Deadly Revenge (National Forest K-9 #5)

Chapter One

Montana—July

Summer school sucked. Hope Dawson sat in the back of the classroom doodling pictures of smiley faces, stick dogs and weird

little loopy designs. The teacher, Mrs. Collinsworth, seemed annoyed about having to teach summer school. No one wanted to

be here, but according to Hope’s mother, if she wanted to get out of middle school and go to high school next year, she not

only had to get her act together, she also had to pass these classes.

Who cared? Wasn’t this the point in her life where she was supposed to screw up and mess around? What was so special about

school anyway? Not like it did her mother a lot of good. Although her uncle had told Hope she needed a high school and college

degree to be a marshal like him. That conversation had started when she said she thought his job was cool. But maybe she didn’t

want to be a marshal or anything else to do with law enforcement. Especially since her dad was a cop who ignored her.

Mrs. Collinsworth was finishing up with whatever they were discussing and saying they could all go to lunch.

Hope sighed and grabbed her backpack. She’d have lunch in her favorite spot on the other side of the school grounds.

There was an old tree she liked to sit under because she could use her vape and no one would see the smoke. And she could be by herself.

She told herself that it was okay not to have any friends, but in reality, it stung. Not like she wanted to be friends with

some of the summer school losers. Although one friend, loser or not, would be nice. Hope slung her backpack over one shoulder

and trudged out to the tree and nestled into her spot. The trunk was the perfect shape to lean back against. She pulled out

her sandwich and her vape.

They’d studied English this morning and read some old dead author’s writings. According to Mrs. Collinsworth there was symbolism

and all sorts of stuff they should appreciate. Hope would appreciate sleeping in and not having to go to school for the couple

weeks between summer school and the start of her freshman year. If she passed. She really didn’t want to go back to middle

school and repeat eighth grade.

Her father’s words from this morning went through her mind.

“You’re smart. Why are you messing around?”

Her father had said that to her when he’d picked her up and driven her to school.

He was on his way to his shift. Her parents were divorced and the only reason he was taking her was because her mom begged him last night.

Her mom was a nurse and needed another shift to cover some bills.

Why didn’t her dad help her mom out more?

Hope didn’t understand. She’d never answered his question.

Did he really think she knew why she was messing around?

If she knew that, maybe she would change.

She did know she thought school was a waste of time.

The previous day, her uncle had driven her to school and given her a similar talk. She adored her uncle, but even he was getting

annoying with the speeches about her future and how she needed to try to behave for her mom’s sake. She’d felt a little bit

guilty after his lecture, especially when he told her he knew she was vaping. How did he find that out? She thought she’d

hidden it pretty well. She was worried he might try to take it from her. Luckily, she had a backup stashed in her room.

“I won’t give you a lecture about your lungs and all that health stuff, but listen to me, Hope: this isn’t a road you want

to go down. Got it?”

Hope had told him she did get it. But at lunch yesterday, she’d still smoked her vape. It wasn’t like she’d promised she’d

change, just that she understood what he was saying.

The day was warm and she hated that she was already sweaty. The school’s AC barely worked and by the end of the day, the classroom

smelled gross. It didn’t matter how many fans Mrs. Collinsworth put in the classroom or how many doors she opened. Only two

more weeks of school and then Hope could have a break from this hell.

After eating her sandwich, Hope decided she didn’t want to go back to class.

She’d vape and then ditch the rest of the day.

But she’d have to be careful. If her uncle was out of the office on an assignment and saw her, he’d be pissed.

One time, she and her mom had been out doing errands when they saw her uncle arresting someone.

The guy had tried to get away and her uncle had performed some moves Hope had never seen before.

The guy ended up with his face on the hood of her uncle’s vehicle.

Not that her uncle would do that to her, but Hope knew she better not get caught by him. Disappointing him might be worse

than getting a face plant on a car hood.

