Page 16 of Mile High Mystery

Todd, on his feet now, walked over to them. Danny had cleaned and bandaged the cut on his forehead and the scrape on his forearm. “Thanks.” He shook hands with Eldon then Zach. “What are your names?” he asked. “I want to remember you two.” He had a pronounced Southern accent, like someone from Georgia or Alabama, Zach thought.

They introduced themselves. “I can’t believe there are people who just volunteer to help others way up here like this,” Todd said. “I can’t thank you all enough.”

Danny shouldered his pack and joined them. “It’s a good idea to wear a helmet on these rough roads,” he said. “Those side-by-sides will tip over easier than most people think.”

“And you need to slow down,” the older man who had witnessed the accident said. “You could kill yourself or somebody else.”

Todd looked sheepish. “I think I’ve learned my lesson,” he said. “I’ll take it a lot slower.” He moved toward the vehicle. “I’m just glad I can get this down the mountain without having to pay to have someone haul it.”

“Are you sure you’re up to driving?” Christine asked.

“Y’all said I didn’t have any sign of concussion, and I feel fine now.” Todd slid into the driver’s seat. “I’ll take it nice and slow from here on,” he said. “I promise.” He nodded to Zach and the others. “It was nice to meet you all. Maybe we’ll run into each other in town, and I can buy you a beer.” He turned the key in the ignition then gave them a thumbs-up. They all moved back as he guided the ATV onto the trail and puttered down the road.

“Should we have let him leave on his own?” Christine asked as they headed back to the Search and Rescue vehicle.

“I can make medical recommendations, but we can’t stop him,” Danny said. He stowed his pack in the back of the specially outfitted Jeep used by Search and Rescue. “He’ll probably be okay. That knock he took on the head wasn’t nearly as bad as it might have been. I told him he should check with his doctor to make sure there’s no internal damage, but he probably won’t.”

“If he does run into trouble, there are plenty of people around who can call for help again,” Eldon said. He hoisted himself into the driver’s seat. “If it was me, I’d have probably driven down. He’ll lose his damage deposit on the rental, but that’s probably less than the cost of getting someone up here to retrieve the thing.”

“That’s the first call I’ve been on with only minor injuries,” Zach said.

“We don’t get many like that.” Danny settled in the passenger seat, and Christine, Zach, Sheri and Caleb piled in the back. “We see a lot of serious injuries on these trails and more than a few fatalities.”

“Were you here when that Jeep exploded?” Christine asked. “I still hear people in town talk about that one.”

“That was right after I started.” Danny looked grim. “The vehicle rolled three times then exploded. There were five people in it, two adults and three children. Two of the children lived, though it was touch-and-go for them for a while.” He shook his head. “The organization paid for a counselor to come in and work with us for a while after that one,” he said. “I still think of it every time we come up here.”

Zach hadn’t responded to a fatality yet. Except for Camille, and she hadn’t been the victim of an accident or anything. Seeing her lying on that litter had been surreal. He had thought of her as dead for so long that he still hadn’t come to terms with the idea that she had lived another life in the past four years, with a different name, a different job and friends he had never met.

“Dealing with the dead is one of the toughest parts of search and rescue work,” Danny said. “But we have resources to help. And if you decide you can’t handle that part of it, there’s no shame in stepping aside. For me, helping the live victims outweighs the sadness from those we couldn’t save.”

They murmured agreement. Zach didn’t think he’d have trouble dealing with dead strangers, but he wouldn’t mind if he had to wait until he had more experience with search and rescue work before he found out.

His phone buzzed with a text message as they pulled into Search and Rescue headquarters.

I need to talk to you. When can we meet? Shelby

He frowned. She had signed her nameShelby. NotSpecial Agent Dryden. As if the two of them were pals. She had said she and Camille had been friends, but was that true? Shelby Dryden was investigating the Chalk brothers, and Camille had been a witness to a murder where the brothers were present—and probably responsible. The FBI wanted to know everything Camille knew. How could Shelby interrogate his sister and be her friend?

Had Camille told Shelby that Zach was with her that night at the restaurant? Not inside with her, but waiting outside? Had she confided that Zach had seen a man run away from the direction of the restaurant?

Four years ago, Camille had convinced Zach that what he had seen didn’t matter. He had managed to believe that right up until the end of the trial, when the Chalk brothers were acquitted of murder. But even then, Camille had pleaded with him not to say anything. “It doesn’t make any difference now,” she had said. “And if you speak up, they’ll kill you. Promise me you’ll keep silent. You have to promise me.”

So he had promised. He told himself he did it for Camille. So that she wouldn’t worry about him. And for his parents, so that they would have at least one child safe and with them. But all this time another thought had festered inside him—the knowledge that as much as he had wanted to protect his sister, he wanted to protect himself more. He was afraid of the Chalk brothers. After Camille had died the first time, supposedly murdered by the Chalks, he had been even more afraid. He had told himself Camille had been right—that his story about the man in the street wouldn’t make any difference.

But now Camille had died again—for real this time. Shelby said she had left the safety of her new life to come and talk to him. Someone had found her and killed her. If Zach had found the courage to speak up, would his sister be alive now?

He didn’t know how to live with that kind of guilt, but he was going to have to figure it out. He deleted the text message. He didn’t want to talk to Agent Dryden. He didn’t want to have anything to do with her.

Chapter Six

Eighteen months ago

Shelby tried not to have expectations about the witnesses she interviewed. She wanted to listen to their testimony without any pre-judgment. But she already knew a lot about Camille Gregory—now Claire Watson—before she knocked on the modest bungalow in a quiet Bethesda neighborhood. She had watched the available video of the Chalk brothers trial and Camille Gregory’s testimony against them. Camille was the same age as Shelby—twenty-six at the time of the trial—but she had the confidence and composure of someone much older. On the witness stand, she had sat up tall, chin lifted, and spoken clearly, convincingly. She almost looked as if she was enjoying the experience. The prosecution couldn’t have asked for a better witness.

But the Chalk brothers had better lawyers, and their own brand of arrogance that had impressed—or perhaps intimidated—the jurors. The chief defense attorney had emphasized over and over that Miss Gregory had not seen either of the brothers shoot Judge Hennessey. She hadn’t even seen them holding a gun. She had turned and run before she had seen much of anything at all.

The woman who answered Shelby’s knock was smaller than she had looked in those videos—thin, but not fragile. She examined Shelby’s credentials and smiled with genuine warmth. “It’ll be nice to talk to a woman for a change,” she said. “Come on in.”

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