“No, thank you. I’ll just lie down over there. I didn’t sleep much last night.” The teen moved to the other couch, farther back in the big room. She stretched out under a blanket and closed her eyes, using a beat-up throw pillow to rest her head. Oro followed, spreading his body out next to hers. Violet scooted closer to the back of the couch to give him more room, wrapping one arm around the dog.

Within seconds her breathing slowed and deepened.

Gianna’s gaze rested on her daughter, sad resignation in her face. She turned and caught Chris watching her.

“She’ll be okay,” he offered.

She took a deep breath and looked into her coffee mug. “It’s possible she may have started the fire. Not intentionally, but I’ve caught her with cigarettes recently. Although I went through every bag she brought up here, I may have missed something,” she said softly.

“But according to her, the fire started downstairs in the kitchen area. Not in the loft where she was sleeping.”

“Maybe she threw a burning cigarette in the trash under the kitchen sink. I don’t know.”

“Did you ask her if she was smoking last night?” He knew Gianna hadn’t; he’d been with them nonstop since Gianna had awakened.

“No. That trail in the snow shows that someone else could have started it.” She glanced at her sleeping daughter. “I’m shaken at the thought that someone may have tried to murder us in our sleep.”

Chris nodded. “I don’t think your daughter started it. Someone else was clearly there.” He paused. “When I went in to get your boots, it smelled like a body had burned inside,” he said carefully.

Gianna stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“There’s something inside. I could smell it. That’s why I asked about pets or anyone else being with you. There’s something dead in there and it burned in the fire.”

“Are you sure?” Her eyes widened. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want to in front of your daughter.”

“We should have checked it out!” Gianna set her mug down on the coffee table, her back ramrod straight. “Someone may have needed help.” She looked ready to hike back to her cabin.

“Whatever it was is dead.”

“How do you know what a burned body smells like?”

“Trust me, I do.”

Her gaze probed him. “I deal with death every day. Burned bodies, drowned, shot. You should have told me what you suspected.”

He stared back, curiosity rolling through him. “What do you do?”

“I start with the Oregon medical examiner’s office in a few weeks. I’m a forensic pathologist.”

“You do autopsies,” Chris said flatly. I should have told her my suspicions. “Christ. I had no idea. You didn’t smell it?”

“I didn’t smell a thing. Probably because too much was going on. But you’re right . . . that smell is hard to mistake. We need to call the police.”

Chris spread his arms. “We’ve got no cell service and we’re stuck until better weather. I haven’t heard the plows, and I won’t risk the drive until then. We’re on a low-priority road because there’s only a few cabins up here. The last forecast I saw showed only a little snow coming after the ice storm rolled through, so I bet they’ll plow it by tomorrow. We don’t have many plows around here, and their priority is the highways.”

“Do you have some sort of radio to call out with? I saw a ranger station out on the highway not too far from here. Can we reach them?”

He shook his head. “I don’t have anything else. Someone from the ranger station might check on us, but we’re used to waiting things out up here.”

Her expression indicated she didn’t like having her hands tied. She looked ready to drive through the snow and ice to the ranger station. He waited, watching her process every possibility. He knew she’d eventually arrive at the conclusion that they’d done all they could.

“There’s really nothing else we can do about the fire right now, is there?” she asked.

“Trust me. I’ve been thinking about nothing else. There’s something dead in that cabin, and it’s possible the two of you were meant to die in there with it.”

“We need to go back,” Gianna stated, nervous that a death might have happened that close to her daughter. “If there’s a body in there, we can’t just leave it. We need to see if something can be done.” She stood up and fought the wave of dizziness that swamped her.

Chris jumped up and held out a hand. Gianna didn’t know if it was to stop her or give her something to grab to keep from falling. “You’re not thinking straight. Remember that walk?”

She did.

She ignored his hand and sank back into the couch. “I’m not used to sitting around doing nothing. Especially when something horrible has happened.”

Chris lowered himself back into his chair, his gaze penetrating. “You want to rush back to a scene where someone may have tried to kill you and Violet.”

“Who would want to kill us? You’re jumping to conclusions. We spent the rest of the night sleeping in my Suburban. Anyone who wanted us dead could have walked right up and taken care of it.” She looked pointedly at him. “No one wants to kill us.”

She wouldn’t let him get in her head. She and Violet had survived a horrible night, but until she had proof that the fire had been deliberately set, she wouldn’t panic.