Was she still alive?
Josie felt an involuntary shiver work its way up her spine. She turned onto the service road that would lead them to the old fish ladder, now the water release chute on the other side of Russell Haven Dam. Here, the woods were much thicker, revealing nothing of their surroundings but what the headlights illuminated.
She thought about the message on Amber’s windshield. Who had left it? Why leave it there? Why not slip a note under her front door? So she would be sure to see it when she left the house? Even if she had missed it while walking to the car, once she sat in the driver’s seat, it would surely have been visible—assuming she got into her car in the morning which was when it would be most visible, scratched into the frost. The question then became, when did she see it? If she saw it at all…
Along the access road, they passed one of what Josie knew were many signs that led to this side of the Russell Haven Dam. DANGER, it read. WATER LEVEL RISES SUDDENLY WITH EXTREME TURBULENCE.
“What time does Amber usually leave for work?” Josie asked.
Startled from his thoughts, Mettner’s head whipped toward her. “What?”
“In the morning, what time does Amber usually leave her house for work? Do you know?”
“Seven, I think,” Mettner said. “Why?”
Josie said, “What time did you go to her house?”
“This evening. Like, six, I guess.”
“But the camera batteries were removed last night,” Josie clarified.
“Yes.”
“It would have been dark at six, Mett. It’s been cold but I’m not sure that the frost would have formed by six p.m. It forms during the night. How did you see the writing?”
“What are you getting at?” Mettner asked.
“Just answer my questions, Mett,” Josie said. “How did you see the words on the windshield if there wasn’t frost on the window?”
“How the hell should I know?” he shouted.
Josie shot him a stern warning look and he held up a hand. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t know. I… was looking at everything really closely. I checked the house and when I didn’t find her there, I went out to her car to see if the hood was warm. If it had been, then I’d know that she had just come home from somewhere before she disappeared. It wasn’t warm, by the way. I was standing there with my flashlight and I saw the streaks on the glass. Whoever did it must have used their fingertip—no gloves—because without the frost, the message was still there. The oils from their skin, I guess. It was really hard to see but eventually I was able to make it out.”
Although it was entirely possible, Josie still felt unease in the pit of her stomach.
“You said her bed was messed up.” Amber definitely struck Josie as someone who would make their bed each morning—although even people who were meticulous about doing it might have a late morning now and then during which they didn’t have time to do it. “That’s unusual?”
A quick glance at him showed the whites of his eyes as he stared at her. “Yeah. She even makes my bed when she sleeps over. Drives me nuts. Why are you asking me about her habits?”
“Something isn’t adding up,” Josie pointed out. “If she did make it out here somehow, she would have had to see the message on her car. But if she always left the house at seven, then how would she have seen the message before the meeting time? Assuming that the message means what we think it means—to meet someone here.”
“You’re saying that the message would have had to been written on her car some time on Sunday night—last night?”
“I’m saying I’m not sure she even saw it,” Josie said. “Even if she had, why would she leave it there and how would she get out here?”
“Someone brought her here?” Mettner suggested.
“Right. If someone brought her here, they didn’t give her a chance to even put her coat on, let alone gather her phone and purse. Also, her doors were locked, but you said the keys were inside, right?”
Another sign came into view. DANGER. FOR YOUR SAFETY, SOUNDING SIRENS AND FLASHING LIGHTS INDICATE YOU MUST LEAVE RIVER IMMEDIATELY.
“Yes,” said Mettner. “Front and back doors were locked, and the keys were in her purse. But if someone was going to take her, why bother leaving the message? You’re right. None of this is making any sense.”
Before Josie could respond, the wail of sirens reached them, two intermittent bursts of noise at varying pitches. Weee-wooo. Weee-wooo. Weee-wooo.
Josie turned the vehicle into the small parking area that the power company had allotted for people who came to the dam for recreational purposes. Theirs and Noah’s cars were the only ones there. Noah pulled up right beside her. They left their headlights on, shining down a broken-down flight of stone steps that led to the riverbank and the old fish ladder chute.
Weee-wooo. Weee-wooo.
As they emerged from the car, wind whipped Josie’s long black hair across her face. Pushing it away, she saw Noah and Gretchen starting toward the stairs, each with heavy flashlights in hand. Beside her, Mettner shouted, “What is that?”
Weee-wooo. Weee-wooo.
“The alarm that goes off before they release water through the dam,” she hollered back. “Let’s get the flashlights from the car.”
A minute later they were following Gretchen and Noah down the steps, which cut a wide path down the embankment. On either side, barren tree branches swayed in the wind. Josie saw flashing lights before they reached the bottom. Straight ahead were more trees and what looked like rushing water, light bouncing off it, white froth rising as it whirled and crashed on the rocks jutting up from the riverbank. To their left was the control house, a tiny one-story structure with tan siding and no windows, only a single entry door. A bubble camera hung from one corner of the peaked roof. Beside that was a flashing orange light, strobing in time with the sirens.
Weee-wooo. Weee-wooo.
She gauged their distance from the camera. As long as they kept to the far right of the staircase, they’d avoid the camera altogether. She made a mental note to get the footage from the camera for the last forty-eight hours once they got in touch with someone from the dam. A path to their right led away from the control house, zigzagging downward to where the riverbank opened up beside the chute.
Ahead of them, Noah asked Gretchen, “See anything?”
She shook her head.