Page 81 of Pro Bono

“It can’t go on much longer,” May said. “We hiked all morning and then paddled, and now she’s been running for at least a mile. She’s got to stop.”

“I know. And we’re still just sitting and paddling and getting less tired. This time when we catch up, she’s going to be too weak to fight.”

“If you hadn’t—”

“Stop! I’d advise you to shut up,” Rose said. “If you want to play that, I can go on with it just as well as you can. If you had been so great it wouldn’t matter what I did. You’d have killed her without me.”

“Look!” May said. “Did you see her that time?”

“No.”

“She’s still running. I think we’ve got to head over that way and cut her off before she reaches the curve. If she keeps going straight from there, she could reach the interstate and flag somebody down. Then we’ll be the ones who are in trouble.”

Linda was keeping herself moving by walking twenty steps to catch her breath and then running forty, walking twenty, running forty. She had not formed a clear enough plan to stick to yet. Getting to shore and running had kept her alive so far. She was well ahead of the two women, but at some point, she was going to have to make a decision. Nothing in her life had prepared her for anything like this—except keeping fit,maybe—but now she had to choose. She began to climb higher up the hill to get deeper into the woods. And then she turned to cut back toward the house.

As she moved along under the trees, other parts of her plan began to form and add themselves to it. She had no key to the house, but there were rocks around it, some the size of a fist, and a few as big as a brick. She would break a window, get inside, find her phone, and call 911. Then she would do a quick search for weapons, checking now and then to see where the yellow kayaks were on the lake. If Paul didn’t own a firearm or it was locked up, she could at least take a kitchen knife or two. She could stuff a few necessities into her bag and head into the woods again, this time along the road to the interstate highway. The police would have to come from that direction, and maybe she could meet them on the way.

Charlie and Vesper walked along the lake quickly, always aware of the positions of the kayaks. They had still not thought of a satisfactory reason why they could only see two. Could one of the women have come ashore and walked back to the house? No. They would have met her on their way. And where was the kayak? Had it sunk? That didn’t strike either of them as possible. Didn’t they have buoyancy built in? Neither wanted to ask these questions aloud.

Then, as they reached a spot where the shore curved to reveal a large patch of reeds, they saw a straight line through it where the reeds had been pushed apart. At the end of the line was a yellow kayak. Charlie and Vesper ran to it. The kayak’s bow was up against the bank, as though someone had plowed through the reeds until it hit the shore.

Charlie stopped and knelt to look at it closely, leaning forward to stare at the stern section without touching anything. It was what he thought he had seen. The discoloration was a smattering of drops, most of them extending down the sides into streaks. “Blood,” he said. “Somebody is hurt.” He looked down into the hollow where the occupant had been. “More blood inside it.” There was also a deep mark just behind the seat on the outside, as though something had hit it.

“Oh my God,” Vesper said. “Maybe the other two are taking the hurt one across the lake to get her help.”

“I hope so. I’m going to call nine-one-one.”

“I think we have to,” she said.

He dialed his phone and heard about ten rings before he heard “Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?”

“I’m on the west shore of Blucher Lake, and we’ve just found a kayak left where the old road passes beside a patch of reeds. It’s got what I’m pretty sure is blood on it and in it. Earlier we saw three identical yellow kayaks on the lake. The other two are still out there, paddling away from here. We need police and an ambulance.”

“Your name, sir?”

“Charles Warren. I’m a lawyer from Los Angeles, and my girlfriend and I were going to surprise my mother, who is vacationing here with two other women.”

“Please stay on the line for a moment while I dispatch the emergency people.”

“I will.”

A moment later the operator returned. “You said Blooker Lake, sir?”

“Yes. B, L, U, C, H, E, R. You head north from Reno along the interstate about twenty-eight miles and there’s a Blucher Lake Road on the right. It leads only to Blucher Lake,” Warren said. “If you havea cell phone number, I can send you a map showing the location of the house.”

“Nope. I’ve got it. One more moment.”

Warren waited. About thirty seconds later the operator returned. “Mr. Warren? Are you still there?”

“We’re still here.”

“The emergency crew are on their way. I’m afraid it will take at least half an hour for them to reach you. Can you stay and show them what you’ve found?”

“Yes.”

“Then you can hang up. I’ll give you a call when they reach the lake.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Warren hung up. He said to Vesper, “I think the thing to do now is probably go back toward the house, so we’re sure the emergency people don’t go the wrong way or something.”

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