Page 17 of Cold and Bitter Snow

Halfway down the slope she stopped on the side and waited for him to catch up.

“Wow,” she said. “That was brilliant. And this view is …”

“I agree,” he said, his eyes fixed on her. She felt herself blushing. “You know this would be a blue slope where I come from?”

“Is the color-coding stricter over there?”

“No, we just don’t have red runs in the States. The color-coding goes straight from blue to black.”

“That doesn’t make any bloody sense,” she grumbled.

“I guess not.”

He was staring at something in the distance, into some trees. Heavy snow gathered at the bottom, below the tree-line. Siena saw some red and yellow warning cones around the area.

Her heart leaped to her chest when she realized what it was.

“That’s our avalanche.”

Conor nodded. He’d turned to look left.

“So this is …”

“This is where you saw the crate land.”

“There’s nothing here. But I didn’t’ make it up, Conor.”

“I’m not implying you did. It’s been snowing, anyway.” He stepped out of his bindings easily and picked up his skis, digging them vertically into the snow. He took a few steps off-piste. “Come on, let’s check it out.”

“Are you sure it’s safe?” she asked. She’d never been afraid of avalanches but from now on she was going to be safety-first for the rest of her life.

“Trust me, it’s fine.”

She took off her skis and followed him. Her boot sank so deep it filled with snow at the top. She felt it clump around her woolen sock. At least the view was good—she got to stare at Conor’s broad shoulders and shapely butt as he walked away from her. To make it easier on herself, she stepped exactly where his larger boots had stepped. It worked great until he suddenly stopped and she plowed into him.

He reached back to steady both of them.

“Sorry,” she said.

“I should have warned you,” he said in a low voice. He took off his sunglasses and pointed at something on the ground. “Look at that.”

There were parallel tracks on the snow.

“Those are snowmobile tracks,” he said. “It didn’t snow enough last night to cover them.”

“You think they’re recent?”

He nodded. “I think that’s where your mystery crate went. Look at this. See where they suddenly become deeper? Something heavy was dragged out of here.”

She took off her glove with her mouth and fumbled in her pocket for a few seconds before realizing she didn’t have her phone on her.

Conor pushed his phone in her direction. It was an older model, not as fancy as hers, but she wasn’t trying to win any prizes with this picture. She just needed to get Montgomery and Laurent to believe her.

She snapped off a couple pictures then looked at them. What seemed so clear in real life was just a faint line on screen.

“It’s not going to be enough to convince them, is it?”

Conor shrugged noncommittally. His gaze was focused on the top of the ridge where the snowmobile tracks disappeared.