Page 40 of Cold and Bitter Snow

“So, what do we do?”

“See that gondola lift fifty meters away? We need to stop him from getting on it. If they make it to La Rochelle, we’ll never find them again.”

Siena’s mental map of the two resorts was sketchy—she hadn’t even been to La Rochelle yet. But Conor was right. Once they were off the gondola there were too many possibilities to consider.

“How do we know he’s not protecting her from somebody else?” Siena asked suddenly.

The next instant the bodyguard reached down and kicked the unconscious princess in the ribs to get her to turn over. Then he lifted the princess again, this time draping her easily over a shoulder.

Siena hissed.

Asshole.

The bodyguard raised his head and looked in their direction. Siena held her breath—she hoped he couldn’t see them where they crouched. Her heart thumped inside her jacket.

What if he can hear my heartbeat?

She wasn’t getting enough oxygen.

Maybe it’s the altitude.

Conor’s large hand wrapped around her arm gently but firmly.

“Relax, Siena. Breathe. Gently. It’s going to be okay,” he said in a very low voice.

She felt herself responding to his tone more than to his words.

I feel safe with him here.

The bodyguard had turned away again. He hadn’t seen them.

“I can take him down,” Conor said. He sounded very sure of himself. “Stay here and keep trying the phone.”

“No,” Siena said firmly.

Conor looked at her, a surprised expression on his face.

“I have a better idea,” she said. “All the resort’s lifts have an acoustic and visual alarm. I’ll activate it—it’ll distract him and also send a warning to the resort’s mainframe. Montgomery must have somebody monitoring it.”

Conor thought for a moment. “That’s a great idea. But be careful,” he asked.

She felt a moment of panic at the thought of moving but steeled herself against it. She couldn’t start doubting herself now.

“Now,” Conor said, still speaking in that soft, low voice. “He’s facing away from us.”

Wishing she were wearing a white ski suit, Siena raced towards the small hut at the top of the lift. She crouched slightly as she ran, feeling ridiculous—one or two inches in height difference weren’t going to make a difference if the bodyguard turned to look in her direction—but unable to help herself.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the hut. The wooden door opened easily and a waft of warm air hit her in the face.

The hut was empty. There was no sign of the missing lift operator.

Siena made her way to the control panel. She felt like a child walking into a cockpit and being asked to land a plane. The dashboard had a lot more buttons than she remembered from the one time she’d visited a lift with Montgomery.

At least you can’t crash this one.

Her eyes focused on the left side of the dashboard where she could read the word Alarme. That looked promising except there were five or six different choices. She was going to start learning French as soon as she got out of here.

She’d narrowed it down to two choices when she heard a noise behind her. She started to turn—just as something slammed into the back of her head, plunging her in darkness.