Wylde (15 page)

“What is it?”

“Anderson is gone and he helped himself to that lunch you brought me,” Kell growled, annoyed; there had been a generous slice of peach pie in the mix. “So much for his fine manners.” Kell strode through his office door. “Arlene!” he called to one of the county deputies doing paperwork at her borrowed space, giving him a hand with his overstretched beat. “Do a little more digging on Mr. Anderson, our local tycoon who was just in here.”

“Yes, Chief!” the older woman nodded. “What all did he do?” “He stole my lunch!” Kell said, outraged.
Noah smiled. “Come on, I’ll buy you another,” he offered.

W
YLDE
buried his face in the dog’s fur, warm for the moment. Sometimes the old retriever came and stayed with him in his shelter. It was the only creature that had been safe for him, hadn’t chased him away after seeming to be his friend.

Wylde was desperate for the dog’s affection, even as he knew that he’d soon be alone again, but the people were coming, and that was good. The dog had slipped, hurt himself.

“D
O YOU
feel that?” Jade whispered, grimacing and reaching out to
put a hand on Alec’s arm. “I pick it up sometimes—like we’re being watched.”

Alec didn’t like it any more than Jade. He paused, closing his eyes and opening his senses. The night he and Kell had gone after Thomas, he’d experienced it, as if something watched from the forest. “I don’t know exactly, but I think it might be connected to whatever is haunting these woods.” He looked at her, reading her resolve. “We’re almost at the first box canyon by my reckoning. It could be your dog got stuck there somehow.”

Jade nodded. “Okay then. Let’s get him out.”

Alec took his shotgun from the scabbard that ran down his back. Sweat prickled his neck, pooling in the indentation above his collarbone. He’d be damned glad when he was back at the diner with Jade, with her trying to ignore him as usual while he gave her something to think about. Armed, he took point, stepping over deadfall carefully but keeping a wary eye on their back trail.

H
ALF
an hour later, they reached sheer granite cliffs, the land looking like it had been sliced abruptly in a long vertical drop. Huffing, Alec leaned over the edge, studying the scrubby trees and pockets of sand on the slope. It was later afternoon, and since it was still springtime, the sun was declining rapidly, covered by clouds. “I think I can make it down there,” he said, pointing to a chalky path in the rock face. “Maybe follow that.”

“It’s getting darker,” Jade noted, pushing back brown hair tangled over her sweaty skin. She looked….

 

Alec swallowed and put it aside.

 

“I know. Take the flashlight and the gun and wait for me here,” he ordered.

“Alec….” Jade thrust the flashlight into her jeans and gripped the gun he offered her, studying him, eyes wide. And suddenly it was so easy between them that he was leaning close, and then he was kissing her. When she didn’t resist, their kiss ran long enough to leave him a little more breathless.

“Did you hear that?” Jade broke away to ask.

“More barking!” Alec pulled off his knapsack, readying himself for the climb. “Guess we’re in the right place.”
“I can’t tell where it’s coming from exactly; it’s bouncing off the canyon walls.” Jade frowned, examining the stained yellow, orange and reddish drop.

“Only one way to find out,” he agreed. Alec took a deep breath, centering himself, gripping the talisman from his grandmother. His instincts whispered they were close to Jade’s dog. And maybe something else….

“Wait!” Jade shucked her jean jacket, her mouth a stubborn line.

 

Guessing what she was up to, Alec shook his head. “Jade, you’ll only slow me down.”

 

“I’ll only come part of the way. Come on, if we argue about it, we’ll only lose more daylight!”

Alec gave in, since she was right; time, they didn’t have. He went first, scrabbling down dirt and sand, pausing to help Jade navigate large chunks of scattered rock and debris. The warm spring air made him sweat freely.

“Looks like this path has been used before,” Jade noted, looking up the trail they were following. “Who do you think uses it?”

“No idea, Jade. Be careful since there is no telling how stable it is,” Alec warned.
“J
OSH
.” Mrs. Mathers cocked a brow as she glanced at his

collection of books, which was topped by a book about hauntings in the Pacific Northwest
.
“You don’t really believe in a ghost on Sullivan’s Mountain?”

