Primal Threat - Earl Emerson [54]
Scooter fell to his hands and knees again on the way down, rolling on the rocky road, scrabbling back up again, all the while twisting around to see if he was being pursued. Kasey had never seen Scooter quite so panicked. He still wasn’t sure why he’d fired: instinct, maybe. Scooter appeared to be in trouble. Maybe he was still in shock from what he’d seen on the cliffs.
By the time he reached them, Scooter’s knees were bloody and his face was streaked with dirt. “Those bastards,” he said, bypassing the group and heading straight along the flat spur road toward camp. “Those bastards murdered Chuck.”
Everybody followed him into camp in a ragged line. “You mean he’s dead?” asked Fred, going white and rigid.
“And who was that other guy?” asked Bloomquist. “Was that the special-needs guy?”
“The idiot. Right,” said Scooter, plopping into a camp chair as he tried to catch his breath. “I think he’s the one who pushed Chuck. But Polanski had a hand on him, too. They both did it.”
“Are you saying they pushed my brother off the cliff?” Fred repeated.
“From where we were,” said Jennifer, sobbing, “it looked like he lost his balance and they were trying to help. Like it was an accident.”
“The hell it was,” said Scooter. “The idiot pushed him, and Polanski helped. I was right next to them. I saw it.”
“Are you sure?” Kasey asked.
“You saw it. You know what I’m talking about. Anybody else see?”
“We saw it,” said Bloomquist, uncertainly. “We saw it happen. They pushed him.”
Kasey turned and gave Bloomquist a look. All his life Roger had been a follower, someone so eager to be part of the group he would say or do almost anything to be included, and now Kasey wondered what he’d really seen, what any of them had seen.
Scooter said, “It’s what? Six of us against two of them? I’m telling you, they pushed him. Jesus, a little handshake, and they overreact like that.”
Kasey said, “You guys were talking, and then you were moving in, and then all of a sudden Chuck was losing his balance. Did you maybe accidentally nudge him a little? Because that’s what it looked like.”
Scooter turned on Kasey angrily. “I didn’t touch him. It was those assholes who murdered Chuck. I reached out and tried to get him, but it was too late.”
“I’m just saying I thought Chuck—”
“Hey, I was there. I saw them do it. They even said so afterward.”
“What did they say?” It was Jennifer speaking now, her face full of tears as she squared off with Scooter in the camp chair. “Tell us what they said.”
“I don’t remember the exact words. I was worried about my own skin. You saw it. Kasey had to cover me with the rifle. I’m not sure what they would have done if Kasey hadn’t fired those shots.” When Jennifer stared at him questioningly, he continued. “The exact words will come to me. I know this. They as much as admitted they did it on purpose. And you’ll testify to that, right?” He looked intently at Kasey.
“If that’s what happened, I’ll back you up.” It hadn’t looked that clear-cut to Kasey, but he’d been several hundred feet away.
“What about you guys?” Scooter asked, looking in turn at Perry, Bloomquist, Jennifer, and Fred.
Perry said, “I didn’t have my contacts in.”
“Jesus,” said Scooter, disgustedly. “What about you guys?”
Jennifer replied through a curtain of tears. “If they pushed him, I’m going to testify.”
Fred said, “Your story makes sense. There was no way they could handle my brother out on a ledge like that unless they surprised him.”
“Polanski told me he was going to throw me off,” said Scooter. “Chuck was coming to my aid. He’s actually the hero in all this.”
“But you’re the big karate guru,” said Bloomquist. “All you had to do—”
“Chuck was defending me.”
“Then Chuck is a hero,” sobbed Jennifer. “He died a hero.”
“Damn rights, he died a hero. He saved my life.”
“Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” Kasey asked.