Chapter 14
Fourteen
Wildlife is something which man cannot construct. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.
—Joy Adamson, naturalist
After dropping Maisie back at the visitor center to her grandfather’s care, Kate decided to head over to Willow Flats, an area that was supposedly teeming with wildlife. According to the guidebook, anyway.
A little absentmindedly, she parked her rental car behind another vehicle and retrieved her camera equipment from the trunk. She was mindful of Coop’s warning to not hike alone, but she had her world’s loudest whistle around her neck and bear spray in her coat pocket. The presence of another car meant other hikers were here, and that gave her an additional boost of confidence. Besides, she wasn’t planning to stay long. After spending the last few hours with Maisie, having some quiet time to herself felt like a breath of fresh air. Kate liked Maisie, quite a bit, but the girl could talk your ear off. She never stopped.
As she walked down the trail that led to Christian Creek, Kate was glad she’d stopped at the lodge to shower and exchange wet boots for dry ones. They protected her now as she trudged through the mud and wet grass. She walked in a state of wonder at the beauty and the silence. Especially the silence. Her ears were still ringing from Maisie.
Stopping at different points along the trail, Kate took out her binoculars to survey the flats. An eagle, or perhaps an osprey, shrieked overhead, prompting her to reach for her camera. Fat chance. By the time she removed the lens cap, the bird had disappeared into the distance.
She came to a fork in the trail and stopped to pull out her guidebook, uncertain by now that she was even on the original trail. She took out her map and compass to assess her position, and looked up in the sky to see which direction the sun was setting. Happily, not a cloud in the sky, just as her weather app had forecasted. She had checked before she set out for Willow Flats. She’d learned her lesson from Hidden Falls ... though it was kind of nice to have Coop come looking for her.
Rooted to the spot, she peered out through her binoculars, wondering about all the life that found shelter at the flats. Out here, with the wide marshes in front of her, Kate felt as if she was stepping into the unknown.
It was a far cry from the confined orderliness of the zoo. No neatly set-up exhibits or scheduled shows. In the zoo, animals lived in synchronicity. Rhythms drew the animals together—sleeping, eating, even playing.
Here, nature was the boss. It didn’t follow any rules; it had its own rhythms.
Kate had learned a tremendous amount as a zoo photographer, starting with needing an inordinate amount of patience. Especially fascinating to her was how animals used their senses to help interpret and understand the world. Owls or bats could hear a prey’s movements in total darkness. Sharks used electroreception to detect electric fields, helping them navigate and locate prey. Wide-eyed deer used their vision to avoid a threat. Dogs and bears relied on their highly sensitive noses. Birds, turtles, even butterflies relied on magnetoreception to orient them on migration.
All that and more she had learned at the zoo. Watching and studying. A passive observer.
No longer. Here, she felt like a caged bird set free, soaring through the open sky with exhilarating abandon. The thought of returning to Virginia—to the zoo, to Oliver—filled her with a sense of dread.
It was a startling realization. Just a week ago, Kate wouldn’t have been fearless enough to go hiking like this, alone, near sunset. Yet here she was. Bold and brave.
Kate Cunningham. The new and improved Kate Cunningham.
She heard it before she saw it. An unmistakable snort that made her freeze in her tracks, followed by utter silence. Even the birdsong stopped. Looking through her binoculars, Kate spotted a massive grizzly bear. It was far away, at least a football field. Hopefully more. Her heart started to pound. Calm, stay calm , she told herself. Moving slowly, because she knew that bears got excited by quick movement, she lifted her camera to take photos of it, thankful she had the zoom lens attached.
Big mistake.
The bear might have heard or seen her move or maybe it smelled Kate’s presence. It stood up on its hind legs, fixing her with a piercing gaze. Standing tall, this bear was enormous. Slightly terrified, yet far more mesmerized, Kate kept taking pictures of it. She remembered advice from a book she’d read about wildlife photography—don’t shy away from beautiful and jarring unsettling moments. As long as he was on his hind legs, he was merely curious. If he dropped down and started to approach her, she needed to take action. But what?
Her mind was racing through options. Back up slowly? Blow the storm whistle? Sing? Think, think, think. What did Coop say in his ranger talk about close encounters with bears?
