Zero Visibility. Sharon Dunn

the blanket over the shoulders of the woman who wore purple.

      She pulled her long strawberry-blond hair free of the blanket and whispered, “Thank you.”

      The other woman stared at the floor as though she weren’t seeing it. He had worked ten years as a paramedic straight out of high school. His job had taught him a few things about people’s responses to violent crime or any kind of trauma. The blonde would come out of the shock in time. He just needed to keep talking to them, pulling them away from the memory of the violence and back into this safe part of the world.

      “How about I get you guys some hot tea? I’m Nathan, by the way.”

      “Tea sounds nice.” The strawberry blonde lifted her head and looked at him. “I’m Merci and this is Lorelei. We’re students at Montana State in Bozeman.” He liked the trust he saw in Merci’s eyes. At least she had come around.

      “Well, Merci, it’s going to be okay. Soon as you are warmed up, we’ll call the police, go into town and get this taken care of,” he said.

      Nathan went into the kitchen and prepared two cups of tea. They really needed to get moving, but neither of the women was in the state of mind emotionally or physically for a ride down the mountain. It wouldn’t hurt to give them a few minutes to recover.

      The blonde didn’t take the cup when he offered it, so he placed it on the table beside her before returning to the kitchen to clean up. A moment later, when he peeked out, he watched Merci gently place the steaming mug in her friend’s hand and encourage her to sip.

      He stared at the storm through the window as he made his way back through the living room. With the amount of snow falling and the intense wind, visibility had been reduced.

      “I suppose we should make that call to the police,” Nathan suggested. “The sooner we get this done, the faster the police will be looking for the guys that robbed you.”

      Merci set her empty cup down. The color had come back into her face, and her eyes looked brighter. She was kind of pretty. Lorelei had at least raised her head and taken a few sips of tea. The almost invisible freckles on Merci’s cheekbones and her white eyelashes gave her a soft, translucent quality, like a water color painting.

      Lorelei shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t want to talk about what happened. I don’t want to go to the police.”

      “She needs a few more minutes.” Merci rose to her feet and walked over to Nathan. The fear had returned to her eyes. “Could you make the call? You saw what the men looked like and what they were driving. I don’t think either of us is ready to talk about this just yet.”

      “Sure, I can do that.” His heart filled with compassion. Because he was an EMT, he was used to handling traumatic situations. But this might have been the first time these women had even seen a gun. He tempered his voice, hoping not to stir up the fear again. “When we get to the station, they will want more details. Can you tell me what you were doing down there? Did you know those guys?”

      Merci explained about the shortcut and getting stuck and how the men had shown up.

      Nathan kept his thought to himself, but it sounded as if the women had been targeted. The only thing more vulnerable than two college-age women traveling together was one traveling alone. The men had probably been following them and waiting for an opportune time to rob them.

      He kicked himself for not having gotten there five minutes earlier. Then this whole thing could have been prevented. He would have helped them with their car and gotten them on their way.

      Nathan picked up the phone and dialed into the sheriff’s office. He recognized Deputy Miller’s voice.

      “Hey, Travis, I’m up at the cabin and I’ve got two young women here who were robbed up on Jefferson Creek Road.” He briefly described the men and the car they were driving. “They should be able to give more details by the time I bring them in. They’re still a little shell-shocked.”

      “I haven’t noticed a car in town matching that description. Doesn’t sound like they’re from around here.” Travis Miller’s slow drawl came across the line. “So you’re up there playing hostess with the mostest to college co-eds. Tough duty, huh?”

      Nathan rolled his eyes at the friendly jab. Clampett, Idaho, was not a big town. Driving an ambulance in a town of twenty thousand meant that he was cozy enough with all of the first responders to joke around. “That’s right, I’m the Martha Stewart of the mountain. I’ll bring them in shortly.”

      “Better hurry, that snow is coming down fast. Getting the road up to your place plowed isn’t county priority since there is no traffic up there anymore.” Travis said goodbye and hung up.

      Nathan returned to the living room. Merci had risen from her chair and was looking at family photographs on the mantel. She picked up one of the framed pictures. “Is this your mom and dad?”

      A sharp pain sliced through him. He hadn’t been up to this cabin since his dad’s funeral. He had a place in town. When his mom and dad were alive, the cabin had been used for family gatherings and vacations. He had come up here to clear away all those photos, to pack them in a box where they wouldn’t evoke sorrow every time he looked at them. “Yes, they passed away a little bit ago.”

      “Oh, I’m so sorry.” Her voice filled with compassion as she placed the photo back on the mantel with care. “You look really happy in these pictures.”

      “I suppose we were.” He laid the photo facedown, not wanting to think about what his life used to be. “I don’t live up here, and all this stuff is just gathering dust. It needs to be packed up so the place can be sold.”

      “I think pictures are a beautiful treasure.” She picked up a second photo. “Is this you with a friend?”

      Nathan felt himself retreating emotionally as he took the frame from her hand. The image was of him and his older brother, Daniel, when they were maybe twelve and fourteen, practicing archery at the camp. Their hair shimmered in the summer sun, and both were smiling. His relationship with Daniel had been strained for the past ten years and had only gotten worse when their mother and father died.

      He really didn’t want to talk about his brother…not to a stranger. Not to anyone. “He’s my brother.” Merci had probably thought she could make up for having reminded him of his parents’ death by talking about his “friend.” Instead, she had opened an even deeper wound. “We need to get going. If we wait too long, even my four-wheel drive isn’t going to get us off this mountain.”

      TWO

      Merci slipped into the truck next to Nathan, and Lorelei climbed in beside her. It had taken some coaxing to even get Lorelei to agree to go. She wasn’t handling this well at all.

      The sound of the engine turning over made Merci breathe a little easier. At least the truck was running. Snow fell in clumps. The wipers worked furiously to keep it off the windshield. At best, they could see maybe five feet in front of them.

      Nathan pressed a button, and a blast of heat hit her. “Warm enough for you?”

      Nathan had found them both extra clothes to put on underneath their dress coats. “Yes, that’s good.” She stole a glance at the man who had saved their lives. His brown eyes held kindness. “Thank you…for all you’ve done for us.”

      “No problem.” He leaned forward to see better through the window, focusing on his driving. His answer was so abrupt. Maybe he was still upset over her asking questions about his family. He probably thought she was nosy. She hadn’t meant to step on toes or reopen old wounds. It was just that in the pictures of his family, everyone looked so happy. She only understood the concept of happy families from television shows.

      She’d been an only child. Her father, an international businessman, traveled all the time. Having to raise a child alone had made her mother depressed and resentful. Merci had always felt as if she was in the way of their