"Crazy? Like you?"

"Why, you" -- He took a step forward. "You won't do it, Ellen. I knowyou won't."

Ellen wasn't sure where the serenity came from, but i! flooded her soul,taking away the fear. If she actually jumped, she would most undoubtedlyclio. If Hank thought she Was willing to jump in order to rob him of hiswarped sense of justice, then she might be able to use his own fearagainst him. She glanced to the right, spotting a thin path between thecliff's edge and a stand of bare bushes. There was a slim chance forsurvival, one on which she was willing to gamble.

The element of surprise, she reminded herself, is the best strategy.

"You've forgotten one important thing, Hank:' She stepped closer to theedge and was able to give him a calm smile.

"I'm not afraid to die."

"No!" Hank bellowed, lunging forward to grab her. Jack exploded frombetween the trees and flew 'toward Hank, hitting him behind the knees.Ellen sidestepped their tangled bodies as they rolled toward her; Shewatched helplessly as the two men struggled for a brief moment beforedisag over the edge of the rock cliff.

Her scream split the s'dence and ended in a dying echo.

She fell to her knees, listening to the eerie s'dence. Choking back theterrible sobs which shook her mind and A Killer Smile A Killer Smile her body, Ellen stared into the infinite blue sky beyond the liff's edge. Alone cloud blotted the sun.

Oh, Jack, a voice whispered in her imagination. Maybe it didn't happenthis time. Maybe Jack's not dead. As hope returned, so did fear. Maybe.maybe Hank's alive, as well.

There was only one way to tell. Unable to trust herself to walk, Ellencrawled to the edge of the cliff. When she tried to peer over the rim,vertigo made her ravaged senses reel. She pulled back. No one could havesurvived the fall.

How could she assure herself of Hank's death without viewing Jack'sdemi, as well? Morbid curiosity and sorrow bat fled for control, and sheeventually relented, knowing she had to assure herself of the brutaltruth. She gazed over the side with a tear-blurred gaze.

Two bodies were intertwined on a smaller stone outcropping about twentyfeet below her. A pool of blood had formed in a shallow depression inthe rock.

Lying on his back, Hank stared up without blinking, his face appearingstrangely inert in death. Jack's body was draped over Hank's chest, andmercifully Ellen couldn't see how death had transformed his features.

Ellen inched back from the edge, unwilling to look any longer. She wouldnever forget the scarlet stain across the rock ledge. The open-eyedstare of death. The weight of guilt.

She heard a nome behind her. When she turned, the burden of blamelightened a little. Hermitt limped toward her from the woods. Hewhimpered when she leaned forward and threw her arms around his neck.

Her companion's black fur absorbed her tears as she wept for death,justified and tin justified " A quiet scraping sound commanded herattention in the space of a single heartbeat. Hermitt located the nomefor her, gland rag in the direction of the cliff's edge. She heard rockstrike rock, then bounce away. An anonymous groan ... Someone on the ledge was alive.

Her imagination supplied the answer: Hank, popping back like a characterfrom a horror movie, a demon freak who wouldn't stay dead.

Ellen crawled toward the trees, trying to coordinate her legs to supporther.

Hermitt approached the edge cautiously.

Ellen.. ".The hoarse whisper was unrecognizable. She waited.

In fear.

In dread.

In hope.

She saw fingers, clutching the edge of the rock. Then a hand, feelingaround for a hold.

A blood-streaked face.

Hermitt's tail began to wag.

Chapter Sixteen.

Imbued with newfound strength, Ellen helped pull Jack up until hesprawled across the rocky ground, gasping for breath. She knelt besidehim, giving thanks for the miracle of his survival.

"Jack, I".

He opened his eyes and started to grin, but pain took sudden control of

him, making him draw in a raspy breath. His bloodied hands tightened into fists.

"He's d-dead, Ellen."

"We've got to get you to a hospital, Jack."

He coughed again.

"Lisln ... Ellen. Hank's dead." She brushed a curl from his forehead, recognizing the thin scar which led into his hairline. The scar represented another painful dose of reality.

"I'm not worried about him anymore. I'm worried about you. You're hurt.

We don't know how bad."

"Not ha" -- His words turned into a sudden gasp for air. His face turned a pasty white beneath the dirt and blood.

She dared to touch his cool cheek.

"Stay here. I'll go to-the rangers' cabin and get help."

"No!" He placed an iron grip on her arm.

A Killer Smile His sudden burst of strength startled her. She tried keep

him from sitting up.

"But, Jack" -- He gritted the words between clenched teeth as he tiff, ened his hold on her.

"We go--together. Or not--at all. can't be like last time."

It surprised her that she understood both the logic m the urgency of his

request. She finished his thought fro her own perspective.

"When I came back to the cabin help, you were gone." The moment Ellen

spoke, she tea ized the fatal implication of the word gone. She swa 1owed a lump of panic.

"I understand. Together. N matter what." She slipped behind him, hoping

to brac him.

"Can you stand?"

"Sure." He closed his eyes, then pushed to a sitting pc sift on with a

raspy groan.

"Jack, I don't think" -- "I will make it, Ellen."

She positioned herself behind him, reaching under hi arms. Then she sent

up a hasty prayer.

"One, two ..." El len lifted on "three," and his eerie silence scared

her worse than the earlier sounds of discomfort. They were upright, but their stance was unsteady.

"Jack, this isn't such a good idea. You might" -- "Together or not at

all," he repeated in faint resolution.

Proceeding at an agonizingly slow pace, they traveled in silence,

interrupted only by her occasional direction or warning about their footing on the trail.

At one misstep, she felt Jack shudder in pain.

Her sudden flare of bravado faded.

"Why don't we rest for a few minutes, Jack?"

"No!" He grimaced as he spoke.

"Gotta keep moving." A few steps later, his low words caught her by

surprise. "Ellen ... tell me a story."

A l11er Smile A lller Smile Her heart wedged itself in her throat.

"A what?"

"A story. About Tess and Jack." A spasm of pain crossed his face as they

took another jarring step together. "Tell me how happy they were."

"Happy?" She thought for a moment.

"Did they ever ... ever get married?"

"I guess soy Her mind painted a quick picture of a wedding scene: Tess

in a beaded silk dress holding white orchids, and Jack in a tuxedo. The picture dimmed when blood began to stain Jackis crisp white shirt.

"Tell me more ..."