Back of Beyond

it.”

“So you shot them both point-blank when they found you,” Cody said. “And left them to bleed out or wait for animals to find them. Thinking they’d be mauled beyond recognition if their bodies were ever found and maybe not even point to you.”

Gannon rocked back on his haunches holding his knee. He said, “This whole damned thing is a clusterfuck. Everything’s gone wrong.”

Cody said, “So why did Jed take the other trail?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know… it’s all his fault this happened.”

“He didn’t kill three people,” Cody said, “or put my son in danger.”

Gannon writhed in pain. “Worse,” he said. “Worse.” As if that somehow lessened his own guilt.

“So your partner is still with the others on the pack trip?” Cody said.

Gannon nodded, his eyes closed, his mouth contorted.

“Which one is he? Jed?”

Gannon either couldn’t speak or refused to say.

“I said-”

“Damn you!” Gannon bellowed as his eyes shot open. He glared at Cody with unbridled hate. “You’re a cop. I know you’re playing rough and you’ll think of some story to cover you later. I know you won’t kill me. But I damned sure know she will.”

Cody felt the hairs on his neck stand up. “What did you just say?”

37

Jed McCarthy was angry and anxious and almost missed the game trail he was seeking to go up the mountain. That Dakota was miffed at him was one thing. But to blatantly disregard his instruction to bring him another horse, to vanish like that leaving only his saddle on a stump, was another. And why did she take the lame horse with her? Where in the hell did she go when she should have been getting dinner ready for his clients?

So he’d gotten another damned horse from the herd and put his saddle on it and ridden out of there.

“Women,” he said, as if it were a curse word.

He wondered if she’d be there when he got back to camp. He wondered whether-hoped-Tristan Glode, Tony D’Amato, and Drey Russell had returned as well. He didn’t care about Wilson, never had.

If they were all back his world would be in order again, even if Dakota had split the blanket for good. He could cope for the rest of the trip without a petulant Dakota dragging him down.

He’d make sure that future didn’t have any women like Dakota in it, he thought with a crooked grin.

As he wound his way up the mountain directly west away from the trail he caught a glimpse through the trees of a J-shaped glacier on the side of a mountain face. He recognized it and nodded to himself, then reached back and undid his saddlebag to compare it against the Google map printouts in his file. The file was missing, and he bellowed, “Dakota! You bitch!”

* * *

He thanked God she hadn’t dug deeper and found the satellite phone. He’d never even told her it existed, or that he brought it along on every pack trip just in case he got into some kind of trouble. He was afraid she’d make a casual reference to it and a client would hear her and want to use it. Pretty soon, he’d have clients lined up wanting to call home, check on their kids, call the office, and so on. He was a purist about the wilderness and about the experience he wanted to impart on his trips, and that experience had very much to do with isolation and forcing his guests to not keep in contact with home.

But this was different. This was about him. He punched in the number he was told not to call under any circumstances until he was done with the trip and it rang three times before it was picked up.

“What?”

“This is Jed. I’ve got a problem.”

“I know who the hell it is. It’s not a good time.”

“I said I have a problem. I need your help.”

“You’ve got more problems than you know, Jed. I’ve been trying to reach you for two fucking days. Don’t you ever turn that thing on?”

“No,” Jed said. “I told you. I don’t even tell anyone I have it. If someone heard me talking on it-”

“I know, I know, you already told me, for Christ’s sake. But given the circumstances, I thought you’d at least check it.”

Jed said, “Someone took the map.”

Silence.

“I said-”

“I heard you! How in the hell did that happen? Who took it?”

“Don’t worry,” Jed said. “I know who it is and I’ll deal with her later. She works for me. Correction: worked for me. I don’t think she’s smart enough to figure out what we’re even looking for. But right now I’m practically there. I can see the glacier. I need you to send me that map again as an attachment. You can do that, can’t you?”

“If she’s got the map she might figure it out.”

Jed took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. “She won’t figure it out. I’ll make sure she doesn’t. I’ll make up a story about something-don’t worry about it. Right now, I need another copy of that map. Can you send it or not?”

A long sigh. “I told you it wasn’t a good time. I’m on the way somewhere now. I’ve got to deal with a problem of my own.”

“Are you on duty?”

“Yeah. But what I’m doing is off the books.”

“Can you send it to me when you get back to your office?”

“Yeah.” He was distracted. “Yeah, I can do that.”

“How long before I can expect it, then?”

“I don’t know. Forty-five minutes at the latest. Providing there’s no one around.”

Jed nodded. “Okay then. Good. So what’s the other problem you referred to?”

“There’s a cop after you.”

Jed felt his insides contract. “What?”

“There’s a cop after you. His name is Cody Hoyt, and he’s completely fucking nuts. His son is on your trip, I guess. Jed, he somehow thinks there’s a connection between some murders and someone on your trip. That’s why he’s after you.”

Jed shook his head. “I don’t understand. What murders?”

“The last one happened up here a week ago. He thinks whoever killed this guy-his name was Winters-is on your pack trip. He wants to find him.”

“So what are you telling me?”

“To watch out. I lost track of him two nights ago in Bozeman, but he was definitely headed your direction.”

“Are you saying he’s in the park?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to find out. That’s where I’m headed right now. I know a guy who probably knows where he is.”

“He’s in the park?” Jed said again.

“I told you, I don’t know.”