Bear spray! Whistle!
Before she could decide which to reach for first, a gunshot rang out and echoed through the meadow. The bear turned and ran, its thick rump rippling before it vanished into the trees, leaving Kate alone in the now eerie silence.
Shaking, Kate scanned the area with her zoom lens, searching for the source of the shot. Unable to see anything or anyone, she decided it was best to return to her car and report the incident to a ranger. To Coop. She needed Coop.
Twenty minutes later, when she arrived back at her rental car, the other vehicle was gone.
As Coop directed traffic around a bear jam at Oxbow Bend, his attention was suddenly drawn to Kate waving to him from her car. Pleasure rippled through him at the sight of her, but it was quickly replaced by concern when he noticed the urgency in her gesture.
“I need to talk to you!” she called out as he approached her car.
Coop lifted his hand in a wave back, the spiral of pleasure in his stomach intensifying. “Sure thing,” he replied, motioning for her to pull over to an empty spot.
Once parked, Coop made his way over to her car, his curiosity piqued. “What’s going on?”
Kate glanced past him, her eyes scanning the line of vehicles. “Is this traffic all because of a bear?”
“Two, actually.” Coop nodded. “A sow and her COY are drawing quite the crowd this evening.”
“Please tell me this one is 399.” Her blue eyes were wide with hope.
“Nope.” Coop shook his head, sorry to disappoint her. “We think this might be one of her granddaughters.”
He expected her to jump out and start snapping pictures like the rest of the crowd, but Kate stayed put in the car, her expression serious. “Coop, something strange just happened.”
“What?” Coop leaned in closer.
“I was at Willow Flats and—”
“Hold it. That area is supposed to be off-limits.”
“Really? I didn’t see any signs. Besides, there was another parked car. When I saw it, I just assumed it would be okay.” She shook her head. “Anyway, I was walking on a trail—just like you said, stick to the trail—and I encountered a bear.”
“You ran into a bear?” Coop interrupted. “As in, you surprised a bear?”
“The vegetation was pretty thick and he was far, far away.”
“Did the bear see you?”
Kate nodded, mimicking the shape of a hump on her neck with her hand. “Pretty sure it was a grizzly.”
“Do you realize the danger you put yourself in?” His voice held a note of alarm, so he cleared his throat. After all, he was a professional. “I mean, I can see you’re still in one piece.” Stupid, stupid, stupid. “I mean, um, you lived to tell the tale. You had bear spray, right?”
“I did! And I brought my whistle.” She pulled a cord on her neck to reveal a bright orange whistle. “It’s supposed to be the world’s loudest whistle. I can even whistle underwater.”
Underwater? How would that have helped? And why was the whistle buried in her shirt? Coop could feel his stomach tighten with concern. “You shouldn’t have been hiking alone, Kate, especially in remote areas. Rangers are always told to travel in threes.” With the shortage of manpower, they hardly ever did, but it was a good policy.
“Trust me, I will definitely be more careful next time. But that’s not why I came looking for you.”
Kate came looking for him? That spiral of pleasure stirred again.
“So the bear raised up on his back legs to look at me, and I knew that he was curious and not acting aggressive—”
“You can’t know that.”
“I have studied bear behavior.” She let out a sigh. “Please. Just let me get to the strange part.”
“Okay. What was the strange part?”
“As I was taking pictures, a gunshot rang out.”
Coop’s stomach twisted. “A shot was fired? At you?”
“No. Not me. At the bear. But I don’t think it was hit.”
“What makes you think that?”
“The bear turned and ran off into the trees. He vanished.”
“Did the bear make any noise?”
“Noise? What do you mean?”
“After the shot, did the bear make any sound? When a bear is hit, it bellows. If it’s dying, it’s a death moan. Almost a song.”
She looked at him, clearly affected. “No. No sound. I would’ve remembered something like that.”
Okay, Coop thought. That sounded like an unwounded bear. “Did you see who fired the shot?”
“No. I looked, but I didn’t see anyone.”
Coop crossed his arms over his chest, his mind racing as he considered the implications. He wondered how to proceed. There wasn’t much evidence to go on. Then again ... “Kate, did you manage to capture anything on camera?”
