Experienced hikers carried packs equipped with tents, food and water, emergency supplies, compasses, maps and tarps they tacked up over the open side of the shelter to ward off the wind when temperatures turned dangerous.
Conditions were dangerous now. He hoped the Pattersons had had the good sense to come prepared.
Danny pointed to the trail map, and they scrutinized it together. The areas had been marked with names and points along the way to guide hikers in planning their route and to keep them from getting lost and walking in circles. After a few miles, the trees and rocks all blended together.
“There are two ways they could have gone to reach the falls from here,” Danny said. “East—”
“Or west.” Todd gestured to the dark clouds. “Let’s divide up.”
Fletch nodded. “You guys take the eastern section. I’ll head west.”
They checked to make certain their radios were working, strapped on their packs, then pulled on gloves and hats and headed in opposite directions.
The temperature was nineteen now and dropping, the precipitation from the night before freezing to ice. More snowflakes thickened the air, making visibility difficult. Protective goggles helped, but the fog of white swallowed the ridges and paths in the distance.
Fletch used his flashlight to illuminate the ground, searching for footprints or signs the family had recently walked this way. An animal print here and there caught his eye, but no human prints.
Every few feet he paused to listen for sounds of voices calling for help, and he yelled out as he climbed the hill. Wind howled from the ridges and peaks, the trees shivering as the gusts barreled through at record speed.
His flashlight lit on something red on the ground. He stooped to examine it and decided it was blood. Could be from an injured animal.
Or a person who needed help.
He aimed his flashlight ahead and noted more blood dotting the snow. Enough to suspect the animal, or human, might be in serious trouble.
Pulse pounding, he followed the blood trail up the incline and around a cluster of hemlocks. A branch lay on the ground, soaked in blood. He scanned the area, listening again. Nothing but the shrill wind whipping through the forest and off the mountaintop.
He panned the light in each direction, then spotted drag marks across the snow. Drag marks mingled with blood.
His radio buzzed. “Located the Pattersons,” Todd said, his voice cracking with the static on the line.
“Status?” Fletch asked.
“Nine-year-old sprained his ankle, father has a bum knee, and the other boy is close to hypothermia. We’re warming them up, then going to get them back. I’ve already radioed it in. Medics will be waiting. Meet us at the car.”
“No can do.” Fletch removed his battery-powered camera from his pack and snapped a picture of the blood trail and the indentations where the body had been dragged. “I found blood in the snow. Looks like drag marks from a human. I’m going to follow it.”
“Dammit,” Todd said. “I’d help, but it’ll take both me and Danny to haul the family down.”
“They’re our priority now. Get them to safety,” Fletch said. “I’ll let you know if I find something and need assistance.”
“Copy that.” Todd hesitated. “Be careful, man.”
“Always.” None of them liked to leave a coworker out here alone. But sometimes it couldn’t be helped.
Besides, they’d trained for it. And no way could Fletch go home without determining the source of that blood and if it was human.
FACEDOWN IN THE SNOW, she roused from unconsciousness, dazed and confused. A dull throb occupied her head, making the trees spin.
Wind knifed through her. Where was she? What was wrong with her?
She mentally rifled through her fleeting memories for how she’d ended up here. But nothing made sense. Gunshots. Running. A fight. Blood...everywhere.
Her name was... Wait, what was it?
Panic seized her. What was her name?
A sob caught in her throat. A foggy blur occupied the space where her memories were stored.
The sound of footsteps crunching twigs and ice echoed somewhere in the distance. Footsteps... He was coming after her again.
This time he’d kill her.
She struggled to crawl forward, but her limbs were too heavy and stiff to move.
Her teeth chattered. Her skin stung from the cold, and her chest hurt as she tried to draw a breath.
The sense that she was in imminent danger overwhelmed her as scattered memories broke through the haze. Someone chasing her. A sharp blow.
She clawed at the ground, fingers digging into the brush and icy ground. Her feet pushed at the surface but sank deeper into the frigid snow. Tears of frustration blurred her eyes, then trickled down her cheeks, freezing on her face.
She had to move. Hide.
But her body wouldn’t cooperate. She tried to flex her fingers and grappled for a tree limb, something to help propel her forward. But the branch was too far away. She couldn’t give up, though. The cold could be deadly.
Summoning every ounce of strength she possessed, she managed to scoot on her stomach and dragged herself a few feet.
Every muscle in her body throbbed with the effort. Even her bones hurt.
Then a gust of wind shook the trees, sending a deluge of icy snow and more limbs down onto her, and she collapsed.
She cried out for help, but her voice faded into the howling wind. Terror bled through her as she sank back into the darkness.
FLETCH TUGGED HIS hat over his ears as he tracked the bloodspots on the ground. He’d been hiking for over an hour.
Something shiny caught his eye near a tree stump, and he waved his flashlight across the area. There it was. Glittering against the white ground. It was caught in the weeds. He hiked over to it, knelt and dug the object from the fresh snow.
A wedding ring.
Questions needled him as he examined it. A woman’s ring. Too small for a man. Silver. What was it doing out here in the wilderness?
Someone could have lost it while camping or hiking.
Judging
