Page 49 of Face Her Fear

When Josie went back to the main room, she could hear Nicola and Brian whisper-arguing behind the door to what was now their room. It was growing dark. Josie didn’t want to be out at night if she could help it. With everyone otherwise occupied, she put her coat, hat, and gloves back on and made her way down to the rage-room building. Inside, there was even less light than before. Using her phone’s flashlight app to maneuver around the items left scattered across the floor, she found the spot where she’d been able to get service earlier and held her phone out in front of her.

Nothing happened.

She waved the phone around, holding it high over her head, hoping for a signal. As the cold in the drafty room set into her bones, the phone finally buzzed. Josie almost wept with relief. Text messages from Gretchen began to populate rapidly, one after the other. Josie held the phone over her head and scrolled through them.

Loughlin ran those names. Sandrine Morrow, Alice Vargas, and Meg Cleary checked out just fine. No priors. Vargas had a couple of arrests for possession and soliciting from twenty years ago, but charges were always dropped.

Gretchen listed their addresses and ages which lined up with things that Sandrine, Alice and Meg had said during the week.

The Sullivan County Sheriff vouched for Cooper Riggs, even though no one has been able to reach him at his home or via the SAT phone.

Loughlin should still check him out.

She’s already on it. She also checked out Cleary’s stalker. He hasn’t been seen since he was released on bond. Loughlin talked to the local PD in Maryland where Meg was living. They did some investigating. A few days ago, Meg’s apartment was broken into—this according to someone else in the building who was walking by and saw her doorknob was busted. Landlord can’t tell what, if anything, is missing but it looks ransacked. We asked them if they’d pulled fingerprints or DNA but they said not for a break-in where the resident was not present and it was unclear whether anything was taken.

Josie was certain that the break-in meant that Meg’s stalker had been on her trail. Had he made it up here? Had he been able to track Meg to this retreat, in spite of its remote location? Before Josie could run through all the possibilities, the phone buzzed again and again with additional texts.

Sullivan County Sheriff has been given all the information about this guy. So far, they haven’t had any sightings but they’re not really looking as they’re still dealing with the fallout from the snow. Lots of accidents and people stuck. Back to the names. Here’s where it gets weird. Brian Davies, Nicola Davies, and Taryn Pederson do not exist. At least not at the ages and locations you gave me. Loughlin contacted Sandrine’s home office. Talked to her assistant. Got the intake information for everyone on the retreat. The info those three gave on intake doesn’t check out.

Josie’s heart fluttered.

What do you mean?

While she waited for a reply, she walked to the door to see if anyone had followed her. Up the trail, she saw Nicola emerge from the main house. At the bottom of the steps, she turned up the slope, eventually going inside the cabin assigned to her and Brian.

Relieved, Josie went back to the spot where she was getting service again and waited a few more minutes. Gretchen replied:

Their addresses were not real addresses. Also, we found no one with those names that match the ages you gave us. We found 147 Brian Davieses in the country. Only 4 in their forties. All of them were contacted. They are accounted for. Not on retreat. Same process and result for Nicola and Taryn. All Nicola Davies in their thirties have been accounted for as well as all Taryn Pedersons in the same age range. None are on your retreat.

Brian, Nicola, Taryn.

All of them lied on their intake paperwork. It could not be a coincidence that three people going to the same retreat lied about their identities, which meant that they were connected. It also meant they had known one another before they came to the retreat. They came together. But for what purpose?

Josie thought back to whether or not there had been any familiarity among them. Brian and Nicola were married so their connection was no surprise. They didn’t seem particularly close but not all married couples had the same level of intimacy as others. They did possess the kind of low-level annoyance with one another that Josie often witnessed between long-married couples whose dynamic was less caring and more critical. Not every marriage was the same. Also, you couldn’t live with someone and spend almost all of your time with them without getting annoyed by something. As much as Josie loved Noah, there were always small things that drove her crazy about him, like the way he flipped television channels without ever choosing something to watch, or how he always left only a few drops of half-and-half in the carton instead of just throwing it away and purchasing a new one. As devoted and caring as he was toward Josie, he couldn’t stand the way she always forgot that she had a load of wash in the dryer. “The dryer is never empty!” he always complained to her.

What about Taryn? There hadn’t appeared to be any familiarity at all between her and the couple. In fact, there had been tension between Taryn and Nicola. Then again, in the last day, there had been tension between Nicola and everyone. But Taryn had seemed just as surprised as everyone else that Nicola and Brian had lied about their reason for being there. Unless it was all an act.

Why had they come at all? What was their purpose?

Josie thought about what she had overheard between Nicola and Brian earlier.

Brian said, “Just give it up. We’re not going to get what we want. She’s a closed book.”

Nicola shot back, “Of course we’re not. I’m the only one trying, here!”

“This was a total waste of time,” Brian complained. “I’m sick of this shit. I just want off this mountain.”

They wanted information. Given the way that Nicola had been going after Sandrine since Meg’s death, they had to be seeking it from her. This theory put Taryn’s binder about Sandrine into a new light. Maybe she hadn’t been stalking her as Meg had thought but instead compiling information. Yet, Taryn had never seemed interested in Sandrine’s personal life, only in her methods. What did it mean? What kind of information would warrant the three of them lying about their identities?

Who were they really?

“Wait,” Josie muttered to herself.

They hadn’t given their real names or their correct addresses, but Josie was certain that their stories were real. She recalled the way Brian’s eyes went glassy and unfocused sometimes when he remembered the fire at his group home as well as the way he rubbed at his burn scar whenever he was under stress. Taryn hoarded food. Nicola had admitted to lying about her own reasons for being there, but Josie was sure that she told the truth about her sister being abducted and killed. The detail about the perpetrator being the driver of an ice cream truck did not seem made up.

Why were they lying about some things but telling the truth about others?

Outside, something crunched over snow. Josie crept to the door and looked out but saw nothing. Then a familiar huff sent a lightning bolt of fear through her body.

---