Chapter 2 - The Rig That Shouldn’t ExistOwen Pike reached Elliot forty-three minutes later with two county rescue climbers.
To Elliot, it felt like hours.
His teeth were chattering by then, although the afternoon was warm.
One of the rescuers secured the boy before Owen touched the harness.
“Look at me, kid,” Owen said.
Elliot’s face was gray with fear.
“My grandpa left me.”
“I know.”
“He pushed me.”
Owen’s jaw tightened.
“I heard you.”
They lowered Elliot onto a rescue litter.
Only after the straps were secured did Owen examine the parachute.
His reaction made Elliot afraid all over again.
Owen touched a cut section of webbing near the deployment system.
Then he looked upward.
“What?” Elliot whispered.
Owen said nothing.
“What’s wrong with it?”
One of the rescuers glanced at Owen.
“You tell the sheriff everything,” he said quietly.
Owen nodded.
At Summit County Medical Center, Elliot’s parents arrived before the ambulance doors had fully opened.
Tessa Mercer ran through the emergency entrance still wearing the navy suit she had worn to work.
“Elliot!”
She reached the stretcher and stopped herself from grabbing him when she saw the cervical collar.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Elliot burst into tears.
“Mom.”
Tessa walked beside the stretcher, holding his hand.
Caleb Mercer came running behind her.
Caleb was Walter’s only son.
At forty, he had spent most of his life trying not to become his father.
Now terror erased every trace of restraint from his face.
“What happened?”
Elliot looked directly at him.
“Grandpa pushed me.”
Caleb stopped.
The nurse continued rolling the stretcher.
Caleb did not move.
“What did you say?”
“He pushed me off the cliff.”
Tessa stared at her husband.
Caleb’s face changed.
“No.”
Elliot started crying harder.
“He said if I didn’t jump, he’d push me.”
Tessa leaned down.
“I believe you.”
Caleb finally moved again.
“Where is Walter?”
No one answered.
At 5:17 p.m., Walter Mercer walked into the hospital.
He had changed clothes.
That was the first thing Tessa noticed.
The brown outdoor jacket Elliot had seen on the cliff was gone.
Walter now wore a blue button-down shirt and gray slacks.
He looked shaken.
Concerned.
Perfect.
“My God,” he said. “Where is he?”
Caleb stepped between him and the treatment room.
“What happened on that cliff?”
Walter stared at his son.
“I was about to ask you the same question.”
“Elliot says you pushed him.”
Walter’s face registered shock so convincingly that even Tessa felt a brief flicker of uncertainty.
“That’s absurd.”
“He’s ten.”
“He panicked.”
Caleb moved closer.
“What does that mean?”
Walter sighed.
“I took him up there because he begged me to show him the overlook. Somehow he got hold of one of the demonstration rigs from the lodge. He put it on as a joke.”
Tessa stared at him.
“You expect us to believe that?”
“I tried to stop him. He ran toward the edge.”
“He said you threatened him.”
Walter lowered his voice.
“He just fell nearly a thousand feet. He’s frightened and confused.”
The treatment-room door opened.
Owen stepped out.
His clothes were covered in dust.
He held a sealed evidence bag containing part of the parachute assembly.
Walter saw it.
For the first time, his expression slipped.
Only for an instant.
But Tessa saw it.
So did Owen.
“What are you doing here?” Walter asked.
Owen gave a humorless laugh.
“Saving your grandson.”
Walter’s eyes narrowed.
Owen continued.
“The rig came from Equipment Room Three.”
Caleb looked between them.
“What rig?”
Owen lifted the evidence bag.
“An experimental low-altitude system we use for unmanned equipment tests.”
Tessa felt sick.
“For equipment?”
“Weighted dummies,” Owen said. “Never people. Certainly never children.”
Walter crossed his arms.
“You don’t know how Elliot got it.”
Owen stared at him.
“No.”
Then he stepped closer.
“But I know who checked it out.”
Walter went completely still.
Owen looked at Caleb.
“Someone used your employee credentials at 8:42 this morning.”
Caleb frowned.
“I was in Denver.”
“I know.”
Owen turned back toward Walter.
“And the security camera covering Equipment Room Three went offline at 8:39.”
Walter said nothing.
Tessa thought of Elliot crying on the stretcher.
Then something else struck her.
She turned to Owen.
“You said you heard Elliot through the beacon.”
“Yes.”
“Why did that rig have a beacon?”
Owen hesitated.
“Because I put one on it.”
Walter’s head snapped toward him.
Owen’s eyes did not leave Walter’s.
“Yesterday afternoon.”
“Why?” Caleb asked.
Owen’s answer was quiet.
“Because Walter asked me a question two days ago.”
“What question?”
Owen looked toward Elliot’s closed door.
“He asked whether a parachute could be made to look functional…”
Walter took one step forward.
May you like
Owen finished.
“…and still never open.”
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