Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Vance
“I’m coming with her!” I shouted as two medics in flight suits attached Robin’s stretcher to the hoist.
“No room!” the medic shouted back, shaking his head.
“She could be in danger!” I grabbed his jacket.
He gave me a look like I was stupid. “That’s why we’re getting her to a hospital! Now back up, we need to move!”
I yelled into his ear. “You don’t understand! She could be a witness in a homicide case. I need to stick with her.”
His eyes widened. “I’m sorry,” he shouted back. “We can’t carry anyone else. You’ll have to meet us at the hospital. We’re heading to the trauma center in Casper.”
“Then don’t leave her side,” I thundered. “Don’t land this chopper until you get there, got it? I’ll have someone waiting at the landing strip.”
He gave a sharp nod.
I backed up to where Claire was and watched them ascend on ropes into the chopper. Then the helicopter rose into the air, carrying our most important witness far away from us.
“We’ve got to move,” Claire said darkly, shoving a candy bar and a fresh bottle of water into my hands.
I scarfed the bar and gulped the water as we jogged to the ravine wall to begin yet another ascent. “Sure wish we could get a helicopter ride out of here.”
“Same. Some day, our SAR team will get its own heli. Then, in a situation like this, it would actually come back for us. But for now, we’re going to have to hoof it on foot.” She put her hands on the punishing incline and started the long walk back to the top.
I fell in line behind her and decided the climb back might not be too bad, considering the view. “Why don’t you guys have one? A lot of other counties do.”
“Money.” She shrugged. “We’re fundraising, but we’re still nearly half a million away, and—”
“—and Sage County doesn’t have the revenue to foot the bill,” I said, putting the dots together.
“Yeah. Although that might change if Darla Barrington gets her way and brings in that increased tourism she’s so desperate for.” Her voice was full of bitterness. “Vance, we have a problem.”
“Other than the fact that our best witness is on a chopper headed for Casper?”
“Oh yeah. Way worse than that.”
Her tone alarmed me. “What is it?”
She turned her head, catching my eye over her shoulder. “Katelyn’s affair wasn’t with Sheriff McGrath.”
“I figured that since she said the wife was okay with it. Do you know anyone here with a guest house and a gray pony?”
I didn’t bother pointing out the fact that her family had plenty of guest houses and horses. Walker and Naomi Hawkins didn’t seem like the types to have affairs. They were the real deal. Married and still so in love you could practically feel it radiating out of them when they were together.
“Yeah,” Claire answered between heavy breaths. “I do. I know who the boyfriend was. I sold him that pony myself, right after Katelyn’s Christmas visit. He said it was for when his niece came to visit.”
“Why do you sound so disappointed? I thought you’d be happy it’s not Sheriff McGrath.
” My own breathing started to labor. A climb like this was bad enough on its own.
But after very little sleep and insufficient calories, it was killer.
The SAR team was badass. And my partner was the most badass of them all.
“Oh, I’m thrilled it’s not him. But we’re screwed.”
“Why?”
“Because she was dating Judge Barrington. And apparently, he has Trey in his pocket.”
Judge Barrington.
The pieces clicked into place. Him meeting her at the Evanses’ house when she came for Christmas.
Darla Barrington not caring about his infidelity and encouraging Serena to have an affair of her own.
The non-disclosure agreement. The conversation where Sergeant Collins had talked about spinning something instead of risking it coming out later—he’d been talking about the information Robin had just given us, information that could connect Katelyn to Judge Barrington.
It all fit.
“Shit,” I said between gritted teeth.
“Yep. And now you know why we’re screwed.”
I did. Judge Barrington was the only one who knew our entire playbook.
I’d called him for warrants and told about the snowmobile theory, about Sheriff McGrath having coffee with Katelyn, even about the video where Serena discussed an affair.
All of it. I’d held nothing back, needing to prove probable cause in order to get my warrants.
If Judge Barrington owned a snowmobile and had used it to dump Katelyn’s body, he could ditch it before we searched it.
If he’d had Sergeant Collins do it with one of the SAR snowmobiles, he could have had Collins destroy the evidence during the time he’d said he needed to “think things over” before granting my warrants.
Worse, he could have used that time to plant evidence at the McGraths’, framing the suspect we’d handed him on a silver platter.
My mind began working, trying to figure out a plan to fix everything as we scrambled up the side of the ravine, racing to try to salvage our case.
We almost made it to the top.
When the edge of the ravine came into sight, a shot rang out. One bullet whizzed by my head; a second one hit the ground beside me.
Claire and I both hit the dirt.
A third bullet struck, shattering a stone beside Claire’s shoulder. Her eyes, full of fear, met mine.
We had to get under cover.
There was a boulder back behind us, to the left.
One that jutted out of the side of the ravine and would provide a shield if we could get beneath it.
I grabbed Claire and rolled backward, bracing my feet against anything I could find to stop our slide before we got too far.
We landed just below the outcrop and scrambled underneath it.
“Are you okay?” I asked, my breath ragged as I grabbed her shoulders and looked her over. She had scratches on her face and hands, blood mingling with the dust that now coated her. But she was alive.
“Yes.” She nodded, fighting to control her breathing. “You?”
“Yep.” Anger settled hard as I looked at her pale face and wide eyes.
A torrent of rocks fell, pelting the ground around us. I pulled Claire to my chest, making us as small as possible beneath the meager protection of the outcrop.
“He’s trying to cause a rockslide,” she gasped. “It could bury us.”
“And it would look like an accident,” I said grimly. I reached for the radio on my belt, but it was gone. “I lost my radio in the fall. Can you call for help?”
She pulled hers and tried it, cursing when it failed. “It must have gotten damaged when we rolled.”
Another barrage of rocks let loose, bigger than the last. The ground beneath us trembled in response.
“I’m sorry,” Claire said, miserable. “I shouldn’t have let you come out here. It’s my fault.”
“No,” I said, gripping her shoulders. “I insisted, remember?”
“I knew we were in trouble,” she whispered, tears pricking her eyes. “SAR reports go straight to the sheriff’s office.”
The meaning of her words sank in. “Trey would have seen Robin’s name and known that you and I found her. If they were going to cover it up, this was their last chance.”
He’d probably headed this way as soon as he found out about the mission.
One conversation with Hank and he would have known we were in the ravine with Robin.
Even if he was smart enough to stay hidden, it would still have been easy reconnaissance.
We’d checked in via radio every hour. Our GPS location was undoubtedly circled on one of those maps Hank had set up at base camp.
Three sitting ducks. Three loose ends he could take out in one fell swoop if he made it to us before Robin was rescued. And there were a million ways to make it look like an accident out here.
Claire gripped my hand. “I hoped we could get up the ravine in time, make it to cover. I’m sorry, Vance. I don’t know how to get us out of this.”
“This is not your fault,” I said, forcing her to look at me. “We’re partners. We’re in this together, okay? And everything is going to be okay.”
She nodded. But I knew she didn’t believe me.
Robin was safe—for now.
Claire and I were still sitting ducks in a ravine, with only one way out and nowhere to hide.