Chapter Twenty

“It’s a miracle anyone spotted this guy down there,” SAR volunteer Harper Stanick said as she and a dozen other volunteers stood on the narrow shoulder of the highway, staring down into the canyon below.

“If those two guys hadn’t decided to climb the cliff today, no telling how long he would have lain down there,” Tony Meissner said. He looked around. “Where are they, anyway?”

“I sent them on their way,” Deputy Ryker Vernon said. “We’ve got their names and contact info. They’re locals, so they shouldn’t be hard to get hold of if we need to talk to them later.”

“They were pretty shook up,” Deputy Declan Owen said. “They said they have no idea who the guy is. I think they were being truthful.”

Danny lowered the binoculars he had been using to study the figure of the man below. “I can’t tell if he’s breathing or not,” he said. “And there’s a lot of blood. We need to get down there, ASAP.”

“The descent is straightforward enough,” Tony said. “But bringing him out is going to be pretty technical.”

“Sheri, you and Tony go down first,” Danny said. “Hannah, you’re the medical on scene. Caleb, you and Vince up for following them down?”

“Sure thing,” Caleb said.

“Of course,” Vince answered. He had trained half a dozen times on similar climbs. He had never had any trouble and was anxious to try his skills in a real rescue situation.

Danny assigned other volunteers to help with the ropes and provide backup as needed. Ryker and Declan had already closed the road to traffic. Now they set about establishing a landing zone for a medical helicopter, should one be needed.

“Any idea how he ended up down there?” Vince asked as he and Caleb gathered their equipment.

“Solo climbing?” Caleb suggested. “Not a good idea, but people do it.”

“There aren’t any ropes, or even anchors at the top,” Ryan said.

“Maybe he set an anchor and it pulled out.” Eldon made a face. “If that happened, he’s done for.”

“No sense speculating,” Tony said. “We’ll find out when we get there.”

The quartet carried their gear to the edge of the canyon above where the body lay. Tony and Sheri decided on the best place to set anchors, then directed the others in laying out the ropes, carabiners, brake bars and other equipment they would use to lower themselves to the man in the canyon and eventually bring a litter up to the top again.

They were all aware of the need to reach the man as soon as possible, but no one rushed. Safety required precision and attention to detail. They wanted the man to live, but not at the expense of any one of them.

Sheri started down first; then Tony set out, ten feet to the left of her. Experienced climbers and competitors on the climbing circuit, they descended smoothly and swiftly. The canyon walls were jagged but stable, providing plenty of hand-and footholds when necessary, though the two were able to glide down long stretches of the wall. Tony landed first, followed seconds later by Sheri. The others watched from the top as they surrounded the crumpled figure on the ground.

“He’s alive,” Sheri radioed. “Nonresponsive. He’s lost a lot of blood. There’s a head wound, but I don’t see any ropes or a harness or other gear.”

There was a pause, the crackle of the radio; then Tony transmitted: “This was no climbing accident. This guy’s been shot. Right shoulder. He’s got probable broken bones and the head injury. Get that chopper over here. We need to bring this guy up ASAP.”

“Hannah, you ready to go?” Danny asked.

“I’m there.” Hannah was already at the edge of the canyon, poised to begin the descent.

“Caleb, you and Vince take the litter and the vacuum mattress, and a helmet for the injured man. Ryan and Eldon, you set the high-angle rigging to bring up the litter. I’m calling for the chopper.”

As soon as Hannah reached the bottom, Caleb and Vince set out, the litter and other equipment distributed between them, along with extra lines that would eventually be used to haul the patient in the litter to the surface. Eldon and Ryan took the belay position at the top and lowered them down the cliff.

Vince focused on keeping untangled and steady, and the descent happened so quickly he scarcely had time to be nervous. When he had unclipped from the line, he hurried to the huddle around the injured man.

“Get that mattress down here, and we’ll shift him onto it,” Tony directed.

“I’ve got the IV in,” Hannah said. “I’ll start a bag of saline. Somebody unpack a few chemical heat packs to help keep him warm.” She keyed the radio and rattled off numbers for the man’s pulse, blood pressure and oxygen levels.

Vince leaned in to get a closer look at the man. Maroon bloodstains painted his slacks and dress shirt—not clothing for a climb or a hike in the mountains. “Do you think someone shot him and pushed him down here?” he asked.

