENTY-FIVE

The snow was easily two feet deep. They had to shovel their way down the steps of the main house and make their own trail. They split up and began shoveling. Brian and Nicola worked their way up the mountain, creating a path to each of the cabins. Josie and Alice worked their way down toward the trail, making their way to the red outbuilding so they could get what they needed from the rage room. As promised, Sandrine and Taryn rotated, taking their turns on both sides so that everyone had a rest.

Even with the shorter area to cover, it took hours for Josie, Alice, and a third person—usually Sandrine—to dig all the way down to the rage room building. Whenever she wasn’t shoveling, Josie took out her phone to check and see if she had any service.

“What are you doing?” asked Alice when they were almost to the bottom and Sandrine was shoveling.

“Somewhere between the main house and where we made the calls yesterday, there was another spot where I was able to get service. I’m trying to find it again.”

“To do what?” asked Alice.

“To check on how much longer it’s going to take to get off this mountain,” Josie said.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they reached the rage room. From its doors, Josie could see that the shed where they’d left Meg was undisturbed. Inside the rage room they searched for anything that could be burned for heat. They worked as fast as they could, picking up any wooden objects or fragments and making piles outside. They were all sweaty from shoveling but their perspiration would dry soon, and they’d be even colder than when they started. Once they had two piles, Sandrine and Alice carried them up to the main house. Josie knew she had been left behind to gather more but she took the opportunity to check her phone again.

Near the rear of the building, she got a bar. Notifications began to pop up. Texts from Gretchen. They hadn’t gotten in touch with Noah, but they had gotten in touch with the county sheriff’s office. Resources in the county were stretched thin and they hadn’t yet figured out how they were going to get up the mountain with over two feet of snow along the partially blocked trail, but everyone was working as quickly as they could to rescue them. However, since Josie had reported a homicide, the state police would be called in to investigate. Gretchen was already in touch with State Police Detective Heather Loughlin to take point, and she would get in touch with Sullivan County authorities to coordinate. But, Gretchen warned, it could still take time. Relief spread through Josie’s body as she read the texts.

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