Chapter 13

THIRTEEN

Hope gripped Jenna and she clung to Kane as they headed along the winding trail, the vibration of the snowmobiles causing great clods of snow to slip from the surrounding tree branches and slap into them. It was as if the forest was bombarding them with giant snowballs. After a time, they came out in a clearing alongside a frozen creek. Set against the mountain and covered with snow sat a small cabin. The smell of woodsmoke hung in the air but no smoke curled from the chimney, but there wasn't a vehicle in sight. As they came to a halt beside Blackhawk's team, she looked around at everyone. "Leave this to us. We don't know who is inside and they have every right to protect their property. We can't act as a threat, so stay back and wait for my signal." She climbed from the back of the vehicle and turned to Kane. "You call out. Your voice is louder than mine."

"Sheriff's department. Is anyone inside? We need to talk to you about a plane crash." Kane's voice echoed against the rocky outcrop above the cabin, but no sound came from inside. He repeated the message and then looked at Jenna. "I guess we take a look."

With Wolfe on one side and Kane on the other, Rio and Rowley close behind, they headed for the cabin. Jenna pounded on the door and stood to one side and listened. Not a sound came from inside. "This is Sheriff Alton. Please come to the door."

Nothing.

Beside her, Kane tried the doorknob and the door swung open with a grinding creak. Heart pounding, Jenna drew her weapon and gave him a nod. They'd done this move a thousand times before. Kane went high and she went low as they moved inside. Above her head, Kane's M18 pistol swept the room. He moved inside and peered behind a kitchen counter and then headed down to a small bedroom.

"Clear, but someone has been here recently." Kane indicated toward the bedroom. "I smell perfume and the bed is mussed up."

"From the ash in the fireplace, I'd say that fire is at least three days old." Wolfe was bending down staring in the grate. He stood. "Check the kitchen."

"Wood stove, used recently, and a coffee pot with coffee that smells okay." Kane checked the garbage. "Food wrappers. Cheese and crackers and an empty bottle of red wine." He pulled an evidence bag from his pocket and bagged the garbage.

Jenna moved to the kitchen. "Two glasses, washed and left on the sink. A romantic getaway?"

"I'll check the stomach contents of the victims." Wolfe moved around the cabin. "I'll take the bed linen as well. They'll have left trace evidence behind." He moved to the door and called in the deputies and Emily. "We haven't got much time. Help Emily strip the bed and bag the linen and pillows. I'll swab the bathroom."

"I'll check for prints." Kane pulled out a fingerprint scanner. "I noticed a few in the bathroom."

Pulling out her phone, Jenna called Kalo. "Morning, Bobby, sorry to wake you on a Sunday. I sent some requests to you last night but I'd like to add another."

"I just checked my emails. I'm working now. What else do you need?" Kalo sounded wide awake.

Jenna smiled to herself; she could always rely on Kalo to run information at light speed. "I'm sending you the coordinates of a cabin out at Bear Peak. I need to know who owns this one in particular. There's no street address. It's alongside the mountain."

"Okay, the coordinates make it easier. Many are owned by the Forest Service. I do have a few names already but nothing at those coordinates. I'll do a search now. Is this to do with Julie missing?"

Jenna closed her eyes as grief welled up and rushed over her. "No, there's no sign of Julie at the crash site. We believe someone rescued her but we don't know who. We've found three homicide victims along the trail to the crash site. As we're searching for Julie, we came across this place. It's been used recently but now it's empty. I need to know who owns it. This person is a suspect in the murder inquiry."

"Gotcha." Kalo's chair squeaked across the tile as he moved from one computer to the next. "I'm on it. I'll call as soon as I have a result." He disconnected.

She walked out of the front door and waved to Blackhawk. As he came toward the cabin, carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a sandwich in the other, her stomach growled with hunger. Pushing the need to sit down for a few minutes to one side, she walked out to meet him, her feet sinking into the ever deepening snow. "Someone was here but it looks more like a romantic interlude than a murder scene. No signs of the use of medical supplies. We have a few items to collect here and then we'll keep moving."

"Okay." Blackhawk nodded, tipping snow from the brim of his hat. "We'll scout ahead and call you if we find anything. My cousin recalls a cabin closer to the edge of Bison Ridge Canyon. Follow our tracks. They should be visible for a time, although the fall is getting heavier. We all might need to head home before it's too deep to get through."

"Jenna." Kane came through the front door. "I've checked the kitchen for fingerprints and Wolfe has finished with the kitchen and family room. We're all freezing and hungry. Sit for five minutes out of the cold. Just long enough to eat a sandwich and drink a cup of hot chocolate." He gave her a long look. "We'll all be able to keep going longer if we keep up our calories." He smiled at her. "Blackhawk and his friends were eating while they waited. They'll scout around and keep us advised if they find anything." He indicated to the sofa. "Sit down, I'll grab the food."

Leaning into him and welcoming his arms around her, she nodded. "I thought you'd never ask."

With the door closed, Kane added a few small logs and soon had a small fire burning in the grate. It didn't take long before the cabin warmed. Exhausted, Jenna removed her coat and gloves and sank into the sofa before the fire. Warmth crawled into her freezing feet and she pulled off her boots to wiggle her toes in front of the fire. She leaned back and relaxed as Kane and Rowley collected sandwiches and Thermos flasks from the trailer. Her team welcomed a respite from the bitter cold and they all sat around the fire, eating in silence. Most just stared into the flames as if in deep contemplation. Beside her, Kane pushed food and drinks into her hands. On the other side of the sofa, Emily leaned back, eyes closed, food untouched in her hands. Jenna placed her cup of hot chocolate onto the coffee table. "It will be okay, Em. We'll find her. The fact we haven't found a trace of her, is a good thing. It means someone has taken her somewhere safe and warm. She's not wandering around the forest on her own."

