Nina lifted her eyes from the bat to meet Emily’s feverish gaze. “Parker asked if you had a wooden stick to splint Hugh’s leg.” She swallowed and made herself force the rest of the words out. “You said...you said you didn’t, Emily.”
“Of course, I said no,” Emily chuckled. The chuckle sounded unnatural in the frigid cold air. “Why should I help Hugh any more than I had to? I betrayed Ben by helping him, betrayed Ben’s memory.”
“Oh Emily, that’s not true,” Angela rushed to say. “I’m sure Ben would be proud of you. You–”
“Who cares about being strong?” Emily spat, all humor vanishing. “Who cares about being wonderful? I’m alone. Will being strong and wonderful bring Ben back?”
“N-no,” Angela admitted shakily. “But–”
“I doubt Ben would’ve wanted you to feel guilty, Emily,” Nina said tentatively. She had given up trying to get saliva back into her dry mouth. All she could taste and feel was fear; bone crippling fear. “Like Ange said, you did the right thing. Ben would have wanted you to help Hugh–”
“Shut up,” Emily screamed, making both Nina and Angela jump. “Just shut up. You didn’t even know Ben.” Her hard eyes whipped from Nina to Angela. “Neither of you knew him.”
“You’re right,” Nina rushed to say. “I’m sorry, Emily, we...we didn’t know him.” Glancing covertly at Angela, they exchanged a look. At Angela’s barely perceptible nod, they each stepped onto the lake and began to slowly edge toward Emily, Angela from the left side of the lake, and Nina from the right.
“You’re right, Emily,” Nina repeated, teeth chattering from both the cold and the fear spiraling through her. “We didn’t know Ben, but Jake did, and Jake knows you. He cares about you. He’s going to be devastated when he gets here and sees you like this. He’ll–”
“Don’t be dense, Nina; Jake’s not coming.”
A ball of lead settled at the base of Nina’s stomach. “What do you mean he’s not coming?” She forced herself to speak calmly, refusing to believe she’d heard Emily correctly. “You said you told him that we were going for a walk. You said he’d be joining us out here.”
“I lied, Nina. I didn’t tell him anything. He’s sound asleep.”
Angela’s hand flew to her throat. “Oh my God.”
Too stunned to speak, Nina stared at Emily; unsure which emotion was uppermost: terror or disbelief.
“Goodness; for lawyers you’re so gullible. How on earth do you win so many cases? If I’d told Jake that I was coming out here, he would’ve insisted on joining me like an anxious Mother Hen. He would’ve ruined my plans.” She smiled widely, her face a mask of madness. “Couldn’t have that now, could I?”
Nina felt ill. “You – we ...I trusted you.” She fought to get the words past her lips, not just stiff with cold, but also terror. “I believed you when you said you’d let at least Jake know what we were doing. You lied to us.” And it made her want to strangle the woman, to actually wrap her hands around Emily’s neck and squeeze. “What plans, Emily?”
“This.” With a maniacal smile, Emily walked out onto the frozen lake with the cricket bat clutched firmly in her hands.
Chapter 17
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Jake roused from sleep with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He ran a hand over his unshaven chin, beard stubble pricking his fingers. He’d never liked it much anyway, and now he had the perfect excuse not to bother.
He sat up and 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 lying there. 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.
Suddenly uneasy, he left the room and walked down the corridor, poking his head into the other rooms. Neil, Rita, and Luke slept peacefully, as did Drayton and his two brat sons 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 Rita 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?”
“Yeah, but they weren’t near the cave.”
Neil was wide awake now. “Where else 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, Jake knew, if Neil didn’t look so anxious now. As it was, Neil 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 overreacting.” 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.
“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 cast his eyes skywards. “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?” Rita’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. Rita 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?” Rita 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 grinned. “You’re wearing them.”
Neil stopped and rolled his eyes. “Thanks. This is what happens when I’m on edge.” He focused on Rita again. “They likely went for the same walk we took yesterday. Jake and I won’t be long.”
