Cold Wind

by Paige Shelton

  Tex let go of my arm and then pushed on the accelerator again, slowly and purposefully so that my truck got very close to Viola’s. We’d put the duffel bag on the floor. Tex reached over both of us, grabbed, and took it with him as he got out. I followed him.

  We stood on the edge of the shallow berm as the icy wind and snow swirled around us. It wasn’t steep, but it would be a slippery trip down.

  “Viola!” we both called.

  The cab of the truck was right there, but it was shrouded by the dark night and the couple inches of snow on top of it. We were going to have to walk down the precarious slope.

  Tex crouched, reached into the bag for a rope, and then looped it around my waist. “We might not need this, but just in case. I’ll hold on. You walk down and open the door. See if she’s inside,” Tex said over wind.

  I nodded and did as he instructed. I was glad he kept hold of the rope—the snow was much deeper and icier than I thought it would be. It wasn’t a far walk, but I about fell a few times. Tex held tight, and his feet seemed to be rooted in place.

  I wiped away the snow over the door window and looked in but still couldn’t see much of anything. I tried to open the door but it was locked. I knocked. I pounded. “Viola!”

  The longest second of my life later, the door opened. Inside, Viola’s bleary eyes blinked above the silver of her outdoor emergency blanket. “Ah, you found me.” She smiled. She was wearing the Indiana Jones hat she’d worn almost every day since I’d met her. “Good work!”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Tex said. “Come on.”

  Viola was no worse for wear. She’d gone off the road and couldn’t get her truck unstuck. She’d made the decision to hunker down and walk back toward Brayn the next day, when there was a break in the weather. It was still early enough in the season that there would surely be a break in the weather. She’d had emergency supplies packed in her truck like any good Alaskan, and she would have been fine through the night, and maybe through another day.

  Her truck didn’t seem damaged. Just stuck.

  “I was going too damn fast,” Viola said. “What an idiot.”

  “You’re okay,” I said. “That’s what matters.”

  We weren’t going to get her truck unstuck tonight, though. As we all packed into mine, even tighter with me now sitting on top of Viola and Ellen, Viola told us more.

  “I was going that way because Tex mentioned that’s the way the girls went, but I also remembered something from years ago. An ice cave,” she said.

  Tex had started the truck and was turning it back toward Brayn. We decided not to search further for Gril and Donner, hoping they were as prepared for every eventuality as Viola had been. Tex offered to look for them the next day.

  “Hang on again. Stop,” I said to Tex. “What do you mean?” I said to Viola.

  She looked out toward her tilted truck. “Out there. There’s an ice cave. Benny and I used to explore it when we were kids. At least it used to be there.”

  “I remember it, too,” Tex said. “I haven’t been inside it for years.”

  “Would it keep a body frozen?” I asked.

  Tex and Ellen both looked at me like they weren’t sure what they’d just heard. Viola just nodded. “That’s why I was trying to spot it. I shouldn’t have tried, should have just told Gril.”

  “Shit,” I said as I looked out at the dark and the falling snow.

  “A body?” Tex asked.

  I looked at Viola. “Do you think I can tell them?”

  “Don’t think Gril would be pleased, but considering the way you’ve already scared ’em, I think it would be okay to share a few details,” Viola said.

  And so I did.

  Thirty-Two

  As happens, everything was better in the morning. Well, not everything, but some of the mysteries were solved.

  After rescuing Viola, we dropped Tex back at his house, and I drove the rest of us back to Benedict. Mercifully, the snow stopped falling, and we must have done something right at some point in our lives because temperatures stayed warm enough that ice didn’t accumulate under the tires. When we got back into town, we immediately drove to Gril’s house, another cabin in the woods that reminded me of Randy’s place—including its loft.

  Gril was there and fine, having made it to Brayn and back easily. He had made sure Donner got home before he went home, too. Sometimes cell phones just didn’t work in the wilds of Alaska. It was why everyone talked so much about being prepared, being smart. Gril informed me that before I took off to Brayn, I should have checked his house. It hadn’t even occurred to me, but in the muted, cloudy light of the day, it made complete sense. I didn’t think I’d ever make the same mistake again.

