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“Let’s get her back to town.”
The stretcher is tied to a harness on Storm. She tolerates that. She’d much rather play bloodhound than sled dog, but she knows this is a rare request. As we walk, we don’t say much. I’m deep in thought, working through the lists of questions I’ll have for the crew’s medic and the people I’ll need to interview. I use Dalton’s phone to record some of my questions—the ones I fear forgetting—and he suggests a few more. Otherwise, it’s a silent walk.
We’ve made it about halfway when I notice he’s lagging. I’m in front, with Storm following behind and Dalton bringing upthe rear. I glance back once to see him peering into the forest, having dropped a few feet behind the stretcher. When I look back again, he’s even farther back, frowning into the trees.
He asks Storm to stop and slips around the stretcher to come up beside me.
“I think we’re being watched,” he whispers.
I look in the same direction he was.
“Can’t say for sure,” he says. “It’s a feeling and a few noises. There’s a rise maybe fifty feet that way. If wearebeing watched, they’re up on that. I can’t see anything, though, so maybe I’m just antsy. Unfamiliar forest.”
“You want to check it out?”
He shakes his head. “Not after the last time. All I accomplished was letting them lure me away so they could circle back to you.”
“They wouldn’t have had any way of knowing I’d stay behind.”
“Yeah, but you did, and they took advantage.”
“Unless my backpack thief wasn’t the person you chased. But, yes, I take your point. Also, even if they did realize I was down in that pit, they didn’t try to hurt me. Sure, stealing my backpack might have condemned me to death, but I don’t think we’re dealing with an immediate threat.” I peer into the woods. “Though Iwouldlike my cell phone back.”
Dalton turns toward the forest and fingers his backpack strap, as if considering handing it off to give chase again.
“I was kidding,” I say. “I can afford a new cell phone, and unless they’re a hacking genius, mine’s nothing but a brick until they wipe it.”
“Notice I’m pretending to know what you’re talking about.”
I smile. “Sorry. The passcode and facial recognition meana thief isn’t getting my data. They’ll need to reboot it from scratch, giving them a lovely new phone, but I’m more worried about my personal information, which they will not have.”
“Good.”
“To be really safe, I can remote-wipe my phone, which I’d like to do, but that will require being in Dawson City. So for now, fingers crossed that we haven’t stumbled over a world-class hacker in the middle of the Yukon wilderness.”
I shield my eyes and squint, just making out the ridge he’d referred to. “I’ll add my vote for leaving them alone, at least for now.”
We’re close enough to Haven’s Rock to hear an undercurrent of noise. That’s always a concern, and it’s one reason why we’re not running generators—along with the obvious issue of bringing in fuel. The crew is minimizing the sound of construction by minimizing the use of power tools, but even the slap of one plank hitting another rings through the forest. One reason we’d chosen this location is that there’s a waterfall nearby, and we plan to construct dams between the fast-flowing streams and the lake, both for power and for added noise. All that means is that we don’t hear the town until we’re about a hundred feet away.
That’s where we realize we have a problem. We don’t dare walk into town with a body in tow. Everyone will stop what they’re doing and demand explanations and assurances of their own safety.
While we won’t be able to keep this from the crew—not when we’re investigating a murder—there’s a wrong and a not-quite-as-wrong way to do it.
“We need to get Yolanda,” I say. “Tell her we’ll put Penny… well, I guess we’ll put her in our cabin for now. Not exactly the housewarming omen I’d like, but necessity wins out.”
“We’ll move her to the medical clinic as soon as we can. Go on and get Yolanda. I’ll wait here.”
I hesitate. In order to bring out Yolanda, one of us has to go into town first. One of us gets to see it first. It’s an inconsequential thing compared to a murder, but it’s still significant to us.
“You go first,” I say. “I’ll wait.”
He pauses, eyeing me. Then he waves for me to follow him, saying, “We should get closer. Just in case we were followed.”
We continue on, and then he motions for me to wait. I ease back and start unfastening the ties binding Storm to the stretcher. We can pull it the rest of the way ourselves. When I glance up, I see that Dalton is only standing about twenty feet away, scanning the forest.
“You!” he says, making me jump. “Get over here.”
Whoever he’s talking to clearly doesn’t do what he’s asking, not surprisingly. A stranger is hailing them from the wilderness. Dalton’s lucky they don’t break into a run, shouting a warning to the others.
