Page 32 of Their Frozen Bones

“The snow tracks are everywhere.” Nancy smiled. “You get off those wet clothes and I’ll contact search and rescue and they’ll be right along. You’ll be back in town before you know it. The snowplows have been clearing the fire roads to give people access to their cabins. There are quite a few of us who live here permanently.” She turned away and hurried along the passageway.

Carolyn stiffened at the sound of a snowmobile. She peered out the side of the drapes and gaped in disbelief at the sight of the man nightmares were made of heading toward the cabin. His blue snowmobile had a bright yellow stripe down one side and his helmet resembled a skull. It was clearly visible even through the curtain of snow. Panic gripped her and she fled through the cabin, her snowshoes clattering on the polished wood floor. She reached the back door and Nancy came into the passageway.

“What’s wrong?” Nancy stared toward the front door.

Heart racing, Carolyn turned and looked at her. “A man is chasing me. I have to hide. He’ll see my tracks and come here.”

“He won’t get inside my cabin.” Nancy stared at her. “I have a shotgun and I know how to use it.”

Carolyn shook her head. “He’s dangerous. I can’t risk your life. Get help and I’ll run.”

“If you must. I’ve cleared the path to the woodshed.” Nancy pulled open the back door. “It has two doors, hide inside or run into the forest from the other door. He won’t see your tracks. Click the lock on the door before you leave. It will need a key to open it. If he goes inside, he won’t think you went out the otherdoor. Head north toward the mountains, and I’ll tell the rescue crew when they arrive.”

Carolyn stared out into the blizzard. “He’ll know someone has been here.”

“I’ll hold him off.” Nancy patted her arm. “Trust me. I can do this. If you get the chance to double back when he’s gone, come here and wait here for search and rescue. I’ll go and call in an update and get the sheriff out here.”

Nodding, Carolyn ducked out the door. She didn’t want to involve Nancy in her troubles and she could avoid the man chasing her for a little longer. Help was on the way, she just needed to survive until the sheriff arrived. Heart hammering, she dashed across the yard and into the woodshed. The snowshoes, like flippers, hampered each step, but she edged around the piles of split firewood and dragged open the door. She opened the lock and fell out the door and rolled into a massive snowdrift. Struggling to her feet as the sound of the snowmobile grew louder, she lifted her knees and pushed through the freezing white until the trees broke up the drift. A blind man could find her from her tracks, but she turned away from the fire road and zigzagged through the trees until she came to a trail. The freezing air cut into her throat and lungs with each step. The brightness made her dizzy but she kept going. She had to get away. It was her only hope. The longer she could run the more time she gave the sheriff to save her. How long would it take them to get here? She let out a sob and pressed one hand against a tree, gasping the freezing air. A gunshot blasted the silence. Heart racing, she turned to look behind her. Had Nancy shot him? Trembling, she waited, listening. A few minutes later the roar of the snowmobile started again and it was getting louder by the second.

Ahead, the trail spread out white and pristine, there was no way he wouldn’t be able to follow her. At the speed he wastraveling, he’d mow her down before she got far. Frantic, she searched ahead and, seeing overhanging branches, ran at them and leaped into the air. Her hands locked on the bough of a large pine. In desperation, she swung her legs back and forth. On the upswing she let go. The momentum swung her away from the trail and into the forest. Miraculously she didn’t hit one of the trees but fell between a space and landed flat on her face. Winded, she staggered to her feet and ran wildly away from the oncoming noise of the snowmobile. The snowfall wasn’t so deep here, but she kept zigzagging between the trees and trying to head in the same general direction.

As she ran, she searched around for deep undergrowth. Lungs bursting from overexertion, she kept moving. She must find a place to hide. It would be impossible to outrun him on a snowmobile and hiding in the undergrowth was her only chance. Maybe when he went past, she could risk trying to get back to the cabin. Trembling with terror, she grabbed a fallen branch and dragged it across her footprints and then rolled beneath a dead bush. With luck, the heavily falling snow would cover all trace of her. Heart threatening to burst from her chest, she curled into a ball on the frozen ground. The noise of the snowmobile was getting louder by the second. He was coming.

THIRTY-NINE

Visibility was down to zero as Kane turned the Beast onto the road to the Big D Ranch. The wipers could barely shift the torrential snowfall building up on the windshield. He glanced at Jenna. “This is getting impossible. Even the Beast is having trouble shifting all these drifts. I can’t see Davidson moving back and forth to the forest in this weather.”

