Cold Lake Read Online Free PDF Page B

at her.
    She looked up and feigned surprise and then placed her hand into his. His large hand enveloped hers and he began pulling her up.
    “Come on, I need a hug. It’s been so long.”
    “Oh … okay.” Sarah stood up and reached up to wrap her arms around the man’s shoulders. It was a difficult task for her, being that the man was at least six foot five. At least a couple inches taller than Wolf.
    Wolf leaned back and put an elbow on the table, scrutinizing the man and his brash intrusion.
    The man had mid-length wavy dark hair that was impeccably combed, and he wore a dark suit and an expensive white shirt over a muscled physique. The top button of his shirt was open, revealing a gold necklace around a thick, tanned neck. His watch was a platinum Rolex with a black face and there were no rings on his fingers. A good-looking guy by no stretch of the imagination, Wolf thought, and clearly the man had a big wallet.
    Wolf watched as the man’s giant arms enveloped Sarah’s slender body. The man crouched and closed his eyes, his big arms crossing around her back and his big hands splaying flat on her bare skin that was exposed by the slinky cut dress.
    The hug was a second too long, awkward for Sarah, who began pulling away.
    As they separated the man brushed the fabric the whole way from her ribs to her upper thigh, past her panty-line, which was not there, and then finally drew back his meat hooks to his side.
    Wolf stood and slapped the man’s back, hard enough for a hollow thump to echo through the dining room, silencing the nearby tables.
    “Hey, there. I’m Dave.”
    The man turned quickly, like he was suddenly in a fight.
    Wolf gazed lazily into the man’s blue eyes.
    There was movement and gasps of astonishment coming from behind Wolf, and when he looked down he saw that his chair had careened into a woman’s back. “Oh, I’m sorry ma’am.”
    The woman looked up at him with exasperation and turned back around to face her husband, who was now glaring up at Wolf.
    Wolf looked back at their visitor and narrowed his eyes. “And you are?”
    The man mirrored Wolf’s glare and one side of his chiseled mouth rose slightly. “The name’s Carter. Carter Willis.” He broke into a disarming, politician smile and extended a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
    Wolf looked at the man’s hand for a second and then at Sarah.
    Sarah sank down into her chair and took a sip of her water.
    Wolf came in with knuckle-crunching force, but found the man’s grip too hard to dent. The shake was the same awkward amount of time as the hug had been, and then they let go.
    “Well, see ya around, Carter.”
    Carter looked down at Sarah. He blew air from his lips and glanced at Wolf. “See you around,” he said to Sarah. “Nice to meet you, Sheriff.”
    Wolf twisted in his seat as he watched the man stroll away.
    The rest of the meal was eaten in complete silence. The couple next to them was even sucked into the abyss of awkwardness, and ended up eating fast, refusing desert and getting out of there as soon as humanly possible.
    Wolf had not enjoyed his steak, not with so much adrenaline pumping through his veins. He was bad company, too, because he couldn’t find any words worth saying. So he finished his food, downed his glass of wine, and signaled the waiter for the check.
    They refused the desert menu in silence, paid in silence, and then left in silence, into the cold thin air on top of the mountain.
    “I don’t know what that was in there,” Wolf said.
    “That’s right,” she said with a hard tone. “You don’t.”
    Wolf looked at her. She held her gaze in front of her, crunching along the wet rocky earth of the ridgeline toward the waiting snow cat.
    Scott Reed, Deputy Patterson’s boyfriend for the last year, saw them coming and smiled wide. His smile vanished as quickly as it had formed when he saw Wolf and Sarah’s dark mood.
    The cat ride and gondola ride were spent with a wedge of silence