“Not sure. Maybe.” Kate’s gaze flicked to the camera hanging around her neck. “I haven’t looked at the photos yet. I came straight to you.”
“Give me your memory card so I can examine the photographs.”
Kate hesitated, a protective glint in her eyes. “Coop, I can’t just give you my memory card.”
“This could be serious. You might have come across this poacher who’s been causing us some grief.” Him, especially.
“I know it could be serious. I realize that! That’s why I came to find you and tell you about it. But I need to protect my photographs.”
Coop sighed, frustration brewing. “Don’t make me pull my ranger card and commandeer the memory card.”
But Kate held her ground, her gaze steady. “I’m pretty sure you can’t do that without a warrant.”
Blast. She called his bluff. “Fine,” he muttered, defeated. “Can I at least see the photos?”
Kate nodded, her expression softening. “Of course. My computer is in my car trunk. I can download the memory card now, and you can see them for yourself.”
Kate jumped out of the car, quickly retrieved her computer from the trunk, and began the download process of her camera’s memory card. Coop’s heart pounded in his chest as he scrolled through the images, relief washing over him when he identified the bear as Bruno. But his relief was short-lived as he noticed something peculiar in the background.
“We need to show this to Tim Rivers right away,” Coop said, his mind already racing ahead to the next steps.
“I’ll go with you.”
“No need.”
“I’m sorry, Coop, but there’s every need. You’re not taking my computer from me.”
Coop hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement. “We’ll take my truck. You can leave your car here and I’ll drop you back later.” Walking to his truck, he had to swallow down a smile at Kate’s feistiness. The more he was around her, the more he liked her.
Tim had been turning out the lights when he heard a knock at the door and suddenly Coop and Zoo Girl were in his cabin. He squeezed his eyes shut. He had to stop thinking of her as Zoo Girl. What was her name again? Something short. Coop seemed to be a little sweet on her, which was just the scenario Tim had hoped for his friend this summer.
Coop flicked on the overhead light. “We’ve got something to show you.”
“This can’t wait until morning?” Tim said.
“Nope,” Coop said, heading straight to the small kitchen table.
“Keep your voice down,” Tim said. “Maisie’s asleep in the other room.”
“I’m awake!” Maisie said, poking her head around the door. “Hi, Kate!”
Kate! That’s her name. “Go back to bed, Maisie,” Tim said. “Coop’s here on official business.” Disappointed, Maisie’s face slowly disappeared, but she left the door open a smidge. Tim went over and closed it. “Okay, what’s this all about?”
Kate had her computer opened as Coop looked up at Tim. “Kate was out at Willow Flats and surprised a grizzly.”
“You okay?” Tim said. She looked okay.
“I’m fine,” she said. “That’s not why we’re here.”
“What were you doing out there? Sally closed it to the public.”
Coop lifted a hand to stop him. “I already gave her that talk, Tim. That’s not why we’re here.”
Tim frowned. “But you went out there alone?”
“That’s the thing,” Kate said, tapping on her keyboard. “I wasn’t alone. A shot rang out and scared the bear off.”
Tim straightened. “A shot?”
“And that’s why we’re here,” Coop said, turning the computer screen toward Tim.
Tim pulled out a chair and sat down. On the computer screen was a wide shot of Willow Flats. To the left, a large grizzly stood on its hind legs. “Bruno?”
“I think so,” Coop said.
“I was hoping it was 399.” Kate sounded disappointed.
Coop looked at her. “Definitely a he.”
“I have to say that I’m impressed at how well you rangers know your bears.”
Coop grinned. Tim noticed. Then Coop’s grin faded when he realized Tim was watching him. “Now look to the far right.”
Tim squinted. There were two fuzzy figures in front of a stand of trees. “Can you enlarge it?”
“It’s already enlarged,” Kate said.
“Rangers?” Tim said, hoping so.
“No one was scheduled to be up there. You said so at today’s staff meeting.”
Yeah, yeah, Tim knew. Which meant these two had no business being there. It meant they were hunters. Poachers.
“Tim,” Coop said, “if you look closely, you can see one aiming a rifle.”
