Ice Cold: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel by Tess Gerritsen Read Free Book Online Page A

temperature, Maura was sweating inside her ski parka. Her throat ached with each searing breath of cold air. Too tired to break a path through fresh snow, she fell into step behind Doug, letting him plow the path first, planting her feet in the craters left behind by his boots. It was now a matter of stoically marching ahead, left–right–left, ignoring her sore muscles, the ache in her chest, the sodden hem of her pants.
    As they slogged up a slight rise, Maura had her gaze focuseddownward on the trail of broken snow. When Doug suddenly halted, she almost bumped into him.
    “Hey, everyone!” Doug called back to the others. “We’re going to be okay!”
    Maura moved beside him and stared down into a valley, at the rooftops of a dozen houses. No smoke curled up from any of the chimneys; the road leading down was covered in unbroken snow.
    “I don’t see any signs of life,” she said.
    “We may have to break into one of those buildings. But at least we’ll have a place to stay tonight. It looks like maybe a two-mile walk down, so we’ll make it before dark.”
    “Hey, look,” said Arlo. “There’s another sign here.” He slogged farther down the road and brushed snow off the surface.
    “What does it say?” asked Elaine.
    For a moment Arlo was silent, staring at the sign as though it were written in a language he could not understand. “Now I know what that old man in the gas station meant,” he said.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “It’s the name of that village down there.” Arlo moved aside, and Maura saw the words on the sign.
    KINGDOM COME

I DON’T SEE ANY POWER LINES,” SAID A RLO .
    “You mean I can’t recharge my iPod?” asked Grace.
    “They could have underground lines,” Doug suggested. “Or generators. It’s the twenty-first century. Nobody lives without electricity.” He adjusted his backpack. “Come on, it’s a long walk. We want to get down there before dark.”
    They started down the slope, where the wind stung like icy nettles and the drifts made every step hard labor. Doug led the way, breaking a trail through deep virgin snow, with Grace, Elaine, and Arlo following in a line behind him. Maura brought up the rear. Though they were moving downhill, the ever-deepening snow made it an exhausting hike. No one was talking now; it took all their effort just to keep slogging ahead.
    Nothing about this day had turned out the way Maura had expected. If only we’d ignored the GPS and followed the map, she thought. We’d be at that lodge right now, sipping wine in front of afire. If only I’d turned down Doug’s invitation in the first place, I wouldn’t be stuck with these people at all. I’d be back in my own hotel, warm and safe for the night.
Safety
was the option she almost always chose. Safe investments, safe cars, safe travel. The only risks she’d ever taken had been with men, and every one of those had turned out badly. Daniel, and now Douglas.
Note to self: In future, avoid men whose names begin with D
. Aside from that, the two men were nothing alike. That had been Doug’s charm, the fact that he was wild and a little reckless. He’d made her want to be reckless as well.
    This is the result, she thought as she stumbled down the mountainside. I’ve let an impulsive man lead me into this mess. Worst of all, he refused to acknowledge how serious their predicament was, a predicament that only seemed to be worsening. In Doug’s sunny world, everything was always going to turn out okay.
    The light was starting to fade. They’d been walking at least a mile now, and her legs felt heavy as lead. If she dropped right here from exhaustion, the others might not even hear it. Once darkness fell, no one would be able to find her. By morning, she would be covered in snow. How easy it was to disappear out here. Get lost in a snowstorm, vanish beneath a drift, and the world would have no idea what became of you. She had told no one in Boston about this overnight jaunt. For