"Look," she said, "this is silly. You don't know anything about me."

"But I do. You're a hard worker. You're kind to old drunks. You're a woman of your word. All day long yesterday, I was afraid you'd stand me up."

Angie smiled. "I almost did," she said.

"But the point is, you didn't. You're here. Maybe you don't believe in love at first sight, but I do."

That was it. "Look," she said forcibly, "you think I'm a woman of my word, but I already lied to you. When you asked where I went to school, I know you meant where did I go to college. I've never even been to Ann Arbor. I went to high school in a place called Battle Creek, but I didn't graduate. When I ran away from home, I took the name Kellogg after the factory my father worked in back home. I don't have a degree in teaching. I'm an ex-hooker. The job in the Blue Moon as a bartender is the first real job I've ever had."

Not knowing what kind of reaction to expect, she stopped and waited. It wasn't long in coming. A grin creased Dennis Hacker's face. "You're kidding!"

"I'm not."

Angie Kellogg couldn't possibly have anticipated what happened next. Dennis's initial grin dissolved into gales of laughter. He laughed until the tears rolled down his cheeks and he had to hold his sides. "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard," he gasped at last.

But Angie didn't think it was funny. She put down the bin-oculars and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving."

"Come on, Angie. Let me explain."

Angie Kellogg wasn't interested in explanations. Without a glance over her shoulder, she bolted away from him, heading back down the mountain the way they had come. Dennis, shaking his head and still chuckling, took his time packing up. He returned the two pair of binoculars to their separate cases and then put them and the bottled water he'd brought along back in his backpack. He had no doubt that he'd meet up with Angie back at the truck. Once she realized what he was laughing about, Dennis knew it would be all right.

Hefting the pack onto his back, he started after her. On the way up, he had followed a meandering path that had kept the rise in elevation from being quite so steep. For going back down, though, and because he wanted to reach the Hummer about the same time Angie did, he set off straight down the mountain.

Which was how, half an hour later, Dennis Hacker stumbled onto the wrecked remains of a smashed red pickup.

After rubbing Kiddo down, feeding him, and returning him to the corral, Joanna went back to the house. By then the coffee was ready. She poured herself a cup and was headed for the porch when the phone rang.

"Sheriff Brady?" Tica Romero, one of the departmental dispatchers, was on the phone. "We've got a problem." "What's that?"

"A one-car fatality rollover has just been reported in the Peloncillos. Off the road up in Skeleton Canyon. A hiker reported the incident. Called it in on his cell phone. At least one person is dead, but it's pretty rough country. There could be more bodies and they just haven't found them yet. The guy who found it gave me a description and a license number."

"And?"

"I thought you'd want to know right away. It's a red Toyota Tacoma," Tica replied. "Registered under the name of David O'Brien. Isn't that the missing person case-"

"Yes, it is," Joanna interrupted. "Any ID on the victim?"

"Not so far. The body must have been thrown free in the accident. The vehicle fell on top of it. There won't be any way to tell exactly what's underneath until we get a tow truck in there to move the vehicle."

Joanna's throat constricted. Her right hand shook so badly that she had to put down her coffee cup in order to keep from spilling it. The O'Briens' worst fears and Joanna's niggling premonition were both coming true. Brianna O'Brien was dead, but there could be no notification made to the parents waiting at Green Brush Ranch until after the sheriff's department had some additional confirmation.

Joanna turned at once to the enlarged map of Cochise County that she had tacked to the wall over her living room phone. There were two forks to Skeleton Canyon. The south fork ran virtually north and south and was entirely inside Cochise County. The north fork ran east and west and crossed over into New Mexico.

"You're sure this is our deal and not Sheriff Trotter's over in New Mexico?" Joanna asked. She couldn't help hoping the wrecked truck would end up being someone else's problem instead of hers.

"It's ours, all right," Tica answered. "It's the south fork, not the north. And the truck isn't all," she continued. "Mr. Hacker says-"

"Mr. Hacker?" Joanna asked. "You mean Dennis Hacker, the parrot guy?"

"I don't know anything about parrots, but that's the name he gave. Dennis Hacker. Do you know him?"

"Yes. What does he say?"

"That one of your friends is missing up there as well. Her name is Angie Kellogg. Hacker says that in all the confusion of finding and reporting the accident, she wandered off some place by herself. He says she's out there alone without any food or water. He's asking for help organizing a search party."

Angie missing? Joanna wondered. How could that be? With a sinking feeling, she remembered her conversation with Angie the night before-remembered how Angie had been concerned about going on what had essentially been a bird-watching blind date. Joanna also remembered all too clearly that she, Joanna, had been the one who had urged Angie to put her concerns aside and go.

"Tica," Joanna said, "can you patch me through to Mr. Hacker? I want to talk to him."

"Sure thing, Sheriff Brady. Hang on."

"Mr. Hacker," Joanna said seconds later, "this is Sheriff Brady. What's happening?"

"Angie disappeared," he said.

"How did the two of you get separated?"

"We had a little misunderstanding," Hacker said. "She took off. I discovered the wreck while I was following her back down the mountain. I thought for sure she'd go straight back to the truck, but I'm here now, and there's no sign of her. She isn't here and hasn't been, as far as I can tell. I tried to back-track up the trail. She must have missed one of the turns along the way."

Misunderstanding, Joanna thought grimly. Right.

"So where are you now?"

"At the north entrance to Skeleton Canyon. The one off Highway 80."

"And where's the wrecked truck?"

"Just below the ridge between Hog Canyon and the south fork of Skeleton."

"Can we get a wrecker to it?"

"It won't be easy. It's twenty yards off the nearest trail in strictly four-wheel-drive terrain. It's going to be bad enough just getting the body out, to say nothing of the wrecked pickup. What about Angie, though? Will you notify Search and Rescue? From what Angie told me, I don't think she's ever been out in the mountains by herself before. I'm afraid-"

"Exactly how long has she been gone?" Joanna interrupted.

"An hour now, maybe more."

"Just hold on, Mr. Hacker. I know Angie Kellogg personally. She's a friend of mine, and one thing I can tell you about her is that she's got plenty of common sense. We've got people on the way. There'll be sirens and lots of noise out there. I'm sure she'll be able to follow the sounds and find her way back down the mountain."

"But..."

"No buts. I'm on my way myself. I'll be there as soon as I can. You wait right where you are so you can guide us in when we get there."