June was still unconscious when Roman and Jackie left the hospital at Skip’s insistence. Roman had to agree that their presence was accomplishing nothing. After their encounter in the chapel, Roman felt drained, vulnerable, as if some bricks had fallen from the wall he’d built around himself. The last thing he wanted to do was bare his soul to Jackie, the woman who had more reason than anyone to hate him. Deep down he knew that the only way to draw closer to her again would be to unearth all the pain and anguish and hold it up to the light. The question was, was he strong enough to do it? He avoided looking at her. There was work to be done.
They hustled back to the plane and were in the air shortly. Already the sky was darkening into a dusk that seemed endless.
“Where could Fallon be?” Jackie said, peering into the wind driven snow below.
He sighed. “I’ve called a few places in town. They haven’t seen her.”
“Could she have made it to the airport?”
He considered. “I don’t see how. Too far to snowmobile, and I checked with all the pilots who’ve been shuttling guests so she didn’t get out that way.”
Jackie shook her head. “Why would she want to run, anyway? And what’s in Arizona that she’s so desperate to see?”
He thought about the photo she’d quickly hidden from him. “A friend she met online?” The explanation didn’t seem feasible. “Call Dax and see if he’s heard anything, will you?”
Jackie phoned him. She covered the mouthpiece. “He says there’s no sign of her. He’s got everything under control with the skiers and a few people have arrived to help with cooking. So they’re okay for the moment, but he’ll need help getting the cabins ready later.”
“Ask him what Lloyd’s up to.”
She started, then relayed the message, listening carefully before hanging up. “He hasn’t seen him since we flew out this morning. He didn’t show up for lunch. Do you know something about Lloyd?”
Way to go, Roman. Dig yourself in deep again. “I wondered about him, is all. Why he’s so interested in you and Fallon. I looked into it.”
Jackie’s eyes widened and a pink flush crept into her cheeks. “What? Tell me what you found out?”
“Lloyd used to run a security company. Worked for your boss once upon a time.”
The life seemed to leak out of Jackie. She slumped against the seat and closed her eyes. “I knew it. All that garbage about a pen name. I knew he was lying.” Her eyes snapped open and she turned on him. “Why didn’t you tell me about your snooping?”
“I wasn’t snooping. I was trying to protect Fallon…. You dropped this situation on my lap, remember?”
She folded her arms across her chest. “You should have told me what you were up to. What if Lloyd found out you were investigating him? Mick says we have to be careful.”
He grunted. “You can continue to scheme with Mick and see if he can get you out of the mess you’ve gotten yourself into, but he’s only going to make things worse.”
“You don’t trust him, do you?”
“No, and maybe you shouldn’t either. I don’t see him or your friend Asia doing anything to help out.”
“They’re trying to protect me.”
“Then why hasn’t Asia shown up here to get you out of trouble? She’s the one who started this mess.”
She opened her mouth to retort, then closed it abruptly.
They remained in stony silence for the rest of the flight. He wanted to shake her. Stubborn, independent, foolish woman. “Look. I know they’re your friends. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
There was no point in attempting to reason with her, so he settled on trying to figure out where he could search next for the missing Fallon. He was relieved when they touched down on the landing strip and found a Range Rover waiting. Without a word between them, they climbed aboard and headed back to the lodge.
Several pink-cheeked skiers poled their way past the vehicle, their reflective gear catching the light from the newly risen moon. Roman nodded to them, feeling grateful that at least Dax had been able to keep the cross-country race going. When he stopped, Jackie unstrapped her seat belt, her shoulders stiff with anger. He’d gone around to open the door for her when her phone rang.
The look on her face almost made him smile. Clearly she didn’t want to answer it in front of him, but her fear of missing the call must have outweighed her annoyance. After shooting him a look, she answered.
Though Roman took a step away to give her a modicum of privacy, she knew he could hear every word of her conversation. She stuck out her chin and gestured him closer, holding the phone between them. “Mick? Roman is here with me.” She related the morning’s events.
“So Roman’s listening in, huh? What is up with the people in this town? Never a moment’s privacy. I had to practically fend that girl off with a ski pole.”
Jackie straightened. “What girl?”
“The one from the lodge. The Delucchis’ kid.”
She exchanged a look with Roman. “When did you see her?”
“At the crack of dawn this morning. She knocked on my door, asking if she could stay here and get a ride into town. Can you believe it? I don’t even know her.”
“You turned her away?”
