“The white van,” Joe said, “was it new?”

“Newer than the beat-up piece of shit,” Wentworth said.

“Was there any writing on the side of it?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t see all that well down there, but it was something like ‘Yahoo Falconry Services.’ There was a picture of a bird on the side, like an eagle.”

Joe leaned forward and his glare must have been intense because Wentworth sat back in his chair.

“Could it have been Yarak Falconry Services?”

“Yeah, maybe. I guess it could have been,” Wentworth said. “That’s a word I’m not familiar with. Why does it matter, anyway?”

Joe ignored him. “The SUV and the van were going which direction?”

“Toward the mountains.”

“Did you see either one of them come back down later that night?”

“Naw—I was gone by then.”

Joe guessed only one of the vehicles had returned, and he thought he knew which one.

Why would the Cateses have Nate’s van? Where was Olivia Brannan?

The world tilted.

Joe asked, “Did you go up there again?”

Wentworth seemed surprised at the question. “How did you know?”

“Someone saw your truck up there Thursday night. I didn’t suspect you until I heard about it.”

“Who was it?”

“That isn’t important now,” Joe said. “So did you go back up there Thursday?”

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

Joe said to Wentworth: “It’s time for you to go.”

Wentworth looked hurt. He said, “What should I do?”

“Go back to your room and bunker in. There’s a storm coming. Just sit tight.”

“But what about me?”

“What about you?” Joe said.

“I’m supposed to just sit at the Holiday Inn and wait to be arrested?”

“That’s what I’d recommend,” Joe said. “Dry out and get some sleep. Stay sober. Do the right thing. Now, git.”

—

FROM THE FRONT WINDOW, Joe watched Wentworth’s taillights vanish in the light snow.

He surveyed the sky. The snow wasn’t falling as heavily as he’d thought it would. He might have a few hours before it really came down. It was still three hours until it got dark.

He turned and said, “Come on, Daisy. We’re going to go find Eldon’s secret elk camp.”

25

At the same time, Liv heard footfalls approaching and she quickly stopped digging around the rock. Most of the rock was exposed now, but it was still stuck fast. Liv’s fear that the stone was simply a spur of a much larger boulder had grown throughout the day but had recently been put to rest. The contours of the smooth ancient river rock were starting to round out at the back. It was, in fact, approximately the size and shape of a football. She’d cleaned enough of the packed clay from around it that she could now reach in and grab the top and bottom of the stone with both hands, although she couldn’t get enough leverage yet to work it free. It would take more time and effort.

The doors opened and large flakes of snow floated down into the root cellar. The sky was cream-colored, the sun muted behind heavy clouds.

Brenda said, “I wanted to see if you liked pork chops.”

“You’re asking me what I want for dinner?” Liv asked, surprised.

“Not if it’s something exotic the men won’t eat. But what about pork chops?”

“I like pork chops.”

“Then it’s settled,” Brenda said.

But instead of leaving, Brenda sat down on the lip of the doorframe. She was wearing an oversized barn coat over her housedress and her feet dangled down. Liv could see the woman’s thick ankles and her heavy, old-fashioned shoes. She wore support hose and there was a bulge of white fat above the top of the hose.

“There’s supposed to be a big winter storm coming,” Brenda said. “By midnight tonight, we’re supposed to really get hit. Is that heater working okay?”

“Yes.”

“You got enough sleeping bags and all?”

“I think so. They don’t smell so good, though.”

“They smell like the guys,” Brenda said. “Beggars can’t be choosers, you know.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Liv said, wondering if Brenda was going to go away.

After a long beat, Brenda said, “I brought this,” and held something out in her hand. It was a hairbrush.

“I appreciate that,” Liv said. “Are you going to drop it down to me?”

“I was actually thinking I’d come down there and brush your hair. It’s something I’ve been thinking about. Would you be okay with that?”

Liv felt an equal mix of panic and revulsion. Brenda behind her, brushing her hair? The idea of it almost made her physically sick. But if she could actually get her down here . . .

Liv glanced at the stone in the wall. Maybe with enough adrenaline rushing through her she’d be able to jerk it out and brain Brenda.

“I’d love it,” Liv said.

Brenda said over her shoulder, “Bull, lower that ladder.”

Liv’s heart sank. She hadn’t realized Bull was right there with her, but out of view.

“Keep close and have that pistol handy,” Brenda said to Bull. “Pop her if she tries anything.”

“Okay, Ma.”

Brenda said to Liv, “You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?”

Liv closed her eyes, fighting away tears. “No.”

“You want your hair brushed?”

“Yes.”

—

LIV SAT with her back to the stone in the dirt wall so that when Brenda brushed her hair she wouldn’t glance up and notice it. Liv wished she’d had more warning they were coming so she could have packed more loose dirt around the rock than she had.

The teeth of the brush actually felt good coursing down through her hair, although Brenda was a little rough at first, pulling it hard through tangles.

“Your hair is nice,” Brenda said. “Is it always like this or do you treat it somehow?”

“I get it straightened.”

“What would it be like otherwise?”

“It would be natural.”

“You mean like an Afro?”

“Yes.”

Brenda clucked her tongue. She said, “I can’t even imagine.”

Up at the compound, an engine started up with a high whine. Then it revved up fast.

Brenda called to Bull, “Did Dallas get that snowmobile started?”

“Sounds like he did.”

Brenda chuckled. “That boy—he’s a go-getter. There’s nothing he loves more than getting up into the mountains on his snowmobile. When I told him about this storm moving in, he just lit up.”

“Didn’t he get injured at a rodeo?” Liv asked, making small talk.

“Yeah, sort of.”

The answer perplexed Liv for what it didn’t say.

Brenda said, “I’ve never seen a human recover so quick. He’ll be back in the game in a few days at this rate. I wish I could come back after getting hurt like he does. But he’s always been fast in whatever it is he chooses to do. He’s an exceptional person, and I ain’t just sayin’ that because he’s my boy. I just wish the folks around this county would give him his due.”

“They should,” Liv agreed, trying anything to establish common ground. “How did Dallas get injured? Was it a bull?”

“Yeah, in Houston. But he didn’t get hurt that bad. Dallas got thrown in front of a big crowd of people and that probably hurt him more than anything else,” Brenda said. “It wasn’t until he got back here that he got those busted ribs and got his shoulder pulled out of the socket.”

Liv was confused. Brenda must have sensed it.

“I had to have Eldon and Bull do it. Dallas agreed, but it isn’t any fun to watch your husband and your oldest son beat the crap out of your youngest. Pulled his arm out of the socket and busted in his ribs. I had to turn my head when they done it.”