Dan looked at him with narrowed eyes and started to question him but Kitka was already out the door and down the street.
Paul Kitka opened the door to his cabin. "Candace? Dace?" he called out. There was no answer. He went through the house quickly. No one. Nobody. So where the hell was she?
He stood on the porch and surveyed the area around the cabin. The best bet was the trail north along the Susitna. "Candace!" he shouted. No answer.
Hesitating, he stood on the porch. He looked back inside, relieved that there was no body sprawled across the floor of the cabin, no blood, no victim. He'd pictured it that way as he'd driven home, like some bat out of hell.
He looked down the trail again. "Candace!"
She jogged into view. "What's the matter?" she called hoarsely as soon as she saw him.
