Page 50 of Only One More Lie

She was also glad Ranger’s daughter Anastasia had Simmy. Andi knew Simmy had always wanted to be a mother. In fact, they’d recently learned she’d been a surrogate when she was younger, even though she never had any kids of her own.

“Did you know that reindeer are protective of each other?” Juniper asked, still staring at the reindeer in front of her. “Sometimes, they even form something called a reindeer cyclone.”

“What’s that?” Simmy asked.

“When one of the reindeer is in danger, the reindeer start walking in a circular formation around it—almost like tornado pattern. When they do that, it throws the predator off and confuses them.”

“That’s real?” Andi said. “I thought it was fiction.”

“No, it’s real. I’ve only seen it once, and that was when a grizzly came into the camp. It was amazing.” She paused. “We all need a community like that who will gather around us and offer protection, don’t we?”

“I’d say we do,” Andi said. “For sure.”

“The children who visit the camp are the best, especially the ones who still believe in Santa Claus,” Juniper continued. “We always go through a spiel about how Santa only chooses the best reindeer to do his runs on Christmas Eve. We tell them that on occasion Santa had even chosen some of the reindeer here at the Borealis Reindeer Camp.”

“I love that,” Simmy said.

“Some of the kids even ask if this was where Rudolph came from.”

“What do you tell them?” Andi reached forward to stroke the reindeer’s head.

“I always laugh and tell them Rudolph came from another farm farther north, but that I’m not allowed to disclose the location for privacy’s sake.”

“Smart thinking.”

A few minutes of silence passed.

Simmy touched her shoulder. “And how are you holding up, sweetie?”

Juniper shrugged and swallowed hard. “I’m not sure.”

“I take it that your talk with Caleb didn’t go well?” Andi asked.

Juniper pressed her eyes closed and didn’t say anything for several seconds. “He doesn’t even seem like the same person I initially met. I don’t know what’s going on with him. He’s been especially moody the past couple of days.”

Andi wondered if what was going on with Caleb was that he was a cold-blooded killer and afraid the podcast team would catch him. But she didn’t say those words out loud.

Without knowing him, Andi couldn’t really say.

But he still took first place on her list of suspects.

CHAPTER 24

Andi had more questions for Juniper.

“Do you know anything about the guest who was injured while ice fishing?”

Juniper gave the reindeer one last pat before turning toward Andi. “What do you want to know?”

“Her name? Occupation? Did she ever give you a hard time?”

“Barb is her name. Caleb said the woman was insistent they ice fish at a certain spot, and he tried to tell her it wasn’t a good idea. He said Barb swore she was an expert and that it would be fine. I told him even if thatiswhat happened, the guests should never have the final say when it comes to something that’s a matter of safety. We’re the ones liable for accidents like this.”

“Is Barb a first-time guest?” Andi asked.

“She is. From what I understand, she’s a nature photographer. She and her family came here from Kansas.”

“Has she given you any problems?” Andi continued.