“Nat’s right. Why don’t you both come over to the fire, and we’ll figure out the next course of action. Vasily wants to leave too. Perhaps he knows a safe way of navigating this place at night.”
The idea of stumbling around in the dark, with who knows what behind them or in front of them, made her shudder. But how could she possibly spend another night at the campsite? It was becoming a graveyard.
“I want to apologize for the whole trolling thing. It wasn’t the right way to go about it, and I’m sorry if my actions eroded any trust you might have had in me.” Steven took off his cap, running a hand through his dark hair. “I’ve been trying to get someone to investigate my great-aunt’s death for years, without any luck, and I’d listened to Nat’s Mysterious World long enough to know Nat didn’t back away from a dare. I thought it was worth a shot, but I now see that it was wrong, and I’m sorry.”
“Why didn’t you go on your own? It’s not like you needed any of us.” She refused to accept his apology. He’d made her life a living hell, and now he was at least indirectly responsible for three deaths. He didn’t deserve to be forgiven.
“I didn’t have the experience with this sort of thing, the budget, or the equipment. Sure, I probably could have made it to Vizhai and hired my own guide, but then I wouldn’t have proper witnesses, either. And after what I saw in California, I wanted to make sure I did this time.”
“Honestly? I think you’re only sorry you got caught. You kept the Cliff thing going for over a year. If you felt at all remorseful about it, there were plenty of opportunities to redeem yourself, but no. You antagonized us because you got off on it.” Nat’s jaw clicked and she realized she’d been clenching her teeth. She had to calm down before she slugged the guy.
“You do seem to enjoy provoking people, judging by how you’ve behaved on this trip,” Andrew added.
“I never mean to. It’s a character flaw. I rub people the wrong way.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s a cop-out. That makes it sound like it’s an accident. You deliberately sniped at everyone, every chance you got. And don’t think I didn’t hear you arguing to leave me behind.” As Andrew glowered at Steven, Nat wanted to cheer. It was about time someone other than her dressed this guy down. He’d been a thorn in their side from the beginning.
“That wasn’t very compassionate of me, I admit. But I was only thinking of what was best for the group as a whole.”
At his attempt to portray himself as altruistic, Nat lost it. “Bullshit. Since when have you cared about the group? If you really wanted to find out what happened to your aunt, there’s no way you’d want to leave now. These murders are obviously recreations of what happened in 1959. The longer we stay, the closer you get to finding the truth.”
“Sure, I’d love to find out what happened to my aunt, but I’m not suicidal. In spite of my fears, I had no idea any of us were at risk, not really. Once Joe and Anubha died, it wasn’t worth it anymore.”
“How do we know you’re not doing this yourself? You admit you’re obsessed with the case. You’re the only one, other than Vasily, who had the opportunity to kill Joe, Anubha, and Lana.” Andrew’s voice broke when he said Lana’s name, and tears welled in Nat’s own eyes. “You’re the only one with a motive.”
Steven raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious? I want to find out what happened to my aunt, and that’s enough of a motive to murder three people? You can’t actually believe that.”
“Maybe your aunt’s death isn’t the motive. Maybe you killed Joe and Anubha because of your run-in with them the other night,” Nat said. “Lana could have spurned your advances.”
“Trust me, there were no ‘advances,’ and if there had been, she wouldn’t have spurned them.”
“You conceited asshole.” She’d never wanted to strangle someone so much in her life.
“I’m not being conceited. Like you mentioned, we were fond of each other. But she lived in Canada; I’m in California. What would have been the point of starting anything?”
“I’d like to think she had better taste.”
Steven winced. “Ouch. Hey, I get you’re both pissed at me, and I don’t blame you. I probably deserve everything you can throw at me—”
“Probably?” Andrew asked.
“Okay, I definitely deserve it. But I came in here to make peace, to see if there’s some way we can get past this. Let’s not forget that something out there is picking us off one by one, and this is what it wants. The more we turn on each other, the easier it will be for them to eliminate us.”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “Them? You’re not still pretending you believe this yeti theory, are you?”
“Here. I want to show you something.” Reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket, the mountaineer withdrew a folded sheet of paper and handed it to Nat. It was a copy of a photograph, a famous photograph she’d seen before, the one that had been found in the camera in Dyatlov’s tent. This version had been enhanced, which hadn’t helped much. It still looked like a man in a snowsuit in the cedar forest. All the enhancement had accomplished was reveal a bit more detail in the clothing. It remained fairly fuzzy. “Check out the material of his suit. Doesn’t it look like it could be hide, like Vasily described?”
Nat peered at the picture before handing it to Andrew. “Maybe. But I don’t see what that has to do with anything. It could have been a member of their group, or another tribe—anything.”
“If that doesn’t convince you, how about this?” Steven passed Nat his phone. On the display was a close-cropped photo of a bruised hand, the fingers curled into a fist. Her stomach lurched.
“This isn’t funny.”
“I don’t mean for it to be. Look between her fingers, Nat.”
Swallowing hard over the lump that had formed in her throat, Nat examined the photo closely. It took a few seconds, but finally she saw what Steven had been getting at. Lana clutched a small piece of animal fur. It looked like part of a pelt. Or, perhaps, a homemade snowsuit.
“That doesn’t prove anything. It could even mean an animal attacked her,” Nat said.
“Except there were no tracks. No bite marks. And aside from the bruising, her body was in perfect condition. What kind of animal would do that?”
“I hate to interrupt this argument, but while you two are bickering, we’re losing daylight. Something killed Joe, Anubha, and Lana, and I think we can all agree that we need to get the fuck out of here while we can.”
Before either of them could respond to Andrew, a shadow loomed over the tent, making Nat jump.
“Hello, guys? We have a problem.”
She sighed. Great. What else was new? There had been nothing but problems on this trip. Pushing past Steven, she pulled the flap aside. “What is it, Igor?”
The Russian’s eyes were red and raw, as though he had been crying. “Our skis are missing. While we were with Lana, someone must have taken them.”
~ Chapter Fourteen ~
It was a much-diminished group that gathered around the fire that evening, staring gloomily into the flames while the skies darkened.
And then there were five.
“We’ll have to walk down, yah?” Igor kicked at a stray ember, which fizzled in the snow. The temperature had dropped dramatically, and even near the blaze it was uncomfortably cold.
“We can’t. The snow is too deep in places, and it will take us too long. And what if there’s a storm? We’d die,” Steven said.
“We’ll die for sure if we stay here.” Andrew sounded so resigned Nat worried he’d lost the will to live. While his coloring and breathing had improved, and his mind appeared as sharp as ever, his spirit was lacking. And he probably needed that to survive more than anything.