Angels Fall

tracks, Reece, in any direction, but for Rick's going in and out. Look." He crouched. "See here? I'm no Natty Bunippo, but I can handle the basics. My tracks from this morning, and Rick's. Ground's pretty soft."
    "Well, they didn't fly in on the wings of a damn dove."
    "No. But if he knew anything about tracking, about hiking, he could've covered his tracks."
    "Why? Who'd look here for a dead woman no one saw him kill?"
    "You saw him. And maybe he saw you right back."
    "He never looked around, never looked across."
    "Not while you were looking across. You ran, didn't you? And left your stuff sitting on the rock. Maybe he caught a glimpse of you taking off, or just saw your pack on the rock. Two and two make four pretty quick. He covered up. It took us two hours to get back to my cabin. Another thirty minutes easy before Rick would've gotten out here. More like another hour because he talked to you first. Three hours? Hell, you could cover up an elephant march through here if you knew your ass from your elbow."
    "He saw me." And her throat slapped shut on the idea of it.
    "Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Either way, he was careful. Smart and careful enough to take his time, cover up any sign he'd been here, or she had."
    "He saw me. Why didn't I think of that before?" She passed a hand over her face. "He'd already dragged or carried her away, or weighed her down and tossed her in the water, by the time I got to you."
    "I'd go for the first option. Takes time to weigh down a body."
    "So he carried her away."
    Recce stopped, because there was the river rushing by ahead of the line of trees, the tumble of rocks. The blade of it cut through the canyon so the walls seemed to fly straight up. As if we were in a box, she thought, with the lid off to the spread of sky.
    "From here," she murmured, 'it's all so… alone here. The river, the presence of it, cuts you off from everything. And it's all so beautiful, why would you care?"
    "A good place to die."
    "No place is. Once you've been close enough, you know no place is a good place to die. But this is so stunning—the trees, the rocks, the walls, the water. It would've been the last thing she saw, and she didn't see it at all. She was so angry. I think she didn't see anything but him and her own rage. Then there would've been the fear, and the pain."
    "Can you see where you were from here?"
    She walked out, closer to the river. Cooler today, she thought, and not as bright. The sun wasn't as strong and the clouds were thicker— streams and rolls of white over the blue.
    "There." She pointed up, over. "I stopped there, sat there and ate a sandwich, drank some water. The sun felt good, and I liked hearing the water. I saw the hawk. Then I saw them, standing here."
    She turned to Brody. "Like we are. She was facing him, like this, and he had his back to the water. I said before I didn't think she saw anything but him. I guess he was only seeing her, too. I watched her more, because she was more animated. A lot of movement."
    Reece threw her arms out, demonstrating. "Drama. You could feel the heat of her across the river. She was steaming. But he seemed very controlled. Or his body language was. Am I making this up?" She pressed her fingers over her eyes. "Am I remembering what happened, or projecting?"
    "You know what you saw."
    The absolute calm in his tone had her dropping her hands, and quieted the flutters in her belly. "Yes. Yes, I do. She was winging her arms around, jabbing her finger at him. I'm warning you . It seemed like that. And she shoved him."
    Reece planted her hands on Brody's chest, pushed. "I think he fell back a step." she said drily. "If you wouldn't mind getting into character."
    "Okay." He obliged.
    "He went like this." Reece crossed her hands, flung them out. "I thought. Safe! Like the umpire's signal."
    "Baseball?" He felt a trickle of amusement. "You thought baseball?"
    "For a second. But it was That's it. I've had enough . Then she slapped him."
    When Reece swung her hand. Brody caught her wrist. "I get the picture."
    "I wasn't going to hit you. He took it, the first time, then she hauled off and hit him again. That's when he pushed her down. Go ahead."
    "Sure." Brody gave her a shove, and though it pushed her back a little, it didn't take her down.
    "It must've been a lot harder than that. No." She lifted her hands when he smiled and feinted another shove. "I'll just go with it." She glanced back to gauge the distance to the rocks. Reenacting the