Chapter 16
Nick
The wind was finally dying down. Nick leaned back against the wall, Gina’s shoulder warm against his. Darkness pressed in around them, broken only by Joe’s flashlight illuminating the notebook in his lap.
Once they’d settled after the final ordeal and George’s death, the group, excluding Kelsey, moved the blankets, sleeping bags, and supplies into the hallway, shutting the dining room door behind them.
They set up the tent in the hallway, and Kelsey promptly claimed it, zipping it tight around herself. Nick tried to summon some sympathy but came up short. She might have believed she had no choice, yet he still held her responsible for putting them all at risk.
His gaze shifted to Brooke. She leaned against the wall with her eyes closed.
His cousin seemed to be holding up well.
The version of her from earlier, when she’d been shaken and spiraling over not finishing the trail run, had been replaced with someone intent on surviving.
That anxious stranger had faded, and in her place was the capable person he knew, the fierce woman who could handle anything.
Gina was similar—steady and sure of herself. Even with danger closing in, she’d fought like a warrior.
“Storm’s passing,” he said quietly.
Joe lifted his head from where he sat across the hall. He’d found a notebook in his truck and had been scribbling frantically for hours. “About time. I was starting to think we’d be stuck here forever.”
“Maybe it’ll stay gone this time,” Brooke added. “Not tease us like before.”
“Even if it does, we might still be stuck for a while,” Nick pointed out. “The road conditions are going to be rough. And there’s probably more than one tree down between here and town.”
Brooke shifted. “How long do you think before we can get out?”
“Depends on how bad it is. We know the river will be running fast. My rig can handle a lot, but too much water and downed trees could put us right back into danger.” Nick rubbed his face, feeling the exhaustion settling into his bones. “Tomorrow, maybe.”
The thought of spending the night in Bearwater didn’t appeal to any of them, but it was already dark, and they weren’t going anywhere. At least George was no longer a threat. Nick tried not to think about the body pinned under the massive tree just outside the front door.
“Med check,” Gina said, positioning herself so her shoulder was no longer touching his. The absence of her warmth was immediate and noticeable. His chest tightened. He’d known her for less than a day, but somehow she’d become essential. Not tomorrow. Not eventually. Now.
“I’m good,” Joe said from his position across the hall.
She nodded as she stood. “No doubt, but it’ll make me feel better to check you.” She raised her voice slightly and looked toward the tent. “Each of you. I want to make sure nobody’s developing hypothermia or going into delayed shock.”
Gina moved to Joe first, checking his pulse and looking at his fingernails. The altitude had hit him hard during the run, and the stress of the past few hours couldn’t have helped.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Alive, which is more than I expected a few hours ago.” Joe smiled, pen paused just above the lined paper of his notebook. “Thanks for defending me earlier, by the way. When that maniac was trying to make everyone suspicious of each other.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Gina said. “None of us did, except . . . ” She glanced toward Kelsey.
From inside the tent, Kelsey said, “Except me. I did everything wrong.”
“You saved our lives in the end,” Nick said. “That counts for something.”
“Does it? I put you all in danger in the first place. Used your friendship, your trust, your running group as a cover for criminal activity.” Kelsey’s voice was flat, defeated. “How do I come back from that?”
Nick knew what he wanted to say—that people made mistakes, that everyone deserved a second chance, that the circumstances had been complicated.
But looking at the faces around him, he wasn’t sure everyone felt the same way. He wasn’t even sure that was how he felt. The truth was, he blamed Kelsey and believed that blame to be justified.
“I don’t know,” Brooke said. “I honestly don’t know, Kelsey. You’ve been lying to us for months. Every run, every coffee, every time we hung out . . . you were using us.”
“I never wanted to use you,” Kelsey said desperately. “You have to believe that. The running group, our friendship—that was real. That was the only thing keeping me sane through all of this.”
Joe’s pen returned to his paper as he quickly scribbled something before looking up. “But it wasn’t real, was it? Not if you were thinking about drop sites and criminal meetings every time we met up.”
There was a long pause before her voice came again. “It was real to me.”
“Joe’s got a point,” Nick said. “Trust is hard to rebuild once it’s broken.”