Tony looked up. “Either they pushed him or he fell.”

“Do we know who he is?” Caleb asked.

“His wallet has an ID for Mitchell Patterson,” Sheri said. “Do either of you know him?”

Vince stared at the man’s battered shape, stunned. He never would have recognized Tammy’s brother, he was so bruised and swollen. “That’s Tammy’s brother,” he said.

“Tammy Patterson?” Hannah looked over her shoulder at them. “Of course. Mitch Patterson, the real estate agent.” She turned back to him. “How did he end up down here?”

“That’s for the sheriff to find out.” Tony stood. “Let’s get him in the litter and up to that helicopter.”

They worked together to slide Mitch’s body—which was fitted with the IV, an oxygen mask, and various splints and bandages—onto the vacuum mattress, which was then inflated to fit tightly around him, acting as a full-body splint. This was then placed in the litter. He was strapped in, along with heat packs, blankets, the IV fluids and oxygen tank.

The litter was attached to lines that hung down from a tripod at the canyon rim that helped to keep the litter suspended away from the canyon walls. Then Sheri and Tony began the arduous process of ascending the canyon walls while guiding the litter up between them.

Vince stood with Hannah and Caleb and watched the ascent. While the lines from the tripod would support most of the weight of the litter, the two climbers needed to hold it steady while navigating their own journey to the top.

“There’s the chopper,” Hannah said.

Vince listened and heard the faint throb of helicopter rotors. “Do you think he’ll make it?” he asked.

She pulled off her latex gloves and tucked them in the pocket of her jacket. “He has a chance. I don’t think he had been down here long when we got to him. We were able to stabilize him and ward off shock. But he has a lot of injuries. Probably some internal ones I wasn’t able to assess. I couldn’t tell you what his chances are.”

When Mitch was safely to the top of the canyon, along with Sheri and Tony, Caleb and Vince helped Hannah gather the medical equipment and other supplies. They packed everything away. Hannah and Caleb ascended first, leaving Vince for last. He took out his phone and stared at the screen, even though he knew he had no signal here. He would need to contact Tammy and let her know what had happened to her brother.

But what had happened? Who had shot him and left him to die in this remote spot? He and his girlfriend had attended Valerie’s memorial service a few hours ago—though now it seemed like days. The shooting must have happened shortly after that.

Fear lanced through him as another thought registered. Elisabeth was probably with Mitch when he was shot. What had happened to her?

T AMMY COASTED THE bicycle up to the front door of the condo and dismounted. The ride had energized her. Maybe she would start riding her bike to work. She wondered what Russ would think of that.

She took out her keys and unlocked the door, then wheeled the bicycle in ahead of her and left it against the wall in the front hall. She would need to find a better place to park it, but they would figure out something.

“Hello, Tammy. I was wondering what took you so long.”

She froze, then slowly turned around to face Elisabeth. Or rather, she registered that the voice was Elisabeth’s, but her gaze fixed on the gun in the woman’s hand and refused to look away.

“Where’s Vince?” Elisabeth asked.

“He had a search and rescue call. A climber fell in a canyon, up on Dixon Pass.”

Elisabeth’s laughter was another shock. “Oh, that’s rich,” she crowed. “Not what I had planned at all, but this might be even better.”

Tammy forced her gaze away from the gun, but the expression on Elisabeth’s face did nothing to calm her. The other woman was as sleek and put together as ever, with her long hair swept back in a low ponytail and the nails that rested against the gun sporting a perfect French manicure. But her eyes were dilated, her mouth fixed in a rictus of a smile. “How did you get in here?” Tammy asked.

“The first time I visited the manager’s apartment, when I rented my place, I swiped a master key. I knew it would come in handy one day.”

“What are you doing here?” Tammy tried to sound strong and in control. “And put away that gun.”

“Who do you think you are, that you can tell me what to do? Now, get over there on that couch and sit down.” She gestured toward the sofa with her free hand.

Tammy did as she was told, moving sideways so that her back was never to the other woman. “Where’s Mitch?” she asked. “I saw the two of you at the memorial service.”

“You didn’t think I’d miss my own memorial service, did you?”

Elisabeth was V. Tammy had figured that out when she saw the gun in her hand. But did that also mean she was Valerie? “Where’s Mitch?” she asked again.