“Of course I did. I can’t have a teen girl staying with me.”
“Where did she go?”
“Not sure. She was on snowshoes, so not far, I’m guessing.”
Jackie checked her watch. It was a little after one. “I’ve got to go. Fallon’s missing. Call me if she shows up there again.”
“Wait, Jackie. I need to talk to you.”
Jackie eyed Roman, who was staring at her. “I’ll call you soon. Promise.” She hung up on his protests.
Roman raised an eyebrow. “Not very neighborly of him to kick Fallon out.”
“Never mind that. We’ve got to find her.”
His brow furrowed as he surveyed the horizon. “The hunting cabin is too far for her to snowshoe into town. There’s nothing else between here and there except miles of snow and…” His eyes closed for a moment as if he’d experienced a sharp pain.
It came to her at the same moment. “The cabin.”
The unfinished cabin that had remained fixed in time, just as it had been the day Roman and her brother had left there and slid off the road. Her mouth felt filled with cotton. “You don’t suppose…she went there?”
His voice sounded hollow and oddly emotionless as he stared into the distance. “It would make sense, some shelter until she could get someone to take her to the airport. Maybe waiting until my plane returned.”
“No phone there?”
“No. It was never finished. Skip said they ran out of money but I think he couldn’t bear to work on it after…everything.”
Unfinished, like Danny’s life. Waiting for closure. The idea took her by surprise. She thought she’d had closure—Danny was dead, Roman was to blame, end of story. Could there be another chapter in their lives together? One that didn’t end with bitterness? A snowflake floated down and landed on her cheek, freeing her from her reverie. “We’ve got to go see.”
Roman’s voice was still flat. “I’ll go.”
“Me too.”
He shook his head, still not meeting her eyes. “It’s dangerous. Snow hasn’t been cleared regularly. There’s a convex slope up there, and we’ve had a lean snow winter. Prime conditions for an avalanche. Stay here. I’m going to get some gear from the lodge, and then I’ll go.”
Anger churned inside her again. He would not tell her what to do, especially not now, in the place that had taken her brother. She would not let him have control over her future ever again. “I’ll get some snowshoes and then I’m going, no matter what you think about it.”
Her pride refused to let her stand there like a child waiting for a ride after school. With an uneasy feeling, she made her way to the cabin. The women had cleared out and left the place empty and quiet. Her skin prickled as she stepped inside, wondering if someone had picked the new lock as easily as they had done before. She hurriedly put water and some protein bars into a pack, grabbed her snowshoes and bundled up. Jackie yearned to call Mick and find out what Asia had told him, but she didn’t dare get caught up in a conversation. Roman would likely leave without her.
She pushed herself to move, quickly checking her messages on her satellite phone to see if there was any news there as she let herself out of the cabin and locked the door. One from Skip saying he’d stay at the hospital for a few more hours and then join in the search for Fallon. His voice was hoarse and strained. She felt the surge of responsibility again as she remembered June sliding to the kitchen floor. There was one more message. Don’t tell anyone about the thumb drive. If you want to live. She forced herself to breathe, scanning the tree line, remembering the shot that almost took her life.
It could have been either a male or female voice, a low whisper that seemed to echo in her mind.
If you want to live.
The message brought it all back. She was one step away from someone who wanted her silent.
Reynolds’s hired guns were getting closer. It was possible they’d been responsible for shooting her. The wide expanse of snow-covered ridgeline provided a bounty of places to hide and to ready a rifle. Lloyd hadn’t been seen all morning. He could be out there right now, poised to fire the shot that would kill her. A chill raced up her spine and set the hair on her neck on end. She wanted more than anything to run back into the cabin and pull the curtains closed. But what about Fallon? Danny had cared for Fallon. There was no way she could abandon the girl, and Skip was probably half crazy with worry.
Was Roman right? Had her secrecy and faith in her friends brought danger to the people at Delucchi’s? She heard the rumble of a snowmobile engine. If she didn’t hurry, Roman would leave without her. Maybe it was better for him to go alone, to take care of Fallon without the added danger of her presence.
Her mind swam.
Roman shouldn’t go alone.
If he was buried in snow, she would be his only chance of rescue. Backcountry rules were clear. Never travel alone in avalanche territory.
Her feet felt frozen to the ground.
Lord, what do I do?
The feeling that came over her was strong, though it did not erase the fear that slithered inside her like a poisonous snake.
She hurried toward the snowmobiles, where Roman waited.