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“Get me something to bag this in,” A
Delayed shock at the grisly scene and hypothermia would both account for the behavior. Maybe winter had finally turned on Robin. A
“Come on,” she said quietly. “Help me get the Sked ready.” Holding on to Robin, A
“What happened?” A
Robin didn’t answer and A
“Did you find a cell phone?” Bob called. “They belong to the university and I’ll have to pay for it.”
That’s what he’d been doing, digging here and there. He was looking to save himself a few bucks. The callousness struck A
By the time they got Katherine’s remains stowed in garbage bags-if the park had a body bag, Ridley didn’t know where it was – and strapped into the rescue Sked, it was full dark. Wind from the northeast, bringing the promised front, had picked up and the temperature was falling.
A
“Hang on,” A
A
Now that the distraction of the corpse and its attendant parts was over, A
Robin went first, carrying one of the flashlights. A
Bob followed in Robin’s tracks. A
They’d not been on the move for fifteen minutes when the Sked tipped between two stones at the base of the outcropping with the stone nose. A
The narrow metal sled had ridden up on the right side over a rock beneath the snow until it was close to tipping over. A
“You’re good to go,” she said.
“Go, Robin,” Ridley called.
A
They were being stalked.
17
The flicker and cut of the flashlights were ahead of her. But for these theatrical sharps of light, snipping images from perfect dark, A
Nothing else. The stealthy slip and pad of predators had stopped. Or was never there. Ears swaddled in fleece, brain in fatigue, eyes in darkness: imagining sneaking noises was not beyond the realm of possibility.
With a grunt that she was glad none of the young and agile heard, A
“SWITCH OUT!” Ridley hollered.
A
As Robin made her way to the rear of the line, A
“Sorry,” Ridley said. “How are you doing?”
“Good,” A
“Eat something,” he said.
“Good idea.” That got the flashlight and his attention off of her and she slumped back into her clothes. She didn’t have anything to eat and, for the first time in what seemed like forever, she wasn’t hungry. Or, if she was, she was too tired to chew and swallow.
Ridley escaped the harness and buckled Robin into it. Robin had never towed a Sked before, but she’d skied a thousand miles with a pack and a rifle on her back so Ridley didn’t bother with much in the way of instruction.
When they’d done, he shined his light over the harness and the Sked, checking that the lines were still secure. “Where’s your light?” he demanded suddenly.
“Bob took it. He wanted to go first.”
“Bob took it,” Ridley said. “God damn him. Here, take mine. God damn him. God damn Adam,” he said and pushed into the darkness toward the wavering speck of light that was the purloined flashlight.
“What’s with Ridley and Adam?” A
“Who knows,” Robin replied. Her voice was hollow, as if part of her said the expected words while another, greater part of her was someplace else. Someplace where nightmare was the special of the day.
“How are you doing?” A
“Bob took my light.”
The biotech was crying. A
“Let me pull the Sked for a while,” A