Page 17 of The Fragile Ones

“You and I are going to have to rappel down to the crime scene,” he said.

“What?” she said, as her stomach dropped. “Why don’t you have one of the search and rescue guys assist you? They are more qualified for a tricky climb.”

“You were trained in rappelling from helicopters in the army, right? You’ve done this before, correct?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“And we don’t want to compromise or contaminate the crime scene.”

“Well…of course not, but…”

“You and I are the most qualified for this venture and we search crime scenes.”

“He’s absolutely right,” stated the sheriff. “That’s why I wanted you to be here. We have to preserve any remaining evidence—if it’s even possible. So you and John are going down there to search and document the crime scene.”

Katie understood why they thought this was the best idea, but what everyonedidn’tunderstand was that that part of her army training was the worst by far—until now. To put it mildly, she’d hated every moment of the drill that day. The height. The falling. It was absolutely terrifying. She had never told anyone about her fears. She never thought it would come up in her work.

“You’re going to need to change,” said the sheriff.

“I…” Katie said weakly.

“C’mon, Katie,” said John. “This is the kind of stuff you and I live for—what we were trained for.” He looked at her shoes. “Do you have any other shoes with you?”

“Yes, I have my hiking shoes and running shoes in my duffel in the police sedan.” Her mouth went dry, and what she really wanted to do was turn and run away. Her heart pounded so loudly in her ears she wondered if it was possible for others to hear it too.

“Okay, get changed. We have the rest of the gear for you,” said John. He gave a quick smile and walked away, followed by the sheriff.

Katie didn’t say anything and turned back to the sedan. She concentrated on her footsteps, one in front of the other, as she felt a bit lightheaded. It would soon pass—at least until she was dangling in a ravine. How did she get herself into this?

“Hey, Katie, wait up,” said McGaven as he jogged up to her. “You okay?”

“Sure,” she mumbled. “You done with the statements?”

“Yeah, they are writing out everything they saw in addition to my notes,” he said. “What’s wrong? I heard how you’re going to search the crime scene. I thought all you soldiers dig this stuff? At least that’s what it shows on TV!” He tried to make light of the situation in order to make Katie laugh.

“No, Gav. It sucks. It’s the worst possible scenario—at least for me. I hate heights, and dangling over an abyss. Oh, and having a huge audience to watch me in the process. So no, I hate this. But…I’ll get through it because there’s an important case that needs closure and a killer to find.”

“Say something then.”

“I can’t do that,” she said as she opened the trunk of the vehicle and grabbed her gym bag. “It’s just like the army, you don’t do it because you have to, you do it because it’s the right thing to do.”

“What can I do to help?”

Katie glanced around the area as people were moving about. “Just make sure I have some privacy as I change my clothes.” She forced a smile, trying to get past her nervous tension and focus on what she had to do.

“You got it, partner,” he said and turned, leaning against the car watching for anyone approaching—talking to Cisco through a partially open window.

Katie quickly took a few steps into the trees, shed her hiking clothes and pulled on a pair of black running pants, sports bra, and long-sleeve T-shirt.

“This is going to be one of the most unusual crime scene searches in department history,” McGaven said, still keeping watch.

“True.”

“At least you won’t be alone.”

“True.”

“And it’s not in a dark cave.”