Page 10 of Dead Air
“Damn it!” DeeDee said. “Good job finding him so fast and getting to him. You okay, love?”
“Me? I’m fine,” Niall insisted despite his rolling stomach and the goosebumps covering his upper body. “But I am…confused,” he admitted as he slowly stood and estimated how far they were from the hiker’s campsite and Niall’s cabin. “It looks like he might have been headed in my direction but…why?”
“Did you know him?”
“No! I met him briefly yesterday but we didn’t even talk to each other. I’m going to climb back up and see if his sister will talk to me.”
Getting back up took a lot longer and Niall was sweating by the time he reached his ATV. He searched the trail for moreclues as to what had happened to the dead man or why he was on his way to Niall’s. But Niall hadn’t discovered anything else by the time he reached the camp and the young woman he’d met the day prior was too upset to relay anything useful.
“He didn’t want to hear us fucking so he said he was going to look for you,” she managed, leaving Niall at an even greater loss.
“Okay…” He wasn’t sure how he could have helped but didn’t push her any further. “I’m so sorry for your loss. We’re going to do everything we can to figure out what happened.”
“Thank you!” She swiped the tears from her face, blinking at Niall. “He…said you were fruity, but maybe he liked you? You’re so nice.”
“I’m…? Thank you,” Niall shared a mystified look with her boyfriend. Kyle mumbled out an apology and admitted that they had been drinking and that Roger was intoxicated when he left them to find other company.
“Did you know him?” Shelby asked when he arrived.
“No! We saw him for a moment yesterday—me and Dr. Curn—when we crossed paths on the trail, but we didn’t even speak. I had no idea Roger was headed my way or I would have met him with a flashlight and warned him about going off the trail at night.”
“Right,” Shelby agreed as he nodded. “What about this Dr. Curn? You said he was with you when you met Roger. Did he and Curn seem to know each other?”
“No,” Niall shook his head. “Not at all, although…” he paused, not wanting to make it sound like a bigger deal than it really was. “I thought I caught Chance—Dr. Curn—staring at Roger strangely.”
“Strangely, how?”
Niall replayed the moment and how bothered Chance seemed by Roger. “Look…” Niall checked over his shoulder to make sure no one could hear him and cleared his throat.“I don’t knowanythingabout Roger but there was definitely something…off about him.”
Shelby’s brow hitched. “Off?”
“He was just…” Niall grimaced and shrugged. “He didn’t seem like he was thrilled to be here or happy with his sister. And I got the feeling he was upset with me.”
“With you?” Shelby asked, sounding surprised. “Why would anyone be upset with you?”
“No idea but there was a generally…off vibe about him. His sister and her boyfriend seemed really cool, but Roger kind of gave me the creeps,” Niall whispered to Shelby.
“Okay.” Shelby turned back to the tents, considering the scene. He swung back to Niall and squinted. “What about Curn? Would he have a reason to come up here after dark?”
“Not that I can think of. And he was meticulous about recording his coordinates wherever he went, he was so worried he wouldn’t be able to find his way back to his camp. I can’t see him up here in the dark.”
“Probably not,” Shelby agreed. “I took a good look at the scene, where the victim dropped his phone and the tracks he left. I couldn’t find any sign of a struggle and there were only two sets of boot prints: his and yours. I can’t understand why he’d run off that cliff but yours line up with everything you’ve told me. I can see where you got off the ATV and approached the edge of the cliff and how you scaled down to him. That’s the only part that makes sense up there.”
“Maybe he was just drunk and didn’t realize what he was doing,” Niall suggested, earning a sad sigh from Shelby.
“That’s a dumb way to die but I don’t see any sign that the lovebirds left their tent until this morning and the sister would have to be a hell of an actor,” he said and gestured at the sobbing woman being rocked by her boyfriend.
“I agree but I’m no investigator,” Niall said with a shake of his head. “Maybe something will jump out at you once you’ve learned more about who he is.”
“Possibly, but you don’t have to stick around. We know where to find you if I have any more questions.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind sticking around in case you need help with anything.”
“Go on,” Shelby said, offering Niall one of his stoic, barely-there smiles. “Let me earn my paycheck, not that there’s much anyone can do out here. Hopefully, you’re right and we’ll know more after we’ve looked into Roger’s history.”
“And his blood alcohol level,” Niall added suggestively.
“I’m not going to bet the house on it, but I won’t be surprised if Roger was hammered.”