  Gril and Donner had looked at Tex’s freezer and quickly determined that it couldn’t have been storing a body for any length of time, mostly because its guts, the electrical parts, were missing—had been for a long time, from all indications. Also, it didn’t smell like a thawed or thawing body had been inside it ever; there were no suspicious signs.

  I should have checked for the electrical guts myself when I first saw it, but again, that hadn’t occurred to me. Everyone agreed that it was still something they’d needed to check out; there was no sense that it had been a wild-goose chase.

  That Gril and Donner were fine and that Tex hadn’t been storing a corpse was all good news, but we still had an unidentified dead body. And now Tex had become even more involved. I’d called him the night before to tell him we’d found Gril and Donner, but he’d hung up quickly, only saying that he’d see me the next day. I didn’t call back to clarify when or where, but I wasn’t surprised that he was waiting for us at Viola’s truck when we got there. He suspected we’d be there soon enough; he’d been waiting in his truck—after he’d taken it upon himself to pull Viola’s out of the ditch.

  “Mighty kind of you,” Viola said to him as she stepped toward him. “I thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said. But he didn’t make any move to leave.

  We were all there. Viola and Ellen rode with me. Gril and Donner followed us in Gril’s truck. I squinted at Tex behind the dark sunglasses I’d put on.

  Tex looked at Gril. “I heard some about the woman’s body and it being frozen.”

  “Any chance you have information that could help us with that?”

  I knew Gril had wanted real answers as to who the girls’ mother or mothers were, but I didn’t know if he’d gotten the answers from Tex the day before. I hadn’t inquired, and it didn’t feel like the right moment to bring it up now, but I was certainly curious.

  Tex looked out and into the snow-covered forest. It was a cold, clear, and shadowy morning, but it wasn’t currently snowing. “No. I know about an ice cave out this direction. I didn’t walk out to it. I thought you should be out here before I explored. You’ll see there are no prints in the snow, but I’d sure like to look with you.”

  “Why?” Gril asked him.

  “We’ve had people go missing over the years. I’ve participated in many rescue missions that turn into recovery with no answers to tragic questions. It would be nice to be in on helping solve something. I don’t have to go inside it, but I can show you where it is.”

  “I see,” Gril said. He pulled something out of his pocket: a few stapled-together pieces of paper. “This is technically Tlingit land, but I got the okay to search the cave. Viola reminded me about it last night. However, I’m going to ask you all to wait while Donner and I check it out first.”

  Tex didn’t act surprised as he nodded, not interested in looking closely at the papers Gril held. “I understand, but you might want to have me along, Chief. I know this land like the back of my hand. I grew up here. True, I haven’t been inside the cave for years, but I remember there’s a drop-off inside it. I can at least guide you to the entrance. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do, but I can help.”

  Gril studied the crowd around him.

  “Shit. All rig
ht, let’s all go,” Gril said. “Tex, lead the way and we’ll follow your tracks. I don’t I want anyone out of my sight.” He looked at Tex. “Other than the drop-off, is it unsafe out there?”

  “Not at all. Not if you do as I say. There might be some traps, but I can spot them and move everyone around them.”

  “Lead the way.” Gril looked at us again. “Don’t be stupid, people. I understand everyone’s curiosity today, but don’t be stupid. This is a long, long shot, but it’s one I need to explore. You’re all here only because I don’t think you’re killers. You can still piss me off, and I don’t want to be pissed off today.”

  We all nodded our allegiance.

  I did learn that Gril and Christine the ME had finally spoken. There was more information that might have made the ice cave a real consideration—I guessed that’s really why Gril was here. The body had been quickly frozen after she’d died, but there was no way to know how long she’d been “on ice,” other than probably at least a few years. There was no indication that the body had been exposed to wildlife. Christine was stumped, and she didn’t like being stumped. Neither did Gril.

