Cole slammed the door shut and twisted the deadbolt lock. He backed away from the door, and then he turned and looked at the others with wide eyes of shock.
“What’s wrong?” Jose asked. “You find Frank?”
“He’s gone,” Cole said in a hoarse voice.
“Yeah, no shit,” Jose said. “We can see that.”
“No, I mean he’s … just gone.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
They all followed Cole through the snow, all of them bundled up in their coats, hats, and gloves. Cole stopped when they got close to the trees. He pointed down at the snow.
They gathered around, all of them careful to stay away from the set of footprints in the snow. The footprints led from the cabin almost to the woods. About twenty feet before the woods, the footprints stopped, like the person took a step, and then he was gone.
“I don’t understand,” Jose said as he scratched at his head underneath his knit cap. He looked around. “It’s like something picked him up right off the snow.”
No one said anything.
Jose looked at the line of dark trees looming in front of them, the unending forest beyond the first line of trees. “This doesn’t make any sense,” he continued.
Stella and David stood away from the group of men, closer to the trees. David stood in front of Stella, and Stella’s hands were on his shoulders. David pulled away from her and walked towards the trees, staring at them with a fierce intensity.
“Honey,” Stella said as David took another step through the snow towards the trees. David didn’t turn around at the sound of her voice.
“What’s wrong with him?” Jose asked.
Needles watched David. “It’s like that kid can see something in the woods.”
Needles hurried through the snow towards David, a sudden rage on Needles’ face. “That kid can see something in the woods!”
Stella jumped in between David and Needles, an animal-like look of protectiveness on her face. “You stay away from him,” she growled.
Needles stopped, but he wasn’t letting it go. “What’s wrong with that kid? What’s he see in those woods?”
Cole stepped over to Needles; Cole’s hands hung at his sides like a gunfighter’s hands, ready to grab at his gun in a flash if he needed to. “Needles, back away from that kid.”
Needles looked around, nodding his head quickly. “There’s something wrong with those two. I don’t know why you guys can’t see that.”
Cole ignored the babble from Needles as he trudged through the snow and stood beside David and looked at the woods, trying to see what David was seeing. He looked down at David. “You see something in there, kid?”
David looked up at Cole and stared at him with his large dark eyes. He didn’t nod yes or shake his head no. He didn’t say anything; he just walked back to Stella and grabbed her hand again.
Stella just shrugged.
Cole looked up at the sky. Darker clouds were moving in fast, promising a lot more snow. “Let’s get back inside.”
The men sat around the dining room table, all of them sipping cups of coffee. Stella sat beside David on the couch. David had eaten half his bowl of oatmeal, but then he didn’t want any more.
Cole looked at the other men at the table. “I want to know what made Frank get up in the middle of the night and leave.”
“You think those are his footprints?” Trevor asked.
“Who else’s would they be?” Cole asked.
Trevor shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he heard something in the middle of the night. Or he saw something. He went out there to check it out.”
“He would’ve woken us up,” Cole said.
“Then maybe he ran,” Trevor answered.
All eyes were on Trevor. For a moment a tense silence blanketed the room.
“Frank wouldn’t run out on us,” Jose growled.
“Hey, I’m just exploring possibilities,” Trevor said. “Besides, this is a different situation we’re in now.” Trevor’s eyes rested on Needles. “We’ve never had a murder rap hanging over our heads before.”
Needles stared at Trevor, but he didn’t say anything.
“Even with a murder rap,” Jose said, “Frank wouldn’t run.” Jose stared right at Trevor. “But I have a theory – maybe somebody did something to Frank in the middle of the night.” Jose’s eyes were still locked on Trevor. “Somebody with a lot to gain.”
Trevor stared right back at Jose. “You trying to say something, Jose? Go ahead and spit it out.”
“Come on, you two,” Cole said. “Let’s think about this for a minute. Frank leaves in the middle of the night without his hat or coat.”
“Or his share of the money,” Jose offered.
“Or his share of the money,” Cole repeated. “Then he walks straight from the cabin to the woods. And then his footprints just stop.”
“Maybe somebody else got him,” Trevor said. “He heard something, went out there to check it out and someone got him.”
“Have to be a bad motherfucker to take Frank,” Jose stared at Trevor.
“You mean like the bad motherfucker that tore a guy’s eyes out and stuffed him in a freezer?” Trevor answered.
Cole leaned back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair as he exhaled a deep breath. “This shit doesn’t make any sense. There’s no sign of struggle anywhere. If somebody got to Frank, we would’ve heard something. Frank yelling. Gunshots. Something.”
“I slept like a rock,” Trevor told them.
“Me too,” Cole added. “It was like I passed out.”
Needles chuckled. They all looked at him. Needles sat back in his chair, the wood creaking. He laughed harder now. “Nobody’s going to say it, are they?” he said through his laughter.
“Needles …” Cole started.
“No, Cole,” Needles snapped, his laughter cut off suddenly. His eyes blazed with fear and insanity. “People just don’t go out in the middle of the night and walk into the woods. People don’t just disappear in mid-step. Something’s wrong here. Really wrong.”
They were all quiet for a moment. Needles took a deep breath, like he was trying to control himself and he continued. “Something took Frank. Not someone, it was some-thing.”
“Needles, don’t start with that shit again,” Cole warned.
“You guys know it’s the truth,” Needles said, almost under his breath. “You’re going to realize it before long.”
Cole got up and took his coffee cup to the kitchen. He poured another cup of coffee, spooned a few teaspoons of sugar into it and stirred it – the sounds were loud in the quiet cabin.
Trevor glanced at Needles, at Stella and David, then back at Cole. “Cole, maybe Needles is right.”
Cole turned and stared at Trevor. “There’s got to be some kind of rational explanation here,” Cole told him.
“I’m not seeing any rational explanations.” Trevor glanced around at the others for a moment, and then he looked back at Cole. “Maybe it’s time we thought about getting out of here.”
“I think we should look for Frank,” Jose spat out.
“Frank’s gone!” Trevor shouted. “He ran. When are you going to get that through your head?!”
Trevor and Jose jumped to their feet; their chairs tipped backwards and fell over on the hardwood floor. They glared at each other, ready to fight. Cole rushed back into the dining room and stepped in between them. “That’s enough,” he said as he stared at each of them. “We’re not going to fight each other.”
Neither of them said a word as they grabbed their chairs and sat back down. Cole went back to the kitchen counter for his cup of coffee. He took a sip as he walked back into the living room. He stared at Stella and David. “What about you?” he asked Stella. “Did you hear anything last night?”