Murder in the Devil's Cauldron (56 page)

The approaching storm made up Starr's mind.
She had to get Charlie up before the storm raised the river and
carried her friend into the Devil's Cauldron.

She inched across the bridge, making sure to
stop just out of reach.

She held up the bag.

"Give it to me," he ordered.

"Give me the rope first," she countered,
sounding stronger than she felt. She might just be a kid, but that
didn't mean she was stupid.

"Aren't you clever," he sneered. "We'll do it
at the same time."

He held out the rope.

Starr held out the bag and stepped forward,
reaching for the rope.

As Starr's fingers curled around the rope,
Fowler grabbed the bag with the film and jerked the rope out of her
hand, tossing the end over the bridge.

Starr stumbled.

Fowler lunged, but his foot slipped on the
wet leaves and he landed on his knee.

Starr turned and ran. Her best hope now was
to get into Ruby Cove and get help.

Fowler watched the girl disappear, unable to
get back on his feet fast enough to catch her. "Dammit."

He peered over the bridge and saw the Indian
girl sitting on the ground by the river, the rope next to her. At
least
she
wasn't going anywhere.

The red-headed girl may have gone for help,
but the rain had already started. By the time they arrived, there
wouldn't be anyone to rescue. And without the film, no one would
believe anything she said. He wished he could have tossed her in
the river, as well. That would have given him a lot of pleasure
given how much trouble she had caused.

He made sure he hadn't dropped anything when
he slipped, then made his way carefully back down the hill.

When he reached the Devil's Cauldron, he
paused. Then he grinned and tossed the film in. Something else that
will never show up again. He didn't bother giving it another look.
He was done here.

By the time he got to the bottom, he was
soaked, but for once he didn't care. It had been worth it.

Viv had the SUV running by the time he got
in.

"I put a change of clothes and some towels
for you in the back seat," she said as she pulled onto the highway
and headed south.

"Where'd you get the towels?"

"I took them from that tacky motel. I figured
we might need them since I there wasn't a chance you were going to
stay dry on this little excursion."

"Good thinking."

"You got the film?"

He laughed. "I did indeed. Tomorrow we'll be
at the bank the second they open and then I'm on the next plane
out."

Viv laughed. "Costa del Sol, here we
come."

Fae took notes as the sheriff brought them up
to date. Not surprisingly, they hadn't found much in the search of
the motel rooms aside from a handful of fingerprints, but the lab
people were still working on it.

"Let us know if you need any assistance with
that end of things," Bailey offered. He didn't elaborate, but
everyone at the table knew the BCA had a lot more equipment and
personnel than the facilities up here.

Thompson nodded. "Sure will. Thanks."

Something had been bugging Fae since the
conversation in the sheriff's conference room. "By the way, Mike,"
Fae asked finally. "You mentioned you were getting calls from some
woman at the Lodge. You don't mean the manager, by any chance. Do
you?"

Thompson poured another cup of coffee. "Yeah.
That's who was calling."

"Why did she want to talk to the deputy?"

"Oh, something about Zach Running Bear and
his daughter." He gulped nearly the entire mug, even though it was
still blazingly hot.

"Charlie? Is she okay?"

"Oh, that's right, you know her." He poured
more coffee into the mug, but now simply stared at the loon
flapping its wings. "I'm sure she's fine. I guess Hartman walked
her home last night and Zach had a question for him."

"Did you reach Hartman?" Fae asked. She knew
Zach wouldn't be asking if he wasn't worried about something.

The sheriff made a face, then looked at one
of the deputies who had come in with him. "Did you talk to
Hartman?"

"I think he called in and talked to Sherrie.
Said he'd be here in about an hour."

"When was that?" Fae asked.

The deputy shrugged. "About half hour ago, I
guess."

"What're you thinking?" Bailey asked.

"Did Hartman walk her home last night?" Fae
asked the sheriff, looking him straight in the eye.

He looked down at his coffee. "I imagine."
His hands were gripping his mug as if it was life raft.

"Was he even there last night?" Fae
asked.

The sheriff nodded.

"But …."

"Well, you know how backed up we got for a
few hours," he finally said. "We pulled everyone in when it looked
like they were at that motel in Hjalmar Falls." He saw the look on
her face. "We left a patrol car there, though, just to be safe. So
it looked like someone was there the whole time. He got right back
over there."

Fae didn't like what she was thinking, but it
was a little late for second guessing. There wasn't much she could
do right now, but as soon as this meeting was over, she was going
to track down Hartman herself if she had to and make sure Charlie
was all right.

When Starr finally saw Ruby Cove, she had
never been so grateful to see anything in her life. Even though the
rain was light, she was soaked. The trees had started to sway in
the wind and she could see white caps forming on the lake.

As she reached Ole and Lena's, a bolt of
lightning lit up the sky and a thunderclap followed several seconds
later.

Starr burst into the café and looked around
wildly. She couldn't see Fae at first, then caught of glimpse of
her sitting at a corner booth with a lot of other people. She ran
over and pushed her way through.

"Fae, you have to help. It's Charlie. She's
going to drown."

"What?"

"He put her in the Enchantment River and
dropped the rope. She can't get out."

Fae grabbed her purse and stood. "I'll
drive."

"Wait a minute." The sheriff was sitting in
the booth opposite Fae.

Starr's heart sank. "There isn't time," she
insisted. "She'll get swept right into the Devil's Cauldron if we
don't go right now."

Starr saw he was going to object, but
thankfully Fae spoke up. "Bailey and I will get the story on the
way. Mike, could you call Donovan and let him know we're coming and
that we need some gear. Get Search and Rescue there right now."

"You think she's serious?"

"Of course. But even if she isn't, I don't
think we have time to find out." Fae headed for her car on the run.
The man who had been sitting next to her followed. Starr looked at
the sheriff defiantly, then hurried to catch up.