Josh looked down at his books. “No, Ma’am. I just wanted to read up on all kinds of possibilities to eliminate what I think is going on.” It helped to talk about his ideas with someone neutral. Lately, the stakes felt higher because of the new man in his dad’s life, though he knew that was messed up and probably just him feeling like a kid.

She sat down beside him. “Don’t you think you should confide in your father?” she asked gently.
Josh bit his lip. “I’m worried, but not just about myself. I think someone is maybe in trouble.”
Josh looked up when he saw his father at the library door. He shoved his books into his duffle bag and smiled at the older woman. “I’ll tell him, promise. Gotta go!”

A
LEC
and Jade finally reached a sandy crevice jutting out above the open arms of the canyon. The sun was a yellow spotlight, hitting the very top of the cliff now, setting fast, so that Jade skidded on a shadowed pile of debris. “Whew, we made it!” She caught Alec’s gaze. “What’s up?”

Alec pointed to the rubble, dried poplar saplings, cracked mud, and cedar branches. “Kind of looks like a rough shelter from this angle. You know, to keep out the rain?”

Jade’s dark brows rose. “Yeah, really crude. Kind of Anasazi now you point it out.”
“Yeah, if it weren’t getting dark fast I’d take a closer look.”

Alec retrieved the flashlight and shone the beam into the crack in the cliff.

“
Beau!
” Jade ran to her aging golden retriever, who whined, thumping his feathery tail. His body was lodged under a heavy log, possibly from a fall down the treacherous path above.

“Trapped,” Alec muttered. “We’ll have to free him.”

“Alec, I can’t lift this on my own!” Jade rasped, face shiny as she strained.
“Wait for me.” Alec hastened over to Jade. “We can’t stay long, or we’ll have a hell of a walk back up that path. It’s slippery,” he said.

“I don’t plan on it!” Jade pulled as Alec put his back into helping her free her dog. They tugged together, hands scrabbling for purchase.

From the cliff above, pebbles fell, spattering like rain. Hushed, Alec ordered, “Better hold the gun while I find a log or something to use as leverage to free Beau, Jade.”
“S
AY
again?” Kell barked on his radio. The static in the diner was a

killer. He was also disappointed at the interruption from a nice late meal with Noah and Josh. And damn it, he hadn’t had his slice of peach pie yet! He’d taken up running again after chasing over the mountain paths, so he figured he could have burned the calories off.

“Alec’s grandmother Ruth just called, Chief,” county deputy Arlene Falco was saying. “She said Alec and Jade needed help and you should head up to the first box canyon above her house.”

“Roger!” Kell looked at Noah. “Well, hell.”
“Lawman’s hours, I know.”

“Do you?” Kell hoped so. “It’s usually a pretty sleepy town.” What he didn’t add was he hadn’t been Chief long before he’d learned to listen to Alec’s grandmother. He didn’t necessarily believe she had special powers or anything, but she’d put him on the right trail a time or two.

“And I hope it will be again soon, a sleepy town, I mean. I’m sure you’ll make sure of it.”

Reluctantly, Kell climbed to his feet and then glanced at Josh, who was studying his books, as if wanting to give them a moment. The kid was tactful, he had to give him that, and apparently working to be approving of an unconventional friendship for his father.

“I’ll have coffee waiting for you when you get home.” Then Noah flushed at the slip. “I mean at our house, of course.”

Kell’s eyes warmed. “I like what you called it the first time.” In front of God and everyone in the diner, he kissed Noah on the lips. “Have to go.” Kell put his hat on. “Oh, and since I’m staying with you, I’ll need a key. I really don’t want to wake you up if I’m late.”

Noah dug a brass one out of his shopping bag. “I had one cut first thing this morning. And I bought free range eggs.”

“Son of a bitch!” Then Kell flushed, giving Josh a sheepish look over his swearing. He guessed he’d have to watch that from now on. “Uh, I mean, does this mean real eggs for breakfast?”

