Page 26 of Their Frozen Bones

“Yeah, thanks.” Wolfe stamped the snow from his boots and climbed inside the truck.

Opening the door to the truck, Kane looked back as Oberg slid back inside his cabin. He looked at Wolfe. “I’m not too sure about him. I’ll keep his name on the list of possible offenders I keep in my daybook. I have a feeling we’ll be running into him again someday.”

THIRTY

Jenna had made good use of her time in the office waiting for the team to arrive. She’d contacted the DA to request an arrest warrant for Sierra, and prison officers were on their way to collect him. One of the local public defenders, Samuel J. Cross, was standing by. She’d called Rowley and insisted Rio take him to the ER. He’d already been seen and was fine, apart from bruising. She’d sent him home but Rio was busy writing up his report for the DA.

Blackhawk and the head of the search-and-rescue team that were hunting down Julie’s whereabouts were due to arrive to give her a rundown of the situation, and Maggie had received calls over the hotline after the media release about the victims discovered in the forest. She’d sent the images to Kalo, along with the shots taken by Wolfe as the bodies thawed. Rather than show the next of kin the gruesome images, Kalo had offered to run the images through his facial recognition software. So far, four women had been reported missing by their families. It had been easy for him to hack into the airport footage for the dates of the arrival of each woman. All had arrived safely in Black Rock Falls and then vanished.

After calling the local hotel, motel, and the ski resort she’d discovered none of the missing women had made a booking. She’d called the forestry about rental vacation cabins and not one had been occupied since the first snowfall. The hairs on the back of her neck lifted to attention. The killer was somehow making his victims come to him. An ingenious idea that would have taken meticulous planning. Women taking a vacation wouldn’t be reported missing. No one would be hunting them down. They would make the perfect victims. They’d found three bodies. Jenna pushed both hands through her hair. One other poor soul might be out in the forest tied to a tree and staring into nothingness, but what if the killer had her holed up somewhere waiting for the opportunity to display her like a trophy? What if he had Julie as well? The thought sent goosebumps scattering across her flesh. So long as the blizzard raged, her team was hogtied. The conditions made it impossible to conduct a search from the air. On the ground, the snow and ice obliterated evidence. For once in her time as sheriff, there was nothing she could do.

As she refilled the coffee pot for Kane’s return, she checked her watch. The snowscape outside the window was turning blue as the light faded on another day. She’d listened with interest as Kane had given details about the interviews with the potential suspects as he waited at the hospital for Sierra to be examined. She’d crossed Sierra off the list on the whiteboard. They had no evidence against him but added a few notes under Oberg’s name. A tap on her door announced Sam Cross and she turned to smile at him. She’d never seen eye to eye with Cross, being on opposite sides of the law, but if ever she’d found herself in trouble, he’d be the one she’d call. Although he presented well in court, he always arrived as if he’d just walked off the rodeo circuit. He was indeed the classic definition of a range-riding, hardworking cowboy, from the worn-down heels of his cowboy boots to his blue jeansand slightly battered cowboy hat. If this persona was to deflect his true persona away from law enforcement, it probably worked with anyone but her. Under the guise of a good old boy, Cross was often mistaken as an oddball. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jenna needed to ensure her case against Sierra was solid. One crack in the case would be a canyon by the time Cross had read the case file. She turned to him. “I’m sorry to call you out so late with the blizzard and all, but Luke Sierra was shot during arrest. He is on his way back here now from the hospital. I hope we can make this short, so he can be transported to County tonight.”

“Or be on his way home.” Cross shrugged and leaned against the doorframe. “Deputy Kane shot him, I believe?”

Jenna nodded. “Yes. One shot to disarm him after he put three bullets into Deputy Rowley. All my deputies and Dr. Shane Wolfe were on scene and under automatic weapon fire from your client.” She moved toward her desk. “As you are aware, under such circumstances any one of my deputies could have returned fire to take down your client. However, as Deputy Kane has the necessary skills in the field, I was confident he could disarm him. Mr. Sierra has a through-and-through gunshot wound to his right shoulder. He has received treatment and been discharged by the hospital. There is no permanent damage. He’ll recover just fine.”

“What are the charges?” Cross rubbed his chin and his brow furrowed. “Do you have an arrest warrant?”

Jenna sat behind her desk and rested her elbows on the top, clasping her hands together. “Not in my possession. I’ve just spoken to the DA. He has the officers’ statements, but from our conversation, he will be pressing charges. I’m sure everything will be detailed in the arrest warrant and evidence will be supplied under discovery. Your client should be on his way backhere now. I would like to know the reason he opened fire on my deputies.” She waved him to a seat. “Coffee?”

“I’m fine, thanks. Why did you send them to speak to him?” Cross sat down in a chair opposite the table and leaned back, resting one cowboy boot on his knee.

As Sierra was not considered a prime suspect in the murder case, Jenna had no reason to disclose the fact they’d discovered three homicide victims in the forest. She met his gaze. “You’d be aware of the plane crash at Bear Peak?”

“Yes, of course, a tragic accident.” Cross’ brow furrowed. “Go on.”

