The Last to Vanish(69)

I picked up the phone line at the front desk, staring at the list of names and phone numbers. I scanned it, stopping at the ones I didn’t recognize: Lacy, James, Caroline. Only one of them had a number, and it was local, for James.

His name was not on the list of residents that had been here for all of the disappearances—it was only listed under Alice—but it was possible he had sent Landon off in a direction that got him somewhere. Somewhere no one else had managed to get before.

I called it now, phone pressed close to my face, heart speeding up as the ringing continued. Finally, a woman picked up, more irritated than friendly.

“Hi, can I speak with James please?” I asked.

“You have the wrong number,” she said, and hung up quickly.

Well then, maybe not. There were no numbers listed for Lacy or Caroline. It was possible the college would be able to put me in touch. Or at least, give me their full names.

In the back office, my phone loaded slowly, notifications showing up on the screen from content that had come through during the night. Emails to the inn, social media tags, and a notice of a new message from AliceKellyWasHere.

I felt the breath leave me in a rush, as if Alice were reaching out from across time, even though I knew it was just her sister, Quinn: Yes! Thank you for keeping her memory alive. Anything for a fresh lead. There’s been nothing for years. Hope this will help someone remember something new. Here are some of the last photos I have of my beautiful sister. Let me know if I can help with anything else?? -Q

I willed the images to load faster, but they came through in painful layers, top to bottom, as I waited for Alice to appear. And then, there she was, in my hand.

There she was at a kitchen island, standing beside a woman who must’ve been her mother, hands deep in a bowl of dough, head tilted and tongue out as she made a face at the photographer, while her mother laughed.

There she was in the driver’s seat of a car, the photographer in the passenger seat, so that Alice appeared too close to the screen, as she kept one hand on the wheel, the other giving a peace sign while she grinned.

There she was in front of the woods, with a large group of students, and a sign that said OUTDOORS CLUB. She was front and center, her hands on the sign, the focus of the photo.

She was magnetic, I could tell just from these images. The way her mother looked at her; the way the person behind the camera focused on her. In the group shot, several people were looking her way. A man behind her, a woman to her right, hand on her shoulder, laughing, as if she’d been the cause of the laughter. I wondered if this was one of the names on the list, someone the sister might’ve known. Lacy or Caroline, maybe.

I responded: These are perfect. She’s stunning. Would you know any of the other names in the group shot? Would love to connect with anyone else who was close with her, who might have more to share. Also, I had the names Lacy, James, and Caroline as friends to contact—do you know their last names?

Then I searched for photos of the Fraternity Four. They were everywhere—in blog posts and old articles. The four of them, two in hats, one in dark sunglasses, all facing the camera with the mountain behind them. I’d seen this image so many times. But on the screen, they always looked just slightly removed, out of focus. A picture of a picture. I pulled one of the images up, enlarged it on the monitor—

“Abby?” Celeste called. I’d been lost in my thoughts, didn’t hear the lobby door, and suddenly Celeste stood beside me, back from church. I closed out the page, turned to face her. The only change to her attire was the long chain around her neck that held a master key. “I put out the word we’d be looking for help. Already got a few leads. Okay?” she asked, and she smiled, like this was the only cause for concern.

My heart was still racing, from the surprise of her.

“You’re worried,” she said, frowning. “Is it Georgia? Or is this still about Landon West?”

I shrugged. “Both?”

Her eyes went to the hall, to the photos with her husband. “Vincent,” she began, and her eyes turned watery, lost. “He wasn’t the same after the disappearances. Didn’t like to leave the inn.”

The Fraternity Four, she meant. She had to.

She took a deep breath, eyes locking on mine. “You have to make your peace with it, Abigail. Even if there aren’t any answers.”

I nodded, though I didn’t know if I could. I wasn’t like her. I thought of Celeste going up on that mountain each morning. Refusing to be afraid, against all judgment. She had a fearlessness I envied.

Celeste nudged me out of the way, moving things around on the surface of the desk, until she found the fresh binder Georgia had started. “Now, let’s see how quickly this all comes back.”

Celeste had always been averse to technology. Said it wasn’t reliable, especially given where we were, and she was right.

“Do you want me to get the reservation page up?” I gestured to the computer. When we used to work together, I was always entering the notes she left behind, following up on the day.

But she raised a hand. “Don’t worry about that. I never had much use for it, so I’m not about to start now.” Her eyes crinkled in an almost smile. “All of you, you miss too much, looking down instead of out. A screen is no match for reality.”

Right then, I agreed with her.

I knew where I had to go now. I knew what I needed to see.