Antler Dust (The Allison Coil Mystery Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

from being buried by too much snow.
    “Aw, Christ,” said Applegate, keeping his distance and starting to sob.
    Grumley went to the body without hesitation and started brushing away snow and working to avoid disturbing the body.
    “If I was the coroner I would say he’s dead. What is this brown thing?”
    The brown cloth covering the corpse was like a large cape, neither shaped nor stitched like regular clothing.
    “Where did you shoot him?”
    “I was standing farther up the slope,” said Applegate. “Hundred yards or so.”
    “No, I mean where in the body?”
    “Christ, I don’t know. I thought it was a deer.”
    “I believe that’s what you were supposed to think.”
    The brown cape completely surrounded the body. Grumley found an arm and could feel the legs, but he wasn’t particularly keen on rolling the guy completely over to see much more.
    “We’ve gotta carry him out,” said Applegate. “And report it.”
    “You’re crazy,” said Grumley. “No cops, no nobody.”
    Applegate looked puzzled, said nothing.
    “Of course not,” said Grumley. “You’d be a fool. You’re the guy they want.”
    “They?”
    “The animal nuts. This dude was trying to get shot. Maybe not killed, but you did the trick. You’re looking at jail time, buddy. Negligent homicide. Manslaughter, I don’t know the right terms. It wouldn’t matter how much remorse you’d spew out.”
    Applegate swallowed a mouthful of fear.
    “This is the rifle you shot him with?” said Grumley. He studied Applegate’s Sako and its beautiful wood-grained craftsmanship.
    “Yeah.”
    “You gotta lose it.”
    “Lose?”
    “Give it to me,” said Grumley. “I’ll take care of it. If anybody asks, you put it down and you don’t remember where and you forgot about it. Lost it.”
    “Okay,” said Applegate.
    “If you walk out carrying this guy on your shoulders like a sack of potatoes, you’re looking at a media frenzy and your butt on the barbecue.”
    Grumley could not believe Applegate hadn’t simply disappeared on his own and pretended that nothing had ever happened.
    “If you admit to having done this, you’re going to drag yourself down and they’ll probably get me, too. We do not want that. Are you with me?”
    “Yeah.”
    Grumley took a step closer to Applegate.
    “I got too much to lose if my name is so much as whispered in connection with this. You’d be the dumb out-of-towner with the inability to distinguish a deer from a human and since you were part of my hunting party, I’d be fodder for the local mincemeat factory. This guy’s dead. Judging by the looks of things it’s what he wanted, for whatever crazy reason. A guy who dresses like a deer during hunting season is begging to get shot. You fucked up once, Applegate. You won’t do it twice. You gotta pretend it was a real bad dream.”
    “I suppose,” said Applegate. “But what about him, leave him here?”
    “Of course,” said Grumley, taking two steps closer so he was smack in Applegate’s face. “Now, listen to me. We’re going to walk back to the main trail. We’re going to hope the snow falls until Groundhog Day and covers every one of our goddamn tracks. We split up. You head down to safety. I’ll go back up to camp. You don’t have too far to go, maybe an hour or two at the most, depending on your pace. You never saw me.”
    “Okay,” said Applegate.
    “Can you make it okay? You’re gonna have to use your wits to stick to the main trail. At least it’s not snowing as hard down here as it is up on top.”
    “I will.”
    “You’ll get cleaned up and wait at the barn, right?”
    “Whatever.”
    “What happened to your rifle?” he said.
    “Lost and forgot,” said Applegate. “Right?”
    “Right.”
    Sending Applegate down alone carried huge risks. At the very least, he could have a tough time staying on the trail, given all the snow and the darkness. He might have a change of heart and blubber it all out to the first person he