Is she really dead? Maybe she’s only injured, but it looks like a devastating injury. And why else would the vultures have come? I drop Bonnie’s arm and force myself forward a few steps. The vultures stop pecking, but barely deterred, they hop back less than a foot.
It’s enough for me to have a better view, though, and the sight makes me recoil. Hannah’s hair is matted and wet with blood, especially near the base of her skull. There’s a hole there, and pieces of flesh stuck in the ooze surrounding it.
“We have to go,” I say to Bonnie in a hoarse whisper.
“Is it—?”
“Hannah? Yeah, it must be.”
“I tried to throw a rock—to make the birds go away, but...”
“Bonnie, I don’t think there’s anything you could have done. She must be dead.”
As Bonnie lets out a moan, I grab her arm again and haul her away from the stream. I try to run, the two of us entwined,but the best I manage is a slow jog, hampered by my panic. Someone brutally attacked Hannah, right here on my in-laws’ property. Every few steps I twist my neck and check behind us, making sure no one is following.
We reach the first meadow, where the higher grasses block our view, and each time we approach another curve in the serpentine path, my fear balloons further, as I wonder what’s on the other side. But we don’t see anyone, and finally burst into the flower meadow. At the end of it I check behind me yet again, almost tripping as I swing back around.
We’re halfway through the trellised path when Bonnie begs me to stop.
“I’ve got to rest for a sec,” she says.
“Of course,” I tell her. We halt and both lean forward at the waist, gasping for air. At least from here, we can see the house, up the slope and far across the lawn.
“I can’t believe this,” Bonnie says, a sob caught in her throat. She’s practically dripping with sweat, and in the contained space of the path, I pick up its sour smell. “Was she raped, do you think?”
“Maybe. Or someone intended that and when she tried to fight him off, he killed her.”
“Oh god, the poor girl. But who could have done it?”
So far, I’ve been too terrified to wonder, but now a thought takes shape. “Claire said something the other day about hunters coming onto the property.”
“Yes, more than once,” Bonnie says. “Mostly in the fall, during deer season, though I think she spotted one recently. You’re allowed to shoot groundhogs in summer but not on private property like this.”
I nod, trying to piece it together. “When did you last see Hannah today?”
“When she came by the kitchen for coffee—like I told you. And then I saw her from the window going across the lawn.”
“She... she might have walked down here right after.”
And stumbled onto her attacker. Was it really a hunter then, one who thought nothing of assaulting and killing her?
But then, unbidden, other names force their way into my brain, no matter how hard I try to keep them out.
Nick.Who’d quarreled with Hannah last night.
Marcus.Who seems to have been livid with Hannah, though I don’t know why. Perhaps because he couldn’t have her for himself.
No, it can’t be one of Gabe’s brothers. Itcan’tbe.
Behind us, leaves rustle in the wind, startling me, but I turn to see there’s no one there.
“Can you start again?” I ask Bonnie, desperate to be back at the house.
“Yeah, I’m okay now.”
Linking arms, we cover the rest of the passageway and then scurry up and across the lawn. There’s no one outside the house, but as soon as we enter through the side door, I hear voices coming from the living room. We follow the sound to find Ash, Marcus, and Gabe standing in a circle, hands in their pants pockets, clearly having a discussion of some kind.
“Where’s Nick?” I ask, still nearly breathless.
