Return to Dyatlov Pass

~ Chapter Eleven ~

Nat’s eyes fluttered open. It took her a moment to remember where she was. She sat bolt upright and regretted it immediately as the blood rushed from her head, making her dizzy.

Beside her, Andrew snored softly, his breathing deep and even. His color was better, and he wasn’t making that nasty wheezing sound any longer. All good signs. Still, something nagged at her. What was it?

Lana. The Olympian was supposed to have shared a tent with them, but there was no sign she’d ever arrived. The flap was partly unzipped, the way Nat had left it the night before. Shit.

Struggling to free herself from her sleeping bag, she tried to tell herself there were lots of innocent explanations for Lana’s absence. Maybe she’d decided to stay with Steven—Nat had detected more than a few sparks between them. Or perhaps it was too crowded in here and she had decided to remain in her own tent. There was no need to panic.

Tell that to her heart, which was fluttering like a crazed bird bent on escape.

Finally yanking her boots free of the sleeping bag, Nat lifted the tent flap, wincing at the blast of wintery air. It was definitely getting colder. At least they’d be leaving today. The trick was surviving one more night on the mountain, and then they’d be back in their cozy hotel, planning the long journey home.

She could hardly wait to eat a meal that hadn’t come out of a foil packet.

Igor sat beside the fire, idly stirring the embers with a stick. The flames weren’t as high as they had been last night, but she could feel the warmth from a few feet away. The pile of kindling had dwindled. That would need to be the first order of business, after she made sure Lana was okay.

He grinned when he saw her approach. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Igor. Did you sleep well?”

“Shockingly, yes. I must have been more tired than I thought. How about you?”

“Too well, apparently.” At his look of confusion, Nat hurried to explain. “I wanted to stay awake until Lana came in, but I must have fallen asleep. Have you seen her this morning?”

“No. Is she not in your tent?”

“It doesn’t look like she ever joined us. I guess she decided to stay in hers. Can’t say I blame her. It would have been very crowded with the three of us.”

“Doesn’t matter. We needed to stick together; that’s what we decided. She should have stayed with you.”

“I’m going to check on her, make sure she’s okay. That’s all I care about right now.”

Dread loomed over Nat as she walked to the woman’s tent. Next to the Mansi’s, it was closest to the forest. Craning her neck, she tried to see if the plate of food Steven had left was empty, but it was too far away.

“Lana?” Nat kept her voice low, not wanting to wake Steven and Vasily if she didn’t have to. “Lana, are you in there?”

There was no response, but she hadn’t expected any. The Olympian had been so scared about staying alone last night. She wouldn’t have done it willingly. Kneeling, Nat unzipped the tent, shaking off the feeling she was intruding. Lana had given up the right to privacy when she hadn’t joined them.

Part of her, a tiny, ugly part that would always be tormented by Anubha’s ruined face, had expected to find some awful scene, but Lana’s tent was neat. Neat and empty, except for a note. The blonde had folded it so it stood up on its own like a place card.

This was good. Murder victims didn’t have time to write letters. But where was Lana’s stuff? Nat had a feeling that whatever Lana had to say, it wasn’t going to make her happy. Pulling off a glove with her teeth, she unfolded the paper.

I’m sorry but I can’t stay here. I’ve gone on to the second camp, where Nat and Igor stayed with Andrew on the first night. I’ll wait there for one day, but if I don’t see you, I’ll continue on to Vizhai and meet you there. Forgive me.

“That stupid bitch. That stupid, selfish bitch.”

“Nat?” Igor called her from right outside the tent, making her jump. “Is everything all right?”

“She left us. She fucking left us.”

There was a rustling sound as Igor poked his head inside. “What do you mean, ‘left us’?”

“See for yourself.” Nat waved her arms at the empty tent before thrusting the note into the Russian’s hand. “How she got past Steven is beyond me. Unless he was in on it.”

Then she heard the voice of the man himself. “What’s going on? What happened?” The mountaineer pulled the flap aside and stared at them, his face drawn and anxious.

“Lana left. She went to the second camp without us,” Igor said, passing Steven the letter.

“You must have seen her leave,” Nat said, trying and failing to keep the accusation out of her voice. “She would have had to pass you.”

“Well, I didn’t. Obviously. If I’d seen her, she wouldn’t have gotten very far.” The mountaineer scowled. “What a colossally stupid risk to take. She could have broken her neck, navigating that slope at night.”

With Igor crouched beside her and Steven blocking the entrance, Nat felt claustrophobic. She pushed past the two men, grateful for the fresh air outside, even though it was freezing. They followed her out. “Maybe she left in the morning. At dawn, before I woke up and saw she was missing. She might not be too far ahead.”

“That would have been Igor’s shift. Did you hear or see anything?” Steven asked.

The Russian’s cheeks reddened. “I might have closed my eyes for a little bit. Just a little bit. I’m sorry; I have been so tired.”

Steven’s jaw tightened, but before he could speak, Nat laid a hand on his arm.

“To be fair, the idea was to tend the fire, not to make sure no one escaped from camp. What’s done is done. There’s no point getting into a debate about whose fault this is.”

“But you were more than willing for it to be mine.”

Damn, did nothing get past this guy? “True, but that was more your relationship with her than anything else. I thought she might have confided in you.”

“What relationship? We didn’t have a relationship.” Steven’s eyebrows rose until they all but disappeared under his hat.

