Page 63 of High Frequency

My attention is piqued. “What trouble?”

“Some vandalism. Dan spent the night there and they’re trying to rig up some kind of security today.”

I guess that explains why I haven’t seen or heard from him.

I’m tempted to call and find out more, but I’m sure he has his hands full.

I’m actually bored.

Jillian and Emo have been down in the gorge for almost three hours and other than to check in over the radio from time to time, there hasn’t been much action.

I’m starting to worry this may have been a waste of time when the radio crackles to life.

“Slo…in……thing. Over.”

All I hear is half words and a lot of static.

“Jillian? Say again. Over”

For a moment there is nothing and when I glance over at Bo, I see he’s watching intently.

“Sloane? I found something. Over.”

My heart jumps in my chest as I shoot to my feet, and I immediately join Bo, who is already bent over the grid map we have spread out on a tree stump.

“What’d you find? Over.”

“Remains. More than one body. They’ve been here a while. I think you should come down. The area is surrounded by rock walls on three sides. I had to walk back to get through on the radio. Over.”

Jesus. More than one? How many bodies are down here?

“Can you give us a location on the grid? Over.”

“Northeast corner of the third grid. On the satellite image it should look almost like a tributary, an arm off the gorge itself. From what I can see at the base of it, most of the top is tree-covered, but there looks to be a small section where the rock is exposed at the top. Maybe that’s visible on satellite. Over.”

Bo marks the approximate location she indicated on the map with a small stone. Then he unfolds the printout of the satellite image and places it beside the map. It’s a printout, so the resolution isn’t great, but it’s easy to locate the branch of the gorge on the image, and a sliver of white is visible through the trees. That must be the top of the cliff she’s referring to. Bo places a pebble on the satellite image as well.

“Jillian, where are you now? Over.”

“Back at the southwest corner of the grid where I started. Over.”

I blow out a sharp breath through pursed lips. I’m not sure if it’s adrenaline or fear—perhaps a combination of both—but my body feels like it’s vibrating.

“Wait for me there. I’m on my way. Over and out.”

Bo is looking at me with a dubious look on his face.

“What?”

He shakes his head. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“I have to go down there. It’s my job,” I remind him.

“I know it is, but I’d feel a lot better if you could wait until we got some backup here,” he insists.

“You don’t need backup to lower me, do you?” I challenge him, stuffing a couple of water bottles along with my camera in my backpack.

“No. But we might to get you and Jillian back up here.”

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