Northern Lights

jurisdiction. But that didn't mean he couldn't make some copies of the pictures for his own files.
    Who was he? How had he gotten there? How long had he been there? Why was he dead? The questions got him through the ER and to the nurse's station just as the rescue team brought in the other two boys.
    He decided the best place for him was out of the way, and when he spotted Meg swing in behind the team, he crossed to her.
    "It's their lucky day," she said.
    Nate caught a glimpse of one of the boy's faces, shook his head. "That's debatable."
    "Any day the mountain doesn't kill you is lucky." And bringing them back alive when she'd expected to find bodies, pumped her. "They're probably going to lose a few digits, and the kid with the broken leg is in for some serious pain and physical therapy, but they're not dead. We've lost the light, and I don't see any reason to head out this late. We won't be flying back tonight. I'm going to get us a room at The Wayfarer. Rates are reasonable, and the food's good. You ready?"
    "I've got a couple of things to do. I'll find you."
    "You're longer than twenty minutes, you'll find me in the bar. I want alcohol, food and sex." She gave him a suggestive smile. "More or less in that order."
    "Sounds reasonable. I'll be there."
    She zipped up her coat. "Oh, that reflection you caught? Plane wreck. Probably the guy who took those kids up. Mountain got one after all."
     
     
    HE WAS CLOSER TO NINETY than twenty minutes, and he found Meg, as promised, in the bar.
    It was wood-paneled, smoky and decorated with animal heads. She was passing the time at her table with a beer and a bump, and a plate of something that looked like nachos. She had her feet up on the second chair, but shifted them off when Nate stepped up to the table.
    "There you are. Hey, Stu? Same for my friend."
    "Just the beer," Nate corrected. "These any good?" he asked as he pried up a nacho.
    "They fill the hole. When we're suitably buzzed, we'll go have a steak. Did you stay back to keep an eye on those boys?"
    "That, and a couple of other things." He dragged off his hat, scooped a hand through his hair. "Rescue team didn't go into the cave?"
    "Boys dragged themselves out when they heard the air support." She scooped up cheese, meat, salsa with a chip. "Priority was to get them down for medical assistance. Somebody'll go up, eventually, for the gear they left behind."
    "And the dead guy."
    She lifted her eyebrows. "You bought that story?"
    "Yeah, I did. Added to that, the kid took pictures."
    She pursed her lips, then pried up another loaded chip. "No shit?"
    "Beer's up," came the call from the bar.
    "Hold on," she said to Nate. "I'll get it."
    "You want another round, Meg?" Stu asked her.
    "We'll let him catch up some first." She snagged the brown bottle, brought it back to the table.
    "He took pictures?"
    Nate nodded, took a gulp of beer. "Digital camera, which he had in his pocket. I talked this guy at the hospital into printing them out for me." He tapped his fingers on the manila envelope he'd tossed on the table. "I had to turn the camera over to the State boys. Maybe they'll keep me in the loop, maybe not." He shrugged.
    "You want to be in the loop?"
    "I don't know." He shrugged again, tapped his fingers again. "I don't know."
    Oh, he wanted to be in the loop, she thought. She could all but see him making some sort of mental list. Some sort of cop list. If that's what it took to turn those sad, gray eyes sharp, she hoped the State boys let him play.
    "He probably hasn't been up there very long."
    She lifted her glass. "Why do you say that?"
    "Somebody would've found him."
    She shook her head, sipped whiskey. "Not necessarily. Cave like that can get buried in a storm, drowned under in an avalanche or overlooked by climbers. Another avalanche, oh look, there's a cave. Then it depends on where he was in the cave. How deep. Could've been up there for a season or for fifty years."
    "They'll get forensics either way. They'll be able to date him, hopefully ID him."
    "Already working on solving the case." Amused, she gestured toward the envelope. "Let me see. Maybe we'll be like Nick and Nora Charles."
    "It's not the movies, and it's not pretty, Meg."
    "Neither is gutting a moose." She chomped another nacho, then drew the envelope over to open it. "If he's a local, maybe somebody'll recognize him. Though you get plenty of Outsiders on No Name in any given year. The kind of gear he's wearing should . . ."
    He saw her color