“This.” With a triumphant smile, Emily walked out onto the frozen lake with the cricket bat clutched firmly in both hands.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jake roused from sleep with a strange feeling at the pit of his stomach. Rubbing a hand over his beard stubble pricked his hands. He hadn’t shaved in two days because he didn’t have any razors. What pilot packed razors for a short drop-off? But shaving was the last thing on his mind. He’d never liked it much anyway, and now he had the perfect excuse not to bother. He sat up, cracked his knuckles—a nervous habit from childhood—and then rolled his stiff shoulders. He frowned at Emily’s sleeping platform, surprised not to see her slight form atop her sleeping platform. She had to be as tired as he was. Cocking his head, he tried to listen for sounds outside their room. Not a peep from anywhere in the cave.
Uneasy, he left the room and walked down the corridor, poking his head into the other rooms. Neil, Shayna, and Luke slept peacefully, as did Drayton and his brats in their room.
But Nina and Angela’s room was empty, and Emily was nowhere to be seen.
They’d probably all gone outside for more water, he thought. It wasn’t a bad idea, and going back to his room, he collected his gloves and climbed outside the cave to join them.
Except there was no sign of them.
The hairs on the back of his neck tingled, but he called himself a fool for worrying. They were grown women, for goodness’ sake.
But Emily had gone without telling him, something they were trained not to do when on a job. Granted, this had ceased to be a job some time ago, but the system worked, and they didn’t change a system when it worked.
Water forgotten, he returned to the cave and entered Neil’s room, waking the other man up by nudging Neil’s shoulder.
Neil awoke quickly, eyes fluttering up at Jake. “What?”
“Seen the women?”
Neil blinked twice. “What? The women?” His gaze immediately cut across to Shayna who slept peacefully with Luke.
“The other two – Angela and Nina aren’t in their room – Em isn’t in ours, either.” The last thing Jake wanted was to cause worry, but he couldn’t quell the feeling in his gut that something was wrong.
Neil slowly sat up, eyes narrowing. “You’ve checked outside?”
“Not there.”
Neil was awake now. “Well, where could they be for heaven’s sake? It’s not like Ange and Neen to go anywhere, especially in these circumstances, without letting me know. Are you sure Emily didn’t say anything to you?”
“Not a word.” He would have been less worried, if Neil didn’t look so anxious now. As it was, the man was up and tugging on his boots and gloves.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, clearly we have to find them.” Neil’s words were short with tiredness and impatience. “Most likely they’ve gone for a walk, but I can’t believe none of them said anything, especially Neen. That’s not like her at all. She’d leave a note at least. What was she thinking?”
“Maybe we’re overacting.” But Jake didn’t believe his own words.
“We can’t afford not to overreact,” Neil snapped. “We’ve already had too much go against us. What if another avalanche hits while they’re out there?”
Jake swore. Neil was right.
“What’s going on?”
They both turned to see Justin in the doorway. He wore a white long-sleeved fleece top and black jogging bottoms. Battered Adidas trainers encased his feet.
“You Draytons have a nasty habit of sneaking up on people, don’t you?” Jake said in exasperation. “I thought you were all sleeping.”
“This Drayton is obviously awake. What’s going on?”
“The women have gone,” he explained with reluctance.
“It’s probably nothing,” Neil added, “but Jake and I are going to go look for them.”
Justin yawned loudly, unmindful of Shayna and Luke still sleeping. “They’re probably outside chatting. What do you think has happened? The Bogey man came and carried them off?”
Jake’s mouth tightened. “If you can’t add any value–”
“Neil?” Shayna’s sleep-clogged voice broke in. Pushing her heavy curtain of hair away from her eyes, she peered at him in the dark. Luke remained sleeping, securely snuggled in the curve of his mother’s stomach. Shayna looked from Neil to Jake to Justin, and then back at Neil. “What’s going on?”