Kate pointed. “I took these photos before the shot rang out.”
Tim focused on the two fuzzy people, one tall, one small. And the small one held a rifle. “Think that’s a child? Maybe a teen.”
“I think it’s a woman,” Coop said. He exchanged a look with Kate. “Tim, look more closely. I think that figure could be Sally Janus.”
Tim stared at him. “What? Why would you say such a thing?”
“She’s holding the rifle in her left hand. And her hair.” Coop waved a hand around his head. “Big fluffy blond hair. Plus Kate thought she saw a ranger jeep.”
“Well, I think it was a ranger jeep. I wasn’t paying close enough attention. But it was gone by the time I returned to my car.”
Tim rose and crossed his arms. “That’s pretty flimsy evidence to slap against Sally. Your boss and mine. A ranger who’s loyal to the core.”
“Slow down.” Coop held up his palms. “I’m not accusing Sally of anything. I came right away to you. And this guy looks as tall as the ranger from Yellowstone who was in her office yesterday.”
“What Yellowstone ranger? Coop, what are you talking about?”
Coop pointed to the picture. “That guy. Super tall. I met him in Sally’s office. She said that he was on loan from Yellowstone. But that guy had soft hands.”
“His hands,” Tim said in a flat voice.
“They weren’t calloused. What ranger doesn’t have calloused hands?”
Tim frowned. “Coop, now you’re worrying me. Is the Emma Dilemma keeping you up at night?”
Kate piped up. “What’s Emma Dilemma?”
The bedroom door opened and Maisie’s head popped out. “Emma is Coop’s old girlfriend.”
“Maisie!” Tim swiveled to bark at her. “Quit eavesdropping and go to bed.”
The door quietly closed.
Tim turned to Kate. “Emma is Coop’s former girlfriend and now his boss. She caused him a great deal of heartache. Still does.”
“Hey!” Coop said, frowning at Tim. “Can we get back to the more serious issue here? I think you need to follow up with Sally. Just to rule her out.”
“There’s nothing to rule out.”
“I hope you’re right. It’s just ... she seems kind of...”
“Kind of what?” Tim said, annoyed.
“Different. More authoritative than I remember from last year. A little dictatorial.”
“She wasn’t the acting chief director last summer. Just a district ranger, like me. There’s a lot on her plate this year.”
“Maybe. But could you at least just find out where Sally was earlier tonight?”
Tim let out a huff. “I don’t need to. I know she couldn’t have been involved in this.”
Coop raised his palms in the air. “How do you know?”
Tim rose to stand tall, hands on his hips. “Because if Sally Janus had fired a shot, she wouldn’t have missed. She’s a sharpshooter. Best I’ve ever seen, bar none.”
After Coop and Zoo Girl left, Tim sat at the kitchen table, troubled. He refused to believe that Sally could be mixed up with anything illegal. No way. Not Sally. He’d never known another ranger who took her job more seriously. She acted like she was guardian of the park.
Coop was right about one thing—Sally was acting strangely lately. And who was this Yellowstone ranger on loan? Tim vaguely recalled that Maisie had said something about a tall ranger. Something about bumping into Sally and a Yellowstone ranger on the bicycle.
But Yellowstone didn’t have surplus rangers to loan out. Even if there was a ranger on loan, Sally would’ve looped him in. Introduced him.
But that picture was hard to ignore. Granted, the two figures were fuzzy and distant, but as soon as Coop spoke Sally’s name, Tim could see the resemblance.
He rubbed his forehead. Probably just a coincidence. He was 100 percent positive that Sally Janus would never be involved in something illegal.
As Tim got ready for bed, he couldn’t shake the feeling that trouble was brewing. There were two incidents now of gunshots in areas that were off-limits to the public. That was an enormous concern.
As he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind kept wandering back to Sally. To how often she spoke of money worries. Quite a lot. He remembered a time when she had asked him how he had prepared for retirement. “Little by little,” he said. “From my very first paycheck, I’ve set money aside. Time plus money can work wonders.”
A troubled look came over her. “The problem,” she had said, “is when you’ve run out of time.”
Tim heard the hoot of an owl, then another answer back. He rolled over to his side and punched his pillow a couple of times.
