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“Did you hear me calling for help?” she asked as he once more lifted her leg onto his lap.
“Yeah.” He fitted a long, loose terrycloth sock over her foot, taking care not to jar it, then pushed it gently up and over the site of the fracture. “I was out in the park looking for a Christmas tree when I heard you yelling.”
She studied his sharply cut profile, wondering how someone so growly and stompy could be so gentle while handling her injured limb. “Did you let anyone know you found me?”
Without looking at her, he shook his head. “No cell signal out here, and I lost my fucking satellite Internet when the storm just moved in.” He made a deep growling sound. “Piece o’ crap costs me an arm and a leg, and it’s down more often than it’s up.”
Holly nodded in sympathy. The Internet service in her cabin was touchy as hell, too. She jerked her thumb, pointing at her backpack. “I have a Garmin InReach. I can call for help.”
His scowl deepened. He reached for the orthopedic cast and released the straps. A loud ripping sound filled the cabin.
“Yeah. About that. The highway’s closed between here and Bearpaw Ridge. Big rockslide just after the bridge.”
“Crap,” she said. She knew exactly which section of the highway he was talking about. A slide there had closed the highway for eighteen hours following a thunderstorm at the beginning of September.
“And I don’t think you’re injured badly enough to risk calling in a helicopter to take you to the hospital, not in this weather,” Ice continued. “Looks like a simple fracture, and the trap didn’t break your skin.”
She nodded. “I agree that this isn’t a life-or-death situation. But I still need to check in, or my boss is gonna send out the Search & Rescue team.”
“Your boss?” He gave her a wary look.
“Dr. Arnold Beckworth, over at the Bearpaw Ridge IDFG office.”
Ice’s scowl deepened. His gaze flicked to the living room wall behind her. “You a game warden or something?”
She shook her head. “Wildlife biologist.”
Ice sighed and guided her foot into the cast. “Yeah, okay, go ahead and let him know that you’re alive and stuck at the Cougar Lake Ranch until the highway reopens.”
He didn’t sound happy about it, though. Holly resolved not to make extra work for him if she could help it. At least she had some idea where she was now. She remembered seeing the ranch marked on one of her maps. It lay along the park’s southeastern boundary.
“Sorry to impose,” she said apologetically.
He shrugged. “So, what the hell were you doing hiking out there by yourself in the middle of a winter storm?”
His tone made it clear he considered her a moron.
She hunched defensively. “Trying to finish my data collection rounds before the storm really got going.”
Ice stopped adjusting the cast’s various straps and buckles. His whiskey-colored eyes bored into hers. “So, you’re the one who put up all those trail cams?”
She nodded.
His expression twisted. She thought he looked worried rather than angry.
“What were you looking for?”
“I’m gathering data for a long-term study on the effects of climate change on bear hibernation patterns,” she answered.
“And just how many of those things did you put up?” he demanded, sounding grumpy.
“Why do you care?” she retorted, trying to figure out what was bothering him now.
He shrugged. “I don’t.” But she could tell he was lying. “Just tryin’ to make conversation.”
Maybe it wasn’t a Christmas tree he was after, she thought. Why else would he be so nervous about trail cams inside a national park?
Then a darker thought occurred to her: Did he find me because he’s the one who set that bear trap?