“We’re just going out to get Ange, Neen, and Emily,” Neil told her softly. “It’s best we go together. Go back to sleep. We won’t be long.”
Justin muttered something and left.
“Get them?” Shayna frowned. “Why? Where have they gone?”
“We’re not sure, but I’m sure it’s not far.” Neil continued to look for something in the room. “Jeez, where are my gloves?”
Jake had to smile. “You’re wearing them.”
Neil stopped and rolled his eyes. “Thanks. This is what happens when I’m on edge.” He focused on Shayna again. “They likely went for the same walk we took yesterday. Jake and I won’t be long.”
Jake looked from husband to wife and made a rapid decision. It irked but he knew it was the right one. “Stay with your wife and kid, Neil. I’ll ask Justin to come with me.”
Neil and Shayna looked at him in shock. “You two can’t stand each other,” Neil reminded him.
“I’ll ignore him. It won’t be hard. I’ll go ask him.”
Justin spoke from the doorway. “Ask who what?”
Jake swore. “I thought you’d left.”
“Looks like I came back. Ask who what?”
“We need to go find the women.” Jake bit the words out. “You and me. Neil’s going to stay with Shayna and Luke.” He and Justin eyed each other in mutual dislike before Justin glanced at Neil.
“I think you’re both worrying about nothing–”
“Even so,” Neil said patiently. “We all have to look out for each other. We can’t afford to have people wandering off. Anything could happen.”
Justin sighed. “Fine. I’ll go get ready.”
“Make it quick,” Jake ordered. “I’ll wait for you outside in case I spot them, and that way we won’t have to spend a moment longer in each other’s company.”
“Neen, what’s she doing?” Angela breathed in horror.
“I don’t know…” Both she and Ange were rooted to the spot, too stunned to make their legs move forward. “We can talk about this, Emily,” she offered again, hoping her words didn’t sound as desperate to the other woman as they did to her. She wanted to break through the suicidal fever that appeared to have gripped the other woman, but she didn’t know where to start. “Please. There’s-there’s no need for this. We can–”
“You’ve all been lying to yourselves.” Emily moved to the middle of the large lake. Her skin had taken on a bluish tinge.
“You heard what Jake said.” Emily squatted down on the lake, making Nina’s heart leap into her throat and Angela issue a cry of panic. “There’s no way out. Lie to yourselves if you want, but I’m facing reality. We’re all going to die out here so we might as well start the ball rolling.”
With a small tilt of her head to Nina, Angela indicated they should begin moving toward Emily again.
“There’s no food so we’ll all die of starvation,” Emily went on relentlessly, locked into her own conversation. “It’s a horrible way to go, and I’m not going to be part of it.”
Heart hammering, Nina carefully lowered onto her stomach, shuddering as her chin connected with the ice-cold surface of the lake. She didn’t give too much thought to the risk she and Ange were taking; she just went with it, unable to bear the thought of losing someone else. Struggling to draw air into her starved lungs because the cold was stealing her breath, she had to pause and take a moment to breathe. The lake’s slippery surface made movement treacherous, and she was unable to grip anything. Her gloved hands slid on the smooth lake surface with each slide toward Emily.<
br />
Then the other woman began hammering at the ice with Ben’s cricket bat.
Nina flinched as a chunk of ice cracked near Emily and the other woman plunged her hand into it.
“Cold,” Emily reported, her tone emotionless. Her hand dripped with blood from the jagged ice edge, but she didn’t appear to notice.
Nina squeezed her eyes shut. “Emily, please…”
Ignoring her plea, Emily began hammering again, attacking the ice like a woman possessed. Which, Nina thought as she slid toward the other woman. Which was what Emily resembled. Emily’s eyes narrowed in concentration as her muscles flexed with each strike of the frozen surface of the lake with Ben’s bat.
Another chunk of ice broke, twice the size of the earlier one, but evidently not large enough for Emily. She wailed in frustration, and swearing, she raised the bat again.
