Page 19 of Snowbody

I knew from the knock on my door that it was Melody. It was sharp, and loud, and incredibly irritating.

“Come in!” I called.

Melody stuck her head in, looking around. She frowned. “I don’t know why I’m asking you, but… you haven’t seen Jacob around, have you?”

I looked up from my laptop, blinking. “Jacob? No, I haven’t seen him all day. I’ve been working.”

Shit, did she know, too?

She huffed. “Well, if you see him, tell him he’s in deep shit. He’s missed every lesson today. I’ve had to issue a ton of refunds.”

I blinked and stood up. “Shouldn’t we be concerned about the fact that he’s missing, not the refunds?”

Melody shrugged.

God, she was the worst.

I sighed. “I’ll look for him.”

“Fine. But seriously, if you find him, he’s in trouble.”

“I got it, Melody. Thank you.”

She shut the door. I bundled up and headed outside, carrying my phone with me.

Jacob’s cabin was locked, the windows dark. I knocked on the door a few times but got no response.

The slopes were all busy, but he wasn’t there.

Other people were, though. A girl approached me, frowning. “Hey, you work here, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Maddy Sutton. What can I do for you?”

“Well… I was supposed to have a snowboard lesson with Jacob Reed? The Olympic medalist? And everybody is saying that he’s not showing up. And I just wanna know if I can get my money back?”

I smiled. “Yeah, go inside and ask for Melody Sutton. She’ll make sure it’s taken off your bill.”

“Great. Thanks.” But the girl sounded miserable.

I understood.

I walked around the lodge a few times, checking the maintenance shed, the cabins, the lesser-known slopes. I asked around the kitchens and even talked to a few of the cleaning ladies.

Nobody had seen Jacob.

I finally grabbed my phone from my pocket.

No missed calls.

I dialed his number and held the phone to my ear, listening to it ring.

“Hey, this is Jacob, leave me a message…”

I hung up without leaving a recording.

Dammit, Jacob.

He didn’t turn up that day, or the next. I tried to talk Melody into calling the police, but she refused. She didn’t want a scene, didn’t want cop cars up here.

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