“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley hurried out the door.
Jenna went into the main office and filled the Thermos flasks with hot coffee. She collected sugar, cream sachets, and to-go cups, and stacked everything in a container. She considered taking the huge jar of cookies on the counter. Worried a blizzard might trap them on the mountain, she added the cookies and a box of energy bars. When Kane walked toward her, bundled up for the trip, she pointed to a carton of bottled water. “We’d better take those with us. I have a few supplies in case we get snowed in.”
“I have water in my truck, Jenna.” Kane smiled at her and grabbed the jar of cookies from the top of her pile. “Hmm, cookies.”
Unable to stop the smile from twitching at the corner of her mouth, she pulled Kane’s woolen hat down over his ears. “I need you on the ball up there, Dave. No risking headaches okay?”
“It gets better every winter.” Suddenly serious, Kane brushed his knuckles down her cheek. “Thanks for caring.”
“A-hem.” Rowley walked up beside Jenna. “I’ve messaged the coordinates to everyone.”
Mentally shaking her mind into action, Jenna nodded at him. “Thanks.”
“The weather isn’t looking good and we have about three hours before sunset.” Kane stared out the window and then back at Jenna. “I asked Wolfe to meet us at the park. I suggest we head up the mountain in a convoy.”
“You read my mind.” Jenna pulled on her gloves and handed Rowley the carton of supplies. “Okay, head out.”
“I’ll leave Duke with Maggie.” Kane called the dog to follow him to the front counter. “Do you mind? Just in case we get stuck on the mountain?”
“He’ll be fine here.” Maggie patted Duke’s head.
Jenna smiled as Duke obediently climbed into his basket under the front counter, turned a few times and then flopped down with a sigh. “Be a good boy for Maggie.”
“Don’t you worry about him.” Maggie, seemingly recovered from her shock, beamed at the dog. “I’ll take him home with me if needs be.”
Jenna gave her a wave and headed for the door pulling on her sunglasses. “We’ll be checking in every half-hour.”
The cold smacked Jenna in the face the moment she stepped outside. Glad her sunglasses prevented the glare, she blinked into the bright light. She’d never gotten acclimatized to the freezing temperatures in Montana and living in an alpine region meant every winter was the same. She moved carefully. Underfoot, the ground was slippery and although the local council spent all day trying to keep the sidewalk clear, the constant snow soon washed away the salt mixture. She climbed into Kane’s truck and with Rowley following close behind, they made their way to the park. As they drove by, Wolfe—with Emily and Webber inside his truck—tucked in behind them. They made it through town and soon hit the highway alongside Stanton Forest. The few people Jenna noticed along the way trudged along bent over against the cold and bundled up in brightly colored coats, hats and boots.
When the GPS indicated they take a road into the forest, Jenna turned to Kane. “That road has been cleared this morning, most of the others are snowed over. It would seem being mayor has its benefits.”
“Maybe not.” Kane slowed to take the bend and glanced at her. “The killer wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere else, would he?”
They climbed a steep windy dirt road, both sides flanked with huge snowdrifts, the once pristine snow was gray and filled with pine needles and other debris. The snow made the road so narrow, if they met another vehicle coming the other way, there would be no room for it to pass. On one side, the road dropped away to a deep gulley, and if they accidently went through the wall of snow thrown up by the snowplow, they’d fall to their deaths. As the wheels spun and slid around a steep turn, Jenna gripped the seat. “One thing is for sure. The killer has a good all-weather vehicle to get up here.” She looked behind at Rowley and Wolfe. “It looks as if everyone is okay behind us.”
“Our vehicles are the best available.” Kane smiled at her. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine getting up the mountain. The road isn’t that bad and the Beast can handle just about anything.” He stared ahead. “Although coming back down in the dark will be slippery if the snow keeps up. I hope recovering the body won’t take too long.”
Jenna scanned ahead, searching the snow-laden trees for any sign of a cabin but all around was dazzling white and black tree trunks. “I’ll hand it over to Wolfe. If we do the grunt work, we should be out of here within the hour. I had hoped to follow the snowplow home tonight.”
An open gate with the name “Petersham” painted on a wooden board on the fence, came into view. As Kane drove through and they took a switchback through the trees, Jenna picked out the small cabin nestled in against the mountain. Snow had spilled off the slope covering the roof. “It looks like the cabin has grown out of the rock.”
“I’m surprised the roof hasn’t collapsed under the weight of the snow.” Kane crept the truck forward, his head moving from side to side as he scanned the area. “No sign of another vehicle. One set of tire tracks in and out as far as I can see.”
Jenna searched the area. “I guess when she saw the body she didn’t hang around.”
“No wonder. Now that’s just plain nasty.” Kane pulled up some ways from the cabin and stared out the window.
A shiver of horror crept over Jenna. She blinked at the sight before her and her mind refused to make sense of it. S
ticking out of the chimney was a frozen naked torso. The killer had trimmed the sides of the body to make it fit neatly into the flue. On the head sat a red Santa hat with fur trim. Speechless, she stared at the macabre scene for some moments before the closing of Kane’s door dragged her back to action. She pulled off her warm gloves and slid on a pair of surgical ones in their place. In this weather, she and the others would suffer frostbite if they didn’t hurry. As she slid down from the seat, Wolfe came to her side and she turned to him. “How are you planning on getting up there?”
“Same way as the killer, I guess.” Wolfe’s sunglasses reflected the scene before him as he scanned the area. “I’d say he took the path up the side of the mountain and from the drag marks in the snow, he had a sled of some type and dragged it behind him. Let’s take a look.” He headed in long strides to where Kane and Rowley stared at the cabin.
“Morning, Sheriff.” Colt Webber, forensics kit in hand, touched his hat and followed Wolfe.
Jenna took a deep breath of the pristine mountain air and cold stung her lungs. She found it strange walking onto a crime scene without the usual smell of death, it made everything seem surreal, dreamlike. The cabin was well-loved and in excellent shape. Curtains of bright red and white gingham graced every window and a swing seat sat on the porch. Alongside, was a woodshed with an ax buried in an upturned stump as if the owner had just walked away. Everything apart from the body appeared untouched and normal. She noticed Emily beside her but couldn’t gauge her reaction with the wraparound sunglasses blocking her eyes. “You okay, Em?”
“Sure.” Emily turned to her. “He’s carved her like an ice sculpture. Everything inside is going to fall out when she thaws.” Her mouth turned down. “I bet Dad gives me the job of cleaning her up for the identification. What we need on the team is a mortician.”