He was 99 percent sure Sally would never do something illegal.
Maybe 90 percent sure.
As Kate and Coop drove back to Oxbow Bend, the night air held a chill that seeped through the truck’s windows. Kate, feeling a mix of relief and apprehension after the evening’s events, turned to Coop. “Do most poachers get caught?”
“Not often enough,” Coop said.
“Why do they risk poaching in a national park?”
He shrugged. “Lots of reasons. Trophy hunters want bragging rights. A living room rug or a head mounted on the wall or just a pelt. Ranchers want to get rid of anything that might threaten their livestock. Some poachers harvest body parts to sell for Asian medicines. And then there’s just stupid people, looking for a good time.”
“Wait. Back up. Did I hear you say ... a poacher will harvest body parts?”
“Yeah. Like, for a bear’s gallbladder. Apparently, it’s an ingredient for an aphrodisiac. There’s a big consumer demand in Asia.”
Kate shuddered. “Are poachers after bears, mostly?”
“Bears, yes. Especially bruins. Boys are the prettiest of all bears. It’s said they make great rugs.”
Again, Kate shuddered.
“Wolves are targeted too. But most poachers go after elk, moose, mule deer, pronghorn. They’re sought out for their antlers, or hides and meat.”
“Sounds like poaching is more common than I had realized.”
“Not rampant, but not uncommon. Even if a poacher is caught, prosecution is a challenge. They usually plead self-defense. It’s not illegal to kill an animal if it’s threatening your life, even an endangered species. Evidence to convict has to be airtight. The LE rangers do their best, but it’s a tough job.”
“What’s an LE ranger?”
“Law enforcement.” Coop turned onto Teton Park Road. It was such a scenic route by day, with wilderness on both sides and the breathtaking view of the Teton Range. Even in the darkness, Kate was aware of its silent beauty. “So ... um,” she said, breaking the quiet, “Emma Dilemma.” She cast a sideways glance at him. “Her surname isn’t really Dilemma, is it?”
Coop’s grip tightened on the steering wheel, his expression briefly clouded with uncertainty. “No. That’s just Tim’s lame humor.” Then he went quiet.
“It’s not really so lame. I can see how a little perspective in the wilderness can create relationship dilemmas. I’ve been having some serious doubts about my boyfriend.”
He gave her a sharp look, then turned his attention back to the road. “Is that who keeps texting you?”
She sighed. “Yes.” Over and over until she had to turn her phone completely off. “Something about this trip has ... opened my eyes to a few things.”
“I guess time apart can be illuminating.” Again, he went quiet.
She waited a while before adding, “So is that what happened between you? Time apart shed some light on things?” What she really wanted to ask was if Tim Rivers called her Emma Dilemma because there was unfinished business between them. Why else would it be an ongoing dilemma?
Coop looked out the window, and Kate fretted she’d gone too far. After all, she hardly knew this man. But somehow, he made her feel very safe. Seen. She was trying to decide if she should apologize for prying, when he suddenly turned to her.
“Emma is my former fiancée. We were college sweethearts. We had this plan to be schoolteachers during the year and spend our summers as seasonal rangers. But ... things didn’t work out that way.”
Kate sensed the weight behind Coop’s words, the lingering hurt and confusion. “Can I ask what happened?”
Again, Coop hesitated, but she was discovering that his hesitations were a way of gathering his thoughts.
“I thought we were on the same page, but it turns out we weren’t. She wanted one kind of life, and I wanted another. We just ... couldn’t make it work. And now she’s the vice principal at my school and engaged to the principal. They’re getting married this summer.”
“Ouch.” Kate nodded in understanding.
Coop cleared his throat. “So, how does this boyfriend feel about your interest in wildlife photography?”
She snorted. “Kinda like the other photographers. Like I’m playing at being a grown-up.”
He gave her a sharp look. “That’s not fair. It’s not easy to be a beginner, but how else do you get experience?”
“I agree,” she said, liking Coop all the more. “I’m learning that it’s important to do the difficult things.”
He nodded, slowly, not so much in agreement but as if he was listening carefully.
