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One wrong move. One misunderstood word. That’s all it will take, and while I hope to hell Mark is asleep at his camp, I can’t take that chance. So I am going after Dalton and asking him to abandon the search until morning. But it’s not urgent enough to warrant me running alone into the forest, where Mark might not be wandering around, but Gunnar certainly is.
I need to take five minutes to grab backup. I also need to be sure Gunnar hasn’t returned on his own.
I look around, my gaze passing over a few people I’ve interviewed but don’t know well enough to ask—or trust—to escort me. I spot Kendra talking to another woman, and I take one step toward her before remembering she’d used Yolanda’s sat phone. I’m sure Gunnar is Bruno’s partner, but I can’t take any chances.
I jog toward the men’s residence. I make it to the door before Yolanda hails me. I turn to see her striding my way and step aside to talk quickly.
“I’m checking to be sure Gunnar isn’t back,” I say.
“He’s not. I’ve been keeping an eye out from his damn perch. I saw you return earlier, but then I lost you before I got down here.”
“I had to check something. Will is off with Eric. I don’t think Bruno or his partner killed Mark’s wife. I think it was Mark.”
“The miner?”
“Right. Now I just need someone to accompany me into the woods to tell Eric and Will and bring them in. We have two threats out there, and I’d rather call off any search until morning.”
“Agreed. I’ll go with you.”
When I open my mouth to protest, she says, “Do you trust I’m not involved in this?”
“Yes.”
“Is there anyone else you can say that about in town right now? I’m presuming your sister is watching Penny. If you want April and I to swap jobs, she can go with you.”
“No, this shouldn’t take long. I know where they were headed.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
As we head out, I explain what I found to Yolanda. I do it under the guise of bringing her up to speed, maybe even showing that I recognize her status in town, but that’s a bit disingenuous. I’m still working through this new theory, and if we have time to kill while on the move, I’ll use it to bounce my ideas off her. Though, in my defense, that obviously implies that I value her opinion, so if she thinks it means that I trust her, that’s not entirely false.
“There’s one piece of evidence that could contradict it,” I say. “I found Denise’s blood type on Bruno’s knee. There was ground-in dirt and some blood.”
“Which matched her type—not her DNA—meaning it could be someone else’s.”
“Yes. I’m also thinking he may have knelt in it at the camp.”
“Sees what looks like damp earth and kneels to examine it more closely.”
I nod. “We know Bruno was at the camp. Penny saw him there. Mark could have actually gone hunting, as he claimed, or he could have been getting rid of Denise’s stuff. He’s gone, andthat lets Bruno and Gunnar poke around the camp. Bruno sees the blood and kneels in it. Penny shows up and things go south.”
“Works for me.”
“Lots of speculation,” I say. “I might be wrong about the specifics—what exactly happened and why exactly they did what they did—but the basics seem solid.”
“Mark killed his wife and hid her body. Penny stumbled on Bruno and Gunnar at the mining camp. One of them knocks her out. Bruno confines her in that cave, and then Gunnar pushes him off the cliff. Probably because of Penny. Bruno couldn’t bring himself to kill her, and Gunnar realizes he’s a potential liability. Kill him. Let Penny die. Only Bruno is alive. Fortunately for Gunnar, that didn’t last long and he didn’t seem to sell out Gunnar, but now Penny’s back and God knows what she’s said. Gunnar runs.”
“Something like that.”
“Can we just let him keep running? Hope he falls over a cliff himself?”
“At this point, it’s tempting,” I mutter. “I have no idea what we’ll do about him or Mark.” I remember who I’m talking to and clear my throat. “Sorry. Tired and frustrated.”
“It was easier when you could just turn them over to Rockton’s council, huh?”
“We’ll handle it.”
“Gran will. I was serious when I said I don’t think restarting Rockton was a good idea. It failed for a reason. Because it fundamentally cannot function as designed. You already have two people dead.”
