Deep Freeze by Lisa Jackson Page A

rang. Jenna picked up the receiver and before she could say a word, she heard, “Mom? It’s Cassie. I missed first period, but I’m here at the school and I have to go or Mr. Rivers will mark me absent in Chemistry.”
    “Why were you late?”
    “It’s complicated. I’ll tell you about it when I get home. I just wanted you to know I’m okay. ’Bye.”
    “Cassie, wait—” she said, but heard her daughter click off. “’Bye,” she said to herself and sighed. “Fabulous.” She glanced down at Critter, who thumped his tail against the floor obligingly. “Just damned fabulous.”
     

    “I called the Oregon Department of Transportation. ODOT’s got sanding crews and plows ready. We could get freezing rain as well as snow. In that case we’ll not only lose road service, but we’ll have power outages and people will be stranded. So far, I-84 is clear and passable, but if it gets bad, the State Police will shut it down,” Deputy Hixx was saying from his patrol car somewhere in the county. Carter had the guy on speaker phone in his office and while listening with half an ear, was also skimming his e-mail, hoping for something from the crime lab on the Jane Doe that Charley Perry had discovered.
    “Just keep me posted on the road conditions. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the storm won’t hit.”
    “Yeah, right,” Hixx said, without so much as a chuckle. “You know the old saying ‘when hell freezes over?’ Well, I think this is it.”
    Twenty-nine-year-old Bill Hixx was a glass-is-half-empty sort, but this time, Carter thought as he hung up, the kid was probably right. And the storm, if it was as bad as predicted, would make life hell for everyone, especially the electrical crews, road service people, and, of course, law enforcement. He looked through the window and noticed how the sky had darkened, the gray clouds burgeoning ominously, seeming to collect over this part of the Columbia Gorge.
    The door to his office was ajar and he heard his secretary say, “Just a minute…I’ll see if he’s busy—”
    Too late. Rinda Dalinsky suddenly appeared in his doorway.
    “Are you?” she asked with a familiar smile. “Busy?”
    “Always. Just ask Jerri.”
    His secretary had followed Rinda into the office, and it was evident from the glare she sent Rinda that Jerri was furious. “I tried to stop her,” she explained, with a but-what-can-you-do frown pursing her lips.
    Carter waved Jerri off. “It’s all right. You know she’s an old friend.”
    “Just don’t put the emphasis on ‘old,’” Rinda suggested. She seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Jerri was nearly spitting nails.
    “Never.” For the first time that day, Carter felt one side of his mouth lift into a smile. He’d known Rinda Allen since they were kids, lost touch with her when she got married and moved to California, reconnected when she’d returned to Falls Crossing, newly divorced, a kid in tow. There had never been any romantic connection between them, but a lifetime ago Rinda Allen had been Carolyn’s best friend. She’d been the one who had set up the blind date where both Carolyn and Shane, both reluctantly, had met. And that counted. For that, and countless other favors over the years, Rinda Dalinsky could bend a few rules here and there.
    “You’re the one who suggested we stick to protocol,” Jerri reminded him huffily. She had a temper that she was always trying to contain but she was hardworking and honest.
    “That I did, and you, accordingly, did your duty.”
    “Her barging in here is not protocol.”
    “I know. But it’s okay. Thanks.” He winked at Jerri and noticed her cheeks begin to redden. “Would you mind shutting the door?”
    “Not at all.” Direct orders she understood.
    As soon as the door clicked shut, Rinda groaned and rolled her huge eyes. “You’re insufferable, Carter.”
    “So they claim.”
    “But she’s a drill sergeant.” Rinda flopped into a side chair and studied the