Chapter 20
20
AIDEN
I wasn’t sure what woke me, but I instantly knew something was wrong.
Bolting upright, I immediately looked to my left, where I last saw the woman who was becoming as important as air to both me and Miles. Panic surged at finding her sleeping bag tossed open, empty. With a curse, I pushed to my feet and lunged for the already-open door.
I couldn’t breathe. Terrible scenarios ran on a loop in my mind over and over, each time getting worse and more vivid. The second my bare feet hit the soft dirt just outside the tent and I took in the campsite, my world stilled.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
“Miles?” I hedged, taking a tentative step toward my utterly still friend.
He didn’t respond, gaze fixed on the slight frame folded into the chair from last night that I just might have bronzed to commemorate one of the best nights of my life. Pausing at his side, I fought the urge to reach out to him, to do fucking anything to get him to snap out of whatever memory he was trapped inside.
“Why the fuck is your dick out?”
I blinked at Miles before slapping a palm over my mouth to quiet the bark of laughter that would’ve surely woken up the sleeping beauty in front of us.
“I woke up, and she was gone. Pants didn’t seem like a priority.”
His dark eyes cut my way. “Pretty sure pants should always be a priority, but I get it.” His gaze slid back to her. “When she’s involved, everything else ceases to exist but her and her safety.”
I waited for him to explain what the hell I’d walked in on, but he stopped talking and went back to just staring at Aspen.
“Miles,” I whispered.
“Aiden.”
“What the fuck is going on?”
He looked at me again. “I was hoping you knew. I woke up to Jubie scratching at the door, begging to go out like something was wrong. When I did, I noticed Aspen asleep in the chair.”
“And you’ve been standing here, watching her sleep since?” He nodded. “And I thought I was the one she’d think was a serial killer after my captive-in-the-basement slip yesterday.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” I grumbled. “We should just go back into the tents and let her sleep. We can find out why later.”
“What if something happens to her?” he asked, slight panic raising his voice.
“We can leave Jubie?—”
The words dried up, and we both froze at a soft sound coming from Aspen’s parted lips. Her long dark lashes fluttered open. The chair shifted beneath her as she jerked, eyes wide, flicking between us.
“Um, hi,” she rasped, voice thick with sleep. She shifted and winced, hand coming up to press against her neck. “Shit, I slept funny.”
“Why did you sleep out here, in a chair?” Miles demanded, arms now crossed over his chest and feet spread in a defensive position.
“Um.” Her gaze slid to me before dipping down. “Really? Still no pants?”
Tossing both hands up in the air, I strode for the tent. Pulling the boxer briefs off my pack that I had set out, I yanked them on before going back out to join them.
“What?” I asked, catching them both smirking at me.
“Nothing,” Miles replied, though it seemed he hid a laugh.
“I said you had a cute ass.” She made a pinching gesture. “I just want to pinch it.”
“That is oddly…”
“Adorable?” she added.
“Erotic.”
“Can we all please get back to why I found Aspen out here sleeping? Alone?” His dark brows furrowed. “What did you do?”
“Um, it wasn’t because of him,” Aspen cut in before I could. Miles and I both shifted our full attention to her. Playing with a few strands of hair, she kept her gaze anywhere other than on us. “It was you.”
Miles frowned and tapped his chest. “Me?” She nodded. “What did I do?”
“Nothing,” she said in a rush. “But I heard something and came out here to investigate.”
“Alone?” I growled. “Don’t you know the dangers out here?”
“Not really,” she snapped back. “Because neither of you have told me about whatever danger is lurking out there besides being mauled by a bear.”
“Which is a valid concern out here,” Miles stated with a firm nod. “And you’re right, we didn’t talk about that yesterday on the hike up, but we will after you tell us how I’m the reason you’re out here alone, sleeping in a fucking chair.”
Oh, bestie was pissed. If Aspen didn’t have a solid reason for being out here, he was going to wear her ass out.
Hope I got to watch when he did.
“You really want to know?” she hedged, shooting me a worried glance.
Oh fuck.
“Yes,” Miles demanded.
“The noise,” she whispered. “I thought it was an animal or something, so I stepped out of the tent, and that’s when I realized the sound I heard was coming from your tent.”
Miles was now frozen, staring at her with a blank expression on his face.
“You clearly didn’t wake him up or go into his tent, so why didn’t you come back in with me?” I asked frantically, glancing between them.
