Page 109 of The Family Guest

The mailbox is full and cannot accept any messages at this time. Goodbye.

I slapped one hand to my heart, the other to my mouth. My daughter’s life was in jeopardy! And it was all my fault.

My heart was pounding like a kettledrum. I had to warn her! Find her!

Frantic, I called the ski shop. Thank God someone picked up. I described Paige and Tanya, but she’d only seen “the rude girl in the pink ski outfit.” I immediately speed-dialed Tanya’s number. Several rings, then it went to voicemail. I knew she was deliberately not picking up. But even if she did, what would I say?

I know who YOU are…

And then, in my distraught state, I remembered the Find Me location-sharing app on my phone. I clicked it open. Hoping, praying Paige was back at the hotel or close to it. My heart plummeted. Rather than heading toward the hotel, the GPS tracker showed she was heading away from it. My only solace was the car was moving; fingers crossed they’d not been in an accident. And weren’t en route to the hospital Matt was taken to. I still hadn’t heard a word about his condition, but right now, it was the furthest thing from my mind.

My mind in a tailspin, I leaped up from the bed and paced the room, every frantic step driven by panic. Paige’s life was at stake! Every minute, every second counted. I was drowning in a sea of helplessness and hopelessness. Guilt and despair.

You’re going to pay for what you did.

One breath away from hyperventilating, I grabbed my bag and dug inside it in search of my Xanax. My heart almost stopped. The prescription bottle was there. But the gun was gone!

Only one person could have taken it.

Oh my God! Tanya! I’d foolishly left my bag with her at brunch.

Detective Mendez’s words spun in my head. There’s also a possibility she’s armed and dangerous.

Possibility was a euphemism.

The frightening truth is that she was.

SIXTY

NATALIE

Dressed head to toe in my ski clothes, I raced down the hallway and frantically banged on the door of the room Will was sharing with Paige. I had no one to turn to other than my son.

“Will, it’s Mom! Open up!” I rapped again and heard Bear bark.

My son came to the door quickly and opened it. Bear was standing beside him. He immediately saw the panic on my face.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

“Will, it’s Paige. She’s in her car with Tanya. Her life’s in jeopardy!” Spewing the words, I went on to tell him how I’d learned our exchange student was a dangerous sociopath, leaving out what else I knew about her.

Alarm filled my son’s eyes. “Mom, we have to go after her! Let’s find Dad. We’ll go with him in his car.”

“He’s not back from skiing,” I said, skipping over his life-and-death situation.

“What about the car rental place?”

“It’s closed because of the blizzard.” I told him calling for an Uber or Lyft was not an option either.

“Mom, I have an idea!”

My stomach a mass of knots, I listened intently and then hugged my brainiac son.

“Stay here! I’ll keep you posted!”

“No, Mom, I’m coming with you!” Before I could protest, he donned his cold-weather clothes. “And Bear’s coming too. He has a bone to pick with Tanya.” Without wasting a second, he slipped off the dog’s long red-leather leash from the doorknob and clipped it to his collar, then grabbed the scarf his sister had worn yesterday. “Plus, Bear can pick up Paige’s scent if she’s left her car.” Gripping the leash, he gave the dog a pat. “C’mon, boy. Let’s go!”

“No, Will!” I pleaded. “It’s too dangerous. Tanya has your father’s gun!”