Page 10 of Their Frozen Bones

“I’m done taking pictures.” Rio pushed his phone back inside his pocket and pulled on a glove. “Man, my fingers are frozen solid.”

“We’ll get her into a bag and onto the trailer.” Wolfe bent to cut through the gaffer tape. “Take the weight. I don’t want herhitting the ground. Rowley, get ready to assist. We lift and carry her to the open bag.”

Taking in Rowley’s troubled expression, he shook his head. Rowley had a weak stomach when it came to homicide and the idea of him spewing at a crime scene wasn’t an option. “I can manage alone. The less people contaminating her body the better.” He looked at Rowley. “Scoop up the clothes and hair and bag them. You know the drill for collecting evidence. Note the time and weather on the label as well as the date.”

“Copy.” Rowley let out a stream of steam as he exhaled. “Thanks.” He collected evidence bags and a pen from the back of Wolfe’s trailer.

With little effort, Kane carried the slight figure to the body bag. It was fortunate the victim stood upright. He couldn’t imagine the trouble they’d have fitting a frozen bent figure inside the bag. He looked at Emily, as she assisted Rowley. She concealed worry and frustration like her father. He’d very rarely seen Wolfe show emotion unless it concerned his daughters, yet at the moment he was eerily calm, as if finding her dead was inevitable, and Emily was echoing his mood. He turned as Jenna went to Wolfe’s side.

“We’ll find her.” Jenna squeezed Wolfe’s arm. “Someone came and helped her. She’s probably in front of a warm fire recuperating and doesn’t have a satellite phone to call you.” She looked at him, her face upturned and pale against the hood of her sheepskin-lined parka. “Looking at these women, she isn’t his type.”

“This is my concern.” Wolfe frowned. “She is slightly built like these women, and has natural beauty, long blonde hair, and long dark eyelashes. Her lips are naturally full like her mother’s. She’s my daughter but I’m not blind. I know her looks are what these woman pay a surgeon to achieve. It’s even more so withEmily. To the animal who tortured these women, my daughters would be like magnets.”

Kane rested one hand on his shoulder. “Julie would have been bundled up, right? She would have been wearing so many clothes and a scarf. No one would have seen her face. Look at Jenna and Emily, only their stature would make someone assume they are women. Whoever rescued her would have found a bundled-up woman.” He blew out a breath filling the air around them with steam. “We’ll keep searching until we find her. She must be out here somewhere. If not, she’s in town. They might have taken her to the hospital. If she was unconscious with no ID on her, they’re not going to call you, are they?”

“Em, call the hospital and make sure if anyone fitting your sister’s description is brought in, they’re to call me immediately.” Wolfe climbed onto his snowmobile. “Let’s keep searching.”

“I’ll call Maggie and ask her to contact the medical centers in town in case they’ve seen her.” Jenna pulled out her phone and made the call.

The next moment, Blackhawk came hurtling toward them. “We can smell smoke. There must be a cabin ahead. Follow me.”

THIRTEEN

Hope gripped Jenna and she clung to Kane as they headed along the winding trail, the vibration of the snowmobiles causing great clods of snow to slip from the surrounding tree branches and slap into them. It was as if the forest was bombarding them with giant snowballs. After a time, they came out in a clearing alongside a frozen creek. Set against the mountain and covered with snow sat a small cabin. The smell of woodsmoke hung in the air but no smoke curled from the chimney, but there wasn’t a vehicle in sight. As they came to a halt beside Blackhawk’s team, she looked around at everyone. “Leave this to us. We don’t know who is inside and they have every right to protect their property. We can’t act as a threat, so stay back and wait for my signal.” She climbed from the back of the vehicle and turned to Kane. “You call out. Your voice is louder than mine.”

“Sheriff’s department. Is anyone inside? We need to talk to you about a plane crash.” Kane’s voice echoed against the rocky outcrop above the cabin, but no sound came from inside. He repeated the message and then looked at Jenna. “I guess we take a look.”

With Wolfe on one side and Kane on the other, Rio and Rowley close behind, they headed for the cabin. Jenna poundedon the door and stood to one side and listened. Not a sound came from inside. “This is Sheriff Alton. Please come to the door.”

Nothing.

Beside her, Kane tried the doorknob and the door swung open with a grinding creak. Heart pounding, Jenna drew her weapon and gave him a nod. They’d done this move a thousand times before. Kane went high and she went low as they moved inside. Above her head, Kane’s M18 pistol swept the room. He moved inside and peered behind a kitchen counter and then headed down to a small bedroom.

“Clear, but someone has been here recently.” Kane indicated toward the bedroom. “I smell perfume and the bed is mussed up.”

“From the ash in the fireplace, I’d say that fire is at least three days old.” Wolfe was bending down staring in the grate. He stood. “Check the kitchen.”

“Wood stove, used recently, and a coffee pot with coffee that smells okay.” Kane checked the garbage. “Food wrappers. Cheese and crackers and an empty bottle of red wine.” He pulled an evidence bag from his pocket and bagged the garbage.

Jenna moved to the kitchen. “Two glasses, washed and left on the sink. A romantic getaway?”

“I’ll check the stomach contents of the victims.” Wolfe moved around the cabin. “I’ll take the bed linen as well. They’ll have left trace evidence behind.” He moved to the door and called in the deputies and Emily. “We haven’t got much time. Help Emily strip the bed and bag the linen and pillows. I’ll swab the bathroom.”

“I’ll check for prints.” Kane pulled out a fingerprint scanner. “I noticed a few in the bathroom.”

Pulling out her phone, Jenna called Kalo. “Morning, Bobby, sorry to wake you on a Sunday. I sent some requests to you last night but I’d like to add another.”

“I just checked my emails. I’m working now. What else do you need?”Kalo sounded wide awake.

Jenna smiled to herself; she could always rely on Kalo to run information at light speed. “I’m sending you the coordinates of a cabin out at Bear Peak. I need to know who owns this one in particular. There’s no street address. It’s alongside the mountain.”

“Okay, the coordinates make it easier. Many are owned by the Forest Service. I do have a few names already but nothing at those coordinates. I’ll do a search now. Is this to do with Julie missing?”

Jenna closed her eyes as grief welled up and rushed over her. “No, there’s no sign of Julie at the crash site. We believe someone rescued her but we don’t know who. We’ve found three homicide victims along the trail to the crash site. As we’re searching for Julie, we came across this place. It’s been used recently but now it’s empty. I need to know who owns it. This person is a suspect in the murder inquiry.”

“Gotcha.”Kalo’s chair squeaked across the tile as he moved from one computer to the next.“I’m on it. I’ll call as soon as I have a result.”He disconnected.

She walked out of the front door and waved to Blackhawk. As he came toward the cabin, carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a sandwich in the other, her stomach growled with hunger. Pushing the need to sit down for a few minutes to one side, she walked out to meet him, her feet sinking into the ever deepening snow. “Someone was here but it looks more like a romantic interlude than a murder scene. No signs of the use of medical supplies. We have a few items to collect here and then we’ll keep moving.”

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