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      This is a work of fiction set in a real place. All characters in this novel are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

      First Torrey House Press Edition, June 2015

      Copyright © 2015 by Scott Graham

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or retransmitted in any form or by any means without the written consent of the publisher.

      Published by Torrey House Press, LLC

      Salt Lake City, Utah

       www.torreyhouse.com

      E-book ISBN: 978-1-937226-46-6

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2014957372

      Cover design by Rick Whipple, Sky Island Studio

      Interior design by Jeff Fuller, Shelfish • Shelfish.weebly.com

      Distributed to the trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution

       For my parents, Reg and Bev, with thanks for sharing their love of the Colorado mountains with me

      CONTENTS

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

       CHAPTER TWELVE

       CHAPTER THIRTEEN

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

       CHAPTER SIXTEEN

       CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

       WEDNESDAY

       CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

       CHAPTER NINETEEN

       CHAPTER TWENTY

       CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

       CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

       CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

       CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

       CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

       CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

       CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

       CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

       CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

       CHAPTER THIRTY

       CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

       CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

       CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

       THURSDAY

       CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

       CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

       CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

       CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

       CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

       CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

       CHAPTER FORTY

       CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

       CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

       CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

       CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

       CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

       CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

       CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

       CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

       CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

       CHAPTER FIFTY

       CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

       CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

       CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

       CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

       EPILOGUE

       ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

       ABOUT SCOTT GRAHAM

      MOUNTAIN RAMPAGE

       “It may be, if we quit shooting animals on one side of a Park boundary line, that in due time we shall become sufficiently civilized to stop killing people on the other side of the boundary line.”

      —Enos Mills

      Father of Rocky Mountain National Park, 1870-1922

      The ram never heard the shot that killed it.

      The heavily muscled Rocky Mountain sheep, its horns long and curled, grazed its way up the shadowed northwest ridge of Mount Landen accompanied by its herd of two dozen ewes and first-year lambs. The ridge scalloped the dawn sky high above tree level. The herd nipped at bunches of dry grass shivering in the stiff breeze between lichen-covered rocks.

      The ram stopped to gaze at the forested valley far below. The ewes and lambs halted, too. Any predator attempting to approach from the forest would reveal itself long before it grew close. But predators were not a concern here on the north face of Mount Landen in the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park’s Mummy Range.

      The grizzlies that once constituted the ram’s only real threat were gone, hunted to extinction more than a century ago. Black bears and the park’s few mountain lions fed below tree line on easier prey—deer, elk, raccoons, porcupines. The bighorn had no need to fear humans; hunting was a thing of the distant past in the park. Only the long natural history of its species compelled the ram to maintain its vigilance.

      Satisfied all was well, the ram lowered its head and resumed grazing. It paused again as it topped the rocky crest of the ridge. The rising sun splashed the ridge with rust and orange against a cloudless turquoise sky. The ram stood with its powerful chest thrust forward, wind whipping its thick coat. To the north and west, the surrounding peaks and folded cirques of the Mummy Range took shape in the growing light.

      The bullet, moving far faster than the speed of sound, struck the ram in its side. The slug mushroomed upon impact, ripping through the animal’s lungs and shredding its heart before bursting through its ribcage in a spray

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