“He sounded”—she shrugged—“upset or hurt or, I don’t know?—”
“Answer the question, Aspen. Why didn’t you go back to bed once you realized it was me?”
Aspen lifted her chin, meeting his cold dark eyes. “Because I didn’t want to leave you to fight whatever it was you were dealing with alone.”
And there went the rest of my heart. What was left of the shredded organ now belonged wholly to the fierce, adorable, sexy-as-fuck woman in front of me.
“So, you stayed,” Miles stated. Aspen nodded, refusing to drop his stare. “So that even if you weren’t in the tent with me, I wouldn’t be alone.”
“Well, yeah. I mean, I’m kind of tired of doing all this on my own, so I figured you were too. Even if you didn’t know I was out here, it still felt better than just leaving.”
Miles’s nostrils flared, chest ballooning out with a heavy inhale. Before I could get a word out, he scooped Aspen out of the chair and smashed her against his chest in a hold so tight I wondered if she could breathe. Face buried against her neck, he said nothing, letting the emotional hug say it all for him.
One arm wrapped around her waist, Miles pulled back and ran a hand over her wild hair.
“Thank you,” he rasped.
Jubie leaned against his leg, nose tipped up, sniffing Aspen’s side. With a little maneuvering, she finagled an arm free, dropped her hand, and rested it on Jubie’s head.
Knowing the moment was more special than any of us could put into words, I hurried back to the tent, snagged my phone, and snapped a few shots with the early-morning sun rising behind them.
Perfect.
The moment.
Them.
Us.
All of it was almost too perfect to be true.
I just hoped it actually was.
* * *
“And all the male victims…” Aspen trailed off as she stepped out of the truck.
“There are six that we know of in the last year or so that we believe should’ve been labeled as suspicious deaths instead of accidents,” Miles explained.
“Because the female hikers they traveled with were missing instead of being found with the men’s bodies,” she said, pausing at the pathway that led toward her cabin to face us.
“Exactly.” He opened the tailgate to make it easier for Jubie to jump down. The dog’s massive paws barely made a sound when she landed and trotted over to where Aspen and I stood.
“And how many female hikers are you saying have gone missing off the trail in the last year?”
“Thirteen, though two of the victims’ bodies were found months later, badly decomposed.”
“Yet you still think it’s tied to the other missing women’s cases,” she hedged with a frown. “Seems suspicious, sure, but I don’t know if they’re all connected.”
“We don’t either, which is why the guy who owns Uplift asked a SEAL buddy, Hudson, a detective down in LA, to come help run the investigation.” I tossed an arm over her shoulders and turned us both, starting the short walk to her cabin. “The sheriff doesn’t think there’s a case. He thinks the women just got lost or were victims of unfortunate accidents. Which could’ve happened. Sure, the trail is difficult, but we believe there is enough suspicion to warrant an investigation. Hence why we want you to be extra cautious when you’re alone.”
She angled her head from side to side. “People get hurt or go missing all the time in parks and nature preserves. I can only imagine how much more dangerous a trail is here than anywhere else. Maybe it’s more about people coming here unprepared, expecting it to be all about the magnificent views and not the crazy-hard terrain and climate. Because I’ll be honest, I’ve hiked and explored a lot of different locations, and this place… the beauty is deceiving. You don’t realize how remote and treacherous it can be out there.”
“But you had fun?” I asked, leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead.
“I had… there isn’t a word that describes the last twenty-four hours with you guys and being out there,” she said, angling a wide smile up at me.
“I’m sure you captured it in your pictures,” Miles offered behind us.
“Hopefully.” The excitement and energy in her tone was palpable. Digging the cabin key out of her front pocket, she reached for the door handle with the other hand. “I just need to…” Stopping, she frowned. “That’s odd.”
A massive body wedged itself between Aspen and me at her comment. I rolled my eyes at Miles’s back.
“What is it?” he demanded.
Not verbally responding, she pushed the door, which opened with ease. I narrowed my eyes at the key still in her other hand. “I’m positive I locked it,” she stated.
“It was locked. I double-checked it before we left,” Miles said, sidearm already in his hand, stepping over the threshold. “Aiden, on my six.”
I pulled my own weapon, a shiver rolling down my spine, making the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand on end, the moment I entered the cabin. I adjusted my hold on the Glock, the rough grip caressing my palm, offering some comfort that I was armed if anyone was inside. After clearing each room twice, we met Aspen where she stood just inside the cabin by the open door.
