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“I don’t care; I’m not going to believe my sister is dead until I see her.” She looked at Spence, trying to make him understand. “It just can’t be her. We were supposed to meet here tonight and go hiking tomorrow. We had massages and mani/pedis set up.”
“Harper.” His voice was gentle and kind, “There was identification in her backpack; we have her prints; and she told the hotel she was meeting her sister here tonight.”
After that, everything became a kind of out-of-body experience. She could hear voices like those you could hear from a fog from very far away. At one point Spence helped her to stand and then led her out of the lodge. Eventually—although she had no more concept of time than she did of place—Harper found herself seated in an SUV with Spence and the man with him, who Spence had introduced as some kind of ranger named Pete. Spence gently helped her into the vehicle and then reached in to fasten her seatbelt.
She was grateful for the lack of conversation and stared blindly out the window.Dulcie couldn’t be gone. She just couldn’t.It wasn’t until she found herself in front of a viewing window at the coroner’s office that reality reared its ugly head. Harper shoved it firmly away. She straightened her spine and her shoulders, indicating she was ready. They were wrong. She would see the body and it wouldn’t be Dulcie. They were wrong. They just had to be wrong.
Spence was beside her, steadying her as he asked quietly, “Are you ready, Harper?”
She nodded and the man on the other side of the window pulled the sheet from the head and shoulders of the body it covered.
Harper felt dizzy, felt herself sway slightly, and felt Spence’s hand on her elbow, supporting her. It couldn’t be Dulcie, and yet it was. All she could do was stare. It looked as though Dulcie had lost weight and her skin was so pale. She didn’t know whether to rail against the world and pound her fists against the glass or just crumple into a heap on the floor.
She nodded. “Yes, that’s my sister, Dulcie Simpson.”
“Let me get you out of here. Can you come with me?” She understood now why he was such a good rider. If he used that voice on a horse, it would do anything he wanted.
* * *
Spence led her away, guiding her gently but firmly into a sort of side office that looked like a doctor’s waiting room.
“Pete, can you give us a minute? Maybe see if you can scare up some coffee?” He’d like to get some food into her; she was supposed to have met her sister for dinner. She’d left the show in Texas and driven straight through to get home. Then she’d headed to the lodge. It was doubtful she had much sleep or any decent food in at least twenty-four hours. “You need to eat. Would you like Pete to get you something?”
“No. I’m okay, I don’t need anything. Just tell me what happened.”
“You need to eat. The last thing I need is for you to pass out.”
“I won’t pass out,” she said a little too sharply. “I need to know what happened to my sister.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that.” He caught Pete’s eye. “Pete, see if you can’t find something relatively healthy.” He turned back to Harper. “As far as what happened, we’re in the very preliminary stages of the case, and I can’t talk about an ongoing investigation.”
“She’s my sister.”
“I know, and I know you need information to get closure.”
“I’ll find closure when you catch this bastard, and somebody sticks a needle in his arm.”
“Fair enough,” he said trying to placate her. What he really wanted was to wrap her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be fine, but he couldn’t do that because he didn’t know it to be true. Harper was a strong woman; she’d recover from her sister’s death, but he was uncertain as to what penalties might be imposedifthey could catch the person responsible andifthey could successfully prosecute them. “What I can tell you is that the first notice I received about your sister was at the show when I got the call from Pete to come up here. I’m still piecing things together. Dulcie was found yesterday, and other than knowing she was here to meet her sister, we don’t know much more. I’m hoping you can help fill us in.”
“Where was she found? Who found her? How was she killed?”
Spence knew he had to tread lightly. He really couldn’t talk about the ongoing investigation with her, especially as she could be considered a suspect. He would bet his life she had nothing to do with it, but until he could prove it, he needed to go by the book.
“She told the desk clerk at the lodge she was going to take a short hike just to loosen up and clear out the cobwebs. She mentioned she’d been working hard finishing some report, and that she was looking forward to seeing you when you arrived this evening. They found her backpack in the general vicinity.” He couldn’t tell her how far or that it appeared that someone had gone through it looking for something. “It didn’t appear to have anything more than normal stuff you’d expect a hiker to have with them. The rest of her things are up in the room.”
Pete arrived with the coffee and something that smelled good. He thought Harper might refuse it, but she seemed to think better of it, sipping at the coffee and taking small bites of some kind of cream soup.
“They were just closing the diner when I went in. The waitress seemed to know you and said you were fond of their loaded baked potato soup.”
“Thank you. She’s right. I love their soups in general and this one, in particular. And you’re right, you don’t need me passing out on you. You said there was stuff in her room. Can I see it, can I see her room? Wait, how was she killed? Did she fall? Was she attacked by an animal?”
Spence thought carefully about this answer. He was weighing heavily protocol against what he felt would be best for Harper. He’d bent the rules on more than one occasion to offer comfort to a family member he knew wasn’t involved. And while he couldn’t prove it, every instinct and bit of experience he possessed said there was no way she could have had anything to do with it.
“She was shot, Harper.”
Confusion filled her features. “Shot? She was shot? I didn’t see any blood. Was she shot by accident? Was someone hunting illegally? I don’t understand. How could she have been shot?”
Spence tried to respond as honestly and gently as he could. “We don’t think it was an accident. In fact, it appears she was deliberately executed. It’s possible she witnessed something she shouldn’t have seen. You have my word, Harper, I will make sure we find the truth.”
