Abby let out a sigh and set her mind to her own plans. She was on the way to pick up her five passengers for their return to San Francisco. Her first stop was less than a mile up the main road. The drive reminded her of her best friend Rebecca. They were so close during college. Now all Abby saw of Becca was during these trips to pick up her brother Rob. He was in his last year at SFSU, and would hitch a ride home for the holidays with Abby every Christmas, as well as help out with the driving.
As Abby drove up beside Rob’s house, she noticed a pile of boxes on the sidewalk.
“Hi. What’s all that stuff?” Abby climbed out the SUV.
“Happy New Year to you too,” Rob replied.
“Oh yes. Happy New Year. So what’s with the boxes?”
“I’ve got to take as many of these with me as I can this trip.”
“Why?”
“I’m staying in San Fran after this semester ends, remember? The more I can get up there this trip, the easier the big move will be.”
“Okay, but just remember we’ve got John, Trina, Barb, and Ruth, and all their stuff, to fit in back.” Abby opened the cargo door and removed her laptop bag to make room for Rob’s boxes.
“I’ll hold the laptop in front with me,” Rob said, placing the bag on the front passenger seat and adding a few more boxes to the back.
“By the way, you’ve got a few cobwebs in your hair,” she mentioned.
His strawberry blonde hair was cut low and spiky. The cobwebs looked like they were intentionally set on his head by a spider.
“Yeah, yeah,” he answered, dusting them off and inspecting his hands. “A few of these boxes were in the attic. Speaking of hair, did you cut yours since the party last week?”
She had become so used to wearing her long, blonde hair down her back, she assumed he was mistaken now that she pulled it up into a high bun for the trip.
“Nope,” she replied. “I haven’t cut it for a while. Hey, is Becca still around?”
“No. Mom took her to the airport in Reno a few hours ago,” Rob answered. “Didn’t you guys talk last night?”
“Yeah, we did,” Abby said. “I offered to give her a ride, but she said your mom wanted to take her.”
Abby knew that the friendship between Rebecca and her was slowly cooling, now that they had chosen to attend different colleges for their Masters programs. She just had not thought it would fade away so quickly. Fewer than three years ago, they were at the same college, sharing the same dorm, and attending a few core courses together. Rebecca had been accepted to do her Master’s in Public Health Policy at George Washington University in DC, and couldn’t turn down the opportunity. Every year they returned home, they seemed to grow more distant. Their conversations began to feel forced. Maybe some friendships just aren’t meant to last, Abby thought.
“Okay. Give me a few minutes to get these boxes that can’t fit back inside,” Rob said.
Soon they were on the road, heading along Highway eighty for their close-to-five-hour trip to the City by the Bay.
“Want me to drive once we pick up the kids in Sparks?” Rob referred to the other four passengers as kids, but they were not. They happened to be sophomore students from SFSU whom he coached in co-ed volleyball, just two years his junior.
“How about you take it from Truckee?” Abby replied.
“That’s good too.”
“Dad said we should stay the night in Truckee, to save the drive through the mountains for daytime.”
“Nah, I think we’re okay,” he countered. “I listened to the weather reports all last night and this morning. There’s only a thirty percent chance of precipitation in the area. We’re clear.”
“The mountains are always a little different, Rob. How about we see how it is when we get to Truckee?”
“Sounds like a plan, but I’m positive it’ll be fine.”
Rob had a tendency to obsess over the weather, but that day was different. He seemed rushed to get back to San Francisco. Abby shrugged and kept driving, while Rob searched the radio stations for music they’d both enjoy.
The drive was short and uneventful. They had agreed to pick up Rob’s four friends at the 7-Eleven in Sparks, so they could fill up, grab drinks and snacks for the trip, and get back on the highway with ease.
John and Trina were waiting as they drove up. Trina wore her platinum blonde hair in a ponytail. John’s hands had played in it during the entire drive from San Francisco. This time Trina’s hand was stretched up and into John’s brown wavy hair. It was somewhat comedic to watch them, as John stood at six feet six inches tall, towering over Trina, who was the same height as Abby, just around five feet eight inches.
