Cramming it into her mouth, she turned, and –
Okay. IknowI closed and latched the window this time.
She stared at it, mouth full of ham, stomach churning with uneasiness.
After a moment she managed to swallow the ham, but the uneasiness remained.
She’d been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed the window when she re-entered the kitchen, so she couldn’t be sure whether it had already been open when she came back in – but surely it hadn’t been opened while she was in the room? Surely she would’ve heard it? The window was definitely a bit creaky.
Picking up a sharp knife from the bench, she approached the window carefully, before, heart in her throat, she stood on her tiptoes and leaned over to peer out.
Nothing. Nothing but the thin branches of the bare winter trees, and the snow on the ground far below. There was no way anyone could climb the trees all the way up here without snapping the tiny branches and plummeting to the ground, and the tall, green fir trees that were much sturdier were too far away. And in any case, how would they unlatch the window from the inside?!
A sudden gust of wind swept through the room, and the rustling of paper caught her attention. She turned, to see that Max’s notebook was now open, when it had most definitely been closed when she first got here. And Max’s fountain pen was sitting on the open page.
Swallowing hard, she closed the window behind her – for what good that would apparently do – before approaching the table, knife at the ready.
With no idea of what she might see, she leaned over the notebook to get a better look.
Written in an odd hand that definitely wasn’t Max’s were the words:
Come alone. I’ll know if you bring anyone else.
If you don’t come alone, I’ll kill him.
The knife clattered to the ground, but Poppy barely noticed through her sudden gasping breaths.
They’re going to kill Max? Who? What?!
Could this be some kind of prank, she thought wildly, as she whipped her head around as if whoever had written this would be standing in the corner laughing at her distress.
But no one knew she was here – hell,shehadn’t even planned on coming here, and none of her friends would put together such a cruel prank anyway.
And neither, she thought, would Max. She simply couldn’t believe it of him.
Perhaps he might set up a cute treasure hunt to lead her to him… and if the note had saidFind me here ;)she could believe he’d written it, though she doubted he’d lead her on some kind of sexy wild goose chase right after she’d been buried in snow and had to get medical attention.
But to do something designed to make her worry for his safety just to get her to come after him?
I might not have known him long, but I can’t imagine he’d do that.
Nothing about this made sense. Could someonereallyhave kidnapped Max? Poppy found the thought of him having enemies extremely unlikely, but could she really take the chance of just ignoring the note altogether? Would she only believe it once they started mailing body parts to the B&B??
In the sudden wave of horror that overtook her at that thought, it took her a moment to realize that there were some coordinates written below, and she quickly fumbled for her phone, looking them up. She didn’t know what she was going to do if she had to travel somewhere far away. Just how much would a cab to literallyanywherecost from here?!
Maybe Levi could fly me there,she thought, before dismissing the idea in irritation. Although, if it came down to it and Max had been taken somewhere she couldn’t reach, she would be willing to at least ask him. What would she have to lose? If Levi reallycouldfly, then she would be happy to swallow her pride and let him take her to Max. At least she’d have the satisfaction of thinkingHah! Iknewit!when Levi presumably had to admit he’d made the whole thing up.
It was moot in the end, though, because the coordinates turned out to be close to the B&B – only a couple of miles away, in what appeared to be a secluded wooded area. Her quickest option was definitely to walk straight there, and anyway, she’d been told to come alone.
As long as the area isn’t prone to avalanches,Poppy thought uneasily – but then she pushed the thought aside. She knew that Max needed her, and that was all that mattered.
She didn’t know how, or why, or what was going on, but sheknewit.
She knew she should call the police… but what would she say? That the window had opened itself, and a pen had magically started writing, all without her seeing it? They’d think shewas crazy, and would probably waste precious time grilling her instead of rescuing Max.
She took a few seconds to quickly finish off the ham and down a glass of water. There’d be no point in bursting in to rescue Max if she keeled over from hunger and dehydration a moment later.
Hesitating for only a moment, she slid the knife into its plastic cover, before placing it inside her purse. She wasn’t about to go incompletelyunarmed, after all.