"I don't feel like she's dead. It's like we have a connection. I always wake at night if she's sick." Emily sat up slowly and stared at her sandwich as if she'd just realized she held it. "When my mom died, I had this hollow feeling in my chest, an emptiness, like a deep void. I'm not feeling that with Julie. Maybe it's just hope filling the hole in my heart, but I keep placing myself in her shoes. What would I do if I were injured and with a stranger?"

"What would you do?" Rio perched on the arm of the chair beside her.

"I figure I'd get strong again and then insist he or she takes me to a phone." Emily took a small bite of the sandwich and washed it down with coffee. "I would imagine a man has her because it would take someone pretty strong to lift her from the tail of the plane. She wouldn't leave without her phone—she knows how important a phone is out in the forest—so she's hurt. He had transport, a snowmobile, and a trailer to carry all the stuff he took from the plane because moving someone unconscious on a snowmobile would be near impossible." She thought for a beat. "I keep thinking, Why was he in the area? Hunting or just passing through? Was he trying to get home before the weather closed in? Is this why he's now isolated and can't get a message out?"

"There are survivalists and ex-military guys all through the mountains." Rowley's red hands closed around his coffee cup. "Most are here to escape civilization. The mountain men as well, they all keep to themselves and live off the land. There could be thousands of them in Stanton Forest. This place goes on forever."

"The thing is, if she has been picked up by one of these guys, he should have a radio. Most of them communicate by CB radios." Kane shrugged. "It makes no sense that no one has contacted Shane."

"Like I've said all along, but y'all aren't listening." Wolfe sank into a chair by the fire. "Julie is sensible. She'd make contact if she was able but she could have suffered a head injury and be unconscious. She might have suffered amnesia. There are so many options apart from the fact this guy might not have a way to communicate with the outside world. It might be a choice to be incommunicado. If y'all think about it, we know Carter was off the grid for three years. He needed time alone to deal with his problems but he didn't hide his whereabouts. The FBI had the local sheriff and priest drop by every so often to check on him. He was totally self-sufficient for all that time. He hunted and fished for food for him and his dog. The only time he communicated with anyone for more than a few minutes was when Jo Wells insisted he return to work. We could be dealing with any of the above reasons, and this is why Julie hasn't contacted us."

Concerned, Jenna stared at him. "That's possible but surely Julie would insist a message be sent to you?"

"She would and signs tell me, she's injured but alive. Maybe she can't communicate or she's unconscious." Wolfe met her gaze. "Not knowing where she is right now is eating me alive. I can only hope someone has her holed up somewhere warm and is caring for her."

Heartsore for Wolfe, Jenna stared at his carved stone expression. He'd never give up searching and neither would she. "Well, let's hope we find her soon."

"We will." Kane squeezed her leg. "There's only so far someone can travel in this weather."

They finished up and packed everything back into the trailer. Jenna headed out to the snowmobile and climbed on behind Kane. The next minute, Wolfe dismounted and ran past her and headed back toward the cabin. "What's up?"

"I didn't collect the trash. It might contain evidence, if I can link it to the murders." Wolfe gave them a wave. "Emily, ride with Rio for a time. Keep going, I'll catch up to y'all." He ran back along the trail with evidence bags gripped in one hand and disappeared inside the cabin.

"Mind if I ride with you?" Emily looked at Rio, hands on hips.

"Yeah, sure." Rio's expression was hidden behind his sunglasses.

Jenna frowned. "What's up with the two of them?"

"I have no idea and it's none of my concern." Kane shrugged.

Jenna sighed, blowing out a stream of steam. "Emily usually talks to me if she has any problems, but like you say, it's none of our concern."

"I'd rather wait for Wolfe." Kane looked over one shoulder at the cabin. "There's a serial killer close by and he's alone."

Scanning the wall of white, it was difficult to make out the others in front of them. "Then go slowly. I'll watch out behind for him."

"Okay." Kane pushed the snowmobile forward and the noise shattered the silence in the forest.

As they followed the disappearing procession, Jenna leaned into Kane. "It's so cold. I wonder how far ahead Blackhawk and his team have searched?"

Before Kane could reply, a slow rumbling came in the distance, like a roll of thunder. Jenna couldn't distinguish which direction the sound had come from. She looked up at the sky but the same heavy clouds poured snow down on them. "What's that noise?"

"Avalanche." Kane waved everyone forward. "Head away from the mountain, any trail that goes toward the falls."

As they drove away Rio slowed, behind him Emily turned in her seat searching behind them. Jenna waved them on. "Keep moving."

"What about Wolfe?" Rio swiped at the snow on his visor. "We can't just leave him behind."

"I'm going back for my dad." Emily stared at Rio. "Turn this thing around."

"No! Rio keep going. That's an order. Rowley, take Jenna with you. I'll go back for Wolfe." Kane turned his head to look at Jenna. "Go. Now. No arguments. Think of the baby. Get yourself to safety. You must go now!"

Reluctant to leave him, Jenna complied and swung behind Rowley. He took off at high speed. Jenna turned to stare after Kane. As he disappeared along the trail, the trailer bumping up and down behind him, fear gripped Jenna. A cloud of white was billowing toward them. Kane was heading for certain death in a crazy attempt to save his best friend's life.