Rizzoli & Isles 8-Book Set

what that old man in the gas station meant,” he said.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “It’s the name of that village down there.” Arlo moved aside, and Maura saw the words on the sign.
    KINGDOM COME

I DON’T SEE ANY POWER LINES,” SAID A RLO .
    “You mean I can’t recharge my iPod?” asked Grace.
    “They could have underground lines,” Doug suggested. “Or generators. It’s the twenty-first century. Nobody lives without electricity.” He adjusted his backpack. “Come on, it’s a long walk. We want to get down there before dark.”
    They started down the slope, where the wind stung like icy nettles and the drifts made every step hard labor. Doug led the way, breaking a trail through deep virgin snow, with Grace, Elaine, and Arlo following in a line behind him. Maura brought up the rear. Though they were moving downhill, the ever-deepening snow made it an exhausting hike. No one was talking now; it took all their effort just to keep slogging ahead.
    Nothing about this day had turned out the way Maura had expected. If only we’d ignored the GPS and followed the map, she thought. We’d be at that lodge right now, sipping wine in front of afire. If only I’d turned down Doug’s invitation in the first place, I wouldn’t be stuck with these people at all. I’d be back in my own hotel, warm and safe for the night.
Safety
was the option she almost always chose. Safe investments, safe cars, safe travel. The only risks she’d ever taken had been with men, and every one of those had turned out badly. Daniel, and now Douglas.
Note to self: In future, avoid men whose names begin with D
. Aside from that, the two men were nothing alike. That had been Doug’s charm, the fact that he was wild and a little reckless. He’d made her want to be reckless as well.
    This is the result, she thought as she stumbled down the mountainside. I’ve let an impulsive man lead me into this mess. Worst of all, he refused to acknowledge how serious their predicament was, a predicament that only seemed to be worsening. In Doug’s sunny world, everything was always going to turn out okay.
    The light was starting to fade. They’d been walking at least a mile now, and her legs felt heavy as lead. If she dropped right here from exhaustion, the others might not even hear it. Once darkness fell, no one would be able to find her. By morning, she would be covered in snow. How easy it was to disappear out here. Get lost in a snowstorm, vanish beneath a drift, and the world would have no idea what became of you. She had told no one in Boston about this overnight jaunt. For once, she’d tried to be spontaneous, to jump aboard and enjoy the ride, as Doug had urged her. And it had been her chance to put Daniel out of her mind and declare her independence. Convince herself that she was still her own woman.
    Her shoulder bag slipped off, sending her cell phone tumbling into the snow. She snatched it up, brushed away icy flakes, and checked the reception. Still zero bars. Useless piece of junk out here, she thought, and turned it off to conserve the battery. She wondered if Daniel had called. Would he become alarmed when she didn’t return any of his voice mails? Or would he think she was purposefully ignoring him? Would he simply wait for her to break the silence?
    If you wait too long, I could be dead
.
    Suddenly angry at Daniel, at Douglas, at the whole miserable, screwed-up day, she attacked the final drift and charged ahead like a bull through hip-deep snow. She staggered out of the drift and followed the others onto level ground, where they all halted to catch their breaths, gasping out frosty clouds. Snowflakes fluttered down like white moths and landed with soft
tick-ticks
.
    In the deepening gloom, two rows of identical houses stood dark and silent. All the buildings had the same sloping rooflines, the same attached garages, the same porches, even the same porch swings. Right down to the number of windows, the houses were eerily perfect clones of one another.
    “Hello?” Doug yelled. “Is anyone here?”
    His voice echoed back from the surrounding mountains and faded to silence.
    Arlo shouted: “We come in peace! And we bring credit cards!”
    “This isn’t funny,” said Elaine. “We could freeze to death.”
    “Nobody’s going to freeze to death,” said Doug. He stomped up the steps to the covered porch of the nearest house and banged on the door. He waited a few seconds and banged again. The only sound was