‘Gross,’ said Bob.
Mike started to speak, but both their phones began to vibrate. The calls were from Dispatch.
‘Look, let me take mine at least,’ said Mike. ‘Something is going on.’ He pressed the Answer key and held the phone to his ear.
‘Mike Delaney,’ he said, then paused. Bob could hear a woman’s voice talking quickly at the other end. Mike gestured to a waitress for her notepad. He scribbled across the page, nodding as he wrote. ‘OK,’ he said finally. ‘Me and Bob will be along right away.’ He hung up.
‘No, no, no,’ said Bob. ‘Bob doesn’t like “along”.’
‘Ooh,’ said Mike, ‘Bob is about to go up a mountain on the coldest January day Breckenridge has seen in about fifty years.’
‘Oh, dear God, no,’ said Bob, checking his watch. ‘It’s three fifteen. I’m almost home and dry. Why?’
‘Search and Rescue got an anonymous tip-off. It all sounded a little bullshitty to them, but they checked it out and, sure enough, they found a body.’
‘What?’
Mike nodded.
‘Holy shit,’ said Bob, his eyes wide. Mike turned around to where Bob was staring.
‘It’s my pizza!’ Bob grabbed the waitress’s arm. ‘In a box, sweetheart. And I love you right now. You have no idea.’
Quandary Peak could breathe with the breath it stole from your lungs. Stony and chiseled, it could turn on you before you had the chance to conquer it. The sky overhead showered unpredictable snow and rain, beamed surprise sun. Two-hundred-year-old miners’ cabins hid in the lodgepole pines that marked the timberline before the peak grew bare and rocky up to its full 14,265 feet.
On its south side, Blue Lakes Road stretched two and a half miles off Highway 9 to meet it. In winter, it was plowed halfway. A small group of Search and Rescue volunteers stood by the trailhead sign, like a spread from a North Face commercial. Others sat in their 4x4s, gunning their heating against the outside minus sixteen. They all had different day jobs, but came together every Wednesday night to train for Search and Rescue. They were twenty-two to sixty-two, high-energy, wired and bold.
An empty Ford 150 was the last vehicle in the line. It belonged to the Summit County Coroner, Denis Lasco, aka – depending on who you talked to – the Slowmobile, Heavy D, or Corpses Maximus.
‘Can you believe the Slowmobile got here before we did?’ said Bob.
‘He was probably looking for a place to hibernate,’ said Mike.
‘With a mouthful of nuts,’ said Bob.
‘Lasco couldn’t keep anything in his mouth without swallowing it.’
‘That’s pretty shitty,’ said Bob. ‘He’s probably got a gladur thing.’
‘It’s glandular,’ said Mike.
‘No – gladur,’ said Bob. ‘Glad you’re full, refrigerator, glad you’re full.’
They cracked up.
‘Right,’ said Mike, ‘we’re going to have to step out of the vehicle.’
‘Ugh,’ said Bob. ‘You first.’
One of the volunteers walked toward them as they got out of the Jeep.
‘Hey, Sheriff, Undersheriff,’ he said.
‘Hello, Sonny,’ said Bob. ‘Mike, this is Sonny Bryant. His father, Harve, and me go way back. I’ve known Sonny nineteen years or, as the tired saying goes, since he was in diapers.’
‘Yeah, I’m over them now,’ said Sonny, smiling.
‘They’ll come back around,’ said Bob. ‘It’s like fashion trends. I’m only a few seasons away from them myself.’
Sonny and Mike laughed.
‘Good to meet you,’ said Mike, shaking Sonny’s hand.
‘You too, sir,’ said Sonny.
‘What have we got?’ said Bob.
‘There’s a body up there, all right,’ said Sonny.
‘Man, woman, child …?’ said Bob.
‘I don’t think I’m allowed to say,’ said Sonny. ‘Mr Lasco …’
Bob rolled his eyes. ‘Let me guess: wouldn’t let you commit.’
Sonny smiled shyly. ‘Yes.’
‘He’s some piece of work,’ said Bob. ‘Is he up there alone?’
Sonny nodded. ‘Yes, he went up with a team of three and sent them back down once he knew where he was going. He said he hates people trampling his scenes.’
‘That is too true,’ said Bob. ‘And too repeated. Soon, the day will come when Lasco won’t even allow himself into a crime scene.’
Sonny laughed. ‘OK, I’m going to take you up there,’ he said. ‘Are you both coming?’
‘Sadly, yes,’ said Bob.
‘Should take about an hour,’ said Sonny. ‘We need to get going – that sun is starting to heat up.’
Denis Lasco was standing by the body with his back to them. He was dressed in a giant sapphire-blue parka and green ski pants. His head was bent over his digital camera. He half-glanced over his shoulder when he heard their footsteps in the snow.
‘You all need to stand back,’ he said, raising a hand.
‘Jesus, Lasco, we’re frickin’ miles away,’ said Bob.
‘This accident slash murder could have happened miles away,’ said Lasco.
‘Hackles,’ said Bob loudly, ‘are the erectile hairs on the back of an animal’s neck, particularly a dog. For the purposes of the moment, I am a dog. And it appears that, yes, I can confirm, my hackles are up.’
‘Professionalism,’ said Lasco loudly, ‘is the art of performing one’s job to the highest possible standards. For the purposes of this moment and all moments, I am a professional. And it appears that, yes, I can confirm, this is what makes me a grown-up and the sheriff a jealous baby.’
‘America’s Biggest Loser,’ said Bob, loudly, ‘is a –’
Lasco went rigid.
‘All right, all right,’ said Mike. ‘That’s enough of that. We can come closer, Denis, right?’
‘Sure you can,’ said Lasco. ‘I’ve taken my wide shots from where you’re standing, so just walk in my tracks.’
Bob muttered to Mike. ‘Yeah, they’re deep enough to leave a lasting impression on the landscape.’
Her face was masked in a layer of clear ice. Her warm, dying breath had melted the snow that covered her. The carbon dioxide she exhaled had no place to go except back into her lungs. She was wedged from the chest down into the snow. She was zipped into a maroon ski jacket with white stripes down the arms. A navy blue Quiksilver hat covered her head. The angle of her neck was not an angle for the living.
Lasco crouched down to the eerie eyes of the body, wide open, their frozen silver centers sparkling in the sun; a cruel trick of nature.
‘Pupils fixed and dilated,’ said Lasco. He stood up. ‘I love saying that.’
‘So,’ said Bob, pointing, ‘the