Lucas Read Online Free PDF

brochure which was identical to the one Max Sutcliffe had given her. She wondered if it was also the one that had brought her brother all this way from San Francisco .
    “Can I help you?”
    Kathryn turned to find a young woman with long, brown hair pulled back into a neat ponytail and brown eyes with just a touch of mascara. Her face was makeup free, clean and pink-cheeked, as if she spent a lot of time outdoors. The name Belinda was stitched over the pocket of a neatly pressed U.S. Park Service uniform.
    “Special Agent Kathryn Hunter, FBI,” she said, flashing her credentials and hoping none of this ever came back to bite her in the ass.
    “Oh!” the young woman said, frowning a little. “Sheriff Sutcliffe said you’d be coming. You’re Daniel’s sister.”
    Kathryn blinked. “I am, yes. You remember my brother?”
    “He went backcountry twice, and I spoke with him before and after the second trip,” Belinda said, but her already pink cheeks had gone even redder.
    Kathryn smiled at the woman’s reaction. Her brother was charming and charismatic, and had a way of making people believe he really cared. And sometimes he did, even if it was only for the ten minutes he was talking to you.
    “So, how does that work exactly?” Kathryn asked.
    “Everyone’s supposed to check in with us before they head into the backcountry, although, of course, not everyone does. We try to make sure people know what they’re doing. It’s very rough out there in any weather, and hikers are completely on their own . I was a little concerned when I saw Dan was going solo, but after talking with him . . . well, it was obvious that he was an experienced hiker, and he was well-supplied.”
    “But he’d already been out and back once by the time you talked to him, right?”
    Belinda nodded. “He went out twice for ten days each time. That’s a long while to be out there alone, but the time I saw him come back through, he seemed fine. Better than fine, actually. Exhilarated. A little tired maybe, and ready for a shower, but when he left, he said he just wanted a few days of hot running water and good food, and he’d be coming back again.”
    “He was healthy? I mean, no obvious injuries, limping, bandages, that sort of thing.”
    “No,” Belinda said, frowning and shaking her head. “Like I said, a little tired, but other than that, he actually seemed happier than when he went out.”
    “You only saw him come back the once?”
    She nodded again. “The last time he was here. That’s why Sheriff Sutcliffe said you’d want to interview me, because I was the last person he talked to here.”
    “Did Dan check in with you guys the first time he went out, too?”
    “Yes, but I wasn’t here. That’d be Cody Pilarski . We rotate shifts so there’s always someone here.”
    “But you’re sure it was Dan’s last trip when you talked to him.”
    “Definitely. And I sure hope nothing’s happened to him. He was a really nice guy.”
    “He is a really nice guy,” she corrected, emphasizing the verb. Her brother might be missing, but he was still alive. She knew it in her gut. Something terrible had happened, but not the worst. Not yet. And not ever if she had anything to say about it.
    “Thanks,” she said to Belinda. She turned over one of her official business cards and wrote her personal cell number on it. “If you hear anything, or if anyone mentions seeing Daniel, please give me a call.”
    Belinda took the card, glanced down at it briefly, then tucked it into her breast pocket right under her name. “I’ll do that, Agent Hunter. I sure hope nothing’s happened to him,” she repeated, half to herself.
    Kathryn nodded absently as she turned away, her mind already on her next task, the next item she had to check off her list. Everything Belinda had told her coincided with what she knew. Dan had actually called her when he emerged from the backcountry. He’d left a message on her voicemail, telling her he was all