Dalton shakes his head. “My father said the fact they’ve committed crimes is enough—it’s blackmail material, should they ever become a threat. He says the council monitors them and, yeah, if they do something suspicious, maybe they act. Otherwise, no.”
“Well, if your daddy said it, then it must be true.”
Dalton’s jaw tightens. “If you have any proof—”
“Proof? No. But I’ve got a brain in my head, and I know how people like the council think. Made my living working for their sort. All that matters to them is the bottom line. There was this one time they were going to send a guy back south, blamed for something I was sure he didn’t do. So I took him into the forest, gave him supplies, and pointed him in the direction of the nearest town. Did he make it? Probably not. But I figure I gave him a better chance than he’d have had on that plane coming to pick him up. Hell, after I left Rockton, the council tried to recruit me.”
“Recruit you for what?” I ask.
“No idea. They sent some guy to find me out here, make me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I refused it. By hauling him into a tree like that she-cat hauled Silas, tying him to a limb and handing him his fancy satellite phone. Came back a few days later, and he was gone. I figure they sent someone to fetch him. Didn’t really care one way or the other, as long as they didn’t bother me again. They didn’t.”
“And you have no idea what they wanted you to do?”
“Hell, yeah, I have an idea. I just didn’t bother asking him to confirm my suspicion. Thing is, kitten, I wasn’t a bad sheriff, but a man like me? He’s got one real skill. One real talent. And it ain’t chopping down trees.”
* * *
We’ve been walking for almost two hours, and the mountain is finally getting close when Dalton slows, his head tilting in a way I know well.
“You hear something, boy?” Cypher asks.
“Wondering if we’re going to get there before nightfall.”
“You afraid of the dark?”
“Just cautious.”
“Too fucking cautious. You get that from your daddy. Always looked ten times before he leapt, and by the time he did, there was nothing left to leap at. He—”
“Boss?” Anders says. “I need a piss break.”
“You gotta announce it, too?” Cypher waves at the side of the path. “No one’s stopping you.” When Anders glances my way, Cypher says, “Seriously? You think you got something she ain’t seen before, boy?”
“Go on,” Dalton says. “Just don’t wander far.”
Cypher’s what-the-hell look turns to what-the-fuck when it’s not Anders who lopes off into the forest—it’s Dalton. Anders pulls his hood up, shielding his face.
“What—” Cypher begins.
“Ty?” I say. “While we’re waiting, I’ve got a question for you. Eric says you claim you once took down a grizzly with your bare hands. He thinks it’s bullshit—don’t give me that look, Eric, you know you did—and I say it’s possible. So how did you do it?”
I watch the wheels turn in Cypher’s head, as he tries to figure out what’s going on. But whatever his act, he’s not a stupid man. He glances in the direction Dalton went and then eases back, saying, “You calling me a liar, boy? Fuck, yeah, I took down that bitch. Your daddy was there. Just ask him. We were out hunting, and this new idiot decided—”
A yelp resounds through the forest. Then Dalton’s “What the hell? Shawn?” followed by a stream of indecipherable babble. Anders and I jog toward the voices as Cypher lumbers along behind us. We get about twenty paces. Then we see Sutherland lying in the snow with Dalton standing over him.
When Dalton reaches down, Sutherland balls up like a hedgehog, earning a grunt of disgust from Dalton as he pulls Sutherland to his feet.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” Dalton says.
“I wanted to help. I heard you were going after the guy who tried to kill me, and I wanted to be there.”
“We have no fucking idea if this is the guy.”
“Which is why I came. So I can ID him. If it isn’t, that’ll save you bringing him back. If it is, then you can make him tell you where he’s holding Nicki.”
“How will you ID him?” I say as I walk over. “You never got a decent look at your attacker.”
“I saw him in the forest, when he chased me back to Rockton.”
“I saw that guy, too. Which means I can ID him … as the guy who chased you back to Rockton. Not necessarily the person who attacked you last night or the one who took Nicole.”
He stares at me. “But it’s the same person. There’s no way it can’t be.”
Dalton lets him go. “There are a hundred fucking ways it might not be the same person. That’s why we have a goddamn detective in Rockton. To make sure it’s him before we ship an innocent man down south, and then the real guy takes another victim.”
“He killed two women. Held Nicki captive in a cave. Tried to kill me—twice. And is that all you’re going to do? Ship him down south?”
“And what do you suggest?” Dalton says.
“If I can ID him?” He nods at Anders. “I hear Will’s a good shot. Accidents happen.”
Dalton wheels with a snarl that sends Sutherland staggering back. Cypher grabs Sutherland by the scruff of the neck.