Page 1 of Their Frozen Bones

PROLOGUE

SATURDAY

I’m going to die.Realization shuddered through Flora Hadley as she stared into the face of the man she’d trusted. Her lungs ached with each breath, but she forced words between cold trembling lips. “Why are you doing this?” Her teeth chattered as snowflakes melted on her cheeks and spilled down her face and into her collar.

He was everything she wanted in a man: tall, handsome, and attentive. She’d become so close to him and jumped at the chance of a romantic weekend at the Glacial Heights Ski Resort. It had only been three weeks but she’d trusted him. They hadn’t arrived at the resort, but he’d acted mysterious and funny on the ride to a secluded cabin for lunch. The place had been beautiful, with outstanding scenery. Pines heavy with snow and views of valleys and frozen waterfalls went on forever. She’d wanted to take pictures, but he’d asked her to wait and promised to show her a view to die for. Now, she understood his meaning and it chilled her to the bone. She looked around, searching for a way to escape, but his pistol pressed into her stomach. He appeared to be enjoying dominating her, and acting scared would only encourage him. She had one small chance to outwit him by acting nonchalant. Hair blew across her face and she tossed itaside, pushing it behind her ears and then curling the ends in her fingers. Most men she’d dated took that gesture as a come-on. Could it work for him? Would he change his mind?

“Stop touching your hair.” His mouth turned down as he ripped off her woolen cap and tossed it into a snowdrift. “Take off your clothes.”

It was below freezing. She couldn’t feel her feet. Uncomprehending, she gaped at him. “Have you lost your mind? I’m not undressing here.”

“Shut your mouth.” He slapped her hard across the face. “You’ll do as I say or I’ll hurt you.”

Terror gripped her by the throat when he holstered his gun and pulled a long hunting knife from a sheath on his belt. Trembling, she stared at his grim expression. She had to try and sort out his problem with her. Had she said something, done something to upset him? “Talk to me. What are we doing here? What have I done to upset you?”

“If you’re trying to analyze me, all you’re doing is making me angry.” He pushed her hard against a tall pine, making the snow on the branches plop down on her head, soaking her hair. “Don’t move or I’ll cut you.” He stepped behind her.

Crying out as pain shot through her shoulders, Flora gasped as he dragged her arms around the tree and secured her with zip ties pulled so tight they cut deep into her flesh. “You’re hurting me.”

Instinct told her to fight but her training as an anger management counselor convinced her to try and talk her way out of the situation. Maybe this was some type of sex game. Apart from roughing her up a little, he hadn’t actually hurt her too badly. His demeanor had changed again as he came round to face her. He unzipped her puffy jacket and then took his knife and slit her layers of thick clothes from top to bottom. Shivering and too afraid to move in case he cut her, she watched in horroras he methodically removed every inch of clothing, peeling her like a banana. The frigid wind circled around her warm flesh, cooling her in seconds. Snowflakes drifted softly over her. The icy miracles of nature were something she’d loved to play with as a child. She’d lift her head and stick out her tongue to catch the frozen delights, but now they were frozen daggers cutting into her flesh.

As calm as if he had all the time in the world, the cruel unfeeling monster went to his backpack, took out a roll of gaffer tape. A scream hovered in her throat as he wrapped it around her chest and the tree. She couldn’t move and the tape was so tight she couldn’t breathe. When he did the same to her legs, she just stood there unable to move. It was as if one part of her brain was telling her to fight and the other part was in shock and too scared to move in case he cut her with a knife. Shivering, her teeth chattered as cold seeped into her, burning right through to her bones. Stiffness crept into her face. Breathing in the frigid air hurt so bad. Why was he doing this to her? The man she’d trusted was part of a nightmare that she couldn’t wake up from.

Waves of terror surged through her when he finally straightened and stood in front of her staring at her face. Lip quivering, she met his cold hard gaze. “Please stop. Why are you doing this?”

He didn’t respond but took the knife and hacked away at her hair. Fear made her dizzy as the knife nicked her scalp. Warm blood trickled down her cheek and she shook with uncontrollable sobs. All around her the snow was covered in long blonde strands. When he finally finished, he opened her backpack and took out her makeup bag. He extracted one of her lipsticks and walked toward her. He drew something on her forehead and then stood back and admired his work. He returned the lipstick to her makeup bag and retrieved a small mirror. He held it up in front of her. Trying hard to focus, Floragasped in horror at her reflection. The long glossy blonde hair that had taken so long to grow was just spikes on a bald head. On her forehead he’d drawn a smiley face in lipstick. Tears fell hot on her freezing cheeks and breathing was becoming difficult. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“Because I can.” Smiling and without a care in the world, he gathered dead branches from close by and used them to sweep away the footprints around where she stood as he backed away to the snowmobile they’d used to get to this secluded part of the forest.

