Page 98 of Reckoning

“Mrs. Wilson, I think it might be a good idea if you waited here with your sons. The rangers and I will go—”

Patti interrupted. “I’m going. My sons will stay, and they better be here when we get back too.” Then she glared at both of them. “We will talk when this is over, and don’t think for a second I’ll let that shit pass.”

Tate was already on the move, with three rangers and one sheriff’s deputy behind him and Patti bringing up the rear. The farther he walked, the clearer his vision became. When they reached the place where one trail became two, he paused, frowning. But when he saw the rest of what happened, he shuddered. Without speaking, he turned right and started into the woods.

One of the rangers shouted. “Wait. You’re leaving the hiking trail.”

Tate didn’t stop. “So did he,” he shouted. “He was being chased by a bear and running for his life.”

Patti moaned, then quickly turned to look behind her, but Tate kept moving deeper into the woods. They’d been walking for less than five minutes when he stopped abruptly and held up his hands.

“Stop! Don’t go any farther!”

A deputy stopped beside him, frowning. “Why not?”

Tate pointed. “See those bushes with the jagged leaves? There’s nothing beyond them but a long drop into the canyon below. Mr. Wilson wasn’t killed by a bear. He fell off the mountain. The bear’s down there too. It landed on top of him.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” the deputy snapped.

Tate shrugged. “Then proceed at your own risk, and don’t let go of those bushes as you push your way through. His body is straight down beneath the bear. It’s probably why search and rescue never spotted it.”

They started forward, then realized he wasn’t coming.

One of the rangers turned and asked. “Don’t you want to know if you’re right?”

“Sir, I already know I’m right. I’m looking straight at them in my mind, and it will take a while for me to get past the sight. I don’t need to reinforce it with a second look.”

The ranger shrugged, but when Patti began to follow them, Tate held her back.

“No, ma’am. You do not want that to be the last memory you have of the man you love.”

A few seconds later, Tate heard the first ranger cry out. “Holy shit! There’s the bear, and Wilson beneath him, just like he said.”

Patti stopped, dropped to her knees, then covered her face and began to weep. “You’re not much older than my sons, but your gift…my God. It puts you in a whole other bracket of humanity.”

Tate felt her sadness and wrapped his arms around her.

Sobbing in that quiet soundless way that only the brokenhearted can weep, she collapsed against his chest.

The men came scrambling back, talking loudly on their walkies, giving the rangers at the trailhead specific GPS locations as to where to send the helicopter and recovery team.

The deputy gave Tate a weird look, almost as if he was afraid of what he’d say next, while one of the rangers was urging Patti to leave.

“You need to go home now, Mrs. Wilson. This will take a while, and you can’t be down there. We’ll handle it from here.”

Patti swiped away tears and lifted her chin defiantly. “You didn’t ‘handle it’ when he was lost. And you aren’t responsible for finding him now either. My husband was alone down there for a week, waiting for someone to find him, and Tate Bandy did it in minutes. I’m not leaving him alone again until he’s off this godforsaken mountain.”

“It’s okay. I’ll wait with her,” Tate said.

Clearly chastised, the ranger ducked his head and headed back to the trail to catch up with the others, while a second ranger stayed on-site to watch for the chopper.

Tate shed his backpack, then pulled a blanket out and spread it on the ground.

“Sit here, ma’am,” he said, and handed her a bottle of water.

Patti crawled onto the blanket, then looked up. The sun was in her eyes and all she could see was a halo of light behind him. “Are you an angel?” she asked.

“No, ma’am. Just a Bandy.” He sat down beside her, folded up his long legs, and waited.