“I left him at the bottom of a canyon, up on Dixon Pass. But apparently, my brother is helping to get him out. Or more probably, he’s retrieving his body.” She sat in a chair facing the sofa, the gun aimed at the middle of Tammy’s chest. “That’s inconvenient, but it will give us time to talk.”

The idea that Mitch might be dead hit Tammy like a blow to the stomach. She wanted to protest that that couldn’t be true, but she recognized the fruitlessness of arguing. She pushed the idea away entirely. She wouldn’t think about Mitch right now. She had to focus on Valerie, and on keeping her from pulling the trigger. “What happened to you?” she asked. “That day on the camping trip, when you were ten?”

“I knew you’d have questions. I guess that’s the reporter in you. Too bad you weren’t around when I went missing. You strike me as someone who might actually have ferreted out the truth.”

“What is the truth?” Tammy asked.

“I’ve been trying to tell you for weeks. My family—my mother and father and Vince—decided they didn’t want me anymore. They were going to leave me up on that mountain to die. Instead, a man who was camping nearby offered to take care of me.”

“The man kidnapped you,” Tammy said.

“He didn’t kidnap me. He did me a favor. I would have died without him.”

Her agitation—and the way the gun shook in her hand—made Tammy nervous. She had to resist the impulse to argue. “What was the man’s name?” she asked.

“Paul. Paul Rollins.”

“And you’re Elisabeth Rollins.”

“Paul chose the name for me. Much better than Valerie.”

“Where is Paul now?” Should Tammy expect him to walk through the door at any moment?

“He’s dead. With him gone, I didn’t have anyone left. Then I remembered my other family. The one who abandoned me.”

Tammy bit her lip to keep from arguing that the Shepherds had not abandoned their daughter. Time to change the subject again. She needed to keep Valerie off-balance. “What happened with Mitch?” she asked.

“I needed him out of the way so I could take care of Vince and my parents.” She crossed her legs and propped the grip of the handgun on her knee, her finger within easy reach of the trigger. “I would have liked to keep him around longer, at least until I had drained off more of his money. I thought I would have time to access all of his accounts before anyone discovered his body, but that may not be the case now.”

“He loved you,” Tammy said.

“So have the others.” Her smile brightened. “I guess I’m just a very lovable person.”

“I don’t understand how Paul was able to keep you a secret all these years,” Tammy said. “People were looking for you. Your parents hired a private detective. There were appeals in the media.”

“Lies, all of it. If they were looking as hard as they said, they would have found me. Paul changed my name, sure, and he took me to a fancy salon and got me a good haircut—my first one. But the rest of me was just the same. It’s not like we were living in a cave in the middle of nowhere. We lived in a beautiful house. We took vacations.”

“What about school?”

“I was homeschooled. Paul had been a teacher, once upon a time. He taught me what I needed to know to help him in his business.”

“What kind of business was that?”

That overly bright grin again. “Paul liked to say we taught people important financial lessons. We taught people to be more careful with their money.”

“You conned people,” Tammy guessed.

“ Con sounds so crass. What we did required more finesse. We persuaded people to trust us. Most of them did.”

“Is that why you’re here now? Because you want money?”

“I have money, and I always know how to get more. No, I’m here for a different kind of payback.”

Tammy swallowed hard. The gun, and the fact that Valerie had admitted to killing Mitch, indicated the payback could be a fatal one. “I’m not part of your family,” she said. “Why waste your time with me?”

“Because Vince looooves you.” She drew out the word. “The first time I saw you together, I knew it. He didn’t care about me, his twin, but he’s all gaga for you. Hurting you will hurt him. I thought at first that beating you up would be enough. You put up quite a fight, by the way. I can admire that, even if it made things inconvenient for me. But it also made me realize that a beating wasn’t going to be enough. Vince can watch you die, then I’ll kill him. It will be perfect.”

Tammy choked back a moan. “What about your parents?” she asked. She didn’t want more horrible details, but she needed to keep Valerie talking.

“I’ll get them next, but no hurry. I won’t have to sneak up on them like I did you and Vince. They’ll be happy to open the door for their long-lost little girl. Then I can take my time deciding how to put an end to them and all their lies about truly loving me.”

Tammy heard the hurt behind the hatred. What had Paul done to this young woman to damage her so much?

But she couldn’t let sympathy blind her to the danger she was in. And Vince. Could she find a way to warn him before he came home and walked into his own death sentence?