Читать книгу One Mile Under - Andrew Gross, Andrew Gross - Страница 19

Early the next morning Dani was back out on the river.

There was a ranger station at the beginning of the park road. Cammie was on duty. Dani knew her, of course; she was out here almost every day. She handed out maps and advised people on where to camp and the conditions.

And they also kept track of the car traffic. All day.

“No run this morning?” Cammie said as Dani drove up, leaning out of her hut. The river had just been reopened and Dani waited at the gate until a few vans and buses from both Whitewater Adventures and a few competitors went on through. There was no kayak strapped to the top of Dani’s Subaru.

“I’m doing the bus pickup later this afternoon. Cammie, listen, you mind if I talk to you about something?”

“Not at all.” The ranger leaned out and looked down the road, seeing no one behind them. “Lots of doings out here these past two days. What’s on your mind?”

Dani pointed to the camera at the gate that recorded the license plates of all vehicles going inside the park. “You keep that thing on, don’t you?”

“Twenty-four/seven. Even after the gates are closed. State law.”

“And you keep the film here? From the past few days.”

They’d known each other for years, even though Cammie was about ten years older. But she’d been part of the park detail for a long time and Dani had been coming here since she was a teenager. Her booth had a picture taped up with her and her female partner. “Just what date are you looking for, Dani?”

Dani looked at her. “Last Tuesday. The twenty-second.”

Cammie looked back at her. “Tuesday was the day Trey Watkins was killed, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was.”

“That must have been rough.” The park ranger stepped out of her hut. “I know the two of you were friends. He still came out here a couple of times a week. He always seemed like a nice young man. Always called me ‘Judy Blue Eyes.’ Like from Crosby, Stills and Nash.” Cammie kind of blushed.

“Everyone liked Trey. And, yes, it was rough.” Dani nodded. “Thanks.”

“Seems kind of hard to believe. Happening where it did. That far downstream. Some people are saying it must have happened up around the Falls, and the current took him down. It sure seemed he knew what he was doing.”

“He did know what he was doing, Cammie,” Dani said. “That’s why I’d like to take a look at that film.”

The ranger’s eyes widened a bit, as she got the sense of what Dani was asking. “Everything I heard said it was just a crazy accident. Even the state parks team was here.”

Dani shrugged. “Look, I know this may not be one hundred percent by the book …”

“I’m not so concerned about by the book …” Cammie said. “It’s just that, it’s not here. It’s been handed over.”

“Handed over? Handed over to whom?” Dani said in surprise. “The Parks Service?” If everyone was so sure this whole thing was nothing but an accident, why would it dawn on them to take the film?

“Not the Parks Service. It was Chief Dunn who came and took it. Day after it took place.”

“Chief Dunn?” Wade? Wade had it all along. All the while he was saying this was just an accident. Cut and dried …

He was either hiding something from her, or he believed it, too.

“But we take ’em when people leave here, too.” Cammie pointed to another camera, this one facing the exit gate. “And he didn’t ask for that one. It’s all digital these days. Fine with me if you want to come in and take a look.”