“Sorry if I misunderstood. I only meant you two were friends. She seemed to talk to you more than anyone else.”

“If she did, I didn’t notice. In any case, I would never have gone along with this, friend or not. If she were insistent, I would have woken everyone up and split us into groups. It’s not safe for anyone to wander around out here alone. I don’t care how experienced they are.”

Igor stamped his feet to warm them. “So, what do we do now? Do we go after her?”

“No. It was her decision to take off. She can cool her heels for a while. Nat, I’m sorry I called you selfish yesterday. Wanting to stay with Andrew isn’t selfish. This is selfish.”

She was taken aback by the mountaineer’s apology. “It’s okay.”

“It might be worth seeing if Vasily is willing to catch up with her after breakfast, but I’m still of a mind that we shouldn’t separate any more than we already have. Vasily is our guide, the one who knows the most about these mountains. If something happens to him—”

Nat shivered. “Don’t even think it.”

“And we have Andrew’s condition to consider,” Steven continued. “Is he awake?”

“He wasn’t when I got up, but he was looking a lot better. His breathing sounded better too.”

“Good.” He clapped her on the shoulder. “See, things are looking up. She should have waited. Why don’t I make some breakfast, and we’ll see how everyone feels once we’ve eaten?”

“Sounds like a plan. Did you check the plate?” Though Nat wasn’t sure she believed in the snowmen, she couldn’t help being curious.

“Not yet. I’ll do that right now. Igor, can you gather some firewood? I’ll need a bit more heat if I’m going to cook.”

“Yah, sure.”

Nat followed the Russian into the brush. It was better than sitting at the fire alone. Her nerves were on edge. First Anubha and Joe, and now Lana. What was with people taking off? She was beginning to think Steven might end up being the best team player they had, and how scary was that?

“Sorry, Nat.”

“For what?” Meeting the Russian’s eyes, she was surprised to see how miserable he looked, like his dog had died.

“For falling asleep. I should have been awake. I should have caught her.”

“It’s not your fault. None of us signed up for this, and we’re all running on empty. It could have happened to anyone. Besides, even if you had caught her, there’s not much you could have done.”

“I could have held her down until you woke up.” His mouth curved in a half smile.

“Maybe, but at the end of the day, we’re all adults. If she was determined to leave, we wouldn’t have any right to stop her. What if something had happened to us in the night, and by leaving, she was the only survivor? I’m sure she thought she was doing the right thing.”

Nat hoped she sounded more convincing than she felt. In truth, she could have cheerfully strangled the woman. Lana was the one who’d known the most about altitude sickness. How were they supposed to monitor Andrew’s condition without her?

“I feel bad. I think I could have talked her out of it,” Igor said.

“Try not to worry about it. We’ll meet up with her soon enough.”

Their arms full of branches and twigs, they made their way back to the fire where Steven waited. The mountaineer held up an empty plate as they approached. “Check it out. It’s been licked clean. I think the peace offering worked.”

“Assuming the snowmen took it, yah,” Igor said, kneeling to pile new sticks on the fire.

“We’re alive, aren’t we? I’d call that an unqualified success.”

“Vasily’s okay?” Nat realized she hadn’t seen the Mansi yet.

“Alive and well. He went into the bush to take care of some business, if you know what I mean.” Steven grinned.

Nat wrinkled her nose. “Enough said. I guess I should wake Andrew.”

“You can, or you can wait until breakfast’s ready.” Scanning the directions on the pack of breakfast burritos, Steven stretched his neck with a groan. “Should take about fifteen minutes.”

“In that case, I should start now. He’s a slow riser.”

Which was true, but more importantly, Nat was eager to share the news about Lana. Maybe Andrew would have a better idea of what they should do.

When she entered the tent, her friend was already awake, staring at the ceiling.

“Well, look who’s up. Good morning.”

He didn’t answer. It was as though she hadn’t said a word. She moved closer, shuffling on her knees until she was beside him. “Andrew? What’s wrong? Do you feel sick?”

“I knew I recognized his voice. It was so familiar. I knew I’d heard it before. I just couldn’t place it.”

The feeling of dread returned with a vengeance. Had Andrew lost his mind? Was that a symptom of altitude sickness? She seemed to recall reading that people who had it couldn’t think clearly. “What are you talking about?”

He focused on her then, as if seeing her for the first time. “I’m sorry, Nat. I should have figured it out sooner.”

“Figured out what? Andrew, you’re scaring me.”

“Everything okay in there?” Steven called from the fire.

“Everything’s fine,” Nat yelled back. She touched her friend’s cheek, willing him to look at her again. “It is fine, isn’t it?”

“Nat, does his voice sound at all familiar?” Andrew whispered, his words a harsh rasp.

“Who, Steven’s? Not really.” But that wasn’t exactly true. She remembered that first night at the restaurant in Vizhai, how she’d felt like she’d met him before. “Why?”

“Something about him has always bugged me. Well, besides the obvious. And I finally realized what it was this morning, lying here, listening to him talk.”

“What is it? Did you meet him somewhere?” It didn’t make sense. If they’d had a prior connection to Steven, why wouldn’t he have mentioned it during his interview? Surely it would have improved his chances of getting on the team.

“Not in person, no. But I’ve talked to him, and so have you.”

“I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re getting at. Spit it out, before they send a search party after us.”

“Don’t you get it? Steven is Cliff. He’s the troll who’s been tormenting you for months.”