Page 52 of Face Her Fear

Josie’s heartbeat ticked upward, beating like the wings of a butterfly inside her chest. “I don’t know.” She checked the bathroom a second time. The building was empty.

Outside, Josie gave the rest of the group the news that Taryn was not inside. Nicola’s lantern lurched violently. “What do we do now?”

Brian spun slowly, his long arm swinging his lantern in an arc, casting light more widely around them. Josie noticed there were no footprints in the snow around the cabin or leading from the shoveled path to the woods. Clearly, Taryn had left her cabin, but she must have stayed on the path.

“We have to keep looking,” Brian said. “If she’s out in the snow, she could freeze to death, like Meg.”

Nicola shivered, her light shaking along with her body. “Don’t say that.”

Alice huddled close to Josie. “Where do we start? Where could she be?”

Josie’s mind raced with possibilities. Her heartbeat approached the speed of a hummingbird’s wings. She took a couple of deep breaths and pushed the thoughts invading her brain aside. Right now, she had to find Taryn. That was the main priority. There would be time for theories and fear later. She pointed up the path. “I think the most logical thing would be to check inside all of the structures first. We can start with Alice’s cabin and work our way down the hill.”

“Why would she be in Alice’s cabin?” asked Nicola.

“I have no idea,” Josie answered. “But it makes sense to check all the buildings. I will need your permission though.”

“Done,” said Alice.

A gust of wind smacked into them. Nicola stumbled backward into Brian’s chest. Getting her balance again, she said, “Permission? Why do you need our permission to look for Taryn?”

Josie didn’t want to explain that as a law enforcement officer—even though she was off-duty and in someone else’s jurisdiction—she still needed to follow procedure as much as possible. After all, she was investigating what was right now the disappearance of one of her retreat mates. If Taryn hadn’t gone off of her own accord, Josie could potentially be looking at a crime. If Meg hadn’t already been murdered, then she would likely not be thinking in these terms, but there had already been one homicide on the mountain. It was not a stretch to think that whoever killed Meg had also killed Taryn and hidden her body somewhere. That meant Josie had to treat the camp the same way she would as a sworn officer of the law. Legally, she could not enter any of the cabins without the permission of the people staying in them. If she did, and found Taryn’s body, any evidence on it or at the scene could be called into question in a court of law, should Taryn’s killer be brought to justice.

“Josie?” Brian coaxed. “We’re freezing out here. Can we go?”

“No,” Nicola said. “I want to know why she needs our permission.”

“Courtesy,” Josie said finally. “But also, keys. We need keys to everyone’s cabins—in case they’re locked.”

Nicola put one hand on her hip. “How would Taryn get into our cabins if they’re locked?”

“I don’t know,” Josie answered honestly. “But I still think we should check.”

Brian said, “You can have our keys. I can’t feel my face. Let’s go.”

“We don’t need to search mine and Brian’s cabin,” Nicola said, thrusting her lantern in Josie’s face. “I was just in there. She’s not there.”

“We should still look,” Josie told her. “You were in the main house with us so there’s a chance she could have gone into your cabin.”

Before Nicola could argue more, Brian raised his voice to a shout. “There’s a bear out here somewhere! It’s not safe for us out here! Let’s just go! Please!”

Alice turned toward the upper part of the path, her lantern leading the way. “Come on. Nicola, you can be difficult while we look for Taryn.”

Josie expected Nicola to continue arguing, but instead, she fell into line behind Josie. It felt like an eternity before they reached Alice’s cabin. The wind got worse the higher along the slope they got, as if it were purposely trying to push them back down the hill. The four of them crowded into Alice’s cabin to get out of it for a few minutes. Taryn was not inside. She wasn’t in Josie’s cabin either. Moving back down the hill, Josie unlocked Meg’s cabin and looked around, doing her best not to track snow inside. No Taryn.

As they made their way back past Taryn’s cabin, Nicola said, “Why do you have Meg’s key?”

“It’s the extra,” Josie said. “Sandrine gave it to me.”

“But why you?”

Brian said, “Nic, who cares? Let’s just check the other cabins.”

Alice said, “After your cabin, there’s only Sandrine’s. We’ll need her key.”

They stopped at the bottom of the steps to Brian and Nicola’s cabin. Brian kept walking. “I’ll go ask her for it.”

Josie felt some apprehension letting him be alone with Sandrine, even if it was only for a few moments. “Alice,” she said. “Why don’t you go with him. The two of you can warm up. Nicola can let me inside here.”

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