“But you two went out together,” Jayce jumped in.
“We hit the first shed on the property. Didn’t find anything useful there. It was basically empty.”
“Okay.” Joel shifted his stance to the one he used when he questioned suspects. She’d seen it before.
“And then?” he continued.
“We thought we better come back. The blizzard’s fierce. It’s a total whiteout. It’s a wonder I even made it back.” He shivered and rubbed his arms.
“And Brady?” Kendra asked.
Hmm. Cassie sank down on the sofa arm. Maybe Kendra had a thing for Brady she hadn’t noticed before.
“I don’t know.” Lyle sighed. “He followed me out of the shed and then I lost him in the snow. I just figured we’d meet up here.”
“It’s been too long,” Izzy said. “Someone needs to go look for him.”
“I will,” Jayce offered.
“I’ll go with you,” Joel said, then cast his gaze at Cassie and mouthed,You okay?
Not atall. But she mouthedYesback.
He nodded, but his expression said he knew better.
“We should find a rope or even a twisted sheet, so we don’t lose each other,” Jayce said.
“Good idea, I’ll go get one.” Joel disappeared from the room and was back in a flash with two white sheets.
They’d seen them on all the beds in guest rooms. Cassie rubbed her arms as Devon finally got the fire lit. Light and warmth started to penetrate the space, but the room was too large for it to make a big dent.
Joel twisted the sheets together and tied knots in each end.
“If Brady got disoriented in the blizzard, who knows where he is,” Izzy said, more than a twinge of panic in her voice.
Of all of them, Brady, Mr. Outdoor-Adventure-Dude, should be the last to get lost out in a storm.
Cassie scanned the room, studying the faces, then realized they were missing one more. “Where’s Heath? Is he still out there?”
“Must be,” Nat said.
“So we have two out there,” Joel said. “I think anyone else who goes anywhere should go in pairs.”
“Surely we don’t have to go in pairs in the lodge,” Nat barked.
“It’s not a bad idea. It’s dark, the lodge is old, things are rickety, just humor me, okay?”
The majority in the room followed Cassie’s lead and nodded at Joel’s request.
Joel looked to his brother. “Ready?”
Jayce nodded.
“We’ll be right back,” Joel said, his words directed at Cassie as he passed by her.
She prayed he would. If anything happened to Joel it would be like losing him all over again. She was probably being ridiculously dramatic, but her emotions were in the agitation session of the washer—jolting back and forth—fear and love warring for her words and actions.
After checking the first shed and finding no trace of Brady, Joel and Jayce swapped their sheets for a strong rope they found in the shed, both tying one end around their waists, then they moved for the second building—heading straight into the driving storm. Snow crested thigh high and continued to pile by the second, it seemed.
