Rock Harbor Series - 01 - Without a Trace (26 page)

Anu collected herself. “And what did you see there? Did it help you?”

“It made me wonder about Rob,” she admitted.

Anu’s hand stopped partway to her mouth with a forkful of lasagna. “What about Rob?”

Though she’d been steeling herself to bring up this subject with Anu, her courage nearly failed. “He claimed to be a Christian, yet he did things that were wrong.”

“I won’t ask you what sins my son committed, as I’m sure they were many and varied,” Anu said. “No one is perfect, my Bree, only forgiven in Christ. I must confess to my own besetting sins of pride and jealousy. God helps us to overcome our sins, but we often slip and fall. What part of the psalm made you think of Rob?”

“The part about a righteous man being remembered forever. People still talk about him and mention things he did.”

Joy radiated from Anu’s face. “How lovely to hear that,
kulta
. Did you find anything else in the Scripture?”

“I saw you in there,” she said.

“Me?”

“‘Blessed is the man who fears the L
ORD
, who finds great delight in his commands,’” Bree quoted.

Color flooded Anu’s face.

“I think I can rule out Kade as a suspect too, now that I’ve gotten to know him better,” Bree said. “That psalm says a righteous man will never be shaken. Kade is like a rock. And he’s fearless. You should have seen him dangling from the tower.”

“‘His heart is secure, he will have no fear,’” Anu recited.

“I didn’t know you suspected him!” Naomi said. “He would never do something like that.”

“Well, he was at the scene just before we found Fay, remember? And he
is
Eric’s cousin, so for a while I wondered if he helped Eric get rid of her—if Eric killed her, of course.”

“You have too much time on your hands,” Naomi said. “It’s caused your imagination to run wild.”

“So who do you still suspect?” Anu said.

Bree wanted to tell her what Hilary had said the night of the party but kept her mouth shut. There were just some things a mother didn’t need to know. “Steve, Eric, and Lawrence,” she said. “I want to talk to Eric. He spent a lot of time with Fay, if we believe town gossip. Maybe he saw the woman in the hat. I don’t know where he’s staying though.”

“Sheba McDonald might know where he is,” Anu said. “Mason should ask her. But let Mason handle this,
kulta
.”

Bree didn’t ask how Sheba would know. Sheba knew everything. She didn’t say anything more. Mason would know where Eric was, and Bree didn’t want Anu to know she was going to poke around.

Anu carried the leftover lasagna to the kitchen, and Bree and Naomi collected the supper dishes.

“Have you told your mother about Donovan?” Bree asked Naomi as they worked.

Naomi shook her head. “I’m not sure how to approach it. If she’s in favor of the idea, I’ll have to suffer through her advice and meddling. If she’s against it, she’ll likely snub Donovan on the street and begin to question my every movement.”

“She’ll be livid if she finds out from someone else.” Bree understood what it was to fear a parent, but Naomi had no real reason to be afraid of Martha.

Naomi sighed. “I know. I’ll do it soon.”

Bree suspected that if Naomi would just once take charge of her life, Martha would back off. But she knew it wasn’t in her friend’s nature to be aggressive. Naomi was one of those dear souls who watched to see what she could do for others, someone who would rather serve in silence.

Whoever got Naomi for a wife would be a lucky man, though Rob’s opinion had been different. He’d always said a wife like Naomi would bore a man silly. But then Rob’s tastes had run to bungee jumping and skydiving.

Bree wondered about the other woman in his life, Lanna March. How had he met her? How long had he been seeing her? She would probably never know, and maybe that was best.

While Anu was starting the dishwasher, Bree slipped into the living room and made a quick call to Mason. He told her Eric was at a deer camp near Big Piney Creek, but he cautioned her not to go alone. He would go with her as soon as he took care of other business. Bree didn’t answer. She hung up and asked Naomi if she would mind going with her. “If you’re sure you can take the time away from Donovan,” she added with a grin.

“Of course,” Naomi said. “You shouldn’t go alone.”

“I don’t want to wait for Mason. He can’t go for a couple of days. If we go at midmorning, we won’t disturb the hunting.”

“Give me a call when you’re ready to go.”

