Page 27 of Silverstorm

Aria’s heart plummeted to her stomach, and Naomi reached a hand over to grasp hers, as the two women stared.

“Aria.” Jude came to stand right in front of her while Brady hovered in the doorway, glowering from beneath his eyebrows. “I’m so sorry, but I’ve got some more bad news.” Aria felt her knees want to give way, but she locked them in place and continued to stand, not saying a word, just waiting. Jude’s eyes were fixed on hers, and he swallowed hard, once, twice. Then he cleared his throat.

This wasn’t going to be good.

“We found your sister and her husband.”

For a split second, Aria was elated. They’d found them. That was great. She couldn’t wait to finally take Iliana in her arms and tell her a thousand times how sorry she was that she’d never made it to the wedding. But then she remembered Jude had said it was bad news.

“They’re dead, aren’t they?” she said flatly. “My sister is dead.”

“I’m afraid so,” he replied softly.

“I need to sit down.” She suddenly felt faint.

Jude grasped her around the waist, and she sagged against him. He led her to the armchair and lowered her into it.

So that must’ve been what he was doing today. Had he known he might find her sister? Why hadn’t he told her? Warned her so she could be ready.

“Where did you find them?” she asked, her voice still in that strange, flat tone.

“Up in the foothills of Canyon Peak. Buried in a shallow grave. I’m so sorry, Aria.”

He went to take her hand, but she pulled it away, suddenly feeling terribly alone. Iliana was dead. Her whole family was dead. She looked up to see Brady staring at her, his face unreadable.

CHAPTER TWELVE

JUDE KNOCKED SOFTLY on the door to the cottage. It was bitterly cold outside. If this was any indication of the winter to come, it was going to be a frigid one indeed. A few seconds later, Penny opened it and peered out at him, looking half asleep, and he felt a twinge of guilt. It was past eleven, and he’d promised he’d be home by nine.

“How is she?” he asked, pushing past her.

“Asleep,” she whispered, catching his arm to stop him from going in farther. “She only fell asleep fifteen minutes ago. Poor thing, she’s exhausted, but she wanted to wait for you.”

“Sorry I’m late,” he apologized, keeping his voice low. “Things got a little…crazy.” That was an understatement, but Penny didn’t need to know the details. “Thanks for staying with her,” he whispered back, gaze roving around the room until it came to rest on the lump barely visible under the blanket on the couch.

“Any time,” Penny replied. “How was it?”

Jude grimaced. Recovering two bodies from a shallow grave in the hills was a grisly, sad job, and it didn’t make it any better that he knew how it’d rip Aria apart to see her sister’s face, mottled and blue, streaked with dirt. It also didn’t help that Craig had been a friend of sorts, and that he’d been to their wedding, watched the young couple dance together with their whole lives in front of them.

Levi had found them. He’d called Jude over, but Levi had been the one to undercover the patch of dirt and discover a hand, and then an arm, a torso, and finally a face.

The first thought running through Jude’s mind when he saw that face was he had to be the one to tell Aria. She trusted him. They were friends. They were close. She couldn’t hear it from anyone else.

Jude had called in the discovery on his sat phone, then he and Levi had marked out the scene with police tape, and he’d jumped back on his ATV to hightail it back to the lodge to meet Brady and Hank and the rest of the crew. And to find Aria.

After he’d broken the news, Penny had offered to take Aria home and sit with her until Jude could get off work. Because there was no way he could leave the crime scene. Levi had stayed the whole afternoon and into the night, as well. They had to drive the forensics guys back out to the site in Levi’s ranger truck; their specialized van wasn’t equipped for mountain tracks. Levi was as shocked as Jude at their find. The last thing Jude had expected to find was Iliana’s and Craig’s bodies. All he was hoping for was perhaps a clue, a fragment, a hint that the people camping in the hills weren’t just simple hikers exploring the wilderness. And that they were somehow connected to what was going on in Stevensville. They’d found a connection, all right, but significantly more than what they’d been hoping for. A small part of him had been holding out hope—for Aria’s sake—her sister would be found alive. As an officer of the law, he knew it was unlikely, but this grisly discovery… It blew the case wide open.

“Forget I asked that,” Penny said, shaking her head. “I don’t need to know, and you don’t need to relive it. At least not for my sake.”

They both looked over as a ruffled head of hair appeared above the backrest of the couch. Aria swiveled to look at them and offered Jude a drowsy smile.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“No, I’m the one who’s late.” He turned and gave Penny a swift hug. “Will you be okay to get back to the ranch?”

“Of course. Don’t you worry about me.”

Jude had no doubt that Clayton would be waiting up for her in their little couple’s cottage, no matter how early his start might be tomorrow morning. Yet another reason for Jude to feel guilty about his late arrival, but it was part of his job, part of who he was, and his friends understood that, and they were more than happy to help.

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