Page 3 of The Ice Sisters

His voice thundered behind them. Taylor turned and saw bushes parting.

“Come on, we can’t stop now.” She pushed Heidi into a cluster of bushes then into the mine opening.

She heard him slashing at the brush and shouting ugly words but they hunkered down and sat there for what seemed like hours. She and Heidi hugged each other and closed their eyes, trying to make themselves invisible.

Creepy sounds echoed from inside the mine. Water trickling. Animals skittering.

Taylor swatted at something that felt like a spider crawling on her. Minutes ticked by. The wind whistled through the mine. Heidi cried into her hands. Taylor rocked her back and forth until they both grew tired and sleepy. But just as she thought they were safe, something rattled outside. A stick was hurled into the cave, then a rock. Heidi startled and let out a small cry.

Then more footsteps, and she heard his breathing. He’d found them.

She bit her tongue to keep from screaming, then tasted blood. A second later, she felt his cold fingers on her neck and he dragged her from the mine into the bushes.

TWO

EMERALD FALLS

Thanksgiving Day, November 26

Detective Ellie Reeves missed Crooked Creek and the people in it. But after the last horrific case and the news that Cord McClain was engaged, she’d needed to get awayand clear her head.

But she had to go home soon. Back to work. Back to reality.

The town needed her.

She clenched the phone with clammy hands. Her parents had called every day she’d been gone, putting her on speaker, hovering and worrying.

“Yes, Dad, tell Mother I’ll be home for Thanksgiving dinner.”

“I’m right here,” Vera chirped. “And dinner is at six so don’t be late. I made all your favorites.”

Ellie checked her watch. It was only two o’clock. Her mother was a stickler about not being late. But first she wanted to get her hike in.

“Where are you?” Vera asked.

“At the Emerald Falls Inn. I’m hiking to the Reflection Pond, then I’ll head back to Crooked Creek.”

“You know the legend about the Reflection Pond,” Vera said. “When you look in it, you see a reflection of your future. Maybe you’ll see the man you’re supposed to marry.”

Ellie rolled her eyes. Vera had been pushing her to trade her badge for a wedding ring for years. But Ellie had never seen herself as the marrying kind until… no, she canned the idea.

After this trip, it was all about work. Just like she wanted, dammit.

“Ellie, a major snowstorm is rolling in,” her father said, his tone thick with concern. “You best get on home.”

“I’ll be there this evening,” she promised.

“Just get on the road,” her father said. “They’re saying it might be a blizzard.”

That was almost unheard of this time of year, but weather was unpredictable and already the northeast part of the country was under a winter advisory.

“See you soon.” She ended the call, yanked on her jacket, grabbed her gloves, backpack, compass and the map of the area, and headed down the steps of the inn. Outside, the woods looked ominous, the sky a smoky gray from the storm clouds rolling in. Unfazed by the endless miles of woods along the Appalachian Trail, she followed her compass toward Emerald Falls. Local artists, photographers and tourists captured the beautiful scenery and the seventy-five foot waterfalls as it fed into the pond. She’d been wanting to see it forever.

Light shimmered through the crystal-clear water, but some locals claimed a majestic emerald glittered in the falls at dawn and dusk.

Wind hurled dead leaves and twigs around her as she trudged mile after mile, the path a narrow ribbon that wove up the mountain. Nestled in the vegetation and expanse of pines and oaks, one could easily get lost. But she had her compass.

The forest swallowed her, the sound of birds twittering mingling with the wind and shivering of the trees. She could hear the waterfalls in the background, the water in the creek that fed into it gurgling, a sign she was getting closer.

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