Chapter 67
Maggie peered through the cabin window. Outside, the fog had swallowed the visibility. She could no longer see the mountain peaks or ridge. It felt as if the cabin were floating in cloud, unanchored.
“They’ve been gone too long,” Maggie said.
“Something isn’t right,” Helena agreed. “I need to go and look for them.”
“No!” Maggie said, turning too quickly, a bolt of pain shooting down her ankle. “Not on your own. It’s too dangerous.”
From the corner of the cabin, Erik lifted his head. “I’ll go with you.”
Maggie and Helena looked at one another, both silently communicating the same question: Can we trust Erik?
A whole village didn’t—and yet, his reaction to Karin’s bracelet and the cocaine seemed genuine. She wanted to believe that he would help. She needed to believe it.
His dark eyes flicked between them, fingers moving to the tattoo on his neck, which he scratched distractedly.
Helena looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. “Okay. Let’s go then.”
“Are you sure?” Maggie asked, her head swimming with misgivings.
She nodded. Then Helena crossed to the cabin door, wincing as she pushed her feet into her hiking boots.
Erik, who’d been rummaging in his backpack, pulled something from it and tucked it within the pocket of his jacket.
“What was that?” Maggie asked, glimpsing something metal.
“Penknife,” he said. “Better to be ready.”
For what? she thought, catching Helena’s eye.
Helena moved toward Maggie, giving her a quick hug. “We’ll be back soon.”
Face pressed into Helena’s hair, she whispered, “Are you sure we can trust Erik?”
Helena, lips close to Maggie’s ear, said, “We only trust each other.” As Helena pulled away, she instructed in a normal voice, “Lock the door behind us, okay?”
Maggie nodded.
She watched from the doorway as they walked away from the cabin, Erik’s bare calves lean and muscular, Helena trying to keep stride, her trousers mud streaked from the day before.
The fog was so thick that it was only a matter of meters before their outlines grew fainter, eventually disappearing like specters.
Maggie pulled the cabin door shut.
The silence was complete, disconcerting. She could hear nothing except her own heartbeat and the light mountain wind whispering outside.
She slid the bolt into place with a clunk.