Page 5 of Manhunt in the Narrows
“The driest location to camp is two miles in. About an hour and twenty minutes if we stay consistent.” Her feet immediately became sluggish in the mere six inches of water fighting them at every chance. They had to move slow to avoid burning out before reaching a sufficient campground. “Problem is we’re right in the middle of snowmelt season. The waters here are much deeper than any other time of the year. Your killer picked a hell of a time to flee.”
“I’ll be sure to mention that when we catch up with him.” Broyles’s words echoed off the canyon walls. “Back at the visitors’ center, you knew what unsub stood for. I take it I’m not the only fan ofDateline.”
Knowledge of law enforcement protocols and terminology wasn’t something she’d ever been interested in. But that was the cost of escaping a murder charge. “Something like that.”
Chapter Four
He wasn’t sure how far they’d hiked. But his legs felt as though they were on fire.
Up ahead, Ranger Green made the trek look easy, but he’d already tripped, slipped and face-planted over the slimy rocks determined to stop him from going any farther. What the hell kind of nightmare was this? The getup she’d dressed him in hadn’t done a damn bit of good on that last fall. Frigid water had worked down the collar and soaked his T-shirt straight through. His fingers had lost feeling a few minutes ago while she navigated him deeper into hell itself. “You really hike this thing every weekend?”
There was a certain confidence she carried he couldn’t ignore. Like she’d been made for this place. Otherworldly and stronger than he’d estimated. Wilder than she wanted to admit. Definitely formidable and guarded. “When I’m not on shift.”
His boot slipped off another of the small-ass boulders threatening his every step. Water splashed up to his knee that time, and a growl charged through him. What was he doing here? Oh, right. His last case had gone to hell, and his only witness hadn’t survived. His supervisory agent had determined Elias could no longer be trusted and sent him on a wild-goose chase. Someone killing travelers along I-15. But damn. He wasn’t an outdoorsman. The farthest he’d ever hiked was to the G laid out in white rocks on the mountain edging his hometownin sixth grade. Before everything had fallen apart two months ago, he and his partner, Grant, upended entire weapons dealing organizations, pulled women and children out of sex-trafficking rings and ran cartels into the ground. Now they were chasing a ghost. Because he’d screwed up both of their careers and any chance for promotion.
Couldn’t argue with the view, though.
Sayles slowed her pace, then came to a stop atop an oversize flat rock at the river’s edge. For him or for herself, he didn’t care. He needed a break. The sun barely reached the tips of the canyon walls high above him, and a chill settled across his shoulders. Or maybe it was those intense green eyes assessing him from a few feet away. “You look like you could use a few minutes.”
His lungs agreed. He was in shape. Part of the job. But this… This was something else. Muscles he wasn’t aware existed protested every step. “How far until the first campsite?”
She swung her pack forward from one shoulder and extracted a metal water bottle. He’d expect nothing less from a national park ranger concerned with keeping her park garbage-free. Taking a swig, she threw him an unexpected smile. “We’ve only been hiking for twenty minutes.”
Elias nearly doubled over at the realization. He checked his watch. Yep. Sure enough. Twenty minutes since they’d entered the trail. “I’m going to die out here, aren’t I?”
“Don’t worry. There wouldn’t be any need for a manhunt. Given these currents, your body would turn up in a few hours.” She repackaged her water bottle and zipped up the bag.
Was that a joke? Elias couldn’t help but laugh as he dug around for his water bottle, which was plastic and not nearly as large as the one she’d brought, though he’d made sure he’d grabbed the water purification tablets she’d recommended. “Dark humor is your thing. I’ll try to remember that.”
With all the death and violence he and Grant had seen over the years they’d been partnered together, humor under pressure was something he understood well. It was a way to not let the bad things follow you home at the end of the day. Though you had to play it right. That meant no jokes around superiors or grieving family members. Both rules his partner had ignored a time or two. Maybe their current assignment wasn’t Elias’s fault after all.
“We’ve got to keep moving. Radar picked up a storm moving this way.” She shrugged back into her pack but waited for him to catch up. “Flash floods are the biggest danger on this trail. The rating was low this morning, but there is a long section of the Narrows we won’t be able to escape if we get caught in the rain.”
“Good chance of dying. Noted.” Elias tried for a thumbs-up. Damn it all to hell, his entire body hurt at this point. “So who’d you have to kill to get gear that fit me? Because I have a feeling you’re not the kind to go out of your way to make sure I was prepared today.”
“The boots are Risner’s,” she said. “What he doesn’t know won’t kill him.”
He had to bury the hot thread of annoyance at hearing she had access to the district ranger’s personal effects. Wait. “You stole them?”
“Borrowed.” She angled her chin over one shoulder, putting him in her peripheral vision. Keeping tabs on him. “Don’t worry. He’ll get them back after they recover your body.”
A seam rubbed the wrong way on the inside of his jeans. Taking off the first few layers of skin. Damn it. Water had made its way to his jeans. This was not going to be pleasant. “And the hydro bib?”
She faced forward, shoulders going tight. “My ex was really into fishing. I took that and the rest of his stuff out of spite.”
Okay. So he could add vengeful to the growing list of attributes. A lot like the muscles in his legs screaming at him to go to hell if he took one more step. “I take it the relationship didn’t end well.”
“Most divorces don’t end on good terms.” The inflection had drained from her voice.
She’d been married. Why did that fact heat feeling back into his fingertips? Elias followed in her steps, kept to the same slimy rocks, spotted the steady gaps between. There was a method to her madness. As if she was following a map laid out by Indiana Jones himself. Or maybe he wanted to have more confidence in her so they got out of this alive. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“You didn’t.” An energy he couldn’t put his finger on stiffened her movements. “I haven’t seen anything to suggest your killer came this way, but we have miles ahead of us, and he has a good hour head start. He could already be at Orderville Canyon Junction. It’s where we want to camp tonight.”
He didn’t miss the change in subject. All right. Back to the reason they were here. He could do that. Elias forced himself back into the right headspace, one focused on the potential of them coming into contact with a serial killer. Rangers had federal jurisdiction, but there was very different training involved between the NPS and the FBI. He was accustomed to violence. Sayles was accustomed to scolding hikers for relieving themselves off cliffsides. “Guys like this will do whatever it takes to escape arrest. Once we find him, I’m going to need you to stay behind me. Use me as a shield if you have to. I go down, you run like hell. Got it?”
“Got it,” she said.
No argument. Interesting. He’d expected more of a fight, but he’d give her credit for self-preservation. A lot of people—especially civilians—fantasized about playing hero in situations like theirs. Though rangers weren’t civilians in the least. Theywere federal agents only on a much grander scale. Some, like Risner, let their ego lead the charge, but Elias didn’t get that feel from her. She wanted to be small and stay out of the way. Hidden.
