Page 87 of Cold as Hell

“Did they grab a seat?” I motion at the dining area.

“Nah. They got their coffee to go. Oh, I did hear something else. Yolanda said she might start her patrol early. On account of what Marlon heard, I think? He said he didn’t start work until later, so if it was okay, he’d join her, since no one should be out there alone.”

“See?” Brian says. “That’s why they were together and talking. Business.”

We take our leave. Once we’re out the back door, on the empty patio, I murmur, “That makes sense. She would talk to him about business.”

Anders doesn’t answer. That gives me pause, but then another damned stomach cramp hits, and I wait it out beforecontinuing, “Business being town security. He says he heard something and…”

And then it hits hard enough for my breath to catch, and I realize why Anders is so quiet, why he’s staring out at the forest, breathing hard, a stricken look on his face. I’d been completely focused on why Yolanda and Marlon were together, and the “security” answer came as a relief, when it should have had the absolute opposite effect.

Marlon says he heard something last night, out in the forest.

Yolanda says she’ll start her patrol early and take a look.

He offers to come with her, and she won’t argue because he’s right—no one should be out there alone with a killer on the loose.

Except the killer is the guy saying he “heard something.” And he just found a way to get Yolanda—the woman who’s been blocking his interest for months—into the forest with him.

“Eric,” I say, my voice coming out strangled. “We need to get Eric.”

I go hunt for Dalton while Anders uses the two-way radios to call whoever’s on patrol. Yolanda said she was going to start early, but she’d be overlapping with others, rather than taking over. There’s a decent chance whoever else is patrolling saw them.

I find Dalton talking to Phil and Isabel at their place, and I make them pull on their boots and follow as I talk. We soon hear Anders ahead, and we pick up speed and find him talking to Kendra and Jacob, who just got back from patrol.

“We never saw them,” Kendra says as we approach, as if knowing this will be our first question. “We were just saying that we need to lock down. I was going to go talk to Phil but…”

“Yes,” Phil says. “We’re in lockdown. Kendra? Jacob? I’ll get your help with that—”

“We need Jacob,” Dalton says. “He’s a better tracker than me. You get Kendra and Casey.”

I shake my head. “Storm works best with me. And if we need to split up, there should be four of us, so we can stay in twos.”

Dalton hesitates.

“He won’t have gone far,” I say. “He’s not getting Yolanda miles from town, whether he’s luring her or carrying her.”

“All right then. Let’s take one of those radios and head out.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

It doesn’t take me long to realize I was mistaken. These are not “stomach cramps.” They’re labor pains. It feels like another round of prodromal labor, which means it’s nothing to worry about. My body is just fussing. Or, better yet, getting the baby in position for birth in a few weeks.

I don’t tell anyone. I really am fine. It’s just sudden bursts of pain that make me want to double over. No big deal.

Okay, yes, it’s a big deal, but compared to Yolanda being in the forest with a sadistic serial killer? I can handle the pain. The baby isn’t coming yet.

We only need to circle the town once before finding Jerome and Yolanda’s trail. Even without Storm, I could have tracked them—there are two sets of prints leaving the main trail, only partly obscured by thick brush.

Halfheartedly obscured? Yes. Jerome could have found a better place to leave a trail, like the flattened mess of prints leading to the lake, from our investigation.

I look at these prints, and I see a sneer. At us? Because we left, taking Storm and Dalton and leaving the town—presumably—without a tracker. Jerome had little interaction with Jacob. He wouldn’t have realized Jacob would find this trail faster than Storm or Dalton.

Or is the sneer for Anders? Hopeless without his boss? While the forest is not Anders’s forte, hewouldhave found this trail, because he’d have searched until he did.

I set Storm on it, and the others let her take charge while they scan for trouble and clues. It’s a clear day, which is a relief. Sunny but cold. The only thing slowing us down is the forest itself, thick with fresh snow. That makes it slow going, but it also means I can keep up easily.

Okay, “easily” might be an exaggeration. I’m keeping up, following in the path Storm cuts, but it’s still a slog and the cramps don’t help. At least the others are behind me, meaning I’m free to pull faces when the contractions hit.

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