Chapter 34

THIRTY-FOUR

The door to the cabin opened slowly and Ben pushed his way inside and stood, waiting for Raven. Julie Wolfe leaned against the kitchen counter, her heart picking up a beat. She hadn't been brave enough to go and look inside the meat locker. Had he stashed a body in there? The idea kept her awake and vigilant. He'd been gone for hours again, and ice covered his eyebrows and beard. "It's dark outside. I figured you'd stopped over somewhere else for the night."

"Nope, but I did try and get around the avalanche." Raven bent to dry Ben before tending to himself. "I smelled smoke about a mile away and tried to track down the source. It was woodsmoke and I climbed up a tree and made out a plume that must be coming from a chimney. I know of a cabin in that direction but it's dilapidated. I figured if I could make it there, whoever lit the fire might have a phone, but I couldn't get through." He sat down on the bench to remove his boots and padded over to the kitchen in his socks. "I've been trying to find a path wide enough to get the sled through so I can get to my storage cabin. The old guy's place I mentioned before. If I can make it there, I can leave the dogs in the barn and come back for you on the snowmobile. The place is closer to a fire road. We could call for help from there and there's a good chance your dad would be able to come and get you. I have a truck there, but I have a very small supply of gas. This is why I don't have the snowmobile here. It's unreliable and I need gas to run it. My dogs I can feed by trapping and they don't break down." He poured coffee into a cup and leaned against the counter. The smell of the forest, pine, and fresh air wafted from him, not the stink of blood like last time. "Did you watch some TV?"

Julie had worked out the way of things in the cabin. Meals consisted of cereal, eggs, and frozen meals of whatever that were oven ready in dishes in the freezer. She'd slid leftover stew into the stove for dinner. She understood about conserving energy and she preferred to have lights. The thought of watching the news raised the hairs on the back of her neck. A killer was in the forest. Should she mention she knew? Maybe ask him outright about what he kept in the meat locker out in the snow. "I watched the news. I was concerned about the power."

"Anything interesting?" Raven checked the stove and smiled. "Thanks for getting dinner. I know it's difficult to get around." He gave her a raised-eyebrow look. "Talking about food, do you eat pork?"

Wondering where this was going, she nodded. "Yes."

"Good." He smiled. "I found a young pig in one of my traps yesterday. It was frozen solid. It's not a wild pig. Some years ago a guy was breeding them and we had a brush fire. He let them all out. They must have run all over and bred like rabbits. We have pink pigs showing up from time to time. I'll cut a chunk off the carcass to roast tomorrow. They make good eating."

A weight suddenly lifted from Julie's shoulders. "A pink pig?" She swallowed hard. "Where are you keeping the meat?"

"In the meat locker out in the snow." Raven smiled. "Now what's been happening on the news?"

Unsure, Julie thought for a beat. So far, he hadn't hurt her. He'd been kind and considerate. The worry worm in her mind rose up again and whispered a warning. Ted Bundy was a nice guy too. "The air crash of course and how they can't get to the site because of the blizzard, and they were asking for the families or friends of women who'd traveled to Black Rock Falls in the past month to check on them and report to the sheriff's office if any were missing."

"So the sheriff's team has discovered a body in the forest when they went to examine the crash site?" Raven refilled his coffee cup and one for her and took them to the table before the fire. He sat down on the sofa and looked at her. "This would tell me that the body was a victim of crime and not carrying identification." He shook his head slowly. "Black Rock Falls is getting a bad reputation for serial killers. You would figure people would avoid it like the plague but they come here in their thousands. It seems that morbid curiosity is a money spinner." He sipped his coffee and bent to rub Ben's ears. The dog was stretched out before the fire. "Do you get involved in the cases?"

Grabbing up her crutches, Julie hobbled to the fire and lowered to the far end of the sofa. "Not usually. Maybe I man the hotline for a time or get everyone food. They work long hours, especially my dad." She leaned back in the chair. "He doesn't talk about the cases at home to me, but he does discuss them with Emily, my older sister. She's studying to be a doctor and will be a medical examiner. She loves working to solve crimes by forensic science."

"And your mom?" Raven raised one eyebrow. "You haven't mentioned her since you arrived."

Julie swallowed the rush of grief that never went away. "She died of cancer about five years ago. When she died, we moved here and Dad was a deputy for a short time. He was waiting for his medical credentials to be accepted. They came through first and then he became a medical examiner for the state of Montana. That's where he met Jenna and Dave. That's Sheriff Alton and her husband, Deputy Dave Kane. She kept her name to avoid confusion. They're like our family now."

"That's nice and you're studying like your sister?" Raven placed his cup on the table.

He was being so nice, as if he had this special charm that put people at ease. Maybe it was his bedside manner that doctors have. She'd given him her entire life story in seconds. How did he do that? Without thinking, Julie smiled. "Yes." She met his gaze. "Em is three years older than I am and wanted to be an ME from the get-go. Right now, I just want to work with kids."

"That's nice." He stood. "I'll go and see how dinner is coming along."

Without thinking it through, Julie's mouth opened. "Are you married?"

"Nope." He turned from taking the dish from the stove and set it on the counter. "Why?"

Julie's face grew hot. What a stupid thing to ask. It sounded like she regarded him as a potential boyfriend. Admittedly, he was drop-dead gorgeous and in his late twenties, but what if he was a serial killer? She swallowed hard. "Oh, being a doctor and all, I figured some lucky woman would have snapped you up."

"No, I haven't risked bringing a woman into my world." He took silverware from the drawer and turned to get plates. He gave her a long look. "I'm alone in the forest for a good reason."

A shiver went down Julie's spine. Had he just admitted to being a criminal? She thought hard as he scooped stew onto plates and cleared her throat. "Oh, and I figured you were like a knight in shining armor, roaming the forest and rescuing damsels in distress."

"Not a knight, that's never been my style." Raven's brown eyes scanned her face with no hint of amusement. "Well, maybe once I was like Dr. Jekyll, but now I'm more like Mr. Hyde."