How much time passed would have been difficult to say: maybe it was only a few minutes—say, ten or fifteen—and maybe it was a half hour; regardless, when they at last climbed to their feet and walked to the officer’s car, they found him nowhere in sight. He had, quite simply, just vanished without a trace.
“But ... that’s impossible,” said Tess, shielding her eyes, scanning the horizon,. “He couldn’t possibly have walked that far—could he?”
Coup appeared troubled as he stood next to her and did likewise. “It’s possible ... but it sure as hell ain’t likely.” He looked at the patrol car, the door of which still hung open, and his eyes seized upon the shotgun—which glinted between the seats like black gold. “Maybe someone picked him up. But why would he leave in the first place? And why wou
