Maeve takes a breath and tries again: “If it’s only a matter of hours to reach the village, then why hasn’t any help arrived so far?” She rocks back a little as though she’s already anticipating a fight. “What if the situation is worse than we’ve imagined? What if High Water village is—”

Justin gestures for her to spit it out.

“What?”

“Buried,” Maeve says finally. “I don’t think we’d want to find ourselves stranded out there in the dark.”

Dan cracks his neck, impatient. It irritates her.

“Lots of good reasons we haven’t had a crew up here yet,” he says. “Maybe the road is blocked down at the village too and they’re waiting for help themselves. We’d be next in line.”

He pauses just long enough for Maeve to open her mouth to respond—then he cuts her off again.

“Or it could mean they were evacuated.”

“Still a better chance of a radio signal down there,” Karo says, her tone rising. “Or cell service, even. Or—”

“Or we keep going farther down,” Dan says. Smooth and even. “We go until we find someone.”

Sadie sighs audibly, pen still poised in hand. “We’re wasting time,” she says. “And daylight.”

“If we can get down, we can get help back up here,” Dan says. He turns to Karo as though the conversation with Maeve never happened. “I’ll guide them myself.”

There’s a bristling energy among them all. Everyone wants to be first to see that rescue crew. First off the mountain. Justin almost bouncing on his feet. Only Sim has gone quiet: he’s looking down at the map curiously, as if he’s picking out some detail that no one else sees.

Maeve weighs the possible outcomes, reversing her position over and over. What if she’s overreacting? At least heading down the mountain is movement. Action.

But what if the village is evacuated when they get there? She corrects herself: If they get there. And there’s no signal after all. A night in an icebound tent, or two nights.

And one of them—maybe—Anna’s killer.

It feels as though her heart is not beating inside her, but trembling. Like she might throw up. She takes a deep breath and expels it slowly.

Sadie taps her pen, starting to lose her cool.

Karo reaches over to pat her hand, stilling it.

“Dan’s right,” Karo says. “I never meant to suggest we should all go. It’s too much of a risk, especially once it gets dark.”

“Two of us,” Dan says. “I really think it’s better.”

Safer to go or safer to stay here? It’s not about getting home faster. It’s about getting home at all. At least the center is a kind of shelter.

A shelter with doors that lock.

“I’ll stay behind,” Maeve says. Her voice wavers: the words pushed out before she can change her mind. The others pause. Sim, his focus back on Maeve now, gives her a slow nod.