Page 25 of Dead Mountain

Cosmo and Cassy Wright

Rodney O’Connell

Missing

Missing

Melody Ann O’Connell

Had Sharp been planning to give this to her all along—even before the announcement? But then again, had he known about the announcement in advance? She felt a twinge of anxiety as she thought about her high-profile new role in the case, especially the resentments it might cause among more-senior agents. Sharp had given her the opportunity of a lifetime—or maybe the match to ignite her own immolation.

15

CORRIE WATCHED FROM a desk in the rear of the lab as Nate—still suited up in the morgue area—zipped the body bags closed and made the final preparations to put the corpses of Wright and Tolland, already lying on rolling metal slabs, into storage for the night.

Wright and Tolland. It was ironic—they pretty much knew the identities, but they still had to wait for the Quantico dental expert to do an X-ray verification. Only then could they proceed with notifying the families. Clothing samples had been sent off to check for radiation contamination. The autopsies were still to come, which she hoped to God would answer some of the riddles these bodies posed. The more she’d examined the corpses of the two young men, the more mystified she’d become. Had they been attacked by a third party? A murder-suicide? Given the strange history of the Dead Mountain case, she couldn’t take anything for granted.

Her cell phone rang. Corrie glanced down and—almost thankful for the disturbance—saw it was Nora Kelly.

“Hi, Nora. What’s up?”

“I’m just on my way down the mountain. Finally got cell service again.”

“You’re just heading back now? The sun’s down already.”

“Yeah, well, my associate and I have been busier—like my brother would say—than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.”

“How so?”

“The Isleta Tribal Council is going to take up the matter of what to do with the prehistoric remains.”

“Okay.”

A pause. “That Sheriff Hawley called in KWOW.”

“Wait—the local news channel?”

“Yup. Hoping to get his fat mug plastered all over television—just in time for the election.”

Jesus, now she had another television spot to watch. “How much did they get?”

“Nothing useful. We stopped them from getting any shots inside the cave. Once they realized the situation, they packed up and left. But you know damn well that sooner or later, they’re going to be back—in bigger numbers.”

“We’re putting a stop to that. We’re establishing a larger perimeter around the cave.”

“A bunch of dark SUVs with flashing lights passed me a while back—guess they were part of the cavalry.”

“Too bad they didn’t get there earlier,” Corrie said, more to herself than the archaeologist.

“Well, you can blame the sheriff for that. Somebody should teach him that law enforcement comes before self-promotion.”

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