18

M
ore snow fell Monday night. Tuesday morning, Bree figured there was close to eight inches of snow on the ground. She was running late and rushed to shower. Toweling off, she heard the trill of her cell phone. As she wrapped the towel around herself, she quickly checked the display and saw Kade’s name on the caller ID.

She finished dressing before calling him back. “What’s up, Kade?”

“Some fool hunter has gotten himself lost in the woods.” Kade’s voice was rough and gravelly, as though he hadn’t slept. “Can you grab Naomi and get out here? The guy’s been missing since yesterday at three.”

“They just now reported it?” Bree was already beginning to gather her things.

Kade gave a weary sigh. “They were too drunk to notice, I guess. And the guy left his coat behind. All he’s wearing is a flannel shirt with a vest. It got down below twenty last night.” He told her how to get to the location.

“You call Naomi while I finish getting ready.” She clicked off the phone. “We’ve got a search, Samson,” she told her dog.

By the time she picked up Naomi and made it out to the scene, nearly an hour had passed. The sun felt good on her face, and she hoped the missing hunter was someplace where the sun could warm him. But the North Woods were so thick that in some places the sun never hit the ground.

The command center was still being set up when she arrived at
Loon Falls, about two miles off Beaver Road. A truck was backing the familiar trailer into position in the snowy clearing. Kade saw Bree and Naomi and waved from the tree line. Bree parked, then she and Naomi let the dogs out and went to meet him.

His tired eyes blinked above dark circles that almost looked like bruises. Bree had a hunch that something more than the missing hunter had robbed him of sleep. Something in his eyes—pain?—made her want to fix whatever it was. Maybe she would have a chance to talk with him about it later. The realization that she was glad to see him unsettled her.

“What’ve we got?” she asked him.

“Bubba Martin, age twenty-three. His friends are still very unconcerned.” Kade shook his head. “If they’re the best he can do, he’s hurting.”

“I don’t know him,” Bree said. Even the name Martin didn’t sound familiar.

“He’s from down around Ironwood. His mother is on her way.”

“We have any articles of clothing?” Bree turned and stared into the woods. With that much time elapsed, the young man could be anywhere. It didn’t sound like his circle of friends was the type to have any real wilderness survival savvy. He probably didn’t even know enough to stay put and wait for the searchers.

Kade moved closer and held out a paper bag with something white inside. “He wore this T-shirt yesterday.”

“I’ll give the dogs the scent,” Naomi said, taking the bag. The dogs each thrust a nose into the bag then began to strain at their leashes.

Bree and Kade both turned and began to walk toward the woods. Bree knew she needed to keep things on a professional level with Kade, but being near him was like standing on the lighthouse tower during a storm—scary and exhilarating at the same time. She hadn’t reacted to any man like this since Rob. The feelings were unfamiliar and terrifying.

She wanted to step closer, to nestle her head against his shoulder, to turn her cares and worries over to someone bigger and stronger than herself. It was a feeling she needed to guard against. No one could solve her problems.

“How’s Zorro?” she asked. Better to keep things distant.

He sighed. “Chewing everything. And Lauri’s no help. She’s gone more than she’s home.”

She glanced at him. “I could come over for another lesson.” As soon as the words were past her lips, she wanted to snatch them back. The last thing she needed was to be around him more. He likely felt nothing for her but friendship anyway. But all the rationalizing in the world didn’t change her longing to get to know him better.

“That would be great! When can you come?”

His eagerness heartened her. “Maybe this evening, if it’s not too late by the time we find our missing hunter.” She was committed now. His gaze caught and held hers. The awareness in his eyes dried her mouth, and she finally looked away.

They reached the edge of the woods. “Want me to let the dogs go?” Naomi had a leash around each wrist, and the dogs practically dragged her forward in their eagerness.

Bree grabbed Samson’s leash. She took his head between her hands. “You ready, boy?” The dog panted with excitement and whined. She unclipped his leash and let him go. “Search, Samson. Go find him.”

The dog raced off into the woods with Charley close on his tail. Naomi, Bree, and Kade ran after them. A sense of déjà vu came over Bree
.
Their search for the O’Reilly children seemed eons ago. So much had happened in the two weeks since.

Funny how life could twist on you like an unfamiliar road until you weren’t sure which way you were pointed anymore. That was just how Bree felt. She’d started out to find Rob and Davy, yet how long had it been since she’d really searched for them? Little by little, life was
beginning to creep back in. She didn’t know if she was happy or sad. Maybe she’d turned a corner.

