Trapped with the Blizzard (29 page)

“No? There’s a reason for the saying, ‘Don’t shoot the messenger.’ Don’t forget that.”

He casually rubbed my back with one hand, but didn’t respond.

“Why don’t we let the rumor mill take care of it?”

“Because they’ve been doing such a good job already? No, come on. Let’s get this over with.”

We’d chosen the central fireplace to speak from. The stone step gave us just enough height that we were visible from most everywhere. I jumped up and turned, readying myself to support Bryan up. He lifted his leg, winced, and shook his head. It was too high for him to comfortably climb and I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to chance it in front of everyone. From the floor, he got everyone’s attention.

“Excuse me? Hello! If you have a couple minutes, we have some news to pass along.”

Those who hadn’t noticed me jump up on the fireplace turned at Bryan’s voice. I continued the address since their eyes were now on me. “We have a few announcements to make, but first, the lovely Diane would like to speak.” I stepped back and helped her step up in front of the fire.

“There are some exciting games and activities for all the littlest ones who are too young to hear these announcements,” she started. She expertly kept her tone light and fun for the kids, despite the darker undertones. “Liz and Bryan have asked that if any parents would be willing to accompany their child to the playroom, they’d be happy to fill them in after the meeting has finished. I can also tell you the news privately if you’d rather not wait.”

As our eyes met, the strain of the situation was evident in her gaze. Ever the professional, she clung to her smile and upbeat voice like a life preserver. But I could see how terrified she was.

“We’ll be heading down there now if you all want to follow me!”

There were small conversations as couples broke apart, eyes darting up to me as they reluctantly left with their children. It took only a few minutes for the group to be guided from the room. I tried to figure out how to start and when Bryan gave me the all clear, I still had no clue.

Bryan gestured at my feet and I crouched to talk to him. “You have to be straight with them. They can handle the truth.”

I attempted to swallow the lump in my throat. “Okay, I think what we should…” I couldn’t even get the first sentence out before a voice in the crowd interrupted me.

“When’s the power comin’ back on?”

“I’m freezing my ass off here!” another agreed. “We should’ve just stayed home.”

I bit my tongue and waited for the comments to stop. I felt like a teacher glaring at a class of rowdy students. I must’ve looked like one, too, because after a moment, a hush came over the crowd.

“Here’s how this is going to work. I’m going to tell you what we know,
then
you can ask questions about anything I haven’t covered.” I couldn’t stop the bitchy tone taking over, but I’d had just about enough of everyone’s attitudes. No one complained, so I continued.

“As I was saying, the storm is predicted to end at some point before dawn. Of course, we aren’t out of the woods yet. Just because the snow stopped, doesn’t mean we don’t have to deal with wind, cold, and clean up.

“We’re in a state of emergency, so hopefully it won’t take too long for plows to reach us. That said… these are historic storm totals. We’ve lost count of how much we’ve already gotten and with all the drifting…” I glanced to the window behind me, the snow blown to an impossible height. Deeper and deeper, we were being buried by the storm.

“Latest reports are saying fourteen to fifteen feet,” Bryan yelled out. He gave me a pointed look, and I continued.

“So, obviously that’s going to take awhile to move.” I cleared my throat and looked down at the expectant faces. The weather was the easiest bit of news. Now came the hard stuff.

“The power is out permanently. We have no way of getting the generators back up and running, so we need to rely on the fires for heat. Food won’t be a problem because the ovens run on gas and we have plenty of water. Even if we run out of that, we can always melt snow.”

I paused, looking down at Bryan for courage. I had no idea how this last part was going to come out. Squeezing my eyes shut, I turned back to the crowd and let the words roll off my tongue.

“We have reason to believe the generators, the fire, and the sprinkler system were tampered with.” I opened my eyes to gauge their reactions. “It could be coincidence, but with the fires around town recently, I think it’s…”

“The arsonist is here?” a woman cried. “We need to do something! Call the police or…”

“There’s nothing they can do. We have to look out for ourselves now. We don’t know if it’s the arsonist or someone messing around with us, but it’s important we all stay alert. I’m not gonna lie. Tonight is going to be long, but we can get through it.”

I felt the lump grow in my throat, a surge of emotion blurring my vision. “That’s one thing I love about Tellure Hollow. You’re all so tough and resourceful. If anyone in the world can get through this…”

From my height, I saw Dani burst from the kitchen. The door slammed against the wall as she frantically looked around. For a moment, our eyes met, and she unleashed a shout. “I need help! He’s waking up!”

I jumped from the makeshift podium, the crowd parting to let Bryan and me rush through. Dusty and Melinda were right on our heels. By the time we reached Miah, Dani had circled to the other side of the table and protectively held his hand
.

“He just started to wake up,” she said as she looked down at him.

The medics pushed past us and immediately set about checking his vital signs, rattling off questions in clipped voices. With a hand held over my mouth, I leaned into Bryan and watched the scene unfold. When Miah opened his eyes and scanned the room, it was like releasing a breath I hadn’t been aware I was holding. The pain in my chest eased, the weight on my shoulders lighter.