“For goodness’ sake, will you slow down? I’m not good on an empty stomach.”
Ignoring Justin’s testy complaint, Jake gritted his teeth against the pain in his quads and forged ahead. He was furious that the women had left without telling any of them, dragging him out here and forcing him to utilize energy he didn’t have. Right now, fury and resentment were fighting a battle for priority. What on earth had they been thinking?
“You hear what I said?” Justin demanded from several yards behind him.
Jake threw him a brief glance over his shoulder. “I heard. What makes you think I care? This isn’t about you.”
Air puffs formed as they spoke, the temperature cooler than it had been this afternoon. Keeping his flashlight on, Jake scanned the area as they walked. The sun had almost set so the extra light helped.
Justin struggled to keep up. “I can’t walk that fast in the snow, dammit. Slow down. What’s the hurry?”
Jake kept up the relentless pace despite his own pain. “Neil and I told you what the hurry is.”
“They’re probably fine; you’re acting like an anxious pop.”
Jake’s lips curved up in amusement despite himself. “I’ll wear the label. I can’t handle anyone else being hurt.” He slanted a look back over his shoulder. “Well…some people I can.”
“How did I know that was coming? Look, I resent being blamed for what my little brother has done.”
Jake kept his gaze trained on the beam of the flashlight and didn’t reply.
“Hugh’s not a bad guy, he’s just...” Justin trailed off.
“Spoiled?”
Anger snapped into Justin’s voice. “Nothing about either of us is spoiled.”
Now Jake gave a burst of derision. “Right.”
“He may not have said it, but Hugh will be sorry for what he’s done. Though he acts like the way he does, not taking responsibility for it, he’s regretful.”
“Of course,” Jake drawled, “because he’s all contrition isn’t he?”
“You don’t know us.”
“I don’t want to.” Jake stopped and turned to face the younger man. “But from what I can see, whatever issues Hugh has, which appear to be plenty, they’ve become my problem. I resent that. I resent that very much. A man’s dead. A good friend of mine. Ben was–” Breaking off Jake swallowed, took a deep breath, and forced himself to go on. “I’m not going to get over it in five minutes.”
Justin looked away before looking back at him. “I’m surprised you haven’t killed Hugh already,” he admitted.
“I’ve thought about it, believe me.” Turning, Jake resumed walking. “Haven’t you?”
“Kill Hugh?” Justin drawled with humor. “Hundreds of times. That’s part of having a sibling.”
“I wouldn’t know.” With restless eyes Jake studied the horizon. He hadn’t seen or heard anything that remotely sounded like the women. No sign of life except for the occasion bird that flew overhead. Where in the hell were they?
“How do we even know we’re going the right way?” Justin suddenly asked. “They could’ve gone in any direction”
“Neil suggested we take this route and I agreed,” he answered. “Human beings tend to be creatures of habit. We stick to places and people we know or return to where we’ve been before. We took this route this afternoon. It leads to the lake…” Jake rubbed the tension at the base of his neck. “It’s a hunch, but it’s all we’ve got to go on. I think–”
“I hear something,” Justin interrupted and tilted his head as if to catch the sound.
“Up ahead,” Jake agreed after a moment. It was faint but he heard it too - soft murmurings. The lake sat behind the bank of snow.
The murmuring came again.
“It’s –” Justin began.
“Shouting,” Jake finished. “Let’s go.”
In tacit agreement, they broke into a loping run.
Only a breath away from Emily now, Angela panted as she levered herself up onto her knees. Cold sweat covered her face.
Nina glanced back toward the edge of the lake, surprised she’d managed to slide so far out. Surprised and petrified. When Emily suddenly cried out in anger, Nina whipped her head back to her.
Angela had gripped Emily’s wrist that held the bat, trying to wrestle the bat free.
“That’s it, Ange,” Nina panted as she neared them. “Hold her. I’m coming.”
