Chapter 9 Summary

The scene shifts to a bar in western Montana. Two brothers leave the bar, and on their way home a storm kicks up. As the two men cross a small rural covered bridge over a river, one of them notices a raft below in the water. He thinks it odd that someone is fishing in the middle of a thunderstorm with night falling. They follow the progress of the raft through intermittent lightning flashes. Finally, they realize that the raft's occupant is no longer in the raft. A search ensues, the raft is recovered, but no body is found.

Al Garcia is a homicide detective from Miami. He takes his wife, who is the ex of a murderer Garcia arrested, and two stepchildren on a fishing trip to Montana. In the middle of his trip, his stepson alerts him to a dead body...