Page 27 of Hunting the Crossbow Killer

She secured her laptop to the metal ring in the tabletop using a cable lock. Then she grabbed a small notepad and pen and slid them into her jacket pocket as she exited the conference room.

Collier was on the phone, taking notes, and nodded at her, preoccupied with whatever he was working on.

Fletcher looked up from her desktop computer, her glance falling to Grace’s jacket. “Are we going somewhere?”

“If your offer to help me with interviews is still open, yes. I was impressed with the ones you did yesterday. I’d appreciate your assistance today.”

The officer’s face lit up with pleasure. “Lo and behold, I impressed a Fed. I’ll bet Collier can’t say the same.” When he didn’t even look her way, she rolled her eyes. “It’s no fun teasing him if he isn’t paying attention.” She grabbed her jacket and shrugged it on over her vest, frowning and readjusting the straps before zipping her jacket. “Did you have any specific place in mind where you want to start?”

“The campground.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Aidan dropped to his knees on the ground and peered over the edge of the cliff. Relief swept through him when he saw Ortiz standing on the rock overhang below, clinging to a sapling growing out of the side of the mountain. Another foot and he’d have tumbled down to the ravine.

“Did I or did I not tell you to stop?” Aidan laughed when Ortiz made a rude gesture.

“I tried to, but the dang rocks were like ice, sliding out from under me. Whatever you paid for this piece of property, you paid too much,” Ortiz complained. “It’s a nightmare of cliffs and rock and vegetation so thick you can hardly see twenty feet in front of you.”

“The cabin and flat land around it are nice enough to make up for that. And it’s the views I paid for, and great hunting. Those rocks and cliffs you’re complaining about are a bonus. They make it secure and hard for people to trespass. Well, usually, anyway.”

“Maybe the shooter decided the same thing and went somewhere else. Or better yet, maybe he’s at the bottom of oneof these ravines and we’ll find his skeleton after the buzzards pick it clean. You gonna haul me up, or talk me to death?”

“I was thinking of taking a picture first to show Dawson when we rendezvous with the rest of the search party.”

Ortiz swore and tried to climb up the cliff wall on his own.

“Stop, stop,” Aidan said, laughing. “Give me a minute. I need leverage.” He looked around, then chose two trees close to the edge to brace his legs. After taking off his belt, he made a loop, then held it down toward Ortiz. “Loop your belt through mine and around your wrists. Then use your legs to push against the rock and climb up while I pull.”

Ortiz did as he’d said, then warned, “If you drop me, I’m going to come back and haunt you.”

“Would you rather I call your boss and have him pull you up?”

“Hell, no. If you even hint that I needed rescuing, I’ll swear you’re lying.”

Aidan snorted and pulled the belt tight. “Let’s do this.”

A minute later, they were both lying on their backs above the drop-off, trying to catch their breath.

“That was fun,” Ortiz said between taking gulps of air. “Particularly the part where you said uh-oh as if you were going to drop me.”

Aidan sat up. “Consider it karma, payback for handcuffing me to the conference room table. It’s nice having law enforcement at my mercy for a change instead of the other way around.”

Ortiz grunted and sat up, too, taking his belt from Aidan. Once they were both standing and well away from the edge, Aidan motioned toward a slight incline on their right. “That’s the last part of our grid to search. This time, stay beside or behind me. Don’t get impatient and speed ahead. Slow and steady means staying safe.”

“I get it. Trust me, I get it.” A moment later he called out, “O’Brien? Aidan? Wait.”

Aidan turned in question.

Ortiz seemed uncomfortable, looking off in the distance before finally dragging in a deep breath. “I, uh, I don’t pretend to know much about what happened in your past, the reasons behind what you did and exactly what took place.” He held up his hands. “And I’m not asking you to explain. It’s just, I may have misjudged you this past year. I lumped you in with all the other, well, criminals I’ve known through the years and assumed you were as bad as, or worse than, them. But none of those others would have done what you’ve done. I—”

“Forget it,” Aidan said. “You probably could have climbed up that drop-off without my help. It just would have taken longer.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. I mean, yeah, maybe I could have. But then again, maybe I would have fallen.” He grimaced. “I appreciate your help, and that you helped the chief when he had a close call. And a lot of other things, like you running into the woods at the festival to try to get the shooter, with no thought for your own safety.”

“Ortiz, we need to finish searching our grid and—”

“Just give me a second, man. I’m eating crow here. Let me finish.”

---