Page 44 of Silverstorm

She kept her eyes averted from the dark lump lying on the frozen ground. Jude had assured her that Rocky was dead. But it was one thing knowing it and another thing completely to have to walk past his body. A very small part of her felt the tiniest bit sorry for Rocky. All he’d been was a pawn in Parker’s game. He’d been manipulated into obeying his father’s every command, and Aria briefly wondered what sort of life the man had lived. Probably not a free or happy one. Another life ruined by Parker.

The big, black truck was a shock, even though Jude had already explained it was borrowed. But when Jude helped her up into the enormous cabin, tuned on the engine, and cranked up the heat, she decided she was in absolute heaven. She was not leaving this truck cabin again, unless it was for a warm room in a secure building. She’d had enough of this cold to last her a lifetime.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

ARIA LOOKED UP from the desk, catching the brilliant blue of the sky through the office window. She rested her chin on her hands for a second and soaked up the view of the mountains in the background. It was midmorning on Tuesday, a little over two weeks since her kidnapping. Naomi had just slipped out to get them some pastries from the kitchen for morning tea. Aria’s stomach rumbled at the thought. She was always hungry now, it seemed. She stretched and stood, then winced as the scar on her throat pulled a little. It was still covered by a thick bandage. The doctor said it was healing well, but there would always be a scar, low down on the left side of her neck, an indelible reminder of her deadly run-in with her so- called uncle.

Wandering over to the window, she peered out, noting there was no sign of the ice storm now. No sign of the havoc that it’d wreaked. The ice had all melted, and apart from a few trees that’d toppled under the weight of the ice, which’d all since been cleared away, nothing looked out of place down below in Naomi’s garden. The cold snap had been an aberration, and now the county was experiencing normal fall weather again. Cool days, and cold, clear nights.

Aria had bought herself a winter jacket in preparation for the next winter storm, however.

She’d been back at work for a week now, and it was beginning to feel like she’d been here forever. Everyone had welcomed her back with open arms, but Naomi had been particularly solicitous and continued to hover around her like a mother hen. Especially after she told her about the pregnancy.

Aria knew she could no longer keep it a secret, but it’d been a hard conversation to have, nonetheless. She’d been half expecting Naomi’s face to freeze over as the words tumbled out of her mouth, aware that Aria had duped her by omitting the fact she was due to have a baby in the interview.

But Naomi’s reaction had been the opposite of what Aria was expecting, one of joyful delight. “A baby,” she’d crowed. “We’re going to have a baby in our house? I can’t wait. To have a child running around the lodge would be a blessing indeed.” It seemed that Naomi was just as eager for a grandchild as any grandmother might be. But with no children of her own, she had to rely on the people around her to bring her the joy of a child. Now, Naomi was constantly feeding Aria, making sure she was comfortable, making sure she wasn’t experiencing any morning sickness, and shooting happy smiles at her when she didn’t think Aria was looking. Much to Aria’s surprise, she was hardly affected by morning sickness. In fact, almost the opposite, she was ravenous all the time. People told her not to get too complacent, that it might still kick in. Aria patted her stomach with affection, deciding that her baby was too well-mannered to give her terrible nausea.

Aria had never contemplated how her pregnancy might affect others, and it was heartening to discover that people truly meant it when they offered her their congratulations. Penny, too, had been over the moon when she found out. And immediately, she’d become nearly as clucky as Naomi. Aria decided that Clayton had better watch out, as it was becoming clearer by the day that Penny wanted a baby soon, too.

Aria covered her belly with her hands. It’d become a habit over the past few weeks, an instinctive need to protect the little human being growing inside. At least she’d stopped calling it her little problem. Now that she’d fully come to accept she was having this baby, she’d become very maternal indeed. Even going as far as to decide it was a girl, and so she’d nicknamed it Bunny. Which was what her mother had used to call her back when she was very young.

“Aria, love.” Naomi burst into the room, out of breath, a plate of pastries in one hand.

“What?” Aria turned in time to see Dean, hot on her heels.

The apprehensive look on Naomi’s face said more than words ever could, and Aria wobbled a few steps and reached for the edge of the desk to steady herself as her knees threatened to buckle. Her mind immediately began whirling with different scenarios, all of them calamitous. Not more bad news. Please, no more. She’d had enough of that to last her a lifetime.

Jude. Oh, crap. Was Jude okay? She couldn’t lose Jude, not now. She still hadn’t told him how she felt about him. That she loved him. He’d been so good to her over the past two weeks, but she’d wanted to take things slow. Wanted to make sure she was making the right choice. But she knew her choice was inevitable. She searched Naomi’s eyes for the answer.

“It’s okay, Aria,” Dean said, shooting his wife a quelling glance. Aria remembered that Naomi did have an inclination to make dramas out of nothing. “We’ve just had some news. But I think it may be good news. At least I think you’ll find it interesting.”

“Oh, thank God.” She edged around the desk and sank into the large chair, clutching a hand to her heart.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Naomi apologized. “It’s just a bit of a shock, that’s all.” She lifted her eyes to her husband. “But Dean can fill you in on the details.” She came and stood next to Aria, perhaps to lend her moral support as Dean began to speak.

“You’ve met Tom, haven’t you?” Dean asked, leaning his hands on the edge of the large desk. He didn’t seem to mind that his wife and Aria had taken over his office. Naomi was his wife, and as such, could have whatever she wanted, as long as it made her happy. Because when she was happy, he was happy.

“Yes, of course,” Aria answered. The man with the friendly face who towered over everyone else—and was affectionately known as Big Tom, but only when he wasn’t within earshot—was one of the horse wranglers. She’d met him a few times when she and Naomi had been up to the stables to check a fact or get a measurement.

“He was leading a small contingent of riders out to Selway’s Pasture today. We don’t often go in that direction, not since we moved the cattle in closer for protection right before the big storm.” Dean stopped to make sure Aria was following him.

She nodded because he seemed to expect it.

“Well, he saw something huddled next to the fence line, the one that divides Stargazer from the state forest at the bottom of Canyon Peak.”

Naomi laid a hand on Aria’s shoulder, and she tensed.

“It was a man. Well, actually a dead body. It looked like he’d been there at least a week.”

Aria sucked in a breath and waited.

“Tom said he can’t be sure, but it’s most likely that man who abducted you. Jude showed us all a photo of him and asked us to be on the lookout, just in case.”

Aria expelled her breath. The sheriff’s office had asked everyone in the area to be on their guard after no sign of Parker had been found up on the mountainside. It was like he’d vanished into thin air. A police search party had combed the area, and they’d found signs of a blood trail. But that’d disappeared and even though they’d scoured the area for days, no trace of Parker could be found, until eventually the sheriff had called off the hunt. If this body was Parker, it meant he’d survived for quite a long time up there, wounded and alone on that peak. Aria shuddered, and Naomi’s hand tightened on her shoulder.

“Tom’s putting a call through to Sheriff Buchanan as we speak, but we’re pretty sure it’s the same guy,” Dean continued. Aria tuned him out. The relief flowing through her veins was indescribable. Parker was a thorn in her side no longer. She was free. Completely free.

“Are you okay, honey?” Naomi was leaning down, peering into Aria’s face with a concerned frown.

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