Levi pulled Zoe aside near the fireplace. “Did you find anything useful? When you and Elliot searched the ground floor.”
“There’s an office behind the front desk,” Zoe said. “Binders, guest records, local information. We didn’t have time to go through everything. I think there might be a number for a ranger station but I couldn’t find it, and the cell service is still dead.”
“We’ll check the office,” Levi said.
The office was small — a desk, filing cabinets, and a dead computer. Binders collected dust on a shelf, guest ledgers marked by decades sitting in bank boxes. On the desk sat a stack of pamphlets:Restorations Mountain Lodge — Your Mountain Retreat.Levi opened the top drawer, looking for anything that might help
“Levi,” Asher said in a hushed voice, holding one of the pamphlets and staring at the map on the back. “This says Riverbend.”
“What?” Levi glanced up.That can’t be right…
“There’s no resort in Riverbend…It’s just the town, and the river, and the mines.” Asher set the pamphlet down, his jawtight, his hand flat on the desk. “I don’t underst—” His head snapped toward the door. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“A lock.”
Levi listened. “I don’t hear anything.”
“It comes and goes.” Asher’s jaw tightened further. Then he shook his head and crouched beside the desk, tugging once on a drawer. It didn’t open. He started reaching into his boot.
Levi’s hand went to his pocket: the key from the carry-on... He pulled it out. “Try this.”
Asher took it, slid it in, and turned it. The lock clicked open.
He pulled out a worn manila envelope and handed it to Levi. Inside, there were dozens of newspaper clippings, organized chronologically, the oldest ones brown and brittle at the edges, the newest one from 2008. Someone had been collecting these for a long time.
Asher stood and cocked his head at the clippings. “Why would someone lock away old newspapers?”
The oldest clipping was from 1889, with a brief article about silver deposits found in the Riverbend valley —promising mineral wealth, suitable for extraction, and an advertisement beside it:The Hargrove Mining Company seeks able-bodied men for survey work in the Riverbend region. Competitive wages. Room and board provided.
1891:Hargrove Mining survey abandoned. Three of five unaccounted for.
1903:Samuel Hargrove, found dead in his study. Family cites prolonged melancholia following silver survey.
1907:Consolidated Silver purchases mining rights to Riverbend valley.
1908:Consolidated Silver halts Riverbend operations following violent unrest among workers.
1923:Husk Development Corp. to acquire Riverbend site, seeking to survey unlucky mine.
1924:Husk boss and family of four found dead.
“This is weird,” Asher mumbled, looking at the articles as Levi put them down. “It’s always in August.”
Year after year, there was some mention of some group trying to access the mine and abandoning the project.The last two clippings were from 2008, looking like they had been cut from a business magazine:Husk Development Group finalizing purchase of Riverbend unincorporated territory. Margaret Husk, CEO, fulfilling family dreamandCEO of HDG, Margaret Husk, still missing.Attached to the clipping was a note, printed on official stationary that read “Riverbend Outpost”:Resort currently closes Aug 1-Sept 15. Do not change.
“The rangers’ number,” Levi said with a sigh of relief. “We can call and try to get some help.”
The landline on the desk was old, rotary, and utterly foreign to Levi. Asher huffed a small laugh and glanced at the number as he handed Levi the handset. “You have no idea how one of these works, do you?”
“How old do you think I am?” Levi rolled his eyes.
Asher paused while dialing. “25? 26? I’ve never really thought about it.”
Holy shit, we’ve never even asked each other our ages.
“Asher…I just turned 21,” Levi said, as he lifted the phone to his ear. “How old are you?”