“Maybe he
God!”
Nunnally offered Judith his apologies. “I’m kind of new
on the job, ma’am, and when you run into some big, important guy like Mr. Killegrew, you tend to…ah… um…”
Judith was trying to pull herself together. “I know, I
know. You tend to think he’s right because he’s got a corner
office. Don’t worry, you’ll learn better as you get older.
Power and privilege have absolutely nothing to do with virtue
and goodness.” She turned a wan face to Mike. “Can we get
out of here?”
“Sure.” Mike gave his mother a hand and raised her from
the bed. “You’ll probably have to answer a bunch of questions, though.”
“Not here,” Judith said with a definite shake of her head.
“Anywhere but here. Park headquarters, the ski lodge at the
summit, a gopher hole—I don’t care, just so it’s not here. I
don’t ever want to see this place or what’s left of these people
again.”
Mike grinned, the slightly off-center, engaging expression
that Judith loved so well. “I don’t blame you. It must have
been quite a weekend. Hey, Aunt Renie, would you really
have used that gun if you’d…”
The caterer, the graphic designer, and the park ranger
quickly cleared the cousins’ belongings out of the guest room
across the hall. Ten minutes later, they were in Mike’s official
park service four-by-four, heading for the pass. Judith never
looked back.
Joe was soaking his feet in a galvanized tub and watching
the eleven o’clock news when Judith finally arrived home
that Sunday night. He barely looked up when she came into
the third-floor den.
“Hi,” she said, trying to sound cheerful despite her state
of exhaustion.
“Hi.” Joe’s gaze was riveted to the TV screen.
Judith leaned down and kissed his forehead. “I got back
sooner than I…”
“Shh!” Gesturing at the TV, Joe cut her off.
“…Leading national park service law enforcement officials
believe that Killegrew may have killed at least three of his
employees in an attempt to retain his position as
president and CEO of OTIOSE.” The pert Asian anchorwoman was shown against a stock shot of Mountain Goat
Lodge and an inset black-and-white photo of a smiling, benign Frank Killegrew. “While rumors spread this weekend
that WaCom plans to merge with OTIOSE, it is not known
how the tragedy in the mountains will affect the independent
telecommunications company’s future. An unidentified
spokesperson told KINE-TV this evening that customer service should not be affected, however.”
The screen changed to highway footage, showing