I gave her a quick once-over, cataloging her pale face, arms crossed around her waist, and the way her nervous gaze jumped from side to side as if expecting someone to jump out of thin air.
Damnit, she looked absolutely terrified.
Holstering my gun, I pulled her into my arms and rubbed a hand along her spine in reassuring strokes. “You’re all right. No one is in here but us. We’re positive.”
“But someone was.” I shot my best friend a pointed “shut the fuck up, dude” look. He just shrugged in return. “What? She needs to know that someone has been here. The door was locked when we left, and the cabin just feels off.”
Well, he had me there.
“Was anything stolen?”
Slowly releasing my tight hold, I took her hand in mine and guided her to the single bedroom. “I don’t think so, but why don’t you go through your things to double-check? I’ll be right here with you.”
Teeth gnawing on her lower lip, she nodded and hesitantly slipped our joined hands apart. I stuck closer than her fucking shadow as she moved around the room, searching the bags I remembered helping with that first day, inspecting the contents of a few small ones in the bathroom, and rummaging through a computer bag next to a tiny desk.
Blowing out a slow breath, she looked up from where she knelt on the floor. “Everything is here. Could we be imagining this?”
I shook my head as I scanned the room. It didn’t make sense why someone would break in and not steal anything. The computer sitting on top of the desk would’ve been easy to grab, but they didn’t.
What the fuck was going on in Anchor Bay?
“I called the sheriff,” Miles said when he stormed back into the cabin from the back door, gun still clutched tightly in his grip. “Said he’d swing by when he could. I’ll stay and wait for that lazy fucker to show up. Aiden, you take Aspen to our place. There is no way in hell you’re staying here tonight, baby girl. Please don’t fight me on?—”
“I agree,” Aspen cut in. “No pushback from me. I don’t want to stay here alone tonight.”
“Thank fuck for that,” I grumbled to myself. “Come on. I’ll help you pack everything up.” I interlaced our fingers and raised her hand to my lips to kiss the back. “Though if you want to leave the underwear…” I waggled my brows, hoping to ease the tense moment. The slight curve of her lips was all I got, but it had to be enough for now. Later, I’d help her forget all about the break-in and her fear.
It took her less than ten minutes to get everything packed up and loaded in the back of the truck. Sliding behind the wheel, I gave Jubie’s head a soft pat while shooting Aspen a reassuring smile, then cranked the engine to head home. Shuffling had me glancing over around Jubie’s large body, finding Aspen digging around in the bottom of the satchel that had her laptop and camera. Before I turned back to the road, I caught her pulling out a cell phone, only to stare at the blank screen.
“If your phone is dead, we can plug it in when we get to the cabin,” I offered.
“Oh, I’m sure it still has a charge.”
I shot her an arched brow in question. “So, then, why aren’t you using it?”
“I turned it off when I left Seattle, only turning it back on for a few minutes to get the address Miles texted me and write him back. There were a lot of missed texts and phone calls that I actively avoided before powering it back off.” She blew a raspberry, which drew Jubie’s attention, who took that as an open invitation to lick her face. “I haven’t turned it back on since, and I’m not sure I want to now.”
“Why?”
“It feels like combining two different lives.” She shrugged and draped an arm around Jubie’s massive body in a side hug. “The messages and voicemails that are waiting for me revolve around my life in Seattle. I feel like they might interrupt or burst this happy bubble that I’ve found myself blissfully stuck inside.”
“Then keep it turned off.” I flicked the blinker and slowed to make the turn. “Right?”
She nodded, then shook her head. “This might sound childish or dumb, but after what happened back at the cabin, I want to check in with my parents. I didn’t even call to tell them I quit my job and was headed to Alaska for a week. I don’t know. I just want to talk to them both.”
“Then turn it on and call them?” Confusion had the statement almost coming out like a question. Sure, her mom sounded difficult and unsupportive, but if Aspen wanted to talk to them, then she should, even if she had to ignore the messages from her old life in Seattle.
“It’s just all so damn complicated, and I have no one to blame but myself since I all but sprinted out of Seattle.” With a sharp headshake, she shoved the phone back into her bag and gently set it between her feet. After a few seconds of silence, she poked a single finger at my shoulder. “Distract me from the inevitable. Tell me a funny story about you and Miles growing up.”
A slow, mischievous grin pulled at my lips. If she wanted a distraction, I knew a mutually embarrassing story that would do the trick.
“Okay, so this one time in high school, I convinced Miles that we should go streaking in the dead of winter…”