“You okay?” Micah’s lips are blue, but his eyes are bright with excitement. He’s itching to strap on an oxygen tank, sink to the bottom of the lake and dredge up whatever the woman dropped. He probably doesn’t even notice the cold.

Paul nods. His expression is parked in Neutral. His face is completely closed off, like those metal shutters people roll down the windows of their summer cabins, familiar but guarded. He glances up the hill at the house. “I’m gonna grab a shower.”

Micah shifts his gaze to mine. “You don’t have to stay down here, either. I’ll call up if I run into any snags. Just keep your cell close. The cops’ll need an official statement at some point, so don’t go anywhere without telling them, got it?”

I nod. Paul grabs my hand and tugs me toward the stairs, but I tug back.

Micah may be back in his clothes, but his hair is still sopping, the ends clumped and turning white with ice. I reach out and squeeze his arm. “I’ll bring down some coffee and whatever else I can scrounge up, okay? I’ll also make sure the basement door is open, in case y’all need a bathroom or you want to warm up in the shower.”

Micah gives me a smile, purple lips against bright white skin. “Thanks, Char. You’re the best.”

Paul looks relieved when I turn for the house, and he leads me up the hill at a pace that sends my heart hurtling. Thanks to his daily trots up and down these hills, this climb is just a quick jaunt for him, barely any effort at all. I’ve already run up these steps once today, and it wiped me out.

“Babe, babe,” I say, pulling on his arm. We’re four steps in and I’m already panting. “Slow down. I can’t—”

“Hey, Charlie,” Sam says, not a question.

Paul and I pause, sharing a fleeting look that dumps me back into my body. I feel Sam’s gaze on me like an army of ants, biting and stinging my skin. He’s coming up the hill behind us, a duffel slung over his shoulder.

“I need an answer from you, too. Do you have an ID on the body?”

Paul squeezes my hand so tight it’s almost painful, and if I had any doubts as to what’s going on here, I don’t anymore. This is where things could get sticky.