Page 15 of Dead Mountain

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CORRIE LEANED OUT of the mouth of the cave. Sharp was chatting with the two deputies, getting along well.

“Agent Sharp?” she asked.

He glanced up.

“There’s something you should see up here.”

She waited while Sharp climbed the ladder and crawled into the cave entrance, then stood up. He looked at Nora and Stan Morrison, then at Corrie, his face expressionless. “Yes?”

“Back here.” Corrie led Sharp to the rear of the cave. He stopped abruptly, staring down at the booted leg sticking out from underneath the rubble. The other foot was covered only in a felt bootie—a valenki. Corrie watched as his eyes widened.

“Holy mother of God,” he breathed.

“Yeah,” said Corrie. “Looks like we found one of . . .”

She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to.

Sharp nodded. A long silence ensued while he stared at it. And then he looked up. His surprised expression—the first she’d seen—slowly fell away, like ripples on a pond. He glanced once again at Corrie.

“It’s still your case . . . for now, at least.” He let the sentence hang in the air.

“Right.” Corrie—who until this moment had been merely excited by the ramifications of the discovery—felt a sudden sense of panic, as if she’d been thrown into the deep end of the pool and ordered to swim. She looked at Nora and Stan Morrison. “Fortunately, we have two archaeologists already on site—we ought to make use of their expertise in excavating the body and any others that might come to light. And we need to get the Evidence Response Team back in here to process the rear section of the cave.”

Sharp looked at her, face unreadable once again.

“Dr. Kelly,” she asked, “are you able to do a little more work for us? I realize you’re busy, but it would be a great help.”

She found Nora looking back at her with a half-amused, half-exasperated face. “On the ride out, you mentioned Dead Mountain. You think this is one of the missing victims?”

“You know about the Dead Mountain case?” Corrie asked.

“Everyone in New Mexico knows about it.”

Except me, thought Corrie.

Sharp spoke quietly into the silence that followed. “According to the footprints that were originally found, one of the hikers fled their tent wearing a boot on one foot and a bootie on the other. This corpse fits that description perfectly. It beggars belief this isn’t a Dead Mountain victim—and there’s a good chance the two others still missing are in the back of the cave as well.”

“So,” Corrie asked Nora, “would you consider expanding your work here?”

“Of course. This is an amazing discovery and I’d be grateful to be part of it.”

“You can get the time off from the Institute?”

“I have no doubt they’ll be happy to let me assist the FBI, pro bono—our field season is shut down for the winter. But it’s going to be awkward with the Indian burials in here. We’re almost done with them: we’ll finish up and then cover them to make sure they aren’t disturbed any further.”

Corrie felt a surge of relief. She glanced at Sharp and thought she could now detect approval, or at least satisfaction, in his gaze.

“Thank you,” said Corrie. “Tell us what you’ll need to protect the burials.”

“Some sheets of plywood; two-by-fours to build a structure that will keep the plywood off the ground; stakes; caution tape. I’ll do some more measuring and get you a detailed list.”

“We’ll see that you get everything you need,” Sharp assured her.

“Once we’ve built a cover of sorts to protect the burials, Stan and I will begin working on the body in the back of the cave. Sound like a plan?”

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