“In his dreams. More of a survivalist, I reckon. I figured at least he was taking out his fantasy on the deer and pigs. I got his name and Googled him ’cause it was bugging me. Shane something. Did time for armed robbery and assault.”
“Good call not to take him.”
“Yeah. Mostly I’m good with being up here alone, but being up here alone with him...” She twitched as an image of the tourist’s body flashed in her mind. “Shit, so where’s the dead guy’s girlfriend? And the other couple who disappeared? If he’s... Oh God, I delivered them to him. He could be living in the hut, lying in wait.”
“Best thing we can do for all of them is get help. Let’s do this.”
She nodded. “True. Be careful, Cowboy.”
Another grin, like this was a game. “Always. And you know, I’m a city boy. I earned a business degree and worked in a tech company, so this ‘Cowboy’ thing you got going...”
“Sodisappointing. See you tomorrow, Cowboy.”
“Look forward to it.” He winked, still grinning as he walked off.
Was that...? Was he...flirting? Now?
Hell. She’d better bloody see him tomorrow.
CHAPTER FOUR
TIACLAMBEREDUPthe bank and retraced her steps as Cody melted into the bush behind her. She really didn’t want to leave him but, like he said, it was the best plan they had. As the hut came back into view, the shooting resumed, bullets hammering metal like a thousand nail guns firing at once.
She crept to a point that gave her a limited view of the clearing—the closest she dared to get. The hunter—Shane—was standing on a half-buried boulder, his body jolting with the recoil. Shit. He was disabling her chopper—with an AR-15 with a telescopic sight. He paused, slammed in a new magazine, angled the rifle through the open pilot’s door and sprayed the controls, left to right to left to right... She winced. Cartridges pinged against the hull. The dogs whined and yelped. The straining head of the attack dog was just visible around the side of the hut, an orange lead attached to its collar. He’d tied them up.
Movement behind her. She swung, tensing. Cody, a meter away. She thumped a fist onto her chest. “Oh my God, stop doing that.”
He dropped behind a rotting tree trunk, gesturing for her to join him. “I’m thinking our plan’s just been shot to hell.”
“Yep. And he’s taken out the radio.”
“Could we set off my distress beacon?”
She pressed her lips together. Tempting, but... “Too dangerous for Search and Rescue. Out here it can take hours for the satellite to fly over and catch the signal. By the time they get here they’ll be flying in darkness, with no clear place to land.”
“And a madman going nuclear on them.”
“They’d be prepared for a broken leg, not combat. Someone will come looking when I fail to return, but that could be days. They’ll have me recorded as safely on the ground up here.”
“What’s the quickest way out if not by air?”
“We’re not dressed to go over the peaks and down the glacier,” she whispered, thinking aloud.
“Any other walking tracks? Roads?”
“Not this high up. And bashing through the bush could take weeks.”
“Which leaves the river.”
“We’d be sitting ducks.”
“Except ducks can fly.”
She rolled her eyes, but his focus was on the clearing—now quiet again.
“We gotta do it,” he whispered. “River’s near peak flow so it’ll be fast. How’s your kayaking?”
“Rusty. We did some white water in training. Team-building stuff.” But she needn’t go all the way to Wairoimata. If she could get a few hours downstream, she could go bush while Cody paddled out. “You can talk me through the tough bits.”