“What are you doing?” Furious, Emily swung at Angela with the bat, missing Angela’s head by mere inches but connecting with the side of Angela’s right cheek. Angela gasped in pain and fell back, losing her grip on Emily’s wrist.
A blistering haze of anger swam in front of Nina’s eyes. How dare Emily attack Ange? Ange was trying to help her. They both were. Finally reaching them, she struggled to her knees and grasped at Emily, catching a fistful of the woman’s tangled hair. Emily howled but kept hold of the bat.
“Drop it,” Nina panted. She just managed to dodge the blow Emily aimed at her nose with the bat. “Drop it, Emily.”
They wrestled. From somewhere in the distance Nina thought she heard someone calling their names, but when Emily’s fist connected with her left eye, Nina’s head hit the hard surface of the ice with a sharp crack that made her see stars.
In the faint distance, Nina heard Angela scream her name, and she tried to answer but couldn’t. Emily now sat astride her now like a bloodthirsty warrior, the other woman’s toned thighs pinned her to the frozen lake.
Another loud crack split the air, and when a large chunk of ice cracked under Nina’s head, she opened her mouth to scream but ice cold water flooded her mouth and she went under.
A moment later, her world went black.
The group’s story continues in TORN, the second book in the Salzburg Saga, which is coming soon! Sign up to my newsletter to be the first to hear when it’s released, and to get exclusive sneak peeks!
AFTERWORD
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed SPIRAL. Please consider leaving a review at the site where you purchased it.
OTHER BOOKS BY D. U. OKONKWO
REJECTION IS A LIE…
A young woman paralyzed by past rejection
A life shackled by lies
A truth waiting to be discovered
At age eleven, Ria Ofor was caught in a fire that left her facially-scarred. Devastated by the apparent rejection by her father, Ria, now twenty-seven, is a gifted sculptress but lives a semi reclusive life. Avoiding art galleries and their consequent publicity, she sells her artwork online, scraping a living through online sales. But when she's hit with a repossession notice on her home, it rocks the shaky foundations she’s been living on.
On borrowed time, Ria knows she must land a gallery contract in order to survive. That means stepping out of her comfort zone and coming face to face with what she’s spent the last sixteen years trying to avoid: rejection. But competition for lucrative gallery contracts is cut-throat, and Ria soon discovers that some artists will stop at nothing to keep the spoils of the glittering art world for themselves. Torn between the events of her past and the lies threatening to also destroy h
er future, Ria makes a decision that changes her life forever.
Buy now at Amazon and turn over to read an excerpt…
RISE
An excerpt - Chapter One
Ria appreciated the beauty of the headless female sculpture standing before her. A sculpture without its head has its own particular beauty. Strong sculpted legs, intricately crafted torso and powerful shoulders - the beauty of creation.
She squatted in front of the sculpture and ran a slender hand over its flanks. The modeling clay she had chosen had done its job; its durability ensuring the legs of the sculpture came out strong and smooth, the hips gently curved. Seven weeks into the making, this piece would be larger than any piece she had previously sculpted, and certainly more challenging.
Here in her art studio, which spanned the basement of her small house in London’s Island Gardens, clay statues of ancient kings and queens graced the long wooden shelves resting against ivory walls. A small sink sat at the far right end against the wall beside a large white storage cupboard, snug beside a two-seater. A small stereo, which she only turned on when sketching, rested on the table beside it.
Time to begin the head, she decided, as she rose gracefully to her feet. Creating the head was her favorite part. If the legs, shoulders, and torso possessed their own particular beauty, then how she created a sculpture’s head showcased its personality – laughing eyes, a slanted mouth, and a molded chin. These will bring out the figure’s humorous manner.
Ria got to her feet. A slim young woman with close-cropped, tightly-curled black hair; she had a dewy, dark chocolate complexion. And with a delicate oval face, even the faded pink burn scars that ran from the apples of her cheekbones down to her collarbone, her classic beauty couldn’t be marred.
Spiral (The Salzburg Saga Book One) Page 13