Page 79 of Protecting the White Bear

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“Okay, so we just drive up this road, and the cabin is on a side road to the left?” Andy asked, determined to catch the perps this time and keep them in custody until they were incarcerated.

“I sure hope so. It was hard to tell when the conditions were snowy. But I think so.” Monica sounded like she hated to admit she’d gotten lost in the blizzard. And they’d only gotten lucky that they had found the cabin where Denny and Helen had been.

As far as he was concerned, she’d made the best move. “Here’s a drive. Let’s take it.”

He drove down the driveway, but when he came to the end, the property was just cleared off, like someone had planned to build a cabin but hadn’t started.

He turned around, returned to the main road, and drove in the direction they figured the cabin had to be again. The next driveway they found had fresh tire marks in the snow.

Monica’s heart rate increased. “This could be it.”

“We can’t call for backup.” Andy’s heart rate was surging, too. However, he realized it could just be someone else’s cabin. But then he recognized Eloise’s green Nissan Rogue.

“No. But if we’re lucky, it will be just the two of them. I’m sure Denny will be the only one we’ll have issues with. If Eloise is like how she has been the last two times we’ve seen her, she’s still wasted.”

He drove slowly down the drive but out of view of the cabin. He would block the drive so that Eloise’s car couldn’t get past them without ending up down the embankment and in the trees. After that, he and Monica needed to sneak in on foot through the forest.

“Are you ready?” He put on his emergency brake.

“I sure am.”

They got out of the car and carefully closed the doors so they wouldn’t make too much noise. The sound shouldn't reach the occupants because they were so far from the cabin unless they were outside getting firewood, but they wanted to take precautions.

This time, Andy made the path through the deep snow in the woods while Monica followed his trail. He was ready to take the two down, though he suspected Eloise didn’t have much to do with anything. It was likely that she was more of a tag-along.

Still, if they could interview her, she might be able to tell them more of the story.

Smoke curled out of the two chimneys of the square, two-story log cabin. An overstory of alder and an understory of spruce and hemlock surrounded the place. A large front deck wrapped around the cabin. Lights were on in both the first and second-floor rooms. The second story also had a large balcony across the approximately twenty-foot front of the cabin.

The green metal roof covered the upstairs balcony, and the balcony floor partially covered the first-floor deck. Both were cleared of snow, indicating the occupants had to have removed it after the blizzard. The front of the cabin had a window on eitherside of the windowed door on both floors. On the east side of the cabin, there were no windows.

“Let’s navigate through the forest over there.” Monica pointed in the direction.

Eloise’s car was parked next to the side of the building.

“We need to disable their car.” Andy figured that Eloise and Denny wouldn’t be able to escape if he and Monica accidentally alerted them before they had them in custody.

Even though he parked his car to block the drive, he still didn’t trust that they wouldn’t try to use her vehicle to shove his off the driveway.

Monica brought out a retractable knife and slashed the passenger’s side tires while he took care of the other tires.

They moved through the deep snow to the back side of the cabin. It had a door featuring a window and windows on each side of the door, and there was another deck back there and up above, but the snow hadn’t been cleaned off. They climbed onto the deck and then, staying low, crept to the first of the windows.

They paused, and then Andy looked first through the frosty window. He ducked down again. “A fire is in the fireplace, but I don’t see anyone in the living area. A kitchen is located to the east. I didn’t see anyone in the living area or kitchen. Stairs are to the west, and there’s a balcony, probably to a bedroom or two.”

Monica moved through the dense snow to the door and tried it. It was locked. “Have you got your handy door opener?”

“Always.” He joined her, removed his lockpick, and carefully unlocked the door. He twisted the doorknob, peeked inside, and listened. “Voices upstairs.”

“Let’s go.”

He walked into the house, his boots covered in snow, tracking it into the house. He shouldn’t have been concerned about it when he was on a mission, but he wished he could havekicked off the snow before he entered the house—just a natural reaction to not wanting to make water puddles on the floor.

On the other hand, Monica tracked in just as much snow but didn’t seem bothered by it as she pulled out her gun, ready for action.

Now, it was time to move up more wooden stairs, hoping they wouldn’t creak and warn Denny and Eloise that they were here. Well, at least Andy hopedhedidn’t alert them this time.

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