Page 59 of Final Escape
“No. It’s rugged out there. I might end up having to stay out several nights, just trying to find him.”
“What you’re really saying is that you don’t think I can keep up.”
She had such a competitive gleam in her eyes that he had to choke back a laugh. “Well...”
“If I fall behind, don’t worry about it. I can handle myself out here. But I have a lot at stake, too, and Ineedto be doing something. Please, let me come along.”
* * *
BY MIDAFTERNOON THEY’Dreached a crumbling cabin upriver where Dante often holed up for the winter. It was empty, its sagging door wide-open to any wildlife that might wander by, and there were cans of food on the bowed wooden shelves along one wall. A dirty, battered tin plate and utensils sat in a washtub on a counter that apparently sufficed as a kitchen. Through an open doorway into the back of the cabin, she could see a swaybacked bed piled with moth-eaten blankets.
“This guy knows the woods,” Carrie said. “He’d never leave his door wide-open and food residue around to lure the bears. He must have left in a hurry.”
Logan surveyed the interior of the cabin. “And maybe he didn’t plan to come back. I don’t see any weapons, his ax or a saw in here. Essential things for survival.” He nodded toward a row of empty pegs next to the door. “His heavy coats are gone, too.”
“Maybe he did see something he shouldn’t have.”
Carrie stepped outside and studied the ground. Large, indistinct footsteps milled all around the campsite. Soft-edged tracks, maybe from worn-out sneakers or aged boots that were nearly worn through. But here and there she saw smaller tracks with crisp, sharp edges. Tracks in places she and Logan hadn’t crossed.
“Take a look at this,” she called out. “I think someone else was here.”
He hunkered down to take a look. “Looks like newer, hard-soled oxfords or loafers. Definitely not sneakers or the heavy lugs on hiking boots.”
“I’d guess maybe the sheriff and his deputies were out here to find him. Either they nabbed him and took him in for questioning again, or he slipped out into the woods. He would’ve heard them coming through the brush, though. There’s not even a good path leading up here.”
Logan looked at her with a wry smile of admiration. “I guess youhavespent time in the mountains.”
“A little. So where does Dante go when he isn’t here?”
“There are abandoned cabins scattered here and there. There’s little left of most of them—maybe not even a roof. Some, probably only Dante knows about because they’re hidden so well.” He frowned. “And there are caves. Maybe a half-dozen along Wolf River, and more when you get higher up into the mountains. It will take days to reach even half of the ones I know about. I can get you back down to the rafting office, first.”
“We’ve got a good seven hours of daylight. We can separate and cover more ground, if you tell me where to start.”
“I don’t like the thought of you being out here alone. It isn’t only Dante who might be out here.”
She waved a hand dismissively, then lifted her cell phone from the clip at her waist and checked the screen. “Two bars. Do you have yours along? We can keep in contact this way.”
“No. Let’s cover the river together. If we don’t find him, then we can hit the upper elevations first thing tomorrow.”
“I teach in the morning.” Which was probably why he’d come up with the plan. “But I’m done at noon. If we use the GPS units I saw in the office, you could send me your coordinates, and I could catch up.”
He did a double take, then grinned—the first brief flash of humor he’d shown since Billy’s death. “And here I thought you were a townie when you first showed up.”
“Never underestimate a gal you don’t know,” she said archly.
“I guess not.” His appreciative expression warmed as he studied her, reminding her of that exquisitely gentle kiss and the wonderful sensation she felt in his embrace. It now seemed like a lifetime ago, with all that had happened in the past few weeks.
She firmly set aside her thoughts. “Let’s get going. I really want to check out those caves while we still have daylight.”
* * *
THERE WAS NO SIGN OFDante in any of the caves within four or five miles of his cabin. Logan and Carrie made it back to the rafting office at dusk and found Penny waiting for them, pacing the area outside the boathouse.
“Where have you two been?” she exclaimed. “I’ve been terrified that something happened to you, too.”
Logan tousled her hair, and she ducked back, swatting at his hand. “We were searching for Dante all this time.”
“Any luck?”
