Chapter 39

THIRTY-NINE

Visibility was down to zero as Kane turned the Beast onto the road to the Big D Ranch. The wipers could barely shift the torrential snowfall building up on the windshield. He glanced at Jenna. "This is getting impossible. Even the Beast is having trouble shifting all these drifts. I can't see Davidson moving back and forth to the forest in this weather."

"At least we have a great heater." Jenna zipped up her jacket as the truck came to a halt at the barn. The sign pointing to the manager's office hung just inside the entrance. "We'll go and speak to the manager. He might give us the lowdown on Davidson."

Kane pulled his double woolen cap over his ears and pressed his Stetson over the top. He turned to Jenna and saw his reflection in her sunglasses. He pushed his up his nose. In this weather, snow blindness was a sad reality. "You can wait here if you want. I'm leaving the engine running and the heat on, anyway. I don't want to risk being stranded out here for heaven knows how long."

"Oh, I'm coming with you." Jenna unclipped her seatbelt and then pulled on thick gloves. "We have no idea what we're walking into or how many people are involved in the murders. We always assume it's one man. What if it's two or more?"

Raising both eyebrows Kane shrugged. "It's always a possibility, I guess." He indicated with his chin to a middle-aged man standing in the entrance of the barn eyeing them with interest. "We have an audience already." He pushed open his door and waited for Jenna to climb down before walking toward the barn.

Not wanting to be overprotective, he suppressed the desire to take her hand in case she slipped in the snow. Although everyone had told him to treat her normally, he couldn't imagine falling over in the snow could be good for her or the baby. It hadn't been that long for her to get pregnant, but for Jenna it had been an eternity. He hoped it would be the first of the three she yearned for, but now after adopting Tauri, perhaps she could be content with one or maybe two. He smiled to himself, however many she wanted, he'd be overjoyed. Having Tauri showed him how much he enjoyed being a father. Removing his sunglasses, he stepped inside the barn with Jenna close behind and nodded to the man. "Deputy Kane and this is Sheriff Alton. We'd like to speak to the manager." He slid the sunglasses into his pocket.

"That's me." The man held out his hand. "Joe Plant. Come into my office." He led the way past bales of hay and a tractor to a door marked with manager written in paint by hand. "Okay, has one of my hands run afoul of the law?"

"That remains to be seen." Jenna moved forward to stand beside Kane. "You recall the air crash at Bear Peak? We have people missing and we're hunting down the owners of cabins in Stanton Forest around the Bear Peak area. It makes sense that the victims would go to the cabins for assistance. Mr. Davidson owns a cabin in that area. We discovered he works and bunks here on occasion and would like a word with him."

"He's not here." Plant dropped into a chair behind a large cluttered desk and, resting his elbows on the wooden arms, towered his fingers and looked at them suspiciously. "Hmm, I figure there's something you're not telling me." He looked from one to the other. "I'm aware of his assault charges against women and that he did time. So you believe he's involved in a crime?"

Kane wrinkled his nose. The small room smelled of cow turds and male sweat. Plant's clothes didn't appear to have been changed in a long time, unless he'd been mucking out a pigpen. "We don't have any evidence to suggest that Davidson is involved in a crime at this time."

"Not everyone living in the forest welcomes strangers, but they might have seen or heard something." Jenna folded her arms across her chest. "We need to know if Mr. Davidson noticed any strangers passing by or if he knows the location of other cabins in the immediate area." She waved a hand. "The weather is making searching for them impossible and some of the trails are blocked by avalanches."

"There's not much I can say." Plant poured three fingers of bourbon into a glass and sipped it. "He came in for a few hours yesterday and said he'd be making repairs to his cabin. I told him I'd need him on Friday and he said he should be through by then."

Kane wondered if the owner was on site and allowed his manager to drink on the job. He pushed the thought to one side. "Does Davidson have a wife or someone sharing his cabin with him?"

"He takes girls there." Plant leaned back and scrutinized Kane's face. "There's a river in walking distance and it's secluded. He comes back with stories about his conquests. Seems the girls he attracts like to go skinny-dipping in summer." He chuckled. "Nothing wrong with being a ladies' man."

"What's he like?" Jenna glanced at the DMV image on her phone. "This is him, right?"

"Yeah, that's him. He's just what the city women like, a big strong cowboy." Plant squinted at the screen. "He has a beard right now. Most of the hands grow one in winter. Me, I can't stand the itching."

Kane narrowed his gaze. "Where does he meet all these city women? This time of the year they're all out at the ski resort and chasing after the ski instructors. I don't figure a ranch hand would fit into that crowd."

"Maybe you're right." Plant poured another drink and smiled at him. "He showed me how he meets his women. He uses the dating apps on his phone." He belly-laughed. "Have you looked at one of those apps? It's like a smorgasbord of women. You can just scroll through and pick a few, link them to your file, and wait for them to call or message you. Not like the old days of picking up women in the bars, right?" He smirked at Kane.

Kane ignored him and pushed on with the questions. "Does he have many friends? Does he take guys to his cabin as well?"

"No, he's a loner unless he's found himself a woman." Plant turned the glass around with the tips of his fingers as if contemplating another drink. "He probably has one at his cabin now. I haven't seen him for a few days."

"I hope he hasn't been trapped by an avalanche. It's dangerous in the mountains right now." Jenna frowned. "Do you know the location of Davidson's cabin? All we have is a road we can't find on a map and the location of Bear Peak. We should drop by and do a welfare check."

"It just so happens that I do." Plant grinned, displaying yellowed teeth. "One time, a girl he'd met on a dating app refused to go anywhere without her friend. So Davis used me as his wingman and took me out to his cabin for the weekend. He collected the women from town. They seemed well pleased with him but not so much with me." He stared into space grinning like a monkey. "Things worked out just fine." He searched in his drawer for a notepad and a pen. "This is the highway. You go past the warden's station, take the fire road. The trail to his cabin is on the left, not the first or second trail, but the third trail. It winds around some. You won't get through in your truck with the snow and all. You'll need a snowmobile. Davis usually parks his truck on the fire road and drives his snowmobile from there."

Kane nodded. "I know the area. We were close by a couple of days ago. Thanks for your help." He handed him a card. "If he shows, give me a call. We'd like to know he made it out of the mountains okay."

"Yeah, sure." Plant looked puzzled. "I'd call him but since the blizzard started, I can't get through to anyone outside of town."

"Yeah, we're aware of the problems." Jenna nodded and followed Kane outside. As they walked back to the Beast, she tugged on his arm. "Call Aunt Betty's and order takeout. We'll grab it on the way back to the office to eat on the way. I'll grab the snowmobile trailer and then head out there. Davidson sounds like our man."

Kane nodded. "I want to know if he's home or out in the forest murdering women." He looked up. "The snow is getting worse. If it's our killer, we'll need to hunt him down without delay."