Chilled by Death by Dale Mayer Page A

winter hiking boots. Should make it easier to walk in the snow. That was about all she could plan for right now. At least her body shifted and moved with grace at this point. A few twinges and squeaky joints, but essentially she was doing well.
    She packed up her travel mug, sorted through her camera lenses, and quickly grabbed a bigger flash drive. Last night she hadn’t taken a look at how full her storage was. Big mistake. She didn’t dare not have enough while she was out there. The last thing she wanted to do was come back because she couldn’t take any more images.
    Not that she planned on being out for long. She was making dinner for everyone today since she had agreed to take a turn. She hadn’t brought anything pre-planned though, so someone needed to give her the menu for the week so she didn’t accidently use up ingredients needed for other meals.
    As she strode out the door, she cast a last look behind her at the cabin. She wasn’t the last one out. Royce locked the cabin and placed the key on the top of the doorframe. The lock was more to stop the elements from opening the door than to keep anyone out. They’d all been briefed on the location of the key on the first day. Basic safety.
    The early morning light hit the side of the cabin, bounced off the window, and split into a wide band. Colors rippled on the rays. It was beautiful. And it almost blinded her. She lifted her hand to shade her gaze from the glare. Like so much light work, a bit of information was helpful. Too much and it was a killer.
    “Let’s go.” Royce walked past her, reminding her that the rest of the group was striding out strongly in two directions. She had to stop and think. Who was she going with today?
    “This way.” Royce stepped in behind the first group. “We’re going back to the same place, but it’s relatively easy terrain. Maybe you can find something to photograph there.”
    “I’m sure I will,” she said in subdued tones. It was the first thing she’d said to him after his earlier comment.
    “Are you okay?” he asked.
    She nodded but stayed silent. In fact, speech would have been difficult. What did she want to say? At the moment, she had no idea. Did he really want to have a relationship with her? As in a real one, or just another weekend fling? God, she wished she knew her own mind.
    Or maybe she wished she knew her own heart.
    Something she hadn’t known for a long time.
    They continued to hide in companionable silence when the group stopped. There were shouts ahead. Royce picked up his pace.
    “What’s up?” she asked when they reached the other three.
    George said, “One of the other group fell into a ravine of some kind.”
    Immediately the group headed in the direction of the other group. With the sunny day and no cloud cover, the cell phone reception was strong and clear. Good thing. George continued to talk to Mark as they moved across the plateau to where the second group was currently standing. They’d been heading to a different run that day. No one had been along that path in days. Crossing as they were now was hard going. The leader had to break a path in the deep snow. Stacy was smart enough to stay in the middle of the pack. Of course, Royce pulled up last place to make sure there were no stragglers.
    “Was anyone hurt?” Stacy asked.
    “No. Not at all. He slid down more than anything.”
    She nodded. “Good.”
    The phone rang again. “Apparently the fault line goes a fair bit in our direction, so approach carefully,” George said after he put his phone away.
    He pulled out the long stick he’d found earlier and stabbed the ground with each step. The others held back and waited. In deep snow, anything could be waiting below. Most of this area was popular with skiers and climbers from all over the world but like everyone, her group wanted to play where others hadn’t gone before. Figures. Still, even the popular runs ran into trouble sometime.
    Snow often hid a small gulley that