There was a rustle from the tent as the zipper came open. Kelsey poked her head out. “So that’s it? I’m out? After everything we’ve been through together?”
“I don’t know,” Gina said, pausing as she moved to check Brooke. “That’s not a decision we can make right now. We’re all traumatized and exhausted. After we’ve had time to process everything . . . ”
“When the police start asking questions,” Kelsey added bitterly. “When the lawyers get involved and I’m facing criminal charges.”
The reality of their situation was sinking in.
They’d survived George, but the legal aftermath was just beginning.
Kelsey would be facing charges for theft, conspiracy, and possibly more.
The rest of them would be witnesses, their lives disrupted for months or years while the case worked its way through the system.
“We’ll figure it out,” Nick said, though he wasn’t sure how.
“Will we?” Kelsey’s laugh was hollow. “Look at you all. You can barely stand to be in the same room as me. And that’s before the media gets a hold of this story. Before everyone in town knows what I did.”
“The media is here,” Nick pointed to Joe, who was back to scribbling.
Without looking up, Joe nodded. “It’s an amazing story.”
“You’d do that to me?” Kelsey asked, her voice tight.
Brooke snickered. “You’re kidding, right? After what you did to us? The danger you put us in? Joe writing about it pales in comparison to us almost dying.” She tapped Joe’s foot with hers. “Let me know if you need a quote. I’m all in.”
“Wow,” Kelsey said. “What a friend you are.”
“Enough,” Gina said firmly. “Right now, we focus on getting out of here alive and in one piece. Everything else can wait.”
Nick appreciated her practical approach. They had more immediate concerns than Kelsey’s legal complications or Joe writing about what happened. They were still stranded in a damaged building, miles from help, with limited supplies and no communication.
The wind gusted again, but it lacked the sustained fury of earlier. The worst of the storm was definitely over.
“We should check the cars,” he said. “Make sure they’re not buried or damaged.”
“I’ll come with you,” Joe offered.
Nick nodded, though he would have preferred Gina to be the one who offered. Maybe they could pick up where they left off earlier. He looked in her direction, and she gave him a nod. “Be careful.”
The tone she used sent a rush of warmth through him.
They bundled up and stepped outside, flashlights lighting their way. The cold hit Nick like a physical blow, but at least the wind wasn’t trying to knock him over anymore. The snow came up to the top of his boots, deeper in the drifts, but not impossible to navigate.
George’s body was covered by the massive tree trunk, snow filling in around it. Nick tried not to look too closely as they made their way to where the vehicles were parked.
His SUV and Joe’s truck were both buried in snow but otherwise intact.
After clearing the tailpipes, they took turns starting them.
Both fired up easily, engines purring as they should.
Getting them out would take some effort, but they appeared drivable.
The real question was whether the road beyond would be passable.
“What do you think?” Joe asked, gesturing toward the track that led down the mountain.
Nick shook his head. With the storm having passed, the moon was providing some light but not enough for him to give an accurate assessment.
“We should assume that if one tree fell, others did too. I’ve got a folding saw in my emergency kit, but it’s only good for small limbs.” He motioned in the direction of the killer tree. “Something like that, and we’d need a chainsaw to even think about getting it out of the road.”
Joe nodded, his breath visible in the frigid air. “At least we’re alive to worry about it.”
“Yeah.” Nick kicked at the snow around his bumper. “How are you holding up? Really?”
“Honestly? I keep thinking about how close we came to dying. That tree missed us by inches.” Joe paused. “And I keep thinking about how George was right about some things. I am an outsider here. I was struggling to fit in even before all this happened.”
“You fit in fine,” Nick said. “You’re part of the group, especially after what we’ve all been through together.”
“Am I? Because it feels like the group is pretty shaken up. Like maybe there won’t be a group after this.”
Nick considered that. Joe might be right.
The Basin County Running Club had been built on friendship and trust, and Kelsey’s betrayal had damaged both.
Even if they all survived this, even if they eventually forgave her, things would never be quite the same.
Nick suspected Kelsey would, at the very least, lose her job and probably the ability to even practice law.
Even more likely was jail time and fines.
“Groups change,” Nick said finally. “That doesn’t mean they disappear.”
They made their way back to the hotel, shaking snow off their feet before entering the hallway. The others looked up expectantly.