“I think I know where that is.”
Robin’s eyes went wide. “You do?”
“It’s a rock that looks like Jabba. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t remember how to get there. I’m completely blanking.” She caught a flicker of movement in the trees and spotted Sully sheltering behind a large cedar. “Sully’s back. Mark, do you see Anderson moving?”
“He’s just looking through some binoculars. The rifle’s up right now.”
“Maybe he doesn’t see Sully.”
“Shit. No, rifle’s down.”
“Just now?”
“Yeah.”
Val leaned out the door and shouted, “Sully, run right now!”
Without a second of hesitation, he bolted from the trees and made for the porch. By the time the shot rang out, he was under the eaves.
He was panting hard. “You know something I don’t?”
“Mark is upstairs and can see him. Anderson saw you, but he’d barely lowered his rifle. Hadn’t had time to aim.”
Sully’s eyebrows went up. “Mark?”
“Long story.”
“So you told me to run on a guess?”
“It was an educated gamble.”
He muttered, “Same damn thing” under his breath as he walked into the house. Once inside, he pulled a revolver from his waist and unhooked the camouflage bag over his shoulder.
“Bill had two rifles I could use, but he didn’t have much ammunition.” He glared at the three women. “Why the hell are Monica and Robin here?”
Monica said, “I had a vision of Josh getting shot at the cabin. Unfortunately, by the time we got up here, it had already happened.”
“Visions?” Sully’s eyebrows went up. “Ghosts and tele—whatever Valerie can do with her hands—and now visions?”
“Unfortunately, they’re not always very useful,” Monica said. “They get clearer the closer to the event, but that doesn’t always give me much time. In fairness, if you’d been in mobile phone range, we could have avoided all this.”
Mark’s voice rang out. “It’s weird, but you get used to it, Sully.”
The sheriff was slowly shaking his head. “Mark, you still have eyes on the shooter?”
“I think so. He’s behind Jabba now. I think he’s on skis. Pretty sure I saw his poles sticking out from behind the rock.”
“He’s on skis,” Sully muttered. “Fucking Olympic sharpshooter on skis.”
“I say we try to take him,” Monica said. “There are six of us.”
“Forget it,” Sully said. He looked at Val. “I managed to get a message to my deputy in Glimmer Lake. He’s got to find some machines, but as soon as he does, he’ll be up here.”
“Where is he getting snowmobiles?”
“I don’t know.”
“So you don’t know when he’s coming?”
“He’s a resourceful kid. And he’s going to alert the forest service. Technically we’re on federal land, and those rangers don’t mess around.”
“So we’re just supposed to wait until they get here?” Val said. “Anderson almost picked off Mark, Robin, and Monica while they were riding in. Who’s to say he wouldn’t be able to shoot any help before they could get to us?”
“What are you saying? You want to mount an assault up the mountain when there’s a sniper out there?”
Val looked around. Robin nodded at her. Monica did too. “I’m saying that you have three resources here that you don’t normally have. And one of them might come in more handy than you realize.” Val turned to Robin. “What do you say?”
Robin was wary. “I don’t know any of the people around here. They probably wouldn’t listen to me. You want me to call Bethany?”
“Do you think you can?”
Sully asked, “Call who?”
“We’re pretty far from Glimmer Lake, but I can try.” Robin glanced at Monica. “Help me find some paper and a pencil.”
Josh said, “I think there’s some in the kitchen.”
Sully crossed his arms. “What’s she going to do?”
Val stood next to “There’s a ghost that’s kind of attached to Robin. A girl. She usually hangs out around the lake, but she might be able to call her here.”
“I’ve never tried this far from the lake before.” Robin found a blank paper in a kitchen drawer and immediately began to sketch.
Mark called from upstairs. “Honey, you need me?”
Monica moved next to Robin. “I’ve got her, Mark.”
Val whispered, “Headaches. She gets really bad headaches after. Sometimes nausea.”
“And you?”
“More nausea than headaches, but it depends on how long I’m in a vision.”
“I don’t seem to have any side effects from visions,” Monica said. “But they almost always come in dreams, so I’m asleep.”
“She’s here.” Robin smiled. “Hey, Bethany. How are you?”
Chapter 23
There was a long silence while Robin listened to the ghost.
“Aren’t you cold?” She wore an absent smile. “We’re okay, but we’re wondering if