  “Let’s go,” Gril said.

  Tex led the way. Donner followed him, then Gril, Viola, Ellen, and me. We didn’t have snowshoes, but our boots worked fine.

  Gril had been most bothered by Ellen’s riding along. His opinion of Viola’s charges was always set to suspicious. He had a file on Ellen, and his questioning squint toward the woman, who wasn’t behaving like a strung-out drug addict, made Viola send him a reassuring nod. That seemed to be enough; he didn’t ask Ellen to stay behind. He didn’t say much of anything to her, which she seemed fine with, too.

  Hiking in a straight line wouldn’t have been possible because of the trees, but the trek was mostly as the crow flies, other than one detour to veer around a trap. True to his word, Tex had recognized it before the rest of us. It was well camouflaged by snow, and chances were good I would never have seen it. Another thing I had to get better at.

  “Are ice caves common in Alaska?” I asked after we passed the trap, which was about five minutes into the hike.

  “They’re like extended glaciers,” Viola said. “You have to see the land from above to see the glacier on the other side of that mountain.” She nodded to our right. “This cave is a long extension of it. It’s the only one I’ve ever been inside of.”

  “There are others around, but since this path was cut off until the recent mudslide, this one hasn’t gotten as much attention as it used to.” Tex spoke back over his shoulder.

  “Are they dangerous?” I said.

  “If you aren’t careful or don’t know what you’re doing, then yes,” Viola said. “They can be. They’re also pretty. You’ll see.”

  We were far enough that we could no longer see the road or the vehicles behind us when Tex stopped.

  “It’s here, I’m pretty sure,” Tex said as he looked at a couple of dirt mounds on the slope of a hill that eventually turned into the mountain. They weren’t as covered with snow as everything else.

  Gril handed him one of the small shovels he’d brought. Donner had another one. They got to work. It didn’t take long before an obvious cave opening was uncovered: dark but with what seemed like some light coming from somewhere inside. Crouching would be required to enter, but not crawling.

  “Should have been more snow and not so easy to uncover if no one has been here awhile,” Gril said.

  “I agree,” Tex said. “Someone re-covered the opening recently; at least that’s my guess.”

  “Okay, Donner and I are going in first. Nobody do anything stupid out here. Viola is armed,” Gril said as he pulled a flashlight from his pocket and flipped it on.

  She lifted the flap of her coat to prove that she was, indeed, armed.

  I wasn’t scared of anyone there, including Tex, but I understood why Gril was being careful.

  We secured ropes around them, though Viola and Tex said that probably wasn’t necessary. Nevertheless, we held on to the ropes as Gril and Donner went inside the cave.

  “That seems terrifying,” Ellen said with a loud gulp.

  “It’s not that bad,” Viola said. “At least it wasn’t back when Benny and I explored it.”

  “No, it shouldn’t be terrible,” Tex said.

  A second later, Gril reappeared and undid the rope. “It’s an easy one. High ceiling, good walking space. Plenty of light only a few steps in. We’re going to walk a little farther, but it’s okay if you all want to take a look. It’s stunning.”

  “Sounds good,” Viola said.

  “Sure,” I said.

  “Do I have to?” Ellen asked. “I’m not into closed spaces.”

  “I’ll stay out here with you,” Tex said.

  I was too curious to stay outside, but no one seemed to mind Tex and Ellen remaining behind.

  I followed Viola inside. It was mostly dark, but only for a few steps. Once we turned a rounded corner, the world was lit brightly, the space open enough for us to easily stand. It was like stepping into a place made of frozen blue water.

  “Wow,” I said as I looked down the tunnel, walled and topped off in blue ice. I knew how it worked, that the ice absorbed all the colors of the light spectrum except for blue. That’s why the glaciers also looked blue from some angles. I hadn’t seen any glaciers yet, but it was hard to believe they could be more spectacular than this cave; it was more like a sculpture than a simple hole in the land. It could have been mistaken for Atlantis, a place where it wouldn’t surprise me if sea creatures swam by. But there was no swimming; everything was frozen in place, and in time.