“Happy New Year, lovebirds,” Rob called out to them after pressing the button to roll down the passenger side window.
“Happy New Year,” the couple said in unison.
“Where are Ruth and Barb?”
“We haven’t seen them yet. Oh look, there’s Barb.” Trina pointed to the opposite sidewalk.
Barb stepped off the city bus and pulled her suitcase toward them, her long, shiny brown hair flying wildly as a breeze picked up around her.
Rob stared at her, as if in a trance.
“Hey, guys. Am I late?”
“No, we just rolled up,” Rob said.
His nervousness showed when he was around Barb. He almost missed a step climbing out the passenger side to take her suitcase. Abby was almost sure she heard him swear under his breath as he positioned Barb’s luggage in the already crowded cargo area.
“I wonder where Ruth is,” Abby said. She finished filling the tank with gas. “I’ll grab some water and snacks inside. Be right back.”
“Me too!” Barb shouted, running around to the driver side.
Abby noticed that John and Trina had climbed into the back row of seats and snuggled up to each other.
“No messing around back there, okay, kids?” she joked before heading to the store entrance.
The place was empty inside, so it took only a few minutes to get what they needed and pay the gas station attendant. They returned just as Rob closed the cargo door and stepped up into the passenger side seat.
“Ruth will have to put some of her things in the back somewhere with you two,” he said to Trina and John. “The trunk’s packed. Do either of you have her cell number?”
“No, but hasn’t she called or texted you before? She’s been after you long enough,” Trina teased.
John and Trina looked at each other and smiled as Rob found Ruth’s number in his phone, then held it out.
“Yeah, yeah,” Rob answered. “Abby, can you phone Ruth? The last thing I want to do is give her the wrong idea.”
“She’s not here yet?” She looked around to see if Ruth might be on her way. Rob shook his head. “Okay, what’s her number?”
Rob handed his phone to her. “The number is in here. She’s called me often enough. Help me out, will you? I’m trying to minimize contact. Otherwise she might feel I’m coming around.”
Abby auto-dialed Ruth’s number from Rob’s phone contact list and waited. There was an answer on the third ring.
“Hello, Ruth? It’s Abby.”
“Hey, Abby,” Ruth answered.
“Are you on your way? We’re waiting up here at the 7-Eleven as planned. ”
“I’m still at home,” she replied. “Can you guys come and get me? I don’t have a ride right now.”
“Sure,” Abby answered. “Look, just give the address and directions to Rob, okay? I’m passing the phone to him. Hold on.”
Rob glowered at Abby when she handed the phone to him, shaking his head frenetically. He took the directions from Ruth politely, but every response was guarded until he hung up.
“Whose idea was it to have Ruth join us, anyway?” He looked at Trina in the back seat and rolled his eyes. Ruth and Trina took several courses together, and were close friends.
“You could have said no, Rob,” Trina shouted back. “By the way, do y
ou realize how far south she lives? Her house is all the way down behind the Arrow Creek Country Club.”
“That’s almost an hour south,” Abby said. “We better just get going now. And we’ll definitely need to stay in Truckee tonight.”
They loaded into the SUV and turned onto the highway. There was little traffic getting to Ruth’s place, and not much small talk to be had in back. When they arrived, it took them a few extra minutes to get from the main road and into the gated community where Ruth lived. Her house was the last on her street. It was a large, secluded mansion at the end of a long driveway. Ruth was sitting on the front steps, reading from her tablet.
“Thanks for coming to get me, guys,” Ruth said.
She stood up and rolled her suitcase to the back, smiling seductively when she stopped at Rob’s door. “Hi Rob. Can you help me with this?”
Rob had already started to get out of the car to take her things to the back.
“Hey, Ruth,” he answered shyly, avoiding making eye contact as he opened the side door. “We’ve got a lot of stuff, so you’ll have to fit this somewhere in the cab.”
