Don't Look (Pike, Wisconsin #1) - Alexandra Ivy Page 0,15

haste as possible, considering the frozen ground. Sherry’s body had been hauled away, but the memory of her violent end seemed to linger. Like an echo of evil.

Kir climbed into Lynne’s truck. He never thought he’d feel sympathy for the abrasive Raymond Warren, but it was going to be horrible to walk past that spot every morning.

Lynne started the truck and shoved it into four-wheel drive as she turned toward a narrow access path that ran between the barren apple trees. Kir’s lips briefly curled at the memory of sneaking through this orchard on a dare from a friend. In those days he would have done anything to experience an adrenaline rush. It was the only thing that drove away the fear his father would never escape his dark quagmire of misery.

They bumped over the ice-coated path, winding their way up the hill and into the wooded area. Then, turning onto the main road that had recently been cleared of the snow, they traveled parallel to Raymond’s farm.

“Can we stop?” Kir abruptly demanded, nodding toward the shallow shoulder. Without a word, she whipped the truck to the side and put it in park. “You can stay in here. It’s freezing,” he assured her.

She snorted, switching off the engine. “I’m used to the cold. You’re the city boy,” she reminded him.

“I’ll admit that it bothers me a lot more than it used to, but I have a feeling it has more to do with age than my current address,” he said in wry tones.

Together they climbed out of the truck and walked along the edge of the road. They didn’t have to go far for Kir to find the tire tracks that were nearly concealed by the blowing snow.

“There.” He glanced around, eerily aware of the heavy silence that shrouded the road. It wasn’t just that he was used to the hustle and bustle of a large city. This was the silence of an area that was rarely disturbed by humans. “Do you know who owns this property?”

Lynne furrowed her brow as she glanced from one side of the road to the other.

“I’m pretty sure it belongs to the conservation department.”

Kir strolled to where the tracks were the deepest, as if someone had parked there for long enough to sink into the snow. Then, as he turned in the direction of Raymond Warren’s farm, his breath caught in his throat.

There was an opening through the trees that looked like it’d once been a cattle crossing.

“That’s the field,” Lynne said, moving until she was pressed against his side.

If it hadn’t been below freezing, he might have hoped she was seeking comfort from being close to him. Instead he was fairly sure she was just trying to stay warm. “From this position it’s a clear path to where they found the body.”

Lynne nodded. “So either the killer forced her to walk down there and murdered her, or she was already dead.”

Kir tried to imagine what’d happened. The newsman had mentioned a slit throat, but they didn’t know where the woman had died. In addition, he had no idea if she’d been killed and dumped last night, or early this morning.

Of course, they did have one clue, he abruptly recalled. “There’s another possibility.”

“What?”

“She could have been unconscious.”

Lynne’s eyes widened as his words jogged her memory. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot Parker said something about a tranquilizer dart.”

Kir parted his lips to ask Lynne if she had a relationship with the slick-talking Parker, but he hastily swallowed the words. It wasn’t any of his business. Even if he was starting to wish it was. Instead he kept the conversation focused on the reason they were standing in the frigid air.

“He could have knocked her out at the office, then driven her here.”

Lynne glanced back at the opening. “Yes. If it was me, I would have put her body on a tarp or a blanket and dragged her down the slope.”

Kir leaned forward, studying the slope, which was steeper than he’d first realized. “It would be the easiest way,” he agreed, visualizing sliding the dead woman down the hill. Far more sensible than trying to carry her through the deep snow. “It would also mean a woman could be the killer.” A fierce wind managed to penetrate the trees, the shadows lengthening as a reminder that the afternoon was nearly at an end. He didn’t want Lynne driving the icy roads after dark. “Let’s go.”

Dear Rudolf,

What a glorious day. I wish you could have been here