Obstruction of Justice Read Online Free Page A

substitute mom.
    "Fine. The blood had me scared, but I can walk."
    She led them to the edge of the slope, testing her leg gingerly and finding it really not too bad. They could see the two figures several hundred feet below. Collier waved. The other figure lay motionless.
    "We can’t get any closer, Dave," one of the technicians said. "Let’s get the stretcher. What kind of shape are you in, miss?"
    "Fine! Perfect!" The memory of her panic under the crag embarrassed her only a little. People did die on these mountains all the time. Look at that poor man lying down there, his life gone in an instant. They should have turned back. A perverse spirit had taken hold of them, and now—
    "You need dry clothes. There are some in the chopper, and you can share them with the others as soon as we take a look at the injured guy."
    "Sven, Dave, when we get back down, I’m going to do something for you. I’m going to ... make you a cake!"
    The men grinned. "Lemon frosting," Dave said.
    As they talked, they had been unloading their equipment and lacing on hiking boots. While they prepared themselves, a second chopper landed not far from the first one. A man introduced himself as Mike and took charge, directing the technicians. Nina, watching them, said, "Let me help."
    "The slope is steep and slick. It’s nasty," said Mike.
    "You might need another pair of hands."
    He made an instant decision, bringing over a sling-like red contraption and a length of cable, and said, "Okay, we’re going to rope up. Put this on."
    "What is it?"
    "A Whillans harness. Put your legs through here, pull it up around your waist, and put this ’biner through the front tab. Here, I’ll do it." In a moment she was wearing the harness and he was tying her to the rope with a complicated knot at her waist. The EMTs got into their harnesses and Mike said, "Let’s go."
    They began making their way down the slippery rockfall, Nina third in line and Mike in the back. "There are other people caught up here," Nina said between breaths. "The storm was terrible. They could be hurt too."
    "One at a time," Mike said. "Don’t worry. We won’t forget anyone."
    "The lightning ... it was horrible. He flew. I saw it, but I still don’t believe it," Nina said.
    "Take it easy. It’s all over now."
    The story seemed even more incredible now because, returning to its earlier state of apparent benevolence, the sky had cleared and the sun shone down, pure and golden in the afternoon. Yet the Tahoe Sierra gleamed white, as if it were December instead of August. Her watch said four o’clock.
    After about ten minutes of slipping and sliding down the rocks, they could hear Collier. "I tried for a long time. Half an hour at least," he called plaintively. He sat next to the unmoving body, completely spent, his forehead matted with wet hair.
    They slid down the last few feet to a level layer formed by a rock outcrop that had piled up loose rocks, making for unsteady footing. Nina stepped carefully over a rift, and reaching Collier, put her arms around his soaked shoulders. His face was drawn into the lineaments of deep sorrow. He buried his big head in her shoulder and said, "I breathed in and out a million times. I did it perfectly, perfectly. But she never moved."
    "It’s all right. Shhh. You did everything you could."
    "She’s dead," Collier said. "Isn’t she?"
    "She?" Nina said. She looked over at the face she had been avoiding, the singed eyebrows that she had seen from the corner of her eyes, the skull with a few flaps of flesh left that had once been ...
    Molly and Jason’s father. Ray, they had called him. He was obviously dead, his clothing hanging in black tatters, his bulky pack still stuck like a succubus to his back, a bit of burned wire hanging from the frame.
    "Anna," Collier said. He wiped his mouth, started to cry.
    Yelling came from up above. The man called Leo slid toward them, taking great, sliding steps that moved him down the slope twenty feet at a time.