“Let’s hurry and get back on the road,” Abby said. “We may be able to make it to Truckee before dark, if we’re lucky.”
“Hold on.” Ruth stopped her. “Why would you go all the way back north when we can just go a little farther south using Mount Rose Highway, then go west to get us to Truckee? We take that route all the time to get to San Fran. Let me show you on the map on my phone.”
She pulled up the map and showed it to Abby. Abby passed the phone to Rob. “I’ve never taken this way before. It looks like it’s a good distance through the mountains. What do you think, Rob?”
“It should be okay,” he answered. “I’ve taken this route a couple of times during the summer. The roads are fine, although there are some winding spots. You may be right, Abby. The elevation is higher. It’s possible there might be snow, but I doubt it.”
“Well, we’ve already lost an hour,” shouted John. “Let’s just do it and stop in Truckee tonight.”
“Okay, I’m in,” answered Abby. “I hope you guys are right. Rob, as shotgun, you have to navigate. Ruth, keep an eye out, as you’re familiar with the roads.”
The next hour of driving was quiet. The highway whittled down to two lanes; one in each direction. With the narrowing of the roads, the surroundings went from suburban to rural farmland to curved mountainous roads that were sparsely lined by a few homes every several miles. As they made it over the Mount Houghton ridge, the weather changed. They could see the darkened clouds hanging over the mountain pass, and all the way across the horizon for as far as they could see.
“This does not look good,” Abby said.
“It’s not,” Rob answered. “Those are nimbostratus clouds we’re looking at. It’s going to rain. Probably more like snow, with the temperature and our proximity to Lake Tahoe. Whatever is coming, it’s coming soon, and we’re going to get lots of it.”
“Nimbo-what clouds?” Ruth shouted from behind him. “I didn’t know you were into meteorology.”
“Shit,” Barb interrupted the two as she looked out her side window. “We should’ve gone back north.”
“It couldn’t be too bad,” said Ruth. “And worst-case scenario, we can stop at my grandparents’ cottage at Incline Village.”
“Well, we can’t go back north,” Trina piped up from the back seat. “We’ll lose three hours. You’re driving an SUV, Abby. Just take it slow and we’ll make it.”
“You know what’s weird?” Rob questioned as he turned toward Abby.
“What?” she asked.
“I haven’t seen a car for the last twenty minutes. Not a single car coming or going. And no one passed us either. Don’t you find that weird?”
“You worry too much,” Barb answered without looking at him. Bruised, Rob turned back to face forward.
“Okay, guys,” Abby said to get everyone’s attention. “We’ll stay at Ruth’s cottage for the night. Ruth, help me navigate. Rob, get the radio on to a weather station, will you?”
Chapter 2
ANDREW had not planned to leave the cabin for the next few weeks, so hearing the weather report earlier didn’t worry him at all. Not until he got the phone call from his mechanic in town. The shop phoned to let him know his Jeep was ready.
“Bob, can’t you have one of your staff drive it up here in a couple of days?” he asked.
“No sir, Mr. Carrington,” the mechanic answered in his Western twang. “You mentioned you need the car by next Monday, right?”
“I have other cars here, but yes, the Jeep is the easiest to get around in,” Andrew confirmed.
“Well the storm’s gonna keep the guys here busy for at least a week,” he explained. The longer he spoke, the more his accent reverted back to its Western USA core. “And it’s bound to fill up the lot. Is it a ride into town that you need? Because two of my guys are not far from your place with the tow truck. They can pick you up and bring you here for it.”
Andrew thought he could use some extra supplies if the storm was going to be as bad as the weather station was making it out to be. His dad would probably come by after the storm settled down. Andrew could never predict how many partners, VPs, lawyers, accountants, or assistants his father would have with him at any given time, so he felt he should probably stock up.
“All right,” he answered patiently, holding in his mild frustration. “Have them pick me up. I’ll come into town with them.”
“Much obliged, Mr. Carrington,” he answered. “They’ll be at your door within half an hour.”
