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the temperature down a few degrees. Her fingers were already numb, in spite of her insulated mittens. Samson didn’t seem bothered by the cold. There was space for him to huddle out of the wind, but instead he sat erect with his ears up.
    Kade had seemed quiet last night. She’d been glad to have something to think about besides her failure to get pregnant again. Did he blame her for the miscarriage? Though she hadn’t fallen, she’d been her usual active self and had continued to train the dogs and search for missing persons.
    She ducked behind Kade’s back to escape a low-hanging evergreen branch. The trees began to thin a bit, and she caught a glimpse of the frozen surface of Big Piney Lake. Lauri had been right about that, at least. Somehow she’d heard Garrick had been found here instead of Little Piney. It was possible she’d misunderstood where she was supposed to pick up her friend, but Bree was convinced there was more to it than that.
    The snowmobile slowed at the edge of the lake, then Kade parked the machine. The sudden cessation of the rumble made her ears ring. She dismounted, then got Samson out of the sidecar before retrieving the paper bag that held a piece of Garrick’s clothing. Two cardinals, bright splashes of red in a white landscape, regarded her from a bush before fluttering to a higher branch when they realized they had Samson’s attention.
    She diverted him by letting him sniff the scent bag. His tail stiffened and he looked alert.
    “Ice is a good eighteen inches deep,” Kade said. “Mason said he was found on the far side, and it would be faster to take the snowmobile. I wanted to make sure the ice was safe.”
    Her search dog wasn’t a bloodhound but an air scenter. He worked in a Z pattern, scenting the air until he could catch a hint of the one scent he sought. Samson’s tail stiffened, and he turned and raced toward the lake.
    “He’s caught it!” Bree said, running after her dog.
    Samson bounded through the deep snow with a happy bark. He loved it out here, and even high drifts failed to dampen his enthusiasm. The dog headed straight for a tree twenty feet away. Its trunk was partly in the lake, and its branches leaned out over the edge of the frozen water. A rope hung from the thickest branch, probably put there by adventurous teenaged boys. Ice encrusted the rope’s surface.
    Samson stopped and grabbed a stick in his mouth, then struggled back to Bree with his tail wagging. The snow came nearly up to his belly.
    “Good boy,” she crooned. “You found it.”
    Kade was on her heels. He glanced around the area. “I don’t see anything.”
    “Me neither, but Samson says it’s here.” She craned her neck. “Maybe it’s in the tree.” She grasped the low-hanging evergreen tree limb and tried to pull herself onto the branch. “Give me a hand.”
    “Let me climb it. I don’t want you to fall.” He tested the limb and it bent. “I’m not sure it will support my weight, though.” He knelt. “Climb on my shoulders, and see if you can find anything that way.”
    She did as her husband said. Her head whacked the nearest branch when he moved, and she felt something shift. “Hang on.” Perched on his broad shoulders, she began to part the pine branches above her. The pine and snow were so thick it was hard to see, so she removed her mittens and felt along the pine needles with her fingers. The scent of pine mingled with the fresh, cold smell of snow in an aroma that was all North Woods. Magpies scolded from their perch high above her head.
    She was beginning to think Samson had misread the scent when her hand touched something that felt like rough canvas. It was on a branch far above her head and she couldn’t see. Her fingers closed around what felt like a strap and she tugged at it. A shower of snow fell on her head and Kade’s as well. When she flinched, the movement unbalanced her husband. He reeled back, his arms grasping for something, but his grab at a branch