AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes. Do you know anything about that?”
“Uh-uh. Just that she ain’t the first one to die on this mountain. Ain’t gonna be the last one either.” He scratched his head through the green hat. His hands were dirty, lined with grease, as one would expect for a lift technician.
Kay pointed at the moving chairs. “I didn’t know the lift worked in the summer.”
“It doesn’t,” he replied calmly. “It’s scheduled maintenance. Not many people hike the ridge during summer. It’s a waste of money to run it.”
“So, you didn’t take anyone up on the mountain yesterday?” Elliot asked.
“No, sir,” he replied with a hint of a smile, taking a small step forward.
He seemed more comfortable engaging with Elliot than with Kay. Still, she asked, “Your name?”
“It’s Jimmy. Jim Bugarin. I own this pile of junk,” he added, giving the chairlift an annoyed look. “It works, you know, and it’s safe if you want to hitch a quick ride up the mountain. Happy to oblige.” He grinned, displaying irregular, stained teeth.
Kay glanced at the storm clouds gathering from the coast. It was tempting, but Logan was waiting for the ATV at the top terminal. “Not this time, but thanks.”
“Well, call me if you need me,” he added, pointing at a phone number painted on the terminal’s wall for the sale of seasonal permits. “I’ll be tinkering with it for a couple of days at least.”
They were almost at the top terminal when they spotted a chair with two passengers: a man in uniform and a police dog seated next to him. The deputy had his arm wrapped around the dog’s shoulders, holding him close as one would a child. The dog panted and seemed wary, although the chairlift rode low, close to the ground, and he could’ve easily jumped and continued the hike on foot.
“I’ll be damned,” Elliot said, giving the two a long stare. “There’s nothing these dogs won’t do.”
Once at the terminal, the ATV exchanged hands, and Kay had to tell a furious Logan she’d done nothing yet to manage the media situation.
“Call them,” Logan urged her from the driver’s seat of the ATV. “Today. Now. I want them off my back.”
Then he sped downhill, on the smooth path next to the chairlift.
Kay called Barb Foster, hoping she’d pick up. She thought she’d recognized the colors of the local TV station in the logo affixed on the white news van that had been trailing them all over town. Instead of Barb, she got her voicemail.
They continued the hike with the K-9 unit, a Belgian Malinois by the name of Spartan and his handler, Deputy John Deramus from Marin County.
“Someone’s got a sense of humor,” Kay commented, hearing the dog’s name. Spartan was the lead detective in the movieDemolition Man, one of Kay’s favorite action flicks.
Deramus grinned widely, beaming with pride. He must’ve named the dog himself.
“I thought you were going to start tracking at the bottom of the trail,” Elliot said.
“Wouldn’t do us much good,” Deramus replied. The dog was pulling ahead, the leash taut, although they hiked at a fast pace. “She was found in the ravine, wasn’t she?”
“Yup.” Elliot took a sip of water from a plastic bottle after offering it to Kay.
“He’d lead us to where the smell is strongest, and that’s the ravine. We don’t want that.”
“Right.”
“But if we start up here, he’ll find the crime scene first, then he’ll signal where she went down over the edge.”
The deputies were in sight as they climbed over the last portion of the eastern versant. Spartan pulled against his leash, panting, and Kay could barely keep up. She was over the rocky edge of the path and onto the last stretch of the hike when Elliot spotted a candy wrapper near the path. He picked it up with a glove and sealed it inside an evidence pouch. “I’m surprised we didn’t find more,” he said, continuing at a brisk pace to catch up.
Ahead of them, Novack and Leach searched the bushes for evidence. Spartan led them past the deputies, and they were almost out of sight when Kay, out of breath and trailing behind, noticed Deputy Leach had picked something up from the ground and discreetly shoved it into his pocket.
She turned and walked straight to him. “What did you find?” she asked.
He shook his head, a little nervous. “Nothing.” He gestured toward a large plastic bag holding numerous evidence pouches. “Everything we find we collect in there.”
She extended her hand. “Give it.” The man muttered an oath under his breath and Kay pretended not to hear it.