“At least we have a great heater.” Jenna zipped up her jacket as the truck came to a halt at the barn. The sign pointing to the manager’s office hung just inside the entrance. “We’ll go and speak to the manager. He might give us the lowdown on Davidson.”

Kane pulled his double woolen cap over his ears and pressed his Stetson over the top. He turned to Jenna and saw his reflection in her sunglasses. He pushed his up his nose. In this weather, snow blindness was a sad reality. “You can wait here if you want. I’m leaving the engine running and the heat on, anyway. I don’t want to risk being stranded out here for heaven knows how long.”

“Oh, I’m coming with you.” Jenna unclipped her seatbelt and then pulled on thick gloves. “We have no idea what we’rewalking into or how many people are involved in the murders. We always assume it’s one man. What if it’s two or more?”

Raising both eyebrows Kane shrugged. “It’s always a possibility, I guess.” He indicated with his chin to a middle-aged man standing in the entrance of the barn eyeing them with interest. “We have an audience already.” He pushed open his door and waited for Jenna to climb down before walking toward the barn.

Not wanting to be overprotective, he suppressed the desire to take her hand in case she slipped in the snow. Although everyone had told him to treat her normally, he couldn’t imagine falling over in the snow could be good for her or the baby. It hadn’t been that long for her to get pregnant, but for Jenna it had been an eternity. He hoped it would be the first of the three she yearned for, but now after adopting Tauri, perhaps she could be content with one or maybe two. He smiled to himself, however many she wanted, he’d be overjoyed. Having Tauri showed him how much he enjoyed being a father. Removing his sunglasses, he stepped inside the barn with Jenna close behind and nodded to the man. “Deputy Kane and this is Sheriff Alton. We’d like to speak to the manager.” He slid the sunglasses into his pocket.

“That’s me.” The man held out his hand. “Joe Plant. Come into my office.” He led the way past bales of hay and a tractor to a door marked withmanagerwritten in paint by hand. “Okay, has one of my hands run afoul of the law?”

“That remains to be seen.” Jenna moved forward to stand beside Kane. “You recall the air crash at Bear Peak? We have people missing and we’re hunting down the owners of cabins in Stanton Forest around the Bear Peak area. It makes sense that the victims would go to the cabins for assistance. Mr. Davidson owns a cabin in that area. We discovered he works and bunks here on occasion and would like a word with him.”

“He’s not here.” Plant dropped into a chair behind a large cluttered desk and, resting his elbows on the wooden arms, towered his fingers and looked at them suspiciously. “Hmm, I figure there’s something you’re not telling me.” He looked from one to the other. “I’m aware of his assault charges against women and that he did time. So you believe he’s involved in a crime?”

Kane wrinkled his nose. The small room smelled of cow turds and male sweat. Plant’s clothes didn’t appear to have been changed in a long time, unless he’d been mucking out a pigpen. “We don’t have any evidence to suggest that Davidson is involved in a crime at this time.”

“Not everyone living in the forest welcomes strangers, but they might have seen or heard something.” Jenna folded her arms across her chest. “We need to know if Mr. Davidson noticed any strangers passing by or if he knows the location of other cabins in the immediate area.” She waved a hand. “The weather is making searching for them impossible and some of the trails are blocked by avalanches.”

“There’s not much I can say.” Plant poured three fingers of bourbon into a glass and sipped it. “He came in for a few hours yesterday and said he’d be making repairs to his cabin. I told him I’d need him on Friday and he said he should be through by then.”

Kane wondered if the owner was on site and allowed his manager to drink on the job. He pushed the thought to one side. “Does Davidson have a wife or someone sharing his cabin with him?”

“He takes girls there.” Plant leaned back and scrutinized Kane’s face. “There’s a river in walking distance and it’s secluded. He comes back with stories about his conquests. Seems the girls he attracts like to go skinny-dipping in summer.” He chuckled. “Nothing wrong with being a ladies’ man.”

“What’s he like?” Jenna glanced at the DMV image on her phone. “This is him, right?”

“Yeah, that’s him. He’s just what the city women like, a big strong cowboy.” Plant squinted at the screen. “He has a beard right now. Most of the hands grow one in winter. Me, I can’t stand the itching.”

Kane narrowed his gaze. “Where does he meet all these city women? This time of the year they’re all out at the ski resort and chasing after the ski instructors. I don’t figure a ranch hand would fit into that crowd.”

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