there?” she said.
“Yup.”
“You sure?”
“So I hear.”
“From who?”
He shrugged. “Here and there.”
“Where is he?”
“Badlands. Nobody from town will go in the badlands.” His gaze locked with hers, and he fell silent. Tana had a bizarre sensation that he was transferring things, thoughts, into her head with his intensity. And she was seized by an absurd sense of time warping, as if this place had been shifted slightly. Into another realm. Where different laws of physics and logic applied. She needed sleep. Bad.
The door swung open suddenly, and in blew a bluster of ice crystals off the snow. Tana jumped.
“Sorry to spook you,” MacAllistair said, stomping her boots, and closing the door behind her. She wore shades in spite of the darkness. She stilled upon sensing the tension in the yurt. “What?” she said. “Did I interrupt something?”
CHAPTER 11
Heather poured a coffee and seated herself opposite Tana.
“Big Indian messing with minds again?” she asked, stirring sugar and cream into her mug. She pushed her shades onto the top of her head, exposing a puffy black eye.
“Bad night?” Tana said.
“Probably not worse than yours. What can I tell you?” She took a deep draft from her mug, cradling it with both hands.
“How’d you hurt your eye?”
“Happens when you get so shit-faced that you can’t stand up.” She held Tana’s gaze, daring the cop to say something, to pass judgment. Then she smiled. It lit her bloodshot eyes, and she still looked pretty. “Ever been in that state, officer? Where you just need to block it all out. Ever done something stupid like that?”
A memory washed into Tana’s chest. With it, shame. She took a sip of her own coffee, and said, “So, I guess you wouldn’t be up to flying me home tonight.”
“Hell no, I’m good.” MacAllistair took another hit of caffeine, leaned back in her chair, smiled again, and looked halfway normal. “I’m practiced. We work hard up here. Play harder. Keeps us busy long dark nights. I’ll take you home once you’ve wrapped up here—regular rates for the RCMP. Sky is good and clear. Won’t be for long. Besides, I need to get back to base. Only stayed ’cause you asked me to. What do you need?”
Tana removed her notebook and pen from her pocket. She flipped the book open. “Run the times, dates by me again—when did you pick Selena Apodaca and Raj Sanjit up from Twin Rivers?”
MacAllistair related her memories of Friday, from when she’d taken off with the crews in the early morning, the route she’d flown, buzzing over the camp, seeing wolves along the lake—repeating much of what she’d already told Tana the night they’d met.
While she spoke, Tana took notes, and Big Indian listened, a sullen shadow in the kitchen, stirring his pot.
“And after you dropped the K9 crew off on Friday morning, what did you do then?”
“I flew back to Twin Rivers, and ferried other folk back and forth—surveyors for the ice road. Hydro guys. Until the weather blew in.”
“You couldn’t get in all day Saturday, either?”
“I could fly a few other areas, but definitely not Headless Man. The fog sits like a soup on that lake. Cliffs hold it in like a basin. First window was Sunday afternoon. And it was hardly a break, but the wind had turned, and usually when that happens some of the fog clears off the north end of Ice Lake, so I gave it a shot. I got Dean and Veronique and their dogs first. They were farther up the valley, along the river. And then we flew in to Selena and Raj’s pickup location. They weren’t there. Like I said, we tried to raise them on radio, and via their inReach satellite texting system. No reply. So I flew back a little way along the route they would have been working, and . . .” She cleared her throat. “That’s when we saw the wolves feeding on them.” She wiped her mouth. Her hand trembled slightly.
“I heard you mention seeing a red chopper on the other side
“Yup.”
“You sure?”
“So I hear.”
“From who?”
He shrugged. “Here and there.”
“Where is he?”
“Badlands. Nobody from town will go in the badlands.” His gaze locked with hers, and he fell silent. Tana had a bizarre sensation that he was transferring things, thoughts, into her head with his intensity. And she was seized by an absurd sense of time warping, as if this place had been shifted slightly. Into another realm. Where different laws of physics and logic applied. She needed sleep. Bad.
The door swung open suddenly, and in blew a bluster of ice crystals off the snow. Tana jumped.
“Sorry to spook you,” MacAllistair said, stomping her boots, and closing the door behind her. She wore shades in spite of the darkness. She stilled upon sensing the tension in the yurt. “What?” she said. “Did I interrupt something?”
CHAPTER 11
Heather poured a coffee and seated herself opposite Tana.
“Big Indian messing with minds again?” she asked, stirring sugar and cream into her mug. She pushed her shades onto the top of her head, exposing a puffy black eye.
“Bad night?” Tana said.
“Probably not worse than yours. What can I tell you?” She took a deep draft from her mug, cradling it with both hands.
“How’d you hurt your eye?”
“Happens when you get so shit-faced that you can’t stand up.” She held Tana’s gaze, daring the cop to say something, to pass judgment. Then she smiled. It lit her bloodshot eyes, and she still looked pretty. “Ever been in that state, officer? Where you just need to block it all out. Ever done something stupid like that?”
A memory washed into Tana’s chest. With it, shame. She took a sip of her own coffee, and said, “So, I guess you wouldn’t be up to flying me home tonight.”
“Hell no, I’m good.” MacAllistair took another hit of caffeine, leaned back in her chair, smiled again, and looked halfway normal. “I’m practiced. We work hard up here. Play harder. Keeps us busy long dark nights. I’ll take you home once you’ve wrapped up here—regular rates for the RCMP. Sky is good and clear. Won’t be for long. Besides, I need to get back to base. Only stayed ’cause you asked me to. What do you need?”
Tana removed her notebook and pen from her pocket. She flipped the book open. “Run the times, dates by me again—when did you pick Selena Apodaca and Raj Sanjit up from Twin Rivers?”
MacAllistair related her memories of Friday, from when she’d taken off with the crews in the early morning, the route she’d flown, buzzing over the camp, seeing wolves along the lake—repeating much of what she’d already told Tana the night they’d met.
While she spoke, Tana took notes, and Big Indian listened, a sullen shadow in the kitchen, stirring his pot.
“And after you dropped the K9 crew off on Friday morning, what did you do then?”
“I flew back to Twin Rivers, and ferried other folk back and forth—surveyors for the ice road. Hydro guys. Until the weather blew in.”
“You couldn’t get in all day Saturday, either?”
“I could fly a few other areas, but definitely not Headless Man. The fog sits like a soup on that lake. Cliffs hold it in like a basin. First window was Sunday afternoon. And it was hardly a break, but the wind had turned, and usually when that happens some of the fog clears off the north end of Ice Lake, so I gave it a shot. I got Dean and Veronique and their dogs first. They were farther up the valley, along the river. And then we flew in to Selena and Raj’s pickup location. They weren’t there. Like I said, we tried to raise them on radio, and via their inReach satellite texting system. No reply. So I flew back a little way along the route they would have been working, and . . .” She cleared her throat. “That’s when we saw the wolves feeding on them.” She wiped her mouth. Her hand trembled slightly.
“I heard you mention seeing a red chopper on the other side
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