I pull the curtains away from the front window and squint through the gathering dusk. Beyond what must be the jeep track, the snow-covered wall of Anthracite Mesa climbs toward the sky, with spruce and fir trees marching up it in dark ranks. What I do not see is human beings.

“What did you mean about Presley and Marston making a nice package? You said, ‘Why complicate it?’ ”

Stone stands and walks toward me, telephone in hand. “I didn’t mean anything. Forget it.”

“You’re holding something back, aren’t you?”

He has the phone to his ear now, and his face has gone white. He throws down the phone and rushes me, holding out his pistol. “Take it!”

“What?”

“The phone’s dead! Take the gun!”

I take the gun, which looks like a Colt .45, and Stone snatches the hunting rifle up from the table. A Winchester 300, with a scope.

“Open the back door for me!” he orders. “There’s a sniper out there.”

As I run to the back door, I decide that not bringing Daniel Kelly with me was about the stupidest idea I’ve ever had.

Stone kneels six feet back from the door, shoulders the Winchester, and puts his right eye to the scope, as though preparing to shoot right through the door.

“Open it,” he says. “Slowly. Then get clear, fast.”

I slowly turn the handle, then stretch as far away as I can from the door and pull it halfway open.

Stone quickly adjusts his aim, then fires. The report of the rifle inside the cabin is like a detonation.

“He’s down!” shouts Stone. “Follow me!”

“Where to?”

Before he can answer, the front window of the cabin explodes inward and a bullet ricochets off the hearth. Stone whirls, draws a small automatic from his belt, and empties half a clip through the broken window.

“Move!” he yells, grabbing my arm and jerking me toward the door.

“Where?” I ask, my throat dry as sand.

“Somewhere they can’t follow!”

“Where’s that?”

“The river.”

“The river? In what?”

“You’ll see. Move your ass!”

CHAPTER 35

As Stone pulls me through the back door of the cabin, something explodes behind us. We fall facedown on the snow, stunned like cattle after being hit with an electric prod, but we scramble blindly backward for the cover of the cabin wall, knowing instinctively that exposure means death.