“Oliver has always had a very clear idea of the future and how he wants me to fit into it.” She wasn’t really sure why she was spilling her innermost thoughts to him, but it felt good to get it off her chest. “At first, I can’t deny it was kind of dazzling. He’s rather dazzling. But that feeling wore off and...”
“And what?”
“Well, let’s just say that after one week in the park, I’ve changed.”
He glanced at her. “What do you mean?”
“This might sound funny, but it’s like God brought me here this week for a specific purpose.” She could feel any self-consciousness lift and evaporate, like steam from a teacup, so she continued. “I sense God is calling me to something with my photography, like he’s given me this desire and I need to listen to it.” She turned slightly to face him. “I don’t even know if you’re someone who believes in God.”
“I do.”
She thought so. She’d just had that kind of feeling about him. “Even when I try to tell Oliver what I want, he doesn’t really hear what I’m saying. It’s like my desires don’t count. Like ... I don’t count.” Silence settled between them for a moment before Kate spoke again, her voice tinged with uncertainty. “I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m not sure I explained that very well.”
“You explained it just fine.”
They both fell silent, not knowing where to go next with the conversation. Coop’s gaze remained fixed on the road ahead as they continued their journey. Kate wondered what thoughts were running through his mind, what memories of Emma Dilemma lingered in his heart.
Coop lay in bed that evening, tossing and turning as Frankie’s window-rattling snoring filled the small room with a chorus of rumbles. Seriously, the kid could wake up the bears with that racket.
But it wasn’t just Frankie’s snoring that kept Coop awake. No, his mind was a swirling mess of thoughts, like a blender on overdrive.
That gunshot at Willow Flats just wouldn’t leave him alone, echoing in his head as if he’d been there himself. He couldn’t shake the gut feeling that Chief Ranger Sally Janus was somehow entangled in the chaos. Recognizing her in that photograph had sent shivers down his spine, and he was certain Tim had felt the same.
Ever since Coop had arrived in the park, Sally’s behavior had been off-kilter—yanking him from backcountry detail and replacing him with the Three Stooges. Added to that was her unreasonable restrictions, limiting public access to anywhere 399 could possibly roam. Closing areas went against everything Sally had preached about park ownership belonging to the people. It was like she was playing a game of park politics that Coop couldn’t quite figure out. So not like the Sally Janus he’d worked for last summer.
The grizzly. That gunshot. Kate could’ve been seriously hurt.
He rolled over, staring at the ceiling. So ... Kate had a boyfriend. Hearing that was like a punch to the gut. The first woman he’d had an interest in since Emma broke their engagement ... and she had a boyfriend. A persistent one too, from what Coop could see. The kind of guy who put a claim on a girl and marked his territory.
He wondered how serious Kate’s doubts were about this guy. When she spoke of him, her voice went distant. Was their relationship about to end? Or did she mean they just needed to make some changes? How did she describe that boyfriend? Oh yeah. Dazzling. He was a dazzling guy, she’d said.
Coop was anything but dazzling.
Wade Schmidt stood alone at the range’s shooting line behind the hunting gear shop, his eyes locked on the butt up ahead. The unfamiliar weight and balance of the new bow in his hands contrasted sharply with the beloved one that had gone missing. It reminded him of how a violinist or cellist might feel when handed a new instrument just before a professional performance.
The bowstring felt tight under Wade’s handgrip as he fitted the arrow in the nock, the yellow fletching pointed toward him, the carbon fiber shaft cool and smooth to the touch. His body aligned with the target as he pulled the bow to full draw with a steady, measured tension, anchoring against his face. Then, with a release as natural as a sigh, he released the bowstring and let the arrow fly, sending it hurtling.
The arrow’s flight was a thing of beauty to Wade, cutting through the air with a whisper—hence the name of his favored bow. It struck the target dead center, right in the ten ring, a sign of the hours he’d poured into mastering this skill.
The shop owner, who’d been observing from a distance, approached the butt and whistled softly. “Bull’s-eye,” he said, admiration clear in his voice. “Apparently, you’re not new at this.”
Not hardly, Wade thought to himself, a smirk playing on his lips. But to the shop owner he said, “I’ll take it. And I want a butt, as well.”