Free Desolation Point by Cari Hunter Page A

number of white supremacist groups. Apparently, he was their go-to guy for weapons, explosives, clean cash. Two trucks were used in the breakout. One was found burned out and traced back to a lieutenant in one of the bigger groups. I guess Merrick was too valuable to lose for twenty-five to life.”
    She gave a short, humorless laugh. “I’ll bet.”
    “There’s something else, Alex.” If it were possible, Walt sounded even more troubled. “They killed one of the prison guards, and a second is missing.”
    She stared with loathing at the radio in her hand as if it alone was responsible for the bad news that just kept on coming. When she finally answered, anger made her voice hard. “They could be anywhere by now.”
    “I know. They’re not likely to be by the lake, so just hang tight. The cops and the feds’ll be all over this as soon as they can get up there.”
    “Yeah, uh…” She wiped a hand across her face, raindrops immediately re-gathering on her eyelashes and obscuring her vision. “I’m not by the lake, Walt.”
    “Where you at?”
    “Not exactly sure. Most of the way up Desolation, I guess. Two guys told me about a friend of theirs. She went up there earlier today and didn’t make it back. Figured I’d try and find her.” She kept her tone light, as if to imply that this wasn’t anything to make a big deal about. After all, she’d had nothing better to do, had she?
    The radio emitted a series of high-pitched beeps followed by an ear-splitting wail. There were only two bars left on its battery, and she hadn’t thought it necessary to bring a spare. In fits and starts, the signal cleared again, and despite the circumstances, she couldn’t help but smile. Walt obviously hadn’t been fooled by her attempt at nonchalance.
    “—’king stupid-ass things to do—middle of nowhere—’king storm with the gods only know—running about out there―”
    She gave him a few more seconds to calm down. “Sorry, Walt,” she said, genuinely contrite, when he ran out of steam. “Just…she’s on her own up here, and besides, she won’t know anything about this guy Merrick.”
    His sigh was perfectly transmitted. “I know. Doesn’t make you less of an idiot, mind.”
    “I’m hoping she’s on the trail somewhere or holed up at the summit.”
    To her surprise, he didn’t try to talk her out of continuing, didn’t try to persuade her to return to the relative safety of the lake. It had only been three months, but apparently, he knew her better than that.
    “Keep your head down, Alex.”
    “I will. Promise.”
    “Keep in touch.”
    “I will.”
    Her hand was shaking as she clipped the radio back onto her belt.
    “Shit,” she whispered. She lowered herself from the rock and winced at the noise of her boots landing heavily in a puddle.
    With dusk now rapidly giving way to night, the trail ahead of her was almost completely invisible. She pulled a flashlight from her pack, tempering its beam with a spare sock so that the dull light was just about enough to guide her, and set off again, painfully aware of every sound she made and every sound that filtered through to her out of the mist.
    “You sure as hell pick your moments to try and be a hero.” She shook her head at the sheer scale of the odds stacked against her. She knew that if she didn’t laugh about it, then her only other option was giving up and turning back.
     
    *
     
    The relief surging through Sarah gave her the energy she needed to push toward the sound of the voices. Her narrow trail was winding precariously along the edge of a steep drop-off, the depth of which she couldn’t gauge with the thin beam of her flashlight. The tenuous nature of her path had hampered her progress, but she was close enough now that she could distinguish the cadence, if not the actual words, of a man and a woman. She was about to draw breath to shout across to them when the quiet buzz of her phone made her hesitate.
    “Typical, you bloody work now