The dogs were on a hot trail. Their posture told Bree the hunter couldn’t be far.

Sure enough, thirty minutes later the dogs began to bark, then Samson came bounding to her with a stick in his mouth.

“Show me, Samson,” Bree commanded. The dog led her over fallen trees dusted with white snow then around a stand of pine to a small clearing. A young man huddled against the side of a jack pine.

“Bubba Martin?” she asked.

He blinked slowly, and she realized he was suffering from hypothermia. She opened her ready-pack and pulled out a blanket. “Pour him some hot coffee from the thermos,” she called over her shoulder to Kade and Naomi. Naomi moved first.

Bubba shivered. “So cold,” he whispered.

“We’ll get you warmed up,” she promised. Naomi handed the coffee to Bree, and she lifted it to Bubba’s lips. A sense of accomplishment washed over her in a warm tide. Another successful search. But her euphoria quickly collapsed. What did it all matter if the most important search of her life ended in failure?

When they got back to the command center, Bubba’s mother was there, a bleached blond in her early forties with angry brown eyes. She rushed to her son and began to harangue him in a voice that caught Bree’s attention. Frowning, she stood and listened. She’d heard that voice before.

Then it came to her. Lanna March.

Bree approached the pair. Bubba’s head was down as his mother berated him.

“Yes?” she snapped when she realized Bree was staring at her.

“I think the paramedics need to check Bubba. He’s suffering from exposure and hypothermia.”

“Who are you?” the woman growled. Her scowl deepened.

Bree called herself a fool for thinking Rob would have anything to do with a woman like this. “I’m Bree Nicholls.”

The woman’s face sagged, and she backed away. Her gaze darted away from Bree’s. “Fine, you take him to the ambulance. I’ll meet him at the hospital.”

“Wait, you never told me your name,” Bree called.

The woman ran to her car, a mid-eighties Ford with rust eating the wheel wells. She slammed the car door and sped away.

Bree had always possessed a knack for voice recognition, and she was sure that woman was the one who had called her, the one who wanted her to let Rob go. But why would she be afraid of Bree? Shaking with the revelation, she stumbled back to the trailer and filled out the necessary paperwork, then she and Naomi drove to the deer camp where Eric Matthews was supposed to be holed up.

Big Piney Creek was only five miles away. After Bree parked the Jeep, they got out with the dogs and began to walk back to where Mason said the deer camp was located.

Naomi was uncharacteristically quiet. She kept stealing glances at Bree, and it was making Bree uncomfortable. “Spit it out, girlfriend. What’s on your mind?”

Naomi bit her lip. “You really like Kade, don’t you?” she said finally.

Bree gulped, and heat rushed to her cheeks. “Is it that obvious?”

“Only to me. Weren’t you just yelling at me about not telling you everything?” Naomi said in a teasing tone.

“I just recognized it myself,” Bree said. “I didn’t realize it until he walked toward me this morning. Isn’t that stupid? It’s like there’s this connection between us. I can’t explain it.”

“I know just what you mean. Like you can almost tell what he’s thinking by looking at him.”

Bree nodded. “I don’t know where it will lead, if anywhere. I’m not sure I want it to lead anywhere. My life is such a mess, and I don’t want to involve Kade in the fallout.”

“Kade’s a Christian, you know,” Naomi said softly.

The comment came like a slap of cold water in Bree’s face. A real wake-up call. It was something she didn’t want to deal with. All the more reason to keep him at a distance.

“Rob was a Christian, but—” She broke off.

“But what? So he let you down or hurt you in some way. Are you sure you’re not just angry with him for dying, for leaving you here?”

“I wish it were that simple.” She’d held her guilt so close for the past year, she didn’t know if she could reveal it even to Naomi. But the more she had tried to hide it, the more fearful she’d become of opening herself up to the future.

“Then what is it? I’ve seen you change this year, Bree. You never used to have all this insecurity. Tell me.”

“Rob was having an affair!” Bree waited for Naomi’s reaction.

Naomi put her hands to her face then lowered them and stared at Bree. “Not Rob. Are you sure?” She brushed the snow from a log then lowered herself onto it. “Sit down. I have to chew on this a minute.”