Page 17 of Silent Road

"Sounds like someone who would know the mountain," she said slowly."Know where to take someone without being seen."

"And how to work in extreme cold," Tommy added."You'd need that knowledge to pose a body in freezing conditions."

Sheila nodded."Michael, get me everything you have on Wells.Employment records, incident reports, anything.Tommy and I will pay him a visit."

* * *

The road to Oscar Wells' cabin deteriorated with each mile.What started as plowed pavement gave way to gravel, then to packed snow, and finally to deep drifts that threatened to swallow the patrol car whole.Sheila maintained steady pressure on the accelerator, trying to keep their momentum through a particularly nasty stretch.

"Maybe we should have brought the four-wheel drive," Tommy said, gripping the door handle as they fishtailed slightly.

"We're fine.I've driven these roads for years."Sheila corrected their slide with practiced ease."Wells' cabin should be just around this bend."

The bend, however, had other ideas.As they rounded the corner, the patrol car's front wheels suddenly sank into what looked like solid snow but was actually a deep drift.The engine whined, tires spinning uselessly.

"Damn it."Sheila shifted into reverse, then forward again.The car responded by digging itself deeper.

"Want me to take a look?"Tommy offered.

"I've got it."She tried rocking the car back and forth, a technique that had worked countless times before.But the more she tried, the more entrenched they became.

Tommy waited patiently through several more attempts before speaking again."You know, I might have an idea."

Sheila sat back with a sigh, admitting defeat."Alright, Officer Forster.Show me what you've got."

They climbed out into knee-deep snow.The cold hit like a slap, and the wind had picked up, carrying the promise of worse weather moving in.Tommy circled the car, assessing their situation.

"Yep, thought so."He pointed to where the front wheels had dug themselves into icy holes."We need something to give the tires traction.There are some pine branches over there—if we lay them right, we can create a path."

"That's going to take forever," Sheila said, but she was already following him toward the trees.

"Better than waiting for a tow truck."Tommy began breaking off suitable branches."When I was a rookie in Salt Lake, my training officer made me practice getting patrol cars unstuck.Said a cop who can't handle winter roads is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine."

Sheila helped him gather branches, watching as he demonstrated how to layer them."Your training officer sounds like a character."

"Oh, he was.Drove this ancient Crown Vic that should've been retired years ago.Said it had personality."Tommy grinned at the memory."One night, we got stuck kind of like this while responding to a call.Middle of nowhere, no backup coming.He shows me this trick with the branches, gets us out in fifteen minutes flat."

"Were you still able to respond to the call, then?"

"Yeah."Tommy chuckled softly."There was this guy we'd been trying to collar for a while—mid-level drug pusher.He knew we were after him, but that didn't stop him from sneaking into his girlfriend's apartment.We had the place under surveillance, so we got there and backed up the unit already on site."

"Did you catch the guy?"

"We started clearing rooms, got the girlfriend out of the way.I walk into the kitchen and see leftovers, condiments, I mean all kinds of things just strewn across the floor in front of the refrigerator.And guess what I should findinsidethe refrigerator?"He chuckled."He must've thought he was so clever."

Sheila said nothing.The story was oddly familiar—she thought she'd heard it before."Was this in Liberty Park?"she asked.

Tommy looked up, surprised."Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Because Hank Dawson tells that story at every department Christmas party."

Tommy's cheeks reddened, and not just from the cold."Yeah, well…" He trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

Studying him, Sheila suddenly realized why he looked vaguely familiar."Oh my goodness," she said."You're related to him, aren't you?"

He cleared his throat, looking away."Yeah, he's my uncle.Great-uncle, technically."He suddenly became very interested in adjusting a branch."I don't usually mention it.People tend to assume..."

"That you got the job because of him?"

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