After he hung up, he opened the front door to listen for the tow truck before going to his room to get dressed. The weather was still mild, and the snowfall wasn’t expected until the next day. Andrew knew that that meant nothing. Down on Lake Tahoe, the lake-effects snow could turn the area from pleasant to a treacherous, winter wonderland within minutes.
Twenty minutes later, he heard the loud engine of the tow truck as it drove up his driveway.
“How’s it going fellas,” he asked as he walked up to their vehicle.
The mechanic in the passenger seat opened the door for him to sit up front with them.
“Good morning, Mr. Carrington, sir,” the driver greeted him. “Well, it’s going.”
“I don’t envy what you men will be up to for the next few days.” He made idle conversation as they drove into town. “You may be working twenty-four-seven with the people driving through in sedans and minivans. They’re the ones who usually get stuck, aren’t they?”
The driver nodded. “We’ve got a ton of tourists visiting this year, and many more poor, unsuspecting motorists just driving through to get to Truckee or Highway eighty. And worst of all, one of our trucks is down until we can get some spare parts from the manufacturer.”
“I feel your pain, gentlemen,” he empathized.
As they got into town and drove up to the auto shop, he thanked them and tipped the men a hundred dollars each for the ride. They looked at him as if he was their favorite uncle from childhood and repeated their thanks until he walked into the small customer area of the auto shop.
“We’re all ready for you, Mr. Carrington,” Bob greeted him.
Bob walked toward the wall of car keys and pulled off a set with a large keychain with the Jeep logo.
“Here you go, sir. It’s parked on the side.”
“Thanks for the call, Bob,” he answered. “You were probably right to force me down here. It feels like it’ll be a doozy of a storm coming through.”
Since the accident, Andrew could feel the weather changes in his left forearm and knee. The bones and joints would ache whenever rain or snow was about to fall. It was uncanny.
“Well, I’d better get moving.” He turned to leave. “Take it easy out there, Bob. See you soon.”
Andrew left the car parked where it was, because the only grocery in town was on the other side of the road. It was surprisin
gly busy. He did his best to get what he needed as quickly as possible. As he left the store, his bad knee felt worse. That could only mean one thing. Shit, the storm is coming today.
After he loaded the groceries in the back seat of his Jeep, he made his way to the local gas station; as he got out to fill up the tank, snow began to fall. It was that light, large-flaked, puffy snow that could be a bitch when the wind started. They took ages to eventually hit the ground. That’s what made them so dangerous.
He was just thirty minutes from town on a good day, but from what he had already seen of the snow for the first ten minutes of his drive home, he knew it would take at least twice as long. Every few minutes, the visibility worsened, and it was still daytime.
He put the windshield wipers on full cycle and had to lean forward to see out the front windshield. The roads wound tight around treacherous ledges as they led down from the main road to his side street, so he knew that even with the barriers, he had to keep a sharp eye on the turns.
His family had owned the property he lived on since he was a boy, and they would visit every summer. With that type of familiarity, he knew every blind curve and twist of the road. When the weather turned like this, however, and turned this quickly, every side street looked the same, and every curve was a potential death trap.
Still, he preferred to be there. He liked the isolation of living at the cabin and having the place to himself—most of the time. He had the space, the necessities, some of the modern conveniences, beautiful vistas, and most of all, he could keep a safe enough distance from most people. It was the best way to ensure nothing would happen to anyone close to him again—and that no one new could get close.
After he left his medical practice, his only companionship occurred during the intermittent visits by his father when he was passing through or needed board member documents and contracts signed. Sometimes he would pop by to confer with him for input, when in fact it was one of his dad’s check-in calls. Andrew would simply regurgitate whatever his dad said, just to get him to leave sooner. His father wasn’t stupid—he saw right through the evasive antics; yet he still entertained them. Andrew knew that if his father ever passed him the reins to the family’s multi-billion dollar empire, he would simply assign some sharp executive as chairman and CEO. He was never built for running the family business, and his father knew it. Still, his father felt he was helping Andrew during these visits; and maybe he was.
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