"I can't," she whispered.

"There are no more stories. They're gone."

"Thea who do you dream of?"

Her eyes felt hot and dry. Where were the tears to wash away the pain?

Where was Tess to absorb the brunt of the emotion to protect poor Ellen?

She heard her own voice utter the simple, unvarnished an. nwer.

"You."

She took several steps before the dam began to crack within her. A trickle of emotion dripped from the widening fissure in her control.

"Why did you leave?" As soon as she spoke, she regretted how accusing

she sounded. "No ... no don't answer that. Just keep walking.," Heastounded her with the strength in his voice.

"When I woke up, I didn't know where I was."

"I said, be quiet."

"I can't, Ellen." He stumbled to a stop in the middle of the trail.

"You deserve to' know the truth. When I woke up, I had no idea how I got

in the cabin or what had happened to me. I didn't even rein era" A shuddering barrage of coughs interrupted his explanation.

Her panic rose to an almost unmanageable level.

Jack. You can tell me all this later. We need to concentrate on getting you to the cab'm?" She drew a deep breath, hoping to calm herself.

"It's not far now," she added with false encouragement.

"It's just around the next turn." And the next, and the next. "But you need to know" -- "No, don't try to explain. You wouldn't he in this

condition if it weren't for" -- She couldn't flninh the sta-ment; it would mean admitting all her solitude, all her trouble, was for nothing.

Isolation had failed to protect the innocent from the lethal. Ellen

choked back a sob, letting the needs of the moment outweigh the

accusations of the past.

"Maybe George- can hear me from here." She took a deep breath, then yelled her friend's name. Hcmn'tt reacted to her sense of urgency with a flurry of barks as he rushed ahead. She could hear a voice in the distance.

"What the ... good God, Hermitt! You o1' son of a" -- "George! Over here.

On the trail!"

Once she saw her friend lumhering toward them, it came difficult for her to see through the sudden curtain of tea. Jack sagged against her, his weight almost making her knees buckle.

"Hurry, George!

Jack's hurt. I think it's bad."

The ranger slipped beneath Jack's other arm.

"What happened?"

"It was Hank."

George stopped, shifting his hardening stare between Jack and her.

"He's Hank?"

"No!" She gestured frantically toward the cabin. "Hank attacked him.

Please. he needs a doctor." With George's help, they reached the cabin

in a matter of seconds.

242 A Killer Smile Once inside, Jack gestured away their help as he

lowered himself to the edge of the mattress.

"I'm ... ok-kay," he said, stuttering. His face reflected the agony of the movement.

Ellen stood beside the bed, trying to convince herself they had reached safety and everything would be all right. One look at Jack's face reminded her of the difficulties that still lay ahead. She shuddered as she flashed back to a mental image of two bodies entangled on the stone outcropping.

"You just take it easy, son. Afteri radio for a chopper for you, I'm goto' to get my shotgun and put that bastard Bartholomew out of his misery. Once and for all."

Ellen grabbed George's arm before he could charge into the radio room.

"That's how Jack got hurt. Hank attacked me and Jack knocked him over

the stone outcropping." She swallowed hard as the image of Hank's death swam before her eyes again.

"They fell together, and Hank broke his neck when he landed. He's ...

dead."

The big man paused.

"Dead? You sure?"

Until that moment Ellen had been asking herself the same questions.

Was Hank truly dead? Or would he rise like a specter to torment her

again?

She reached out to identify the sense of trepidation that had always accompartied any memory of Hank.

It was gone.

Hank was gone, and she was at peace.

Ellen closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm sure. He'll never hot her anyone ever again."

"Then I'll get on the horn and get the Mealivac chopper for your friend.

He's not looking too good."

Parfie replaced her momentary sense of serenity. Ellen rushed hack to

the bed to discover Jack no longer sitting 4 Killer Smile but slumped over, his eyes closed She knelt on the fl beside the bed and reached up with a trembling hand brush a lock of hair from his dirtied forehead.

"Eve thing's going to be all right, Jack," she whispen "George'll get help here soon. Just hang on., He opened his eyes and gave her a pale grin.

"If I h: hung around the cabin when I was supposed to, I would be feeling so lousy now. Don't look so scared, Ellen. don't feel as bad as

I did the first time you found me. I came back. I really did. I cameback, but it was too lal The cabin was gone. I thought you were gone,too. Ev when I found Hermitt, I figured he was the only one 1 survivethe fire."

When the big dog heard his name, he placed his broa head on the bed,sniffed Jack's jacket, then wagged h tail.

Ellen stroked the dog's muzzle.

"I thought he died thl night. I searched for him the best I could,"Gnilt wa she over her as she admitted 'her darkest thought.

"After th fire started, I thought I'd discovered the awful truth--yo hadto be Hank. After all, you were the only one who kne I was there. Andthe fire happened the night after you disappeared. I truly believed youwere Hank ... until I saw 'two of you standing there at the cabin.Face-to-face."

A dark flush added color to Jack's otherwise whito washed features.

"Do you emember our conversation about Bank? You said he consideredhim..lf an expert and he would never have hired someone to perform atask he thought he could handle hlmmlf?"

Her stomach began to chum, seeing the obvious direction of hisconfession.

When the floor began to tilt, she was glad she was sitting on it ratherthan a chair.

A Killer Smile A Killer Smile He reached blindly for her hand.