Page 27 of Their Frozen Bones

Staring at the map, Jenna could see his point. “Hmm, I guess it makes sense for them to leave the victims close to a place where they could leave their vehicle. So our theory that the killer is using an empty cabin to keep a victim prisoner is wrong. It would be a long hike from the fire roads in the snow to any of these cabins. Even more problematic if he’s dragging or carrying someone he plans to murder.” She thought for a beat. “This doesn’t sound like a Bear Peak resident, does it? They’d have access to their cabins via a fire road and to the highway but there’s none we are aware of close to this arc.”

“No one is hiking in the snow, Jenna. It’s impossible.” Atohi met her gaze. “Just like us, he has a snowmobile.”

The implications flowed into Jenna. “So those poor women went willingly to their deaths?” She shivered but the room was toasty. “Oh, that goes way past creepy.”

THIRTY-TWO

Numb from cold and thirsty, Carolyn didn’t believe she could last much longer. Her arms ached and the smell of the rancid mattress seemed to have permeated her lungs, making it difficult to breathe. The idea of mold spores being trapped inside her lungs frightened her, but would she ever get free of this place? She drifted in and out of what must have been unconsciousness over the last few hours. The fire must be almost out by now as the temperature had dropped considerably. Not that it had been tolerable at any time but now she could see the steam rising from her mouth as she took each breath. The sound of the snowmobile coming toward the house filled her with a strange anticipation. A part of her was terrified at what might happen; the other part of her was relieved that it might be over soon. She would never have considered him to be such an uncaring brute. He had been so nice to her when they talked over social media, and unlike others that she’d spoken to in the past, he was exactly the same person as he portrayed in his photograph. She had spoken to other men online prior to meeting him and they’d used an app on their phone to make themselves look better.

When she’d finally made a date to meet them in a public place, of course, she had been horrified to discover they were either ten or more years older than they appeared online, shorter, or fatter. Whatever they had used online to speak to her had changed their appearance completely. Sure, she’d spent a considerable fortune making herself into the woman every man dreamed about, but when they met her, she was the real deal. She had no need to change her appearance in photographs, she had a surgeon to do that for her.

The door to the cabin opened and a rush of freezing-cold air and the smell of the forest wafted through the small cabin. Light flooded the cabin from the lantern he carried. The door shut and she made out the sounds of stamping feet and the creak of the bench beside the front door as the man of her nightmares sat down to remove his boots. His feet echoed across the floorboards and the bucket beside the fire rattled as he tended the fire. Trembling, she closed her eyes as he walked into the room. She couldn’t look at him, not after what he’d done to her.

“Oh, there you are, Carolyn.” He took a knife from his belt and went about cutting the gaffer tape and freeing her stiff limbs. He dropped her suitcase on the bed between her legs. “Best you get dressed. You’ll catch a cold lying around naked.” He walked out of the room, his stocking feet silent across the floor. A whistling came from the kitchen, and a clatter of pots and pans.

Carolyn stared after him in disbelief. It was as if nothing had happened between them previously. He’d returned to the cabin a completely different person, and knowing what he was like inside terrified her. Moving slowly like an automaton, every muscle stiff and aching, she fumbled with the opening of her bag. It seemed to take forever to get dressed, but by the time she’d brushed her hair and pulled on a thick woolen hat, heat was returning to her limbs. What was going to happen now? Shehad no idea what to say to him after what he had subjected her to. Could he be playing some kind of strange game? What did he want from her? If he planned to kill her, why hadn’t he done it already? Maybe this was a power game that some men played?

What should she do? Maybe she’d act completely normal, as if nothing had happened, or should she question him? The latter hadn’t gone very well previously, so maybe the best course of action would be to say nothing unless he spoke to her. Right now, her priority was staying alive. Waves of terror gripped her as indecision flooded her dehydrated brain. She stood, but overwhelmed with dizziness, gripped onto the doorframe. A few moments passed before her vision came back into focus and she could see him preparing a meal in the kitchen using the canned goods he had lined up on the counter.

“Sit at the table.” He indicated to a rickety old chair. “The coffee will be ready soon. I’m waiting for the kettle to boil and I have a plunger. Without electricity we need to make do with what we have available.” He frowned. “It would have been better if you’d added wood to the stove during the day. The fire was almost out when I got home.” He chuckled deep in his chest. “I guess you’ve been a little tied up all day?”

Throat dry and terribly dehydrated, Carolyn indicated to the bottles of water lined up along the bench. “May I have a drink of water please?”

“Yeah, sure.” He cracked a bottle and handed it to her with a smirk on his face. “Anything for my girl.”

Confused, Carolyn sipped the water and dampened her dry lips. He seemed normal. The same guy she’d been speaking to online. The same happy nice guy who’d picked her up from the airport parking lot. Right now she’d say or do anything to prevent him hurting her. “I’m sorry about the fire. I’ll make sure to tend it from now on.” She curled her hair around her fingers and smiled at him.

“I know you will.” He gave her a long look and turned his head a little to one side. A nerve in his cheek tightened. “There, everything is going along nicely. I know you can’t cook but I’ve gotta go. I’ll be back in the morning. I have things to do and people to see tonight.”

She stared after him opened-mouthed as he pulled on his boots and coat. “You’re leaving me alone again?”

