Page 57 of Canyon Killer
“I can stay all night.” As long as he was here, she didn’t want to miss a moment.
* * *
The road intoHumboldt Canyon was dark, without a single streetlight or glow from the window of a home to cut the night’s blackness. Once in the canyon, only a thin band of stars overhead provided any illumination beyond the narrow swath of the Jeep’s headlights. When Ian pulled up to the trailer and cut the engine, the silence of the place closed around them, as confining as the darkness. He reached over to take Bethany’s hand, wanting the feel of her close by, but she jerked forward and gasped. “What is that?” she whispered.
He stared out the windshield at the bulky figure that emerged from the shadows at the side of the trailer.
The Jeep’s lights switched off, and it was like being plunged into a pit. Ian held his breath, ears straining. The crunch of gravel being compressed by heavy footsteps sent a jolt of fear through him.
Bethany let out a whimper, then made scrabbling noises. “What are you doing?” Ian whispered.
“I’m looking for something to use as a weapon. Whatever that thing is, it’s headed this way.”
Ian turned the key in the ignition, and the headlights spotlighted the figure approaching. Not a bear or a monster, but a man.
Ian was out of the car before he even had time to think. “Walt Spies, what do you think you’re doing, lurking around my home?” he shouted.
“Stop!” Bethany ran past Ian and kicked Walt in the shin. “Get out of here!”
The old man bent double, swearing. “I could charge you with assault!” he shouted.
Ian took hold of Bethany’s arm and gently pulled her away. Seeing the old man looking so helpless had calmed him. “What are you doing here, Walt?” he demanded.
Walt Spies straightened. The harsh light deepened the lines on his face and left his eyes in shadow, giving him the appearance of a Halloween mask. “I came here to talk to you,” he said. “I didn’t expect to be attacked.”
“What are you doing lurking around in the dark at this time of night?” Bethany asked. “And then to come stalking toward us without saying a word? What were we supposed to think?”
Walt ignored her. “We need to talk,” he said to Ian.
“What do you want to talk about?” Ian asked.
“I came to warn you of trouble ahead if you keep moving forward with this project,” Walt said.
“Is that a threat?” he asked.
“Not from me, but someone has it in for you. If things keep escalating, someone is going to end up dead.”
“That sounds like a threat to me,” Bethany said.
Walt reached behind him, and Ian stepped in front of Bethany. “What are you doing?”
“I want to show you this.” He pulled a folded sheet of paper from his back pocket and thrust it at Ian.
Ian took the paper and unfolded it. “‘Stop the via ferrata, or you’re next,’” he read. “Where did you get this?”
“Someone left it in my mailbox this afternoon,” Walt said. “My home mailbox.”
“Have you shown this to the sheriff?”
“No. I thought you should see it first.”
Bethany looked over Ian’s shoulder. “It’s typed. Anyone could have written that. You could have written it yourself.”
“Why would I do that?”
“To shift suspicion away from you,” she said. “We know you’re opposed to the via ferrata. Maybe you’re behind all these ‘accidents’ that keep happening around here.”
“I don’t have time to waste with games,” Walt said. He took a step closer. “Look, I don’t like this via ferrata project because it’s going to bring more traffic to a county road we can barely maintain as it is. It’s going to bring a lot of tourists to an area without the facilities to take care of them. You might think a couple of portable toilets and a soft drink machine will be enough, but people are going to want indoor plumbing and a snack bar. They’ll want paved parking and lights at night. This beautiful canyon is going to turn into an amusement park, and I don’t want to see that.”