Jenna nodded. “Dr. Wolfe’s daughter Julie was on the flight and she’s missing. We can’t reach the crash site due to the weather and a significant number of avalanches in the immediate area. I sent my deputies to speak to anyone in the vicinity to ask them if they’d witnessed the crash or had any information about Julie. Both my deputies were wearing sheriff’s department vests, with bright yellow lettering back and front. They didn’t pull their weapons and identified themselves. The cabin isn’t signposted and is the property of the forestry. My deputies did not pose a threat and gave a clear indication of why they were in the forest.” She met his gaze. “If Deputy Rowley hadn’t been wearing his vest, Mr. Sierra would be facing a murder charge.” She raised both eyebrows. “When he turned his weapon on Deputy Kane and Dr. Wolfe, Kane returned fire. He used one shot to disable your client. He received immediate medical attention by Dr. Wolfe. His wound was numbed using local anesthetic to control the pain. We acted by the book.”

“I see.” Cross’ gaze hadn’t left her face. “Was my client interviewed after the incident?”

Jenna shook her head. “Not that I’m aware.” She picked up her phone and scrolled to the video Kane had sent her. “He was concerned about his dogs. Kane read him his rights and madethis video of his permission to enter his premises.” She played the video.

“That’s very convenient.” Cross ran a hand down his face and rolled up his eyes. “I’ll speak to my client. Do you want to speak to him before they ship him off to County?”

The statements had already been lodged electronically. The DA had everything he needed to lay charges. Jenna shook her head. “I don’t believe my deputies’ stories will differ from the statements. I’ll leave the case in the hands of the DA. Maggie will be able to give you copies. Kane is bringing your client back from the hospital now.”

“Thank you.” Cross stood and pushed on his hat. “I’ll wait downstairs.”

Jenna stared after him. She wanted to know what Kane wasn’t prepared to say over the phone about Luke Sierra and what he’d found or hadn’t found in his cabin.

THIRTY-ONE

Jenna took delivery of a box of takeout from Aunt Betty’s Café just as Atohi Blackhawk and a man he introduced as Will Cody stepped into the office. Jenna pushed the box onto the counter and turned to wave them to chairs. Will Cody was in his mid-thirties with a boyish open expression and around six-feet tall. Both men appeared cold and weary, melting snow dripped from Blackhawk’s hat. “You’ve both arrived at a fortunate time. There’s fresh coffee and a delivery from Aunt Betty’s. I’ll get the coffee. Please help yourself.” She indicated to the carton. Keeping a supply of food in the office in extreme conditions with exhausted men coming and going had become a necessity.

She made the coffee and a decaffeinated brew for herself and sat waiting for them to shed layers of clothes. The men brought with them the scents of a frozen forest and smiled as they collected food from the box. When they sat down, she eyed them hopefully. If only they’d found some trace of Julie. “How bad is it out there?”

“We’re used to navigating through blizzards but nature has thrown us a curveball.” Cody ate a turnover in three bites. “The earth tremors are increasing and making the entire mountain unstable. Trails we discovered yesterday are blocked today. Iimagine we’ll be conducting food drops to the people isolated by avalanches before the melt. There’s no safe way of clearing them with tons of snow above just waiting to come down.” He licked sugar from his fingers. “We didn’t find a sign anyone had been by. The snow is covering tracks faster than we can make them.”

“It’s fortunate we didn’t discover any more bodies tied to trees along the way either.” Blackhawk cradled a cup between his large hands. “Perhaps the conditions are too harsh even for a killer.” He placed his cup on the desk and pulled out three folded pieces of paper. “I know your team is anxious to get out there, so we kept a record of where we’ve searched. These are maps of hikers’ trails throughout the Bear Peak area. I have one for my use, but I’ve marked up two for you with all the blocked trails we’ve discovered so far. I’ve also marked the location of any cabins we have either seen or recall in the area. So where I’ve used a capitalCthat’s a cabin we’ve seen.COmeans signs of occupation. The question marks are for the approximate location of other cabins we can recall seeing in the area but couldn’t get to. These might range from self-built hunting cabins, forestry, and residences and range in size from one room to many.”

Impressed, Jenna stared at the map. “Thank you. I really appreciate you.” She frowned. “You’ll need to take care out there.” She brought them up to speed with the earlier incident. “Rowley is okay, thanks to his vest, and the perpetrator is on his way here now.”

“Hmm, if either of these men was involved in the murders, it’s unlikely they made it to the crash site.” Blackhawk stared at the map. “The access to their cabins is a road maintained by the snowplows. All the accessible fire roads have been cleared. We’ve been using them as access roads all day.” He scanned the map. “Many of the outlying hunters’ cabins are on trails leading from fire roads. Hunters leave their vehicles there and use thecabins as a basecamp.” He pointed to the map. “Julie would have come from here.” He pointed to an area at the base of Bear Peak. “There are many trails leading all over the forest from there and there are many cabins, but all along the edge of the mountain, the avalanches have blocked vast areas. Here and here. So if she’s inside that area, she won’t be going anywhere for a time. Only a fool would try and make it to the highway through a dense forest in a blizzard.” He sighed. “Julie is no fool.”

The situation was more complex than Jenna had imagined. “We found bodies along the way to the crash site. Surely the killer must be inside this perimeter?” She circled an area around the crash site with her finger.

“Not necessarily.” Cody shrugged. “Atohi’s group found a third body closer to the highway, so away from the base of the mountain. If you look at them as a whole, they form part of an arc.”

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