“Over here!” he shouts.
I run to him, staying low.
Moose is in a hole, grimacing.
“Can you climb out?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “No, I got stabbed by a tree on the way down.” He points to his calf, where a branch appears to have pierced it.
“Any other injuries?” I ask.
“No, I don’t think so.”
Rover runs up to my side. “Did you see where the shot came from?” he asks.
“No,” I say. “But I believe it came from over there.” I point.
That’s when I notice it. Through the trees, it’s hard to see, but there is a ridge within view. Dammit. Anyone could have been up there.
A flash on the ridge catches my eye.
“Did you see that?” Rover asks.
“I did,” I say.
“Let’s go.”
We head through the trees to the edge of the hillside. There are a couple of dirt paths that appear to go to the top of the ridge. Rover leads on the path that is shielded by bushes. We keep low, hoping whoever is up there doesn’t see us.
Although it’s likely after shooting Damien, the killer ran away, unless he was directed to take out more than just Damien. We make it to the top of the ridge, and there is no one here.
“Our shooter was here,” Rover says, pointing at a bullet casing on the ground.
He picks it up with a leaf and pockets it. “Not sure if Harding can get anything off this, but it’s worth a try.”
After a quick look around, I find three cigarette butts. All the same brand. I pick those up in a leaf as well. We make our way back to the others.
Moose is out of the hole, and Harding is tying a ripped shirt sleeve around his leg. The stick is still stuck in his leg. Davis, who is missing a shirtsleeve, is standing near Sylvia, who is hunched over a log, crying.
“He needs stitches,” Harding says, nodding at Moose. “And we need to get Sylvia out of here and find out what she knows.”
“What do you want to do about Damien? We can’t exactly show up somewhere with a body,” Rover asks.
“We have to leave him,” Harding says.
Sylvia wails louder.
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have a choice,” Davis says.
Harding nods to me. “Durango, Rover, I need to talk to you.”
We follow her out of earshot of the others.
“I saw you go to the ridge. Did you see anyone?”
“No. But we did find a bullet casing and some cigarette butts. We have those in our pockets. Someone was there,” Rover says.
“I’ll get those from you later. Right now, we need to get out of here before the shooter comes for the rest of us.” She shakes her head. “This is really fucked up. We needed Damien.”
