Page 29 of Shadow of Death
Hunter found a fast-food drive-through, and they ate while he drove. He was surprisingly good at it, Amy thought, somewhat amused at his agility to down a burger and keep his eyes on the road and his hands on the wheel.
But then again, neither of them ever had normal working hours.
Hunter knew the place better than he had remembered. He found the highest point on a dirt road where he could park the car, and then he showed Amy a trail she would have never found on her own because the forest here was heavy.
“Spruces,” he told her. “All kinds. Thick and heavy and hiding many a secret, I imagine.”
They climbed together with Hunter in the lead. He glanced back at her.
“How are you doing, flatlander?”
“Younger than you,” she reminded him, even if it was only by a few years. “You having trouble old man? Thirties—I think we’re supposed to be fit and prime for a while yet!”
“I have never argued that. You are absolutely prime,” he teased.
But a minute later, he held up. Glancing at his watch and looking to the sky, he shook his head. “The cabin is that way. The tower and the plateau are that way.”
“So, we split up. You go right, I’ll go left.”
“Amy, call for backup if—”
“If I see anything at all, you will know,” she promised. “And I may be the better shot between the two of us.”
“You may be good, but—”
“But?”
“I really am a crack shot.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m not.”
He laughed. “Okay, okay. I know how capable you are. But call—”
“And you do the same!”
“Of course.”
Amy looked at the sky. The night was coming quickly.
“Maybe I am crazy,” she murmured.
“You are, but that’s okay. You’re crazy in a good way. You’re following your instincts. And we’re all a little crazy. But hopefully in a good way.”
“I like that reasoning,” she told him.
He grabbed her and pulled her close, kissed her briefly, then let her go. She smiled as she watched him turn toward the left.
And she turned to the right.
What he had said about the trees was true; they were plentiful with heavy branches. She walked along, searching the ground and the branches, trying to see if anything offered her the suggestion someone had been by recently. And even searching for signs as she was and despite the coming darkness, she knew why people loved Colorado so much—it was beautiful here.
The air was fresh and clear, the scent of the spruces was mild and pleasant. The light breeze that moved around her helped create an aura of peace and nature’s majesty.
The few remnants of daylight that had been left were drifting away, but to Amy’s surprise, it didn’t grow extremely dark. And she realized it was because a full moon was rising even as the sun was falling, and it cast a strange glow down upon the ground. Shadows remained; the darkness of the trees remained. But she could see ahead of her, and she could see the tower Hunter had talked about or the remains of what had been a tower.
She was almost there where she paused, dead still for a minute, listening.
Then she knew that she was right; she was hearing voices.
