The Awakening

Chapter 3

Multiple agencies descended upon the crash site in response to Brody's call. The local Sheriff's department, FBI forensics, NTSB crash investigators and a search and rescue team from the State Police all showed up over the next several hours.

Vegetation was cleared, then at the direction of the lead forensic technician, a series of large canopies were erected to protect the site from the weather. There had been nothing for Katarina to do but watch the experts while they worked. As the senior of the two, Brody had the responsibility for calling and briefing their boss, David Pettigrew, who was the Special Agent in Charge of the Seattle field office.

"What'd he have to say?" Katarina asked when Brody returned from using the phone at Zophiel's house.

"The usual. More worried about someone talking to the press than anything else."

They were standing on the edge of the ravine, watching the NTSB investigators move out from the crashed plane in a grid search. Every few steps, one of them would bend and insert a small, brightly colored flag with a unique number into the soft ground, then make a notation on a small tablet computer.

"And he wants the cash brought out and secured as soon as forensics releases it," Brody continued. "There's a team on the way to pick it up."

"Lot of money," Katarina said, not trusting herself to look at him.

"Doesn't feel right," Brody said, startling her.

"What?"

"This. If it turns out the pilot is our unidentified vic, how did The Reaper find him? We're supposed to believe this poor bastard had the bad luck to crash his plane at the same time and place where a serial killer just happened to be looking for a victim?"

"I had the same thought," Katarina said, even though she hadn't. "But if this isn't related to our victim, why is all that cash still sitting here? There wasn't a body in the plane, so the pilot must have survived. You don't think he'd come back for the money?"

"Don't know," Brody admitted, lighting a cigarette. "Maybe he was hurt and wandered off. Go almost any direction and there's nothing but unforgiving terrain. Real easy to get lost out here. Bears and mountain lions in the area, too. What the hell? For all we know, he wound up being dinner for the little woodland creatures. All I know for sure is that there's no way someone's going to walk away and forget about all that money."

"So why didn't someone come looking for it?"

"Where would they start?" Brody asked, raising his arms as he pointedly looked at the towering mountains and dense forest.

"So, they just wrote it off?"

"Maybe they look at it as the cost of doing business. Kind of like a retail store knows there's going to be a certain percentage of their stock get shoplifted. As long as it's not too much, they don't have a lot of incentive to spend big bucks on security."

They stopped speaking when Brody's radio began beeping for attention. He glanced at the screen before answering.

"Eloise," he said, pressing the transmit button.

Katarina looked down into the ravine. A woman wearing a white crime scene suit was looking up at them, a radio to her mouth.

"She wants us to come down."

"Why?"

The volume had been low and Katarina had been unable to hear the conversation. She spoke a little too sharply and Brody gave her a look.

"Well, I'd guess there's something she wants to show us."

Brody stepped forward to descend into the ravine, grasping the rope the Search and Rescue team had set up to assist with negotiating the slope. Pausing, he turned back and frowned at Katarina.