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Back Less than Dead Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  4. DEDICATION
  5. CONTENTS
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“What?”

“I went up there the other night. I told Alena that Marge just couldn’t do the job. I talked her into coming down and helping me with that three-legged dog of hers. She didn’t want to come at first; she finally agreed, but only if I promised not to tell anyone she was there. Alena found every one of those graves, but Marge took credit for it—I think that’s why Marge is dead and not Alena.”

“That means Alena is in danger. We have to go to the police.”

“Alena is safe as long as no one knows about her involvement. You said it yourself: News travels fast in a small town. If we tell the police, how long will it be before everybody else knows? No—right now our best chance of keeping Alena safe is to keep her out of it.”

Gunner thought about that. “If you’re right, then you took a big chance even telling me. What if I turned out to be the town gossip?”

“Are you?”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so. I have to trust you, Gunner—I need your help.”

“Tell me what I can do.”

“Look—I understand ‘clergy confidentiality’ and all, but is there anything you can tell me about Alena? This isn’t just idle curiosity. If I’m going to figure all this out, then I need to understand what’s going on here.”

Gunner took a minute to consider his words. “I’ve known Alena since she was a little girl,” he said. “I knew her father—his name was Ken Savard. The land on the top of this mountain has been in Alena’s family longer than anyone can remember. Ken and Alena moved up there when she was just a little girl—just the two of them.”

“And the mother?”

“Divorced, I think, maybe deceased—I never got the details. I’m not sure Alena even knows.”

“What did her father do for a living?”

“He worked over in Front Royal at the Canine Enforcement Training Center—that’s where the Customs and Border Protection people train all the drug-sniffing dogs that they use along the borders; ATF trains bomb-sniffing dogs there too. How much do you know about detection dogs?”

“I’ve worked around them; I’ve seen what they can do. I know they can be trained to find narcotics, people hiding in cars, large amounts of currency—things like that.”