She scowls.
“Obviously there is no easy way of getting you a lawyer,” I say. “And we have zero legal obligation to help you.”
“What?”
“Moral obligation, yes, but not legal. We tried to help you yesterday. You attacked me and took off. Today, we saved your life—and our dog nearly lost hers in the process. Yet you still tried to run.” I wave around us. “Run to what? Yesterday,you claimed you were being stalked. Hunted. That someone wanted to kill you, and you thought it was us. But we just saved you from a grizzly. We wouldn’t do that if we wanted you dead. In fact, letting that grizzly kill you is better than killing you ourselves. Death by misadventure. Yet afterward you still ran.”
Silence. Then her gaze slides to the side. “I didn’t think it through.”
“We had to tie you up to stop you from running because we don’t want to keep risking lives saving you. Where the hell were you going, Gretchen? What was your grand plan? Just keep running in circles untilsomethingkills you?”
“I heard voices. I was trying to figure out whether there might be regular people out here, people who didn’t murder my husband.”
“You heard voices when? And where?”
She seems to relax a little. “First, on the day Blake died. He shouted, and I came running and saw someone dragging his body into the trees. He was obviously dead. I took off. Once I got away, I didn’t know what to do, so I just… hovered. I should have fled, but our pick up was still six days away and I wanted to see who killed him. The next voices I heard came from near the mountain, followed by an ATV that sped off before I could see anyone. Then there were two men talking, and I crept up to see them leaving a clearing. I went into it, but it was empty.”
“You said you saw someone dragging Blake away?”
“A man. That’s all I know. I could tell Blake was dead and I…” She sucks in breath and looks away. “I panicked and ran.”
“And the two men you heard talking? Can you describe them?”
She shakes her head. “I wasn’t close enough. I heard voices, hurried in that direction to spy on them, and then saw themfrom the rear as they left the clearing. They looked and sounded male. That’s all I know.”
I’ll return to that and press harder. I just don’t want to get too far into the weeds yet.
“Go on,” I say.
“After that, I rested, trying to figure out what to do. The obvious answer was to flee, hole up, and wait for our pick up. I’d tried playing detective, and I didn’t get anything. So I went back to our camp. Someone had been there. When Blake went to soak his foot, he left his backpack behind. It was gone. My stuff had been rifled through, but left behind. Except for the food. They’d taken my share of the food.”
“Your share?”
“We split it. Blake had more—he could carry a heavier pack. Mine was gone. I grabbed my backpack and set out. I didn’t get far before I spotted someone up ahead, waiting, just off the path. I’m lucky I saw him.”
“Him?”
“Him or her. I didn’t get close enough to tell anything except that it was definitely a person.”
I’ll return later to asking her where this happened. “And then?”
“I backtracked, and they came after me. Through the trees. They were trying to be quiet. but I heard them. So I ran. I full-out ran. I turned onto any new trail I hit, and then started ducking through any opening. Finally, when I thought I’d gotten enough of a head start, I hid.”
Again, I’ll get details later. I nod for her to continue.
“I stayed there for a couple of hours, planning to head out at night, but then it got dark and I couldn’t see where I was going. I found water and drank, and then just found another place to sleep. I couldn’t sleep, of course. When I wasn’tcrying over Blake, I was afraid for my own life. I had no idea what was going on, why anyone would kill him. Then I heard something. I thought it was an animal, and I went very still, and it was so quiet, I heard breathing. Someone was out there, right near me.”
She pauses to catch her breath, as if the memory set her heart racing. “I thought it must be a coincidence. They couldn’t have found me. I didn’t leave a trail. I wassocareful. I went completely quiet, and I heard them getting closer until they were right there, and I knew they’d seen me. Somehow, they’d seen me. I pretended to be asleep. I had my knife in my hand, and I just wanted a look at them, and then I’d run. I heard someone lean over me, and I leapt up and stabbed at them.”
She laughs, the sound hollow and ragged. “They grabbed the knife before it even made contact. I couldn’t see anything. It was fuckingnight.How did I expect to see them? They didn’t have any kind of flashlight, but they could obviously see me. All I could make out was a dark face with goggles.”
“Dark face? You mean dark-skinned?”
“I think so, but I couldn’t even see eyes behind the goggles. They—I’m sure it was a he—put their hands around my throat. I felt those hands, gloved hands, and I… I’m not even sure what I did. Kicked? Screamed? Bit? Punched? I did something, and they couldn’t get a good grip. I ducked and kicked hard. I don’t know where I kicked—the stomach, the nuts—but it made him yowl and fall back, and then I ran.”
Dalton moves up beside me and reaches for Rory. “We’re done with the bear,” he says. “I’ll take her.”
“Thanks.” I pass the baby over, and then turn to Gretchen. “So you ran.”
