Page 48 of Dark Sky

“He knows the country over there, like he said,” Joe whispered. “And I’d rather know exactly where he is at all times.”

Price looked puzzled at first. Then he said, “You don’t want him hooking up with the Thomases and showing them where we went.”

Joe nodded.

“Thank you,” Price said.

“Thank me if we get out of this,” Joe said. “Until then, stick close to me. Don’t engage with Brock. Sound carries up here, so try not to talk—or argue—unless it’s important.”

“That’ll be tough for me.”

“I know.”

THIRTEEN

For the next hour, they climbed up the north ridge. Boedecker led and Price brought up the rear. Joe chose to stay in the middle to keep them apart from each other and to prevent another loud argument. And he didn’t want Boedecker behind Price on the ascent. It would be too easy, Joe thought, for Boedecker to give Price a shove and send him tumbling down the mountain when Joe wasn’t looking. Since Boedecker had already stated his willingness to sacrifice Price to the Thomases to save himself, Joe couldn’t give him the opportunity.

Much of the climb was hand over hand, grasping exposed tree roots and granite outcroppings for balance. The pitch was steeper than Joe had guessed it would be when he’d surveyed the wall from a distance. He also realized as he struggled upward that for the last third of the route the three of them would be in the open. There were very few trees above them all the way to the summit and those that clung to the wall were stunted and sparse. The three of them, he thought, would beeasy pickings for a marksman. Joe was well aware of the lethal capability of ultramodern long-range rifle technology. He knew that even from the distance of the valley floor they were vulnerable.

Brock Boedecker chose the route to the top well, Joe thought. He moved steadily and knew how to avoid dead ends and side trips that might be physically less taxing than straight up, but would threaten to rimrock them or make them backtrack. It was a skill born of guiding hunters in rough terrain for years.

Boedecker looked over his shoulder at Joe from time to time to make sure he was still with him. When Boedecker shifted his gaze to Price, Joe could see the contempt in his face. He didn’t seem to really care if Price made it or not.

—

I need a break,” Price wheezed to Joe. “I can’t get air. The altitude is really getting to me.”

“I know it’s tough, but we’ve got to keep climbing,” Joe said in response. His legs hurt as well, especially the left one, where he’d been shot. The muscles in his wounded thigh were overwhelmed and he felt at times that he was more swinging his leg up behind him than using it to climb. He could feel a sheen of sweat beneath his clothing.

The sky darkened into overcast and it was getting colder the higher they went. Their breaths had turned into cloudy puffs of condensation.

“My thighs are burning,” Price said.

“Shhhh.”

Price cursed at Joe, but he chose not to stop and rest. Joe was thankful for that.

—

Almost there,” Boedecker said with a voice hoarse from exertion. “I can see the top of the ridge.”

“It’s about time,” Price said.

Joe wasn’t sure how much longer he could go on without a breather. His lungs ached and his knees screamed with sharp pain. He was getting to the point where his hands were trembling and his climbing technique was getting sloppy and imprecise. It was like the end of a long day of fly-fishing, he thought, when he would cast with tired arms and the line would bunch up in the air and fall around his head and shoulders. When that happened, it was time to quit.

But he couldn’t quit now.

Ahead of him, Boedecker cursed.

“What is it?” Joe asked.

“False summit,” Boedecker groused. “I thought we were there, but there’s another fifty yards to go.”

Joe took a deep breath and kept climbing. As he did so, he looked over his shoulder to see that Price had stopped. The man was pressed against the rough granite wall with his eyes closed and his mouth agape. He was heaving in an attempt to get more air.

“Steve-2?” Joe said.

Price waved at him to indicate he was still alive. Barely.

---