Bones

He nodded, looked back at Frank. “I haven’t slept much since then.”

“The rest of the group hiked into the meadow on the other side of this ridge?”

“Yes.”

“You came looking for them today, J.C.?”

“The helicopters won’t work.”

“What helicopters?”

“Ours, at the ranger station. I was already late. I promised I would come back.”

“And you kept your promise. You did the best you could. But Parrish — listen to me, J.C. This is really important. Could you actually identify bodies?”

“Merrick. Manton.” His face twisted up. “I — I saw parts of the others.”

“You must have been really upset, anyone would be.”

“Yes.”

“Did you run from there, then? It — it sounds horrible. I think anyone would run. Did you?”

He nodded, and, too tired not to be literal, said, “I walked, too. I got a little mixed up, I think. I was going back to the ranger station. I wanted to get help. Then — then I realized it was too late. And I heard a dog — I thought it was Bingle, because I hadn’t seen him — I wasn’t sure, but I hadn’t seen him, and he might have been a little bit away from everyone, with Irene, like before. And then — then I thought he was out there, and — the coyotes — and—”

“Shhh, shhh. It’s okay.”

A little bit away, with Irene. Frank held on to it.

They heard the sound of the others moving through the trees. J.C. looked up at Jack as if seeing him for the first time, and then at Travis, but when he saw Stinger, his eyes widened. “Stinger? They sent for you after all?”

“You know each other?” Frank asked.

But Stinger was down on his knees, eye-level with J.C. and wrapping a blanket around him, hugging him hard, then holding him by the shoulders, looking into his face. “My God, J.C.,” he said, “next time you play pinata with a bunch of dead coyotes, use something besides your face for a stick — you’re looking as fucked up as I am.”

J.C. laughed, then said miserably, “I was too late, Stinger.”

Stinger hugged him again and said, “Poor old J.C. — Fremont, get with the fucking program. Let’s have some of that coffee. Can’t you see this man is in need of it? And Harriman, where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“To find my wife.”

“Shit—”

Frank cut him off, telling the others, in a few short sentences, what J.C. had found. Jack and Travis registered shock, then, sharing Frank’s anxiety, were all for going down to the meadow right away.

“Hold on, hold on!” Stinger said, but this time it was J.C. who interrupted him.

“I’ll show you, if you — if you really want to see where they are.”

“Thanks,” Frank said, “but Stinger’s right. You need to rest a little, get some warm liquids into your system.”

J.C. reached into his daypack, and pulled out a small black rectangular device. This time, Frank knew it wasn’t a phone.

“A GPS device — did you—?”

“It was foggy and I wanted to make sure I could get back,” he said, handing it to Frank. “Yes, I marked it. I knew — I know I’m kind of — well, I’m half out of my head. You’re right. I’m crazy.”

“No, I was wrong,” Frank said, feeling ashamed. “And it was wrong to say it.”

J.C. didn’t say anything.

Frank hesitated, then asked, “J.C., just one more question. You think this is something that just happened a little while ago?”

J.C. shook his head. “It had rained on them. And — Merrick and Manton were cold. I — I couldn’t touch the others. There wasn’t enough — there wasn’t any chance they were alive.”

“Drink a cup of coffee, J.C.,” Stinger said. “Then we’ll walk back to the helicopter and outfit these hotheads here. They haven’t figured out yet how they’re going to signal me if they find his wife down there.”

“You aren’t coming with us?” Frank asked.

“Think on it a minute. You got a man who knows aircraft running around out here. I don’t exactly want to walk off and leave my girl at his disposal. If it starts to clear down there, I’ll fly in a little closer to you.”

“What if he finds you first?” Travis asked.

Stinger smiled. “He won’t be needing that lawyer.”

27

FRIDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 19

Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains

He handed the GPS unit to Travis not long after they had hiked down into the meadow. He heard the sound of vultures fighting, began to smell the decay. He asked Jack to stay with Travis and the dogs, near the trees, while he walked into the fog to have a look.