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Back Dead Horse Gap Save as PDF
Chapters (58)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. Prologue
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. Forty-six
  51. Forty-seven
  52. Forty-eight
  53. Forty-nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-one
  56. Fifty-two
  57. Fifty-three
  58. Acknowledgements

Sterling stood up and dragged her suitcase out from under the bed. Despite things ending badly, she’d done her best. Ryder had been supportive when she’d told him she had asked Heidi for drugs after the phone mix up, even though, as he’d warned her, that was the thing that had ultimately brought the assignment to an end. Don’t try and make things happen, he’d said.

Sterling opened the wardrobe and began taking clothes off the hangers. She’d learned a lot during this time, and though the desired outcomes hadn’t been achieved, she refused to see the the time she’d spent undercover as a failure—which she’d been inclined to do when she was younger, whenever anything went wrong. Ryder had taught her it was okay to fail every now and again. You’ll learn more from your failures than your successes, Sterling, he’d said.

Sterling slid a work shirt off a wire hanger. She’d miss Ryder. His imminent transfer was a loss to Homicide and had been a factor in her decision to take on this roll. Working closely with the sergeant and learning everything she could from him had been too good an opportunity to pass up. With a disappointed sigh she glanced at the old oil heater. She’d take ten minutes to pack a few things and regain her equilibrium, then she’d phone the sarge and Mitch.

It was time to get out of the bunker.

Forty

‘I’ve got a terrible feeling in my gut it’s Heidi Lorrimer,’ Flowers said as he turned onto Tooma Road. ‘She wasn’t at the meeting this morning, and she hasn’t got back to anyone on the phone, not even her family. And then after what Kristin said . . .’

‘Your instincts are spot on.’ Beside him, Ryder was riveted to his phone. ‘O’Day has the call log. He left a message while we were in the house. Art Lorrimer made a call to Heidi Lorrimer’s phone during the afternoon, and then again at seven-forty-one the night of the accident.’

‘Ben Hoff said he spoke to Lorrimer that day and told him not to land, that the weather was too bad,’ Flowers said.

‘That was probably his first call to Heidi, and the second one to say he was coming in anyway,’ said Ryder.

‘I agree,’ said Flowers. ‘He was probably giving her his estimated time of arrival so she could be at the airport to pick him up.’

Ryder nodded. ‘If she was working at the pub that night, and she asked if she could leave early, which Sterling said she does sometimes, she would have arrived at White Winter Station around eight-thirty.’

‘Which is the time Kristin saw her go into the study.’ Flowers glanced at the dashboard clock, his hands a little clammy on the wheel. ‘We’re thirty-five minutes from Khancoban. I’m pretty sure Sterling’s at work.’