Jake looked from husband to wi
fe 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 Rita 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 Rita 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 let Dad know.”
“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.”
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“What is she doing?” Angela breathed in horror.
Nina swallowed. “I don’t know...” Both she and Angela 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 soft cry of panic. “There’s no way out. Lie to yourselves if you want, but I’m facing reality. How much longer before someone else dies and we’re forced to start eating each other?”
Nina’s hand flew to her mouth. “Emily please.”
“That’s disgusting, Emily,” Angela managed.
“It’s reality,” Emily snapped. “Things like that happen in these kind of situations. I’ve read about it. There’s no food so we’ll all die of starvation,” Emily went on relentlessly. “It’s a horrible way to go, and I’m not going to be part of it.”
Heart hammering, Nina began to carefully edge onto the ice. She didn’t give too much thought to the risk she and Angela were taking; she just went with it, unable to bear the thought of losing someone else. The lake’s slippery surface made movement treacherous, and she was unable to grip anything. She held her arms out for balance as she tried to navigate the slippery glass like surface of the lake.
Then Emily 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, Emily began hammering the ice again, attacking it like a woman possessed, her eyes narrowed in concentration as her muscles flexed with each strike against 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
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“For goodness’ sake, will you slow down? I’m not good on an empty stomach.”
Ignoring Justin’s 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. “Neither of us is spoiled.”
Now Jake gave a short laugh of derision. “Right.”
“Hugh will be sorry for what he’s done,” Justin insisted.
Jake snorted. “Right. He’s all contrition isn’t he?”
Justin sighed. “Hugh just struggles to take responsibility for the things he does sometimes. But I know him, and I know that he’s regretful. Dad and I know him, but you don’t.”
“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 occasional 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 sounds like–” Justin began.
“Shouting,” Jake finished. “Let’s go.”
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Only a breath away from Emily now, Angela panted, a sheen of cold sweat covering her face.
Nina glanced back toward the edge of the lake, surprised she’d managed to make it this far out. Surprised and petrified, and she wiped a hand over her mouth. When Emily suddenly cried out in anger, Nina’s head whipped back to the other woman.
Angela had managed to grip Emily’s wrist holding the bat, and was now trying to wrestle the bat free.
“What are you doing?” Face incensed, 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 stumbled back, losing her grip on Emily’s wrist.
A red haze of anger swam in front of Nina’s eyes. How dare Emily attack Ange? Ange was trying to help her. They both were. Lunging for Emily, she managed to catch a fistful of Emily’s tangled hair and she yanked it hard. Emily howled with rage 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 the bloody bat, Emily.”
But Emily’s tall strong physique surpassed her much smaller one, and the other woman had soon tackled her to the slippery surface. She 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 and she saw stars. She heard Angela scream her name, and she tried to answer but couldn’t. Emily now sat astride her like a bloodthirsty warrior, the other woman’s toned thighs pinned her to the frozen lake.
Another loud crack split the air, making Nina’s ears ring. She tried to scream but ice cold water flooded her mouth, and a moment later, the icy depths viciously dragging her down into a dark and cruel watery grave.
Chapter 18
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“Why did they leave without telling anyone?” Parker asked in bafflement.
At his father’s question, Hugh just shook his head. This was all his fault, he acknowledged bitterly. The reason they were was all shacked up in this snow cave was because he’d crashed their jet. Now his brother and Jake, their flight captain, had gone off to find Emily, Angela and Nina. Just thinking of Emily made him remember their co-pilot and husband Ben. It caused throbbing at his temples. He barely remembered what Ben had looked like, he’d only seen him briefly in the jet cabin before their flight took off, and he’d been drunk at the time. What he did remember, when he’d finally woken up from the crash was the deadened look in Emily’s eyes and the murderous look in Jake’s. Both those looks had been because of him, because of what he’d done in that jet. What everyone–including his father and brother–had said he’d done.
Spiral and Torn Books 1 and 2 of The Salzburg Saga Trilogy Page 13