Page 27 of Mountain Target

Val ran from the bedroom out to the main living area, looking out the largest window. “Her bike. It was out there this evening. It’s gone now.”

The look Beau gave her was grave, and Val knew they were both thinking the same thing.

A teenager on a bike could get much further than one on foot.

But at least she’s not hitchhiking.

Val swallowed, tasting defeat—sandy, bitter—in her mouth. At the fact that Ren hadn’t considered trusting her with this. That she’d gone off on her own, in the middle of the night. And if something happened to her, Val would have failed at everything …

“She probably planned this,” Beau said, his voice so calm and measured, Val wanted to slap him. “Okay. She’s only been living here for a few weeks, Valentina. Think. Where could she have gone?”

“I don’t … I don’t know …”

A sob caught in her throat.

“Valentina.”

She heard it, then, the suppressed emotion in his voice. He wasn’t uncaring. He was trying to help her push through her panic. And that’s exactly what she had to do—push through her panic and think of the right questions.

She looked up at him, suddenly so grateful not to be alone.

“We’re going to find her, Valentina,” Beau said, crouching in front of her and taking one of her hands in his two larger ones, his touch warm and rough. “I’ll put people on this, but you need to tell me if you can think of any places where we should look. Any thoughts you have, however random they are, could help us.”

Valentina focused on that touch—taking strength from it.

“She likes the center of town. But that doesn’t make sense. She wouldn’t take her mom’s ashes there.” A sudden thought struck her. “The ice skating rink. She and my sister liked ice skating. It was something the two of them used to do together,” Val said, realizing she was rambling.

“This is good. Keep going, Valentina. Where else?” Beau typed something on his phone.

“Who are you talking to? Won’t everyone be asleep at this time of night?”

The answering ping proved her wrong.

Beau shrugged. “It’s been a long day. I know Alex isn’t asleep yet, and he lives close to the ice rink. He’ll look into it for us.”

“Okay,” Valentina said, forcing her shoulders to relax. “Camille and Ren didn’t come to Chamonix often. Usually, I was the one who went to Paris to see them. But a couple of summers ago, they spent a week here with me, in the summer. I took a day off, and we went to this spot, in La Flégère, overlooking the lake. The view was … my sister was so happy that day,” Val sighed. “But it was two years ago. There’s no way …”

“There’s a reason that place came to you now. If you remember it, Ren does too,” Beau said decisively. “Come on, let’s go. Do you have hiking shoes? And a warm jacket?”

Val nodded. “Yes, but …”

“Alex will let us know if she’s at the ice rink. But if she’s gone to La Flégère, our best bet now is to try to intercept her on the way.”

Listen to him.

He knows what he’s doing.

“I … thank you, Beau. I know this isn’t your problem. You were just coming home and …”

“Get your fucking shoes on, Valentina,” he said gruffly. “Let’s go find Ren.”

Her coat bundled in her arms, she followed Beau back outside, grateful when he headed into the garage and towards his large, black SUV, rather than to the motorcycle.

“We’ll need the car when we find her,” he explained matter-of-factly.

His words filled her with sudden hope. She realized what a gift he was giving her, realized that in order to keep functioning—in order to help Ren and keep herself from going crazy—she needed to believe that everything was going to be alright.

We’re going to find Ren.