Rather than leave the body to the snow and predators, Joe had wrapped a chain around the legs and used Bull’s own game winch to hoist the body into the air. He was then able to swing Cates’s 280 pounds up and over the bed wall, where he lowered it into the back.

Despite the situation and the gore, Joe admired how well the game winch had been welded together. Probably Eldon’s work, he thought. Bull was useless.

Had been useless.

—

JOE’S SHOTGUN LEANED AGAINST the bench seat, muzzle down. Next to it was Bull’s Ruger Mini-14. It was still warm to the touch.

The inside of the cab reeked of sour, spilled beer and whiskey, bloodstains, motor oil, and rotting food in fast-food wrappers on the passenger-side floorboard. There was a long crack through the front windshield and a dead rabbit on the console that Bull must have shot along the way to the camp.

But the pickup ran well, and the tires gripped the slick rocks on the road better than Joe’s pickup had on the way up. He was making good time.

He knew if the dispatcher was trying to reach him he was out of touch, since Bull’s pickup obviously didn’t have a radio. Joe realized he’d left his handheld radio in his pickup back at the elk camp and he cursed himself for forgetting it.

Then he checked his cell phone. Ten percent battery life and still no signal. Naturally, he’d left the charger back in his truck as well.

He glanced down at the gauges. Unless the fuel gauge was broken, it looked like the pickup was almost empty.

“Bull, you idiot,” Joe said aloud.

He’d never make it all the way to the highway, he thought. The closest place that might have gasoline was the Cates compound.

And it was where he was headed anyway.

—

WHEN THE TREES CLEARED, Joe’s phone came to life with a quick series of pings.

He pulled it from his pocket and saw there were five missed calls from Marybeth. His phone now had five percent battery life left, which would be just a few minutes of talk time.

Joe had a decision to make and he didn’t like it, but he punched the preset for Sheriff Reed’s cell phone. He didn’t have enough time to go through the office’s receptionist. When he raised the phone to his ear, he winced at the jolt of pain from the bullet wound.

“Joe?” Reed said through a mouthful of dinner.

“Mike, listen to me. I’m on my way down the mountain right now and my phone is about to die on me. I found Eldon’s elk camp and Nate’s van was ditched there. Bull showed up and started blasting away—”

“Are you hurt?”

“Mike, please. I’m fine. But Bull’s dead. I’m in his pickup because mine was shot up. I’m headed toward the Cates place right now. I need you to put out a high-priority call to your guys and any LEs in the area to converge on the compound as quickly as they can get there. I don’t even care if Chief Williamson fires up his MRAP, because we know Eldon will be armed. I don’t know the connection between Nate and Eldon, but it’s there.”

“Jesus,” Reed said.

Joe could picture the sheriff pushing his chair back from the table with one hand and wiping his mouth with a napkin held in the other.

“What about Olivia Brannan?” Reed asked.

“I didn’t find her body. It’s possible she’s buried on the compound or maybe even still alive. I don’t know.”

“How soon will you get there?”

“Ten, fifteen minutes,” Joe said.

He was on the two-track now. There were two sets of tire tracks in the road before him: his and Bull’s.

“We can’t get there that fast, Joe. Can you pull up and wait?”

He could look off the sagebrush bench now and catch glimpses of the Cates compound in the swale below. Although it was almost too dark to see, Joe could make out Eldon’s red pump truck cruising across the untracked snow in the equipment yard, headed toward the edge of the outbuildings. Puffs of exhaust rose in the cold air from dual pipes.

“No,” Joe said. “Something’s going on down there.”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay,” Reed said. “I’ll put out the word and we’ll get there as soon as we can. Joe, don’t do anything stupid and don’t get yourself hurt.”

“Yup,” Joe said. “Please call Marybeth. Tell her I’m all right and I’ll call her as soon as—”

His phone died. He’d used up all of the battery and he had no idea whether Reed had heard any of his last message.

29

Brenda stood at the edge of the root cellar doors, wearing her heavy winter coat. Liv saw she was wearing the same scarf over her hair that she had worn when she introduced herself as Kitty Wells. It was almost dark out.

Brenda didn’t look down. Instead, she peered off into the distance and motioned with her arms, indicating Come on, come on.

Liv was confused. But when she heard the low rumble of heavy equipment, she realized what drew Brenda’s attention.

She said, “Brenda, what’s going on?” Her voice was flushed with panic.

Brenda shushed her with her hand, then continued gesturing.

Liv could hear the sound of a truck entering the compound.

When Brenda finally bent slightly and looked down, Liv thought she could see tears on her cheeks.

“It’s time, girl,” Brenda said. “Eldon’s back with a full load.”

Liv closed her eyes.

“Put all them dishes and the silverware in the bucket. How’d you like the pork chops? I made ’em especially for you this time. Eldon and Bull will have to wait for theirs later on tonight. At least, if that damned Bull ever shows up. And Dallas, too. He saw this snow and took off an hour ago on that snowmobile. But I bet he’ll be back later for his dinner.”

She talked to Liv as if Liv cared about these details.

Liv said, “You don’t have to do this, Brenda. I told you, I won’t talk.”

Brenda ignored her and started lowering the bucket hand over hand with the rope.

“Just put everything inside, sweetheart,” Brenda said. “Don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

“Are you really going to bury me in raw sewage?”

“Don’t think of it like that.”

Liv felt cold fear spasm through her. “How in the hell can I think of it any other way?”

“Don’t get hysterical, darling.”

“Why are you doing this to me? Why don’t you just shoot me and get it over with?”

“Shhhhhh.”

The pump truck was coming toward the root cellar. It was still out of view. Liv heard a squeak of brakes. Then it began to back toward the opening.

Reep-reep-reep.

As it got closer, the warning increased in volume. Liv saw Brenda glance up at it and cock her head to the side to guide it in. She had moved to the other side of the opening so that the bumper of the truck wouldn’t knock her into the root cellar.

Brenda was suddenly lit up in red from the taillights. Liv could smell the exhaust of the big truck now, and she saw a bronze valve, like a snout, ease over the opening of the cellar.

“Don’t come any closer, Eldon,” Brenda shouted. “You’re far enough.”

To Liv, she said, “Put them dishes in the bucket. I can’t bear to lose a place setting.”

The sheer unreality of the situation almost overwhelmed Liv. Brenda was concerned about her dishes getting buried in filth? That’s what she was concerned about?

“Eldon,” Brenda said. “That’s good right there.”

Liv raised up her hands for the bucket as it lowered. She looked up to see that Brenda was distracted by the proximity of the release valve of the pump truck.