Page 39 of Final Escape
CHAPTER TEN
Carrie was halfwayacross the parking lot when she heard the discordant wail of even more sirens approaching.
Logan appeared at the edge of the clearing, his shirt covered with blood and his shoulders slumped in an expression of...defeat? He acknowledged her with only a faint nod when she reached his side.
“What happened?” She resisted the urge to run her hands over his arms and chest, to search for wounds. Someone, or something, had been badly hurt. “Are you all right?”
“A man was shot,” he said finally, his voice bleak and raw. “I tried to help, but...it was no use. The EMTs say he was probably gone before they even took over. They’re with the body now.”
“Oh, Logan.”
He looked so devastated that she stepped forward to wrap her arms around him and offer comfort, but he glanced down at his clothes, still glistening with blood, and held up his hands to keep her at bay. “Don’t.”
“I’m so sorry. Who was it—do you know?”
“I...can’t be sure.”
But from the haunted expression in his eyes, he probably had a good idea. “Could it be that old guy Penny mentioned—Dante?”
“I don’t think so.”
Fingers of icy horror crawled up the back of her neck. “You don’tthinkso?”
“This guy...” he looked at the ground, clearly measuring his words “...isn’t Dante. I know that much.”
“Didn’t you get a good look at his face?”
Logan’s mouth flattened to a grim line. “Yes, but it’s...hard to tell. He was wounded badly.”
She closed her eyes briefly against the sudden image that slammed into her thoughts. “Did a—a bear get to the body?”
“No. I think it was a shotgun, close range. Probably more than once. The EMTs agree.”
An uneasy feeling turned her blood to ice. “I need to see him, Logan.”
“Don’t, Carrie. Just wait for the sheriff...and a positive ID.”