Noah glanced around at the fascinated townsfolk. “Kell,” he said in an undertone. “Shouldn’t you be more discreet?”
Kell shrugged on his jacket and groped for the keys to his truck. He figured he’d use the road they’d cut into the woods for logging as a shortcut to the canyon to look for Alec and Jade.

“I had my fill of keeping things secret in the army. And I’m proud to date you, Noah,” Kell said flatly.

 

N
OAH
watched the Chief stride from the room, still searching his pockets absently, as if looking for his keys.

 

He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and looked at Josh.

 

“He’s definitely a keeper, Dad,” Josh approved, arching a saucy brow.

T
HE
slope was in deep shadow now and freezing, fully exposed to the dusk air. Jade listened to the sound of her own heart pounding as she waited for Alec to return; he’d headed further down the slope in search of something to use to pry Beau free.

She couldn’t wait to get out of here, though thank God no more pebbles had showered down, freaking her out with the creepy feeling they weren’t alone. After finding Morley Orris, it was not something she really wanted to experience.

“Hang on, honey,” she whispered to her dog. “Alec will be right back. He’s a pretty good guy, even, you know, with all the testosterone making him crazy; just don’t tell him I told you that.”

Beau suddenly stiffened under Jade’s hand, golden eyes fixed on their back trail.

“
What?
” she whispered, dread making her grip the shotgun tighter. “You hear somethin’?”
Jade peered into the darkness above but couldn’t make out whatever it was her dog sensed.

Beau whined before putting his head down on his paws. Jade told herself she was imagining that her dog looked sad.
“Y
OU
okay, Josh?” Noah asked as they drew up at the house. He

smiled when he took in their extra passenger, a rescue Sheltie sitting sedately on Josh’s lap. Her name was Fiona, and as soon as they’d walked into the breeder’s log cabin after their late meal with Kell, she’d walked over to Josh, as if to say she’d been expecting him.

From there, Noah had settled the business part, still a little dazed at how much he needed to know to properly adopt a dog. They would have to go shopping soon for all kinds of paraphernalia.

“I’m okay, Dad.” Josh looked up, arms wrapped around Fiona. “Guess we better get her a crate for the truck, huh?”

“We’ll have to drive to a larger town for that, Josh, but I can spare some time from the edits of my latest textbook tomorrow.” His brow wrinkled. “Are you sure you’re okay? Those books you picked up at the library….”

Josh flushed. “You don’t think someone is lost in the woods? Like, how I would be if suddenly you weren’t there anymore.”
Noah wanted to dismiss Josh’s fears and put them into perspective, and he’d have done just that except… except something
was
happening on Sullivan’s Mountain, and sensitive Josh had picked up on it, maybe because he was feeling vulnerable with the changes in his dad’s life. And Kell was worried.

“I think it’s very unlikely. Josh, you are the most important person in my life. If you were ever lost, I would look for you, find you.” Noah sighed. “Maybe I should show you again all the security I had installed for the house and grounds.” Seeing Josh bury his face in the Sheltie’s fur, Noah continued, “I know the house is kind of ugly, but I tried to make it safe for you.”

Josh nodded. “I guess I didn’t want to tell you how I’m feeling on edge. Dumb, huh?”

Noah brushed his son’s shoulder. “I’m glad you did. Just remember that secrets have a way of coming out, sometimes when we least want them to. Now do you think we should give Fiona a bath? She’ll just fit in the kitchen sink.”

Josh surprised Noah by unbuckling his seatbelt and hugging him, something he rarely did anymore at twelve, the Sheltie squirming a bit, annoyed to be crushed between father and son. “I know the Chief is trying to get to the bottom of stuff. I only hope he can.”

“We’ll all do our part, Josh.” Noah realized after he made the promise that he’d referred to himself and Kell as a unit
.
“You just have to trust us.”

“I’ll try, Dad.”

Noah stretched over to Josh’s seat and gingerly removed the abandoned blanket after his son left their Tundra. He had a feeling he’d be doing a lot of cleaning up in the future, but they’d gotten microfiber on the furniture precisely so they could make this adjustment.