Read Online Evan Blessed by Rhys Bowen - Free Book Online

quavered.
    Evan was annoyed with himself for not considering this possibility.
    â€œI think they are well signed and blocked off, but—”
    â€œBut she could have slipped and fallen—if she was in a hurry. If she was trying to catch up with me and—it’s all my fault. I should never have been so bloody stupid. I suppose I was tired and when I’m tired, I get cranky.”
    Evan looked at the serious, owlish face with more sympathy.
    â€œWe’ll call out a team to check the mines. Watch your step.” He grabbed at the young man’s jacket as he slithered on the loose shale. “We don’t want you disappearing over the edge.” It came to him that Paul Upwood was completely ill at ease in such conditions. Not a hiker, then. Shannon must indeed have been a delicate flower if she had seemed slow to Paul.
    â€œI’ll go first,” he said, “then you can grab onto me if you feel yourself slipping. Watch where I put my feet.”
    He started off again, stepping down from rock to rock. The round outline of Glaslyn became visible through the cloud, then disappeared again. Suddenly Paul shouted, “Wait. What’s that?”
    Evan stopped. Paul was staring down a steep face of loose scree. “There. Down by the water’s edge.”
    Evan had to wait until the clouds parted again before he saw what Paul was pointing at. A tiny patch of red, close to the waterline.
    â€œShe had red gloves with her,” Paul said.

    â€œStay there,” Evan commanded, and started to pick his way down the slope. Of all the things he disliked most, maneuvering across scree was one of them. With every footfall it was possible to set off a miniature avalanche that would gather momentum and send him plummeting downward, unable to stop. He slid, clambered, slid some more, until at last he was standing at the lakeshore. Then he picked his way across the scree slope to retrieve the red object. It was indeed a glove. He piled a cairn of stones to mark its position and started the long, treacherous ascent back up to Paul. Thoughts buzzed inside his head. Had she stumbled, stepped off the path, and slid down out of control toward the lake? In which case, had she gone in? Wouldn’t someone have noticed or at least heard her cries? Would someone have heard the splash? And, unless she was first unconscious, why hadn’t she been able to scream for help? If she had been wearing a heavy backpack, would it have dragged her under?
    Evan regained the path and handed Paul the glove. The latter let out a sob when he saw it. “It’s hers. It’s Shannon’s glove. Then she did come back this way. But what was it doing down by the lake?” He peered downward. Strands of mist hid the surface again. “You don’t think she fell in, do you?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Evan said. “Was she wearing a backpack?”
    â€œYes, she was. It was quite heavy, too. You don’t know Shannon. She always has to have her makeup and hairbrush and then she had her jacket and a camera. I carried it for her for a while, but I gave it back to her after lunch, because I thought it would be lighter after we’d eaten the food.”
    Evan took out his mobile phone. “I’ll call my boss and let him know what we’ve found. He’ll take it from there. I just hope the phone works up here.”
    â€œWatkins here,” came the voice on the other end.
    â€œSir, it’s Evans. We’ve found the girl’s glove. At the bottom of a steep slope beside Glaslyn. It looks as if she could have fallen down the scree and gone in.”
    â€œBloody hell,” Watkins said. “Right. I’ll get men onto it. And how fast can you get down here, Evans?”

    â€œDown where, sir?”
    â€œMy office. Forensics was able to match one set of fingerprints on a can of baked beans we found in the bunker. Young bloke who was arrested last year for