Page 28 of Silent Road

"It's just..."Tommy paused, seeming to gather his thoughts."I admire your family.Your father being sheriff, you and your sister following in his footsteps.Must have been amazing, growing up with that kind of legacy."

Something in his tone made her glance over.She sensed he was about to share something personal.

"My own family isn't quite so impressive," he said with a bitter laugh."I told you my father was out of the picture.What I didn't say was that he was a degenerate gambler who took off when I was twelve.Last I heard, he was living in Arizona somewhere."He kicked at the snow."Mom worked two jobs just to keep us afloat."

"Must have been hard for you," Sheila said softly.

He sighed."Yeah.I got into the whole party scene, did a lot of drinking before I realized I had to man up and look after the family."

Sheila could see the pain in his eyes, and she forced herself to look away.

Did he know about her own struggles with alcoholism?

"Anyway," he continued, "I guess that's why I envy you—having a father like Gabriel Stone, someone who actually gives a damn."

Sheila thought about the hidden panel in her father's office, the secrets he was keeping about her mother's death."My family isn't as perfect as you seem to think."

"What do you mean?"

The wind died momentarily, creating an odd pocket of stillness.Sheila considered how much to share.After all, Tommy was still essentially a stranger, despite their growing rapport.

Then again, wouldn't it be good to get this off her chest?She hadn't shared it with Finn yet, and she felt a sudden need to get it all out.

Before she could decide, however, a shout cut through the darkness."Over here!I found something!"

They changed direction, moving quickly toward the voice.Their lights revealed Michael Wright kneeling in the snow, holding something dark in his gloved hands.

A snowboarding glove, half-buried in a drift.Sarah's name was written on the inside tag in permanent marker.

"Spread out!"Sheila ordered into her radio."We've found evidence.All teams, we need to search my location."

They fanned out, moving in a coordinated search pattern.The storm seemed to intensify as if trying to erase any trace of Sarah's passage.But then another shout pierced the darkness.

Sheila's heart sank as their lights revealed what waited in a small hollow between two drifts.Sarah Winters stood frozen in a perfect snowboarding stance, her body positioned as if caught mid-trick.Ice crystals glittered on her skin, and her eyes stared sightlessly at the dark sky.

Their killer had struck again.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Severe blunt force trauma to the back of the head," Dr.Zihao said, his gloved fingers probing gently at Sarah's skull."Consistent with being struck from behind with a heavy object."

The harsh lights of the morgue did nothing to soften the reality of Sarah Winters' frozen form lying on the steel table.It had taken four men to transport her body down the mountain, the storm making the journey treacherous.Now, nearly dawn, the first hints of gray light seeped through the morgue's high windows.

Sheila fought back exhaustion, forcing herself to focus.Beside her, Tommy looked barely awake, his usual energy depleted by the long night.Dark circles ringed his eyes, and his normally neat appearance had given way to rumpled clothes and untamed hair.

"How long will it take to thaw her body?"Sheila asked.

Dr.Zihao carefully examined Sarah's frozen limbs."We have to do it gradually—too fast, and we risk damaging evidence.We keep the room at exactly forty degrees and let the body warm naturally.With the degree of freezing we're dealing with, I'd estimate eighteen to twenty-four hours."

He gestured to various instruments around the room, monitoring temperature and humidity."We document everything—how the ice crystals melt, any marks or abrasions that become visible.The thawing process itself can tell us a lot about the time of death and the conditions under which she was frozen."

"Like a specialized form of time of death calculation?"Tommy asked, stifling a yawn.

"Exactly."Dr.Zihao nodded approvingly."Now, would you like to see what we found with Mr.Greenwald?"

He led them to another examination table where Bradley Greenwald's body lay.The frozen rigidity had melted away, leaving him looking almost peaceful as if he were merely sleeping.

"The stab wound was well-hidden," Dr.Zihao said, gesturing at a neat incision between Greenwald's ribs, previously hidden by his ski jacket."The killer knew exactly where to strike.One clean thrust, straight to the heart."

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