Page 33 of Cold and Bitter Snow

“Where did it go?”

“That’s what’s interesting. I tried to follow it but the next camera beyond the ridge has been offline for a few days now. That’s where I want to go today.”

Conor did some mental math. “It’ll take us at least an hour to get there in the snowmobile.”

“William said he needs the snowmobiles back when the runs close at five p.m. So we have a bit of time.”

Conor nodded. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something they were missing.

“Visibility’s not great,” he mused. “It’s been snowing all day.”

“I love this weather,” she said.

Conor looked down at one of the resort’s easier blue runs and saw a clump of instructors all together.

“What’s that about?”

Siena looked down where he was pointing.

“Ah. See the figure in white, almost camouflaged in the snow? That’s the Saudi princess. I saw them come up in the gondola lift a little while ago.”

Conor counted the figures in red.

“And they need eight instructors to teach them to ski?”

Siena shrugged. “Most of the ski patrol is also here on the slopes with them. Montgomery’s instructions.”

As they walked out onto the snow after exiting the gondola, Conor’s boots sank to his calves. He loved fresh powder snow.

Conor could see Siena’s breath with every exhalation—he hoped she’d layered up properly under her ski jacket.

His mind tried to picture her naked body, but he quickly convinced himself to think of something else. Driving a snowmobile with a hard-on was not high on his list of priorities.

He headed for the lower maintenance garage.

“Hallo, William,” Conor said, greeting the tall, bearded Swiss German mechanic in the only word he knew in German.

“Ah, you both made it. Excellent. Those are your snowmobiles right outside. Full tank. You’ll bring them back by five, okay.”

Conor smiled to himself at the question that wasn’t really a question.

It was Siena who replied. “We’ll be back by then. Thank you, William.”

#

Siena

Siena was glad she’d taken the time to learn how to drive a snowmobile when she first arrived in Le Miroir.

Feeling self-conscious with Conor watching her she sat on the snowmobile, placing her feet on either side of the rails and rechecking the gauges on the dashboard before flipping the key to on.

She looked at the green dots on her handheld tablet. Each one, she knew, represented a resort camera. She pointed at a lonely red dot.

“That’s where we need to go. I want to figure out why the camera is offline, and why we didn’t get a warning.”

Conor nodded. He looked perfectly at ease on his machine. “Makes sense. Would you like to follow me?”

Siena nodded. She stuck her hands in the hand and thumb warmers, thinking those had to be one of the best inventions ever.