“Please do. I’ll give you Grangeland’s cell number. You ready?”

Harv wrote it down.

“Have a safe flight. And don’t worry about Lansing and me. We have an… unspoken understanding.”

“He owes you a lot.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to put it quite that way.”

“Thanks again. For everything.”

“Have a safe flight, and give my regards to Grangeland.”

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Nathan hadn’t felt real talkative on the flight. Hearing Mary Grangeland’s voice had brightened his mood a little, but something continued to bug him. Something deep in his subconscious, more than just the sight of Kramer’s torture and murder, and more than the missing woman and her girls. The more he thought about it, the more elusive it became, like a lost thought during a conversation. It felt important, which made it even worse. Maybe he would do the hypnosis thing.

All in all, he’d thought he done a pretty good job concealing the hatred he felt toward Montez. He knew Harv sensed it. There was little—if anything—he could hide from his friend. Deep down, he needed Harv’s stability more than Harv needed his maverick nature. One thing was certain, they were ten times stronger as a team.

He broke the silence. “How long to Salt Lake?”

“About thirty minutes. We’re coming up on Provo. You’ve been kinda quiet since we left the marina.”

He didn’t respond, didn’t have to.

“We don’t have to look at it.”

“Somehow that seems… I don’t know…”

“Cowardly?”

“I wasn’t going to use that word, but yeah.”

“Truth be told, I’m a little uneasy too.”

“We’ll get through this. It’s just a body.”

They looked at each other. No, it wasn’t just a body. Far from it. More like a malevolent version of Alice’s looking glass. A portal to a dark chapter in both their lives. A chapter neither of them wanted to revisit. Maybe the Company shrink had it right after all. Maybe hatred is the strongest of all human emotions. Nathan had survived his torture by tapping into what seemed like an endless supply of it.

“You okay?” Harv asked.

“Huh?”

“You looked lost in thought.”

“Thinking about Montez.”

“Don’t obsess, okay?”

“I was starting to, thanks.”

Harv refolded his chart, putting Salt Lake City in the center of his knee board. “What are friends for?”

“I feel like there’s a time bomb in my head.”

“There is a time bomb in your head.”

“I was hoping for an argument.”

They flew in silence for a few minutes.

Harv said, “We ought to get on the horn to Salt Lake approach and request flight following from here on. It’s a beautiful day, there’re probably more than a few fixed wings around.”

“Good idea.”