Dusty approached us while Melinda continued to ask Miah questions. “He’s going to be fine. Looks like just a nasty knock to the head, no other injuries.”

“Oh, thank God for that,” I said with a big exhale. He had a lot more color in his face than before.

“Can we talk to him?” Bryan asked.

“He needs to rest, but there shouldn’t be any harm in talking with him. He was asking for you, actually.”

“Thank you for everything. I don’t know what we would’ve done without you,” I said, giving his arm a squeeze.

With three or four blankets wrapped around his shoulders, Miah sat in a chair sipping warm tea. Dani stood behind him protectively, glaring at me as if I were a threat. Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg sat beside, doting on him, obviously filled with guilt.

He looked alert but grim as we drew close. “Doc said you were the one who found me,” he murmured to Bryan.

“We were all looking for you. Just glad we could help.”

The men shared an emotional silence. I could see the tears welling up in both their eyes as they nodded to each other.

“I owe you one, thanks.”

“Dusty said you wanted to talk to us?” I guided the conversation on.

“Yeah, I thought while it’s fresh in my mind I should tell someone about what I remember.”

“You really don’t have to…” Dani said as she reached for his shoulder. He touched her fingers and slowly looked up. “I do. If anything can help…”

I pulled up a chair and sat close, resisting the urge to reach for his hand. Dani probably would’ve torn my arm from the socket. “That’s absolutely right. What do you remember? Anything at all. Smells, sounds, a voice.”

After the day he’d had, I didn’t feel completely great about questioning him. On the other hand, I couldn’t shake the feeling we were running on borrowed time. Everything on the list we’d taken from Gary had already come true. I didn’t think this attack was premeditated, so maybe the people behind this had made a mistake. His gaze grew distant, unfocused.

“I needed to blow off some steam, so I went outside to help clear the sidewalks. I don’t know how long I was out there for, but I remember getting hot and sweaty. The snow was heavy. I took my jacket off and threw it down… I can’t remember where.”

He drifted away. I gave him a few minutes to collect his thoughts but drew him back by touching his knee.

“Did you see anyone?”

He blinked back to me. “No, no one else. The snow’s so tall, I couldn’t throw it up high enough. It’d just fall down the sides, so I pushed it along like a plow. It was so quiet…

“And that was the problem. With the snow, I didn’t hear anyone come up from behind. One second, I was walking along and the next, I was on my hands and knees on the ground. I remember seeing a few drops of blood hit the snow, which really tripped me out.” He chuckled softly. “I’m not very fast on the uptake, huh?”

I glanced up to Dani, her somber face cast in shadows from the camping lanterns. She didn’t seem to be taking any of this well and I got the sense I didn’t have a full picture.

“He hit me with something pretty hard. I think I saw a blur come across from the side.” He moved his arm as if blocking an attack from above. “The next thing I remember is someone trying to smother me. I think he was using my own jacket… at least, I remember seeing red when it slipped loose a couple times. I fought him. I clawed at him as hard as I could, but I was too weak…”

He trailed off again, his voice cracking at the end. My heart absolutely broke for him. I empathized too well what that sort of helplessness felt like. He moved to run his hand through his hair and stopped short when met with the large bandage.

“Do you remember anything about the attacker? His voice? Maybe a watch or something you felt on his wrist. Anything,” I gently prodded.

Miah clenched his jaw. “No. I blacked out. The next thing I remember was being lifted into that chair out front. I remember…” I watched as his eyes narrowed and then went wide. “Wait! You said you found me with my coat on?”

Bryan nodded. “Yeah, it’s how we spotted you.”

“I
know
I didn’t have it on when he attacked me. I have this weird memory of him tucking something into the pocket… Dani, do you have it? Do you have my coat?”

“Yeah, it’s around here,” she said as she disappeared into the shadows. “It’s a little bloody,” she said with a catch in her throat.

“Here, lemme see it.” Miah tore it from her hands and desperately searched each pocket. “I know there was… ah!” he declared as he pulled a folded letter out. He frowned as he read it. Dani scoffed and turned away in disgust after reading over his shoulder.

I think a small part of me had clung to the hope that it was really a series of horrible coincidences. Even with the family cabin and Walt’s shop burning down, along with all the other buildings, I couldn’t fully accept the possibility of the arsonist in our own midst. But when Miah handed me that letter, all hope was dashed.

The arsonist was trapped with us at Powder Mountain.

Powder Mountain

$35 million + 3 years…

“Do you want anything? Water? I could make you another tea or hot chocolate?”

“I’m good, really. My head is pounding and I would kill for a shower, but you can’t do much about that. Just sit, it’s fine,” Miah said. He lifted the blanket with his arm and I settled back in against his body.

I couldn’t stop doting on him, checking to make sure he was fine every five seconds. The guilt was overwhelming, but I didn’t have the courage to admit it. Instead, I tried to force feed him, get him drinks, anticipate any possible need.