“Yeah, but it’s because I need to make plans and it’s too dark to share them with you tonight.” His hand went to the door. “I’ll leave you with the lantern. Be frugal because once the battery is out, you’ll be in the dark. Enjoy your supper and maybe save some for tomorrow. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.” He opened the door. The wind whipped up the flames in the hearth, scattering embers and ash. He partially closed it, holding it with his foot. “There’s a blizzard out there. You’re fortunate I came by tonight, but leaving you there like that wasn’t what I had in mind.” He looked at her. “When I come back, I’ll take you out to see the view. I’ve found the perfect place to stop for a picnic lunch.”

It wasn’t what he had in mind for me. What the heck?Trying to remain calm and appear interested. Carolyn forced her lips into a smile. “That sounds wonderful. Will the blizzard be over by then?”

“I doubt it.” He dropped his hand from the doorknob and switched on a flashlight. “For you, it will be like being inside a snowdome.” He chuckled as he slipped out the door. “For a time anyway.” The key in the lock turned.

Shaking with fear, Carolyn stared at the door. Her heart pounded so hard she wanted to spew. Somehow, she needed to get away. The sound of the snowmobile echoed in the distance. It would warn her when he was returning. She couldn’t leave tonight. The temperature outside would kill her before she had gotten far. She needed to eat and make plans. Escaping at firstlight was her only hope. She went to the door and pulled on it. Locked. She tried the window and noticed the nails placed evenly along the bottom of the frame. He’d trapped her inside. Panic gripped her and she turned around searching for any weakness in the old log cabin. She must find a way out before he returned or she’d never leave this place alive.

THIRTY-THREE

As Kane peeled off his coat, hat, and gloves, Jenna slid a cup of coffee across her desk. She stared at her cup of decaffeinated coffee. It wasn’t so bad but she’d decided to remove caffeine and any other potentially baby-harming substances from her diet. As strange as it may seem, she’d weaned herself from normal coffee a month before she’d become pregnant. It was just one of the things she’d tried as she hadn’t been sleeping well and did drink way too much coffee. So if getting more sleep had helped her to conceive, it had worked. She waited for him to drop into the chair opposite her desk. “Okay, what did you find in Sierra’s cabin?”

“Nothing.” Kane cradled his cup in his hands and sipped. He let out a long sigh and leaned back. “I doubt he’s ever had a woman in there. It’s bare, with only the necessities, which makes me believe he might move around some. They do. The mountain guys often have cabins for summer and winter. They stick closer to the highway in winter and go deeper to hunt and fish in the warmer months.” He sighed. “He hates people. I figure he needs a psych evaluation. I waited outside while Cross was talking to him… by his request I might add. I didn’t hear anything but I could see Sierra waving his arms around and yelling. I wasexpecting Cross to hit the red button for assistance, but he kept his cool. The guards from County were waiting for him when Cross finished. We completed the paperwork and Sierra has left the building. Cross couldn’t wait to get out of here.”

Jenna eyed him over the rim of her cup. “While you were gone, Blackhawk and Will Cody from search and rescue came by to give me a rundown of what’s happening with the search for Julie.” She gave him the details. “Of course, Cody doesn’t know any details about the murder investigation but Blackhawk made sure he took note of any cabins. Everything he saw or they all recalled they’ve added to this map.” She slid a folded map across the table to him. “It’s vast but as the avalanches didn’t occur at the same time, we can assume Julie is likely holed up in a cabin that’s been recently isolated by an avalanche.”

“Hmm.” Kane looked at the map. “If I were in the same situation and if I knew the forest like a mountain man, I would find my way around the avalanches. Sure, going through the forest without trails is dangerous but it is possible.”

Placing her cup on the table, Jenna shrugged. “It’s possible but getting lost out there would be easy without a phone with GPS. We must assume this is the case or someone would have called. Think about it. Everything looks the same. Sure, you could keep the mountain to your right all the way but it weaves around. Trust me, in summer, in daylight, when I was lost in the forest, it was impossible to navigate. Add freezing temperatures and it becomes impossible.” She sighed. “Wolfe is convinced she is injured or she’d have left a sign somewhere at the crash site. You’ve taught her to remain with a wreck unless her life was in danger. It’s far easier to find a wreck than a person in the forest, or anywhere.”

“Okay, so we assume Julie will recover before trying to find a way out of the forest?” Kane frowned. “I don’t figure she’ll risk getting lost. She’ll wait for the blizzard to pass and then light afire. She’ll keep it going as smoky as possible and hope to see choppers. I’ve heard Wolfe telling her to do that, so I guess we have no choice but to wait and see what happens.” He pushed one hand through his slick black hair. “This doesn’t get us closer to the killer. We have two options that I can see. He lives in town and uses the cleared roads into the forest to get to where he leaves his victims. Blackhawk is correct. They’re known to him and somehow he manages to trick them into going into the forest. Once there, they are at his mercy.” He waved a hand. “The second theory is he does have a cabin or cabins, or he has use of them, so maybe hunting cabins. No one is going to disturb him in this weather.”

Jenna looked up as Rio knocked on the office door. “Yes.”

“I’ve finished updating the files.” Rio rubbed the back of his neck. He looked exhausted. “I called Kalo and he is having power problems due to the storms. Carter is working on the backup generator. As soon as he can, he’ll run those facial recognition files through the software. He figures it won’t be until the morning.”

Jenna nodded. “Okay, then we’ll call it a day. There’s nothing more for us to do today. We’ll hunt down the whereabouts of the other two potential suspects in the morning.”

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