Page 12 of Silent Road

"No, but—" Diana broke off as the door opened.Another instructor stuck his head in.

"Di, your 11:30 is waiting at the bunny slope."

"I'll be right there," Diana said, then turned back to Sheila."I'm sorry, I have a beginner's class."

"We're not done," Tommy said, standing."This is a murder investigation—"

"Diana," Sheila cut in, shooting Tommy a warning glance."I understand you have a class waiting, but this is extremely important.Could you give us just a few more minutes?"

Diana glanced at the door, then back at them.Her fingers worried at the zipper of her jacket."Three minutes," she said finally."That's all I can spare."

"Thank you."Sheila leaned forward."Have you noticed anyone suspicious around the resort lately?Anyone paying particular attention to Bradley?"

"No, nothing like that."Diana shook her head."Though I try to focus on my students, not other people's business."

"What about Bradley himself?"Sheila asked."Did his behavior seem different recently?More erratic, maybe?Or more cautious?"

"Actually..."Diana frowned, seeming to remember something."He was acting strange yesterday after our argument.I saw him up by Eagle's Point in the afternoon.He was just...standing there, staring at something through his camera lens.When I asked if he was okay, he said someone had been following him."

Tommy's pen scratched rapidly across his notebook."Did he say who?"

"No.He brushed it off, said he was being paranoid.But..."She checked her watch and stood."Look, I really have to go.My students—"

"Of course," Sheila said, also rising."Thank you for your time.If you think of anything else…" She handed Diana her card.

Diana took the card, then paused with her hand on the handle of the door, frowning."Thereissomething else.Yesterday, when I saw Bradley at Eagle's Point?He wasn't using his usual camera.He said someone had borrowed his good one."

She met Sheila's eyes."I thought it was strange because Bradley never let anyone touch his equipment.He was obsessive about his cameras."

Sheila felt a chill that had nothing to do with the mountain air."Did he say who borrowed it?"

"No.Just that they were a professional, someone who said they were going to take photos of him skiing.Said they promised to capture his perfect form."

CHAPTER FIVE

The mountain air tasted like metal and early snow.He adjusted his camera, hands steady despite the cold, lens trained on the young elk grazing fifty yards away.The animal's breath plumed in the crisp air, backlit by weak winter sunlight.

A perfect shot—almost.

He waited.Patience was everything in wildlife photography.His father had taught him that, had made him wait hours in frigid conditions until the moment was exactly right.No rushed shots.No artificial staging.Just pure, authentic moments captured in their raw essence.

The elk's head snapped up, ears twitching.Something had caught its attention.The man held his breath, finger hovering over the shutter.The tension in the animal's muscles told him something was about to happen.

A flash of movement.A mountain lion emerged from the scrub, muscles bunched, powerful.The elk bolted, but too late.The predator's leap was a masterpiece of natural geometry—spine curved, claws extended, every sinew expressed in perfect clarity.

His finger squeezed—

And his boot slipped on ice-slicked rock.

The camera jerked.The shot blurred.The moment shattered.

The mountain lion's kill played out before him, but he'd missed it.Missed the one pure instant when predator met prey.

Rage boiled up from somewhere deep and dark.His hands shook as he reviewed the ruined photos: motion blur, wrong angle, focus off.Garbage.All garbage.

"No," he whispered.Then louder: "No!"

The camera felt foreign in his hands, an instrument of failure.With a wordless cry, he hurled it against the nearest boulder.The crack of breaking plastic and glass echoed across the mountainside, scattering a cluster of winter songbirds from a nearby pine.

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