Her mind refused to comprehend what was happening, but as shivers wracked her body, Flora stared at him. This must be a mistake. He loved her—didn’t he? “You can’t just leave me here. I’ll die in this weather.”

“That’s the idea.” He turned away and gave her a wave. “Enjoy the view while you can.”

Desperate, Flora tried to scream through frozen lips, and she struggled as the sound of the snowmobile disappeared into the distance, but as the cold steeped into her body, movement was almost impossible. She couldn’t escape and no one was coming to save her. A blizzard surrounded her, its icy grip claiming her last warm breath. She stared into a snowscape as beautiful as it was deadly, and as a single tear froze on her cheek, she surrendered to the inevitable.

ONE

The day Deputy Dave Kane, an off-the-grid special forces operative, arrived in Black Rock Falls, his life had changed dramatically. He’d encountered Sheriff Jenna Alton, an ex-DEA special agent in witness protection, spinning upside-down in her cruiser in the snow after an attempt on her life. Six years had passed since his reassignment to hide in plain sight as a deputy sheriff, and what an action-packed six years it had been. He’d found himself living in Serial Killer Central with a sheriff he’d been sent to protect and who was the last person who needed or wanted his protection. It was just as well his handler, Dr. Shane Wolfe, currently the medical examiner, was sent along to keep the peace. Not in his wildest dreams would he have believed six years later he’d be holding Jenna’s hair from her face as she hugged the toilet.

After losing his wife in a car bombing during his time as a secret service agent, he’d never believed he’d love again, but the moment he’d set eyes on Jenna, something magical had happened. The opposite to him, Jenna was petite against his six-five, two-hundred-fifty-pound frame but they both had the same black hair and blue eyes. She just happened to be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. It had taken him four or moreyears to propose, but now they had an adopted son, Tauri, and Jenna was pregnant with their child. Hence the need to hold up her hair as she spewed. It had become a morning ritual. Watching her and not being able to stop her misery tore at his heart. He passed her a damp washcloth as she lifted her head. “Sit still for a while.” He flushed the toilet and crouched before her. “Wolfe said it wouldn’t last much longer.”

“It wasn’t supposed to start at three weeks but it did.” Jenna pressed the washcloth to her face and leaned back against the tile. “Sandy’s lasted for three months.” She pulled down a small section of the washcloth and peered at him. “But she was having twins. What if I’m having twins?”

Jenna was referring to Deputy Jake Rowley’s wife, whom he’d rather not use an example of pregnant bliss as she’d ended up delivering her twins in the morgue as the roads to the hospital were blocked during a blizzard. Kane shook his head. “There’s no twins in our families, so I doubt it, but whatever sex or how many babies we have, they’ll be a blessing.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re not hugging the porcelain every morning.” Jenna covered her face again. “Two would be great. Three is a great number of kids to have and we’d get it all done and dusted in one go.”

Grinning, Kane sat down beside her. “This is the easy part. Once the morning sickness has passed, you’ll be back to normal for a few months before you start waddling like a duck.” He chuckled. “Then you get to squeeze all the life out of my hands during labor. Rowley told me that it took him six weeks before he could move his hands again after being with Sandy during the birth of the twins.” He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Don’t worry, they say that as soon as the baby is put in your arms, you’ll forget the morning sickness and the delivery.”

“That’s what women tell their husbands as an excuse for the verbal abuse they dished out during the labor.” Jenna snorted.“Now I know why in the olden times, the midwives refused to allow husbands to be present at the birth. The modern way must have been suggested by a woman just to let a man know exactly what we go through.” She dropped the washcloth. “Why don’t you want to know the sex of our baby?”

A tightness closed around his heart. His first wife had been pregnant with their son when she was killed. The loss of both of them was like a dagger to his heart for so long he didn’t know how he’d survived. He tipped back his head and stared at the ceiling. “I already know.” He touched his head. “In here, I can see you holding our baby. I know the name and that you’ll want another the moment you lay eyes on our child.” He touched her face. “I know you, Jenna. You’re strong and capable. You’re a wonderful mother to Tauri and you’ll continue to be a great sheriff. Children, as we’ve discovered, only enhance our lives. We’ve been very fortunate to be parents don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I want this baby so much, but I hate spewing, is all.” She smiled at him. “I’m not worried about the labor, but it will take all my willpower not to discover the sex. When I have the scans, I’ll be looking. I just won’t tell you.”

Kane pushed to his feet and held out his hands. “Have a few crackers and sit awhile in bed before you take a shower. I’ll go and tend the horses.” He glanced at his watch. “Tauri will be awake soon and I promised him he could watch while I fixed the Harley.” He pulled her to her feet and handed her the mouthwash. “Will you be okay now?”

“Yeah.” She squeezed his arm. “Same time tomorrow?”

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