She didn‘t?

Not until I told her so.

He looked over and saw the rigid set of her jaw. He concentrated on driving the plane.

They set down on the mine‘s airstrip a little after noon and they went directly to the mess hall. The tables were full and the hubbub was loud, but it tapered off when they saw Kate attended by a state trooper in blue and gold and a full-grown gray wolf. Kate spotted Van and Johnny and went to their table, although Mutt beat her to Johnny by thirty seconds. Kate bent over and said in a low voice, You seen Holly Haynes?

They exchanged glances. I think she went out to eighteen-E, Van said. One of the rigs, Johnny said, his hands buried in Mutt‘s fur.

How do we get out there?

Johnny looked over at Jim. Drive. There‘s not what you‘d call a road, but it‘s navigable.

Thanks.

What‘s going on, Kate?

Tell you later.

Jim caught up with her outside. Let‘s go find Truax.

You go find Truax, she said, I‘m going to find Haynes.

Hold it, he said.

She stopped. Mutt stopped, too, great head swiveling back and forth between the two of them.

I want to find her and talk to her, too, but we don‘t really have any proof we can confront her with.

Means, opportunity, and we got about three different kinds of motive. Goddammit, Jim, I‘m not going to—

As they stood arguing a pickup came around the corner of a building and bumped over the uneven surface to a spot in front of the bull rail in front of admin. Haynes got out, wearing coveralls covered in mud up to the collar. She pulled off a hard hat and ran her fingers through sweat-soaked hair.

She saw them and her hand froze.

Haynes. Kate‘s voice was hard and uncompromising. We need to have a conversation.

Haynes dropped her hard hat and ran.

She hit the double doors of the admin building. Kate hit the doors on the backswing, got through them and saw Haynes halfway up the stairs.

Vern! Vern! Haynes was screaming the mine superintendent‘s name loud enough to be heard in Fairbanks. Vern!

She vanished around the corner and Kate heard her feet pounding down the hall. Kate took the stairs three at a time and as she got to the top she heard Vern say, I‘m right here, for crissake, stop yelling! What the hell‘s the problem? Kate got to the door of his office to find Haynes standing with Truax on the other side of his desk. She was looking up at him, pleading, and he was looking down at her, displeased. Kate was reminded of the day Haynes had come running to Vern on the airstrip with news of Lyda‘s death. Just so now had she looked at him then, her last hope of heaven, of succor, of rescue. All-y all-y out are in free.

Kate started forward. Truax saw movement from the corner of his eye and looked around to frown at her. Kate? What the hell is going on?