Mattie and Robo spent the next hour searching around the gravesite and back toward the trail. She snapped pictures of disturbed greenery, areas where rocks had been removed, and places where the terrain had been altered during the digging of the grave. None of these things would be very useful.
What she didn’t find brought images and theories to her mind: Robo didn’t indicate finding Adrienne’s scent trail on the ground, and Mattie didn’t spot smaller hiking-boot prints that Adrienne might have left. She theorized that Adrienne had been killed elsewhere and left face down or head down for several hours, accounting for the lividity observed in her face. She guessed she’d been carried here on horseback and then buried, probably by the anonymous tipster. Maybe he felt guilt or remorse, and that’s why he called. The autopsy could confirm the first part of her theory; the rest was guesswork.
Cold air nipped her face, and she realized the temperature had dropped. She’d better pay attention to her own needs before it was too late. She took off Robo’s collar and tracking harness to let him know he was now off duty. She headed out into the timber to find firewood, taking along his tennis ball, causing him to frolic beside her. His reward was long overdue. She was relieved to see that he acted like his happy self again, his depression left behind.
But she couldn’t erase the image of Adrienne’s marred face and gaping mouth from her mind, or the one of Brody kneeling beside the dead woman. It would take longer for her own mood to lighten.
Cole was playing a game of Monopoly with his kids when his cell phone rang. One glance told him it was the sheriff’s department, and he answered it immediately. The caller was Sheriff McCoy.
“Hello, Sheriff.”
“I’ve got some bad news, Dr. Walker,” McCoy said. “Adrienne Howard’s body has been found.”
“I was afraid that’s what you were going to say.” Cole checked his kids and saw they were listening to his side of the call. “Excuse me a moment, Sheriff.”
He got up from the kitchen table. “Give me a minute, you guys,” he said to the girls. “I’ve got to take this call, but I’ll be right back.”
“But Dad . . .”
“I’ll be right back, Angela, and I’ll tell you what’s happening. But now, I need some privacy.” He walked out of the room and headed upstairs, resuming his conversation with the sheriff as he went. “All right, I’m back.”
“She was found about a half mile down from Tucker Peak. Do you know that area?”
“I’m familiar with it. I used to hunt that area with my dad. That’s rugged country. How on earth did you find her?”
“Robo. Look, the reason I’m calling is that I need your help organizing a retrieval mission. And we’re going to need several extra horses to carry our detective and technicians up to the site.”
By now Cole had reached his bedroom and shut the door. The red digits on his alarm clock said 4:51. It was getting late. “How soon do you want us to load up?”
“Can we start at sunrise tomorrow morning?”
“I’m sure that between Garrett and my dad we can organize enough horses by then. You don’t think we should go up sooner?”
“That’s the other part of my problem,” McCoy said. “I’ve got Deputy Cobb up there securing the site.”
“By herself?”
“Yes. I need at least one rider to take supplies up to her for the night. A tent, food, water, dog food for Robo, insulated sleeping bags. We’ve got the trail marked, but we’ve also got this snowstorm rolling in. I need someone who can handle himself out in the wilderness during winter weather.”
There was no way he would let Mattie spend the night up there alone. “I’m your guy.”
“It won’t be easy.”
“Hey, it doesn’t need to be. I’ll contact Garrett and ask him to organize things for tomorrow morning. I’ve got a horse named Mountaineer that can stick to any trail in the dark. I’ll be ready to leave within the hour.”
“Deputy Brody wants to go with you, but I need him to guide up tomorrow’s party.”
“I can make it on my own.”
“I’ll turn the phone over to him so he can give you detailed directions. And thanks, Cole.”
Cole took notes from Brody’s description, deciding he needed to take a strong flashlight to see the orange tape in the dark. He ended the call and went downstairs to his daughters, his mind making a list of supplies while he went. They both waited at the kitchen table. There was no need to soften the blow with these two. Like it or not, they were experienced in receiving bad news.
“That was the sheriff. They’ve found Adrienne. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but she’s no longer alive.”
Neither spoke. Angie looked down at the table while Sophie’s worried brown eyes sought out his. “Did somebody kill her, Dad? Like Grace?” Sophie asked.
“I don’t know any details. But I do know that Mattie’s up there in the mountains, guarding the site by herself.”
Angie looked up at him, a furrow of concern on her brow. “Alone?”
“Yeah, I’ve volunteered to take supplies up to her so she’s not caught out in this storm without food and shelter.” Cole realized his action would take him away from the kids for the night, something he’d promised Angie he would try to avoid. He watched her closely for her response.
“Can we help you pack so you can get started?” Angie asked. “We can’t leave Mattie up there in the cold.”
Her reply would make any parent proud. “Thanks, Angel. I hoped you’d feel that way.”
“What about our appointment tomorrow morning with Miss Carmen Sandiego?” Sophie asked, referring to a cartoon character she watched on the Internet.
“Sophie-bug, you’re a genius. How did you remember that?”
She looked smug. “I just did.”
“I’ll call her when I’m on my way and reschedule for tomorrow afternoon. You girls plan to go with me then, okay?”
After getting their agreement, he set off to explain the situation to Mrs. Gibbs and round up his supplies.
Chapter 11
Mattie stacked another stone on the rock wall she was building on the opposite side of her fire pit, its purpose to reflect heat back toward her and Robo. She’d decided to set up shelter in the leeward side of a boulder about forty feet from the grave, close enough to guard without feeling like she was on top of it.
A few hours earlier, the gray skies had opened up to dump snow in the high country, and now several inches covered the ground. White shrouds draped the evergreens, and Mattie’s breath fogged the air. She stamped her feet and held her cold hands above the fire for a moment.
After sundown she’d given up hope of someone coming, and she’d resigned herself to a miserable night. Robo had dogged her tracks while she searched for deadfall to build a makeshift lean-to. It wasn’t much, but without a hatchet, it was the best she could do. He lay next to the fire watching her work, one of his favorite pastimes.
She raised her face to the sky, feeling icy snowflakes spatter her cheeks. “Looks like it’s just you and me tonight, Robo.”
She could swear he quirked his eyebrows in agreement.
Protect and serve, she thought. Even the dead.
She fed Robo a cup of food, saving the last for morning. Her own stomach rumbled with hunger. Settling into her sparse shelter, she peeled the wrapper off an energy bar, the only food she had left.