She took a drag off her vape. The flavor was strawberry bubblegum. She guessed it did taste a little like strawberries mixed

with bubblegum.

As she puffed away, hoping that no one would see her, a van pulled up and parked right in front of her. What the . . . ?

A man and woman stared at her—the guy was driving and the lady was in the passenger seat. Hope felt creeped out. She put the

vape away in her backpack. Maybe she shouldn’t ditch. These assholes in their van might call the school and report her. That

happened once during the regular school year with a person who lived in the neighborhood. Hope had decided to cut class and

someone saw her. They were “concerned” about a kid out walking around by herself and not in school at ten in the morning.

She’d been busted and that had sucked. Her mom had taken away her phone for a week.

The van window rolled down. “Hey there,” the man said.

“Hey,” Hope answered. She was already getting to her feet.

Should she run? Or were these people okay?

She hated how her mom, dad and uncle assumed everyone was bad.

Even her grandfather, who had also disappeared a while ago, used to tell her not to trust anyone in this town.

Including the cops, which Hope thought was weird.

Her dad was a cop and although she didn’t like him and his new wife, she trusted him.

She’d heard her mom and uncle whispering about her grandfather. He might not be the most upstanding guy either. She’d overheard

her uncle saying that he was on the run. The marshals were looking for him in Colorado. Then her mom and uncle realized she

was there and quit talking. So annoying. As if she couldn’t handle anything bad about their family.

The guy held up a cell phone and said, “Question for you.”

“What?”

“You live around here?”

“Maybe,” Hope said. She thought that her family was paranoid, but she wasn’t going to freely give him any information either.

“I’m just asking because we’re looking for a local diner. Supposedly has good pie?” the guy said.

Hope pondered about his question for a moment.

There was a diner on Main Street called Main Street Diner.

So creative, she thought sarcastically. Who came up with that dumb name?

But she’d gone there once with her dad and his new wife, Brittany.

That was back when they were dating and Brittany was still pretending to like Hope.

Then Brittany turned into the stepmother, or step monster, from hell.

But when they’d gone there, Hope ate a piece of peach pie.

It was good. Maybe that’s where this guy was talking about.

“There’s a diner on Main Street,” Hope said. “They have good pie. Otherwise, I don’t know.”

The guy stared at his phone and typed some things in. “My GPS isn’t working well. Can you point us in the direction of Main

Street?”

Hope rolled her eyes. Adults. They were so worthless. Obviously going to school hadn’t helped them. She pointed straight ahead.

“That way.”

“What? Sorry, I can’t hear you.”

Good Lord, these people were annoying and stupid. Hope took a step closer and repeated, “That way.”

“I don’t suppose you could bring it up on the phone?” the guy asked, handing the phone to the lady. She hadn’t said anything.

In fact, she’d barely looked at Hope.

Hope shrugged and went over to the van. She reached for the phone, and as soon as she did, the lady grabbed her arm with surprising

strength.

Fear coursed through Hope as she struggled to pull away. But she couldn’t. The lady hung on tight as the man leapt out of

the vehicle, came around and grabbed her from behind. Hope kicked as hard as she could, but he didn’t flinch. His grasp only

became stronger. She wasn’t a big person and was no match for his size.

The lady kept a tight grip on her arm as she tried to flail around.

The guy managed to get one arm around her waist and the other hand over her mouth.

Hope tried to bite him, but he had his palm smushed hard against her face.

The taste of salt and grime in her mouth from his skin made her want to puke.

The lady pulled out a syringe and Hope’s eyes widened as she tried to somehow get away. The needle hurt as the lady nailed

her upper arm and pressed the plunger. Hope kept up the fight, but it didn’t take long for her not to be able to feel her

arms and legs. She was getting sleepy. She fought it, but darkness fell over her.

Her last thought as everything went black was why hadn’t she listened to her mom and uncle? Even her dad? And then one final

horrible thought. With her being such a screwup, would anyone miss her?