GAME ON - GoM 2

9

Climbing down the rock wasn't easy, but now the moon lit the way, and Tom helped Alex through the tricky steps. Soon they were back at the fallen tree over the stream. They'd just crossed it when Tom paused, face turned to the woods ahead, and pressed Alex's hand to stop too. Then she heard it: the crack of twigs, like an animal moving swiftly through the thickets. Tom stepped up to keep her behind him.

"Are there big animals in these woods?" she whispered.

"Bears, wolves, elks, cougars."

"Well, I think one of them is looking for dinner in our trail."

He signaled her to keep quiet and they heard the animal hurrying into the woods toward the Skagit. They waited a moment, then Tom led Alex to the spot where the animal had stopped. They turned on their flashlights and found a dead rabbit, its neck broken and bitten, it's fur wet in blood.

"This is weird," Tom muttered, crouching down by the dead animal. "Look: no marks of claws or fangs. And the way the head is twisted..." He moved his hands as if strangling somebody.

Alex looked up at the trail. "Whatever it was, it headed for Newhalem."

Tom straightened up. "C'mon. Maybe we can still catch up and see what it was."

They turned off the flashlights and Tom took Alex's hand again, to guide her down the hill to the river. They pressed on to come out of the woods and halted at the narrow strip of grass between the trees and the river. They looked up and down the river.

Alex spotted the shadow a heartbeat later than Tom, who made her step back. She knew he meant well. It was his protective instinct talking. But she was too used to face things herself to stay hidden behind him. So she turned on her flashlight and pointed it straight at the shadow.

A woman was kneeling by the water, frantically washing her face and hands. She looked up at them and Tom stiffened.

"Diane?"

Five minutes later, Alex watched in silence while Tom helped Diane sit down in his kitchen and gave her a glass of water. The woman wore only her pajamas. Her top was sprayed in blood, and Alex was sure that if she took a closer look at the woman's hands, she'd find blood under her nails, that the river hadn't washed away before they found her.

"I... Last thing I remember is putting the kids to bed," she mumbled. "Then Trent and I go to bed and... Next thing I'm across the river and you guys are there."

Yeah, sure, Alex thought. You were washing blood off your hands in your sleep.

"It's okay, Diane," Tom said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Catch your breath, calm down and I'll walk you home."

The woman nodded with a quick glance at Alex, who stared at her from across the table. Alex knew this was the woman who'd gotten lost and spent the night alone in the woods hardly twenty-four hours ago. And Alex might not have Claire's empathy, but she didn't need it to tell something was off.

Diane left the glass on the table and stood up. "I should go," she said.

"Sure." Tom wrapped his jacket around her shoulders. "Let's go."

When she turned to head out, Alex got a glimpse of the small bandage on the back of her neck, only partially covered by the woman's short hair.

"I'll be right back," Tom said to Alex.

She forced a smile, nodding. As soon as they walked out the front door, she snorted, annoyed at herself. She really needed to quit suspecting weird reasons for whatever happened around her.