Chapter 11

ELEVEN

SUNDAY

"Jenna."

Jenna dragged herself from a dream at Kane's voice and blinked at his face. It was so good to wake up and just see him there. She reached out to touch him. Yes, he was really there and it hadn't all been a dream. "Morning. Did I miss the alarm?"

"Nope." He smiled at her. "Sit up nice and slow." He pushed a pillow behind her. "Now sip this ginger beer. Wolfe insists it helps with the morning sickness and there are crackers. Sit still for a time and see if we can beat this thing."

Grinning, Jenna patted his arm but took the soda and sipped. "Okay but it's just my body adapting to the baby. It won't last forever."

"This I understand but we're meeting Blackhawk in the mountains at daybreak." Kane frowned. "He called last night and his friends searched for a good radius around the crash site, but they didn't find Julie or any tracks. He made it to a couple of cabins close by as well. They're shut up tight for winter." He stood slowly and rubbed the back of his neck as if he didn't want to tell her something.

Sipping and feeling okay, Jenna met his gaze. "Spit it out. I know you have something to tell me and don't want to. I'm pregnant, not dying of some terrible disease." She tugged at his sweater. "Look, I know you worry about me all the time. Yes, I seem to be a little more tired than usual. Wolfe said that's fine and he's checking my blood work in case I need a supplement. You trust him, don't you?"

"Yeah, with my life, but shouldn't you have an obstetrician?" Kane shook his head. "I don't really want our baby delivered in the medical examiner's office."

Frowning, Jenna shook her head. "Neither do I, but don't worry, Wolfe will be using all the facilities at the hospital, including the ultrasound. There is a delivery suite there and I trust him to deliver our baby. Him and Norrell."

"So you want a forensic anthropologist and a medical examiner rather than a specialist obstetrician?" Kane ran a hand down his face. "Okay, but I'm not leaving your side."

Giggling, Jenna nibbled on crackers, so far feeling fine. "I'd expect no less, Dave. Now stop making excuses and tell me what Blackhawk told you last night."

"It was a little puzzling." Kane scratched his chin. "They did a sweep of the area and then met up back at the crash site before leaving and found another body attached to a tree. Same MO as before." A nerve twitched in his cheek. "It's not far from the crime scene tape we used to mark out the crash site. I'm not sure how Rio and Rowley missed it, but Blackhawk did say it was well hidden by bushes covered in snow."

Swallowing a mouthful of crackers, Jenna gaped at him. "Did you tell him to travel in numbers until we catch this killer?"

"Yeah, he knows the deal. His group will be joining search and rescue, so about ten guys on snowmobiles. When we get there, we can spread out and start searching all the trails we can find passable. Right now, everyone is trying to find where someone took Julie."

Concerned for the people walking into a serial killer, Jenna frowned. "I'll brief them when we get there. Most of them will be carrying rifles and satellite phones. I'm surprised the killer decided to dump another body near the crash site. It's like he is thumbing his nose at us. It's a ‘catch me if you can' scenario. He thinks he's untouchable."

"The snow is nonstop, which makes him just about invisible." Kane took a woolen cap from the chest of drawers and pulled it on. "You sit for a while and see how you go. I'll go and tend the horses." He smiled at her. "It feels strange with Tauri away. I know letting him sleep over at Wolfe's last night was the right thing to do, but seeing his bed empty this morning made me feel sad."

Jenna nodded. "He was so excited to sleep over with Anna and I didn't want to drag him out in the cold last night and again early this morning. He's having fun, and right now, he's a distraction for Anna. She'll be so worried about Julie it's better they're together. We'll see him this morning and bring him home tonight." She looked down at Duke's head resting on the bed and rubbed his soft ears. "We'll leave Duke with him as well. He'll love being with the kids."

"That's a good idea. He misses Tauri as well. Okay, now I want you to relax, sip the soda, and nibble on the crackers." Kane backed out of the room. "Wolfe said that ginger beer is brewed in Texas and he swears it will help. I'll be back soon."

Feeling fine, Jenna leaned back on the pillows. Her mind was fixed on Julie. She must find her, but who was killing the women and how come the wildlife hadn't eaten them? In the middle of winter food was scarce. Who was killing people in the forest? She needed to know more about the cabins in the crash site area. Who owned them and how many empty hunting cabins existed? Many bad things had happened at Bear Peak. It was known as the local killing field. Remote until the fire roads had cut through the forest. Later hikers and hunters had found graves all over. She wondered why anyone would live there and not be concerned about the morbid history of the place, but then maybe that's the reason they chose it, because no one would drop by.

She reached for her tablet beside the bed and made notes. She might not be in the office, but she had an ally in the FBI, computer whiz kid Bobby Kalo. He lived in an apartment in the FBI field office in Snakeskin Gully, where he worked with her good friends, agent Ty Carter and behavioral analyst Jo Wells. He was a young man who spent his downtime online gaming and never minded a challenge no matter what day of the week. She shot him an email explaining what she needed and why. With everyone involved with the search, he was her best choice for tracking down the owners of the cabins around Bear Peak. He'd also be able to tell her who had been hunting in the area. All kills must be recorded by the forest wardens, and he would be able to access those records. Being FBI opened doors she would usually find locked. She swung her legs off the bed and stood slowly. So far so good. This was the best she'd felt in days. Two steps inside the bathroom, she clasped a hand over her mouth, dashed to the toilet, and spewed. So much for Wolfe's wonder cure.