  “It’s something, isn’t it? Come on, if I remember correctly, it slopes gently until the drop-off,” Viola said.

  Sort of crowded, but side by side, Viola and I made our way down the chute. The ground was stone, not slippery, but slightly rocky here and there. It was cold, but I didn’t think freezing. The light reflecting off the ice was so bright that there was no need for flashlights.

  “Could a body stay frozen in here?” I asked Viola.

  “I don’t know,” she said doubtfully.

  Shortly after we moved around another curve in the tunnel, we met up with Gril and Donner. They were standing to one side, their backs to us as they seemed to be looking at a cubbyhole along the bottom side of wall.

  “Uh-oh, that’s the drop-off,” Viola said. “Something’s not right.”

  We’d probably traveled about thirty yards from the opening, but now with each step toward Donner and Gril, the temperature lowered, seemingly by many degrees. It fell below freezing, I was sure. I no longer wondered if a body could remain frozen here. There was no doubt in my mind that it could. The downward slope steepened, too, but if this was the drop-off, it wasn’t the drastic fall I’d imagined.

  “What’s up?” Viola asked Gril.

  “Hang back, Vi,” Gril said.

  “What did you find?”

  Gril turned around and looked at us. “A purse, and some other things.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “A purse, handbag,” Gril said. “Donner’s going to gather it, but now the cave is considered a crime scene. You two need to head back the way you came. We’ll be out when we can.”

  “Was her body kept here?” I said.

  “It’s possible. We have an ID,” Gril said.

  “Who?” Viola asked.

  “Not ready to share,” Gril said.

  “It was carried out, as well,” I said.

  Two things occurred to me. It had been easy to clear the opening, and Tex had known exactly where it was.

  “Be careful, but head on out,” Gril said again. I heard the regret in his voice this time. He wished he hadn’t let us join them.

  I felt the need to hurry out to Ellen.

  “Let’s go,” I said as I turned around to hike back up. But as I turned, I caught sight of the purse in front of Gril. I didn’t look at it long, but I tried to memorize it. Brown leathe
r with a red stripe.

  “Gril, I’ve also got a man’s wallet,” Donner said.

  Gril moved closer to Donner. Viola and I halted, too curious again.

  “Whose is it?” Viola asked. “Is there an ID inside?”

  “There is,” Gril said a moment later. “With a picture and everything.”

  “Who?” Viola asked.

  “A wallet and a purse, both with IDs,” Gril said, mostly to Donner.

  “Whose?” Viola asked again.

  Gril hesitated but then finally said, “Paul and Audrey Horton. Remember them?”

  “The fire,” Viola said.

  “Aw, damn and double-damn,” Gril said as he looked at the ID in the wallet. He showed it to Donner. “He changed some. Remember this guy?”

  It took Donner a long minute, but he finally answered. “Damn. That’s him.”

  “Who?” Viola said.

  “Remember the body on the beach a few months ago?” Gril said.

  “Yes, he wore a white dress shirt,” I said.

  Everyone looked at me.

  “It’s what I remember the most. Was that Paul Horton?”

  “It appears to be. He didn’t look familiar to me when we found his body. His hair had grayed, he had aged. He’s in the same cooler in Juneau his wife—at least that’s who I think she is now—probably is, waiting for someone to solve something. He might be in the drawer right next to her.”

  “The body on the beach had been killed shortly before it was found, stabbed. If the woman was Audrey Horton, she was frozen for some time, right?” I asked.

  “That’s what I’m beginning to think,” Gril said.”Neither of them were recognizable.”

  “What in the world is going on?” Viola said.

  “What, indeed,” Gril said. “Go on, ladies. Get out of here.”

  Silently and carefully, trying not to touch anything, Viola and I made our way out of the cave.

  Thirty-Three

  “Everything go okay?” Tex asked as Viola and I emerged.

  Ellen didn’t say anything but seemed pleased to see us. Not relieved, though; she hadn’t been concerned.