A moment later, Starr was in the back seat of
Fae's car and explaining what had happened. She kept looking out
the window. It was raining, but it still wasn't that bad. Maybe
they'd be in time.

Charlie watched in horror as a wave suddenly
washed over the edge of the cove, followed by yet another, bigger
one.

She struggled to her feet, trying not to jog
her arm which was now puffy and throbbing. Water covered the bottom
of the cove by the time she was standing and her shoes were soaked
and already under water.

Something curled around her legs and Charlie
yelped, thinking it was a snake. But it was just the short rope
that she had been tied up with, now floating loose. She picked it
up and hung it on a tree root sticking out of the side of the
cove.

She inched to the edge of the cove, feeling
her way with her feet. She looked up at the bridge, hoping to see
someone. She yelled as loud as she could, just in case someone was
around, but the bridge remained empty.

As if a switch had suddenly been pulled, rain
started pelting down, nearly obscuring the bridge.

Shivering, Charlie retreated back into the
cove and hugged herself with her left arm, trying to stay warm.

Fae pulled right up to the front door of the
park office. Starr jumped out of the car, dancing from foot to foot
as she waited for the others to get out.

As they opened the door to go into the
Visitor Center, the sky opened up and drizzle suddenly turned to
pouring rain.

Starr looked at Fae, her face a mask of
despair.

"Don't worry," Fae reassured her. "We'll get
there."

Inside, Starr saw the ranger already piling
ropes and other equipment on the counter.

"This won't take long," Fae told her.

"We have to go
now
." Starr wanted to
cry. Why didn't they understand that Charlie was going to
drown?

"We won't be able to save Charlie if we don't
have the gear we need," Fae told her. "And we need Search and
Rescue to pull her out. They'll be here any minute. Don't worry.
We'll get there in time."

Starr wasn't too sure about that. Everyone
seemed to be moving much too slowly. She felt as if she was about
to jump out of her skin while they talked and added more stuff to
the pile.

"Why don't you sit over there," Fae said,
pointing at the chairs in the visitor area.

Starr looked over at the chairs in disbelief.
She couldn't sit and wait while Charlie was in danger. Turning, she
saw Fae talking to the ranger as he rummaged through a big closet
for something.

Starr rushed over to the pile of equipment,
grabbed a large coil of rope and slung it over her head and one
shoulder so it wouldn’t fall off, then dashed out the door.

"Starr, wait!" she heard as the door
closed.

Starr didn't hesitate. She pulled the hood of
her poncho up and then charged under the bridge and over to the
trailhead.

The river pounded wickedly over the boulders
as it hit bottom and made a mad dash to the lake. Starr gasped at
the force of the bouncing water. She took a second to wipe the rain
from her face on the already damp sleeve of her sweatshirt in a
vain attempt to keep it dry. A car with flashing lights fishtailed
around the curve and pulled into the park.

Starr shot a quick look at the thundering
river, adjusted the rope and then started up the hill, the rock
slick under her feet. She bent over to keep the rain out of her
eyes and slogged up the steep incline as fast as she could.

As she passed the Devil's Cauldron, the roar
of the river filled her with dread. She didn't dare to even look at
it. She just kept going, doggedly leaning into the wind and the
hill as she made her way up to the bridge.

The rain was blowing so hard against her she
almost missed seeing the bridge. She stopped to take her bearings
and finally saw the dim outline through the sheets of rain. Hanging
on to the railing, she crossed to the middle and looked over the
side.

All she could see was the river as it churned
its way through the chute. The cove Charlie had been sitting in
earlier was now bouncing with water and foam.

"Charlie!" she screamed.

Like a miracle, she saw Charlie's dark hair
as she poked her head out from under the overhang.

"Hang on," Starr yelled.

She had to struggle to lift the rope, now
heavy with water over her head, but she bent over so it could drop
to the ground. She ran one end around a big pine tree and made
several knots, hoping they were strong enough. Then she crossed her
fingers and tossed the rope over the cliff.

She went back to the bridge to see where the
rope had gone and breathed a sigh of relief. The wind hadn't blown
it off course and the rope hung straight down to the cove.

"Can you tie it around your waist?" she
yelled.

Charlie let down her right arm carefully and
picked up the end of the rope and tried to tie it around her waist,
but couldn't. She looked up at Starr, terror in her dark eyes.

Starr ran to the end of the bridge. She
couldn't see anything in the heavy rain, but even if they were on
the way up, they wouldn't get here in time.

Starr hurried back to the rope. It was wet,
but the heavy fibers might keep it from getting too slick.

She pulled on it a couple of times as hard as
she could. The knots held.

She grabbed the rope in both hands. She took
a deep breath. Then carefully let herself over the cliff and
shinnied down the rope as if she was back in gym class.

The pounding rain made her hands slippery and
Starr hung on as hard as she could. Lightning lit up the cliff. A
thunderclap followed almost immediately, sounding as if the sky had
exploded right over her head. Starr just managed to hang on.

The storm was right overhead.

As she reached the bottom of the cliff, the
noise of the pounding river filled her ears, nearly drowning out
the wind and thunder. Rain poured over her face despite the hood,
blurring Starr's vision. Finally her feet found the edge of the
cove. The river bouncing through the chute sucked at her feet and
she hung on to the rope, as hard as she could.

"You shouldn't have come down here," Charlie
yelled as Starr ducked into the tiny cave.

"Don't be stupid," Starr said. It was a
relief to not have water pouring over her. "Hope you don't mind,"
she grinned as she used the back of Charlie's sweatshirt to dry her
face. It wasn't completely dry, but Starr's was completely soaked.
Her poncho had long since lost its struggle to keep the storm
out.