She looked up the slope. “My nightmare hike. I’m wondering how much we could tell from the scene after all this time.”
“Maybe we found out all we need to know. I’m a hiker from way back, and I’ll be honest with you, my mind didn’t present a truly clear picture of the obstacles our perp faced to get those bodies up here. Even one at a time.”
“Add to that that once the site was found, the cops were all over it. If there was ever an original trail, we won’t be able to pick it out, especially under all this snow.”
He nodded. “So what’s your gut instinct? Will we learn any more up there, or should we conclude that now that we’ve seen the general area we can work with photos and talk to someone who knows his way around up here?”
She hesitated, but she fully appreciated that he was letting her make the decision. She really liked him right then. She sighed and tugged at her ski mask. “These things get wet from our breath. Lousy design.”
He laughed quietly. “Got a better one?”
“Short of a snorkel hood, no.” She turned around slowly, taking in everything, absorbing details and making judgments. “Let’s get under the trees,” she said presently. “I want a better feel for what he was actually up against.”
“Fair enough.”
They plowed across the slope to the darkened area beneath the trees. Overhead a blue sky was beginning to fade, as if thin clouds might be moving in. Soon the light would become flat, making it all more difficult.
The earthmovers that had carved out the slope had left mounds of dirt just before the woods. DeeJay wondered if they would clear that away later or leave it. Where the heck would someone put all this rock and soil anyway? Use it for filler elsewhere on the resort?
They clambered over the mounds. Beneath the trees, the snow wasn’t quite as deep, giving her a better sense of the terrain and the difficulties.
“He was one determined guy,” she said finally. Even on an ATV without snow, working through the trees would have been a slow process. The forest was thick, dense with undergrowth in places. “He must have had a trail.”
“Well, we know where it ended. The question is where did it begin?”
“We aren’t going to figure that out now.” She turned, and as she did so, her boot caught on something, maybe a root and she started to fall.
Instantly, strong arms caught her and the next thing she knew she was pressed against Cade’s chest. Layers of down prevented it from being in any way intimate, but when she looked up into his eyes, no amount of down could prevent the hot arc of hunger that speared through her.
A flare in his gaze seemed to answer her.
“Cade?” she said breathlessly, the question almost lost as the treetops stirred in a sudden wind. It didn’t matter. She didn’t know what she was asking anyway.
“Damn,” he said quietly. Apparently, he knew the answer because he leaned in and kissed her. Damp wool got into the mix but DeeJay hardly noticed. His lips were cold, but his breath was warm, and she instinctively tried to open her mouth to welcome him.
A sharp pang of desire shot through her, and her gloved hands instinctively rose to try to grip his upper arms for support. An ache rolled through her, and the merest touch of his tongue against hers electrified her.