5. Jason
Present Day
“Hey, Casper. What’s up?”
The sound around me faded into nothing as I replayed my daughter’s words.
I’ve been in battles, where my life was in jeopardy. I’ve been shot, stabbed, and almost blown up by road-side bombs. Been attacked by militants whose only job was to take me out by any means possible. I’ve crawled through abandoned buildings, hidden in places that the devil himself would shy away from. I’ve schlepped through miles and miles of desert, not knowing when the next attack was coming. Or from where.
None of that held a candle to the sheer panic rolling through me right now.
Makenzie!
My little girl was in trouble.
And I wasn’t there.
I tore off across the parking lot toward my truck, my mind already forming a plan. I needed to get to her now. There was no time to wait. She’d said tangerine. That was a secret word that could be used any day, time, place that let me know she was either uncomfortable in a social situation or in trouble of some kind. We used it as a way for her to say ‘hey, I’m not feeling this, come get me,’ so she wouldn’t have to be embarrassed about wanting to leave a place early. And no one else looking at a text message or overhearing a call would know anything wasn’t right.
But this said more. The code word accompanied with the panic in her voice and the call ending so abruptly—my heart sank. Has something happened to her? To Roni? Were the other girls okay? There were too many damn unknowns.
What if I didn’t get there in time? I’d not survive something happening to my little girl.
“Jason, man, what is it?”
“Makenzie—there’s trouble.” My words were clipped and rushed. My heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest.
Bones jumped in the truck, needing nothing more, and I hightailed it out of the parking lot. It was an hour-long drive to my house; today it would be a half hour, max. Speed limits be damned. I needed to grab my gear, prepare myself mentally for what I may come across. Also, the map Roni had emailed me last night. Her attached note said they were changing up their original plan. She knew how much I needed to know what was happening. This—this was why I always needed to know where my daughter was. This was why I trusted very few people with my kid. In today’s society, shit could go sideways faster than an addict could OD.
“Sliver, hey, get the boys and get your ass to Casper’s. Fully geared, we have a code K. Give Char a heads up, we’re gonna be out of pocket for an undetermined timeframe. Yeah, man, see you there.” He ended the call and turned to face me. “What do we do first?”
“Roni sent me a new map of what they were doing and where. We can find them.” My hands gripped the steering wheel hard enough to hurt. I didn’t know what was happening, and it was killing me.
“What was the call? What do we know?”
“Kenzie called, said tangerine, and then the phone sounded like she dropped it—it went dead. We get out of here and to the park as fast as fucking possible and find my kid, Roni, and the other girls. We get them safe and eliminate whatever or whoever is out there.”
“We’ll find her—them, man. We’ve got your six.”
“I know, brother. Thanks.”
By the time I got to my house, my hands were numb from gripping the steering wheel so tight. Kenz was a smart kid, she’d managed to call me, so I could only hope she was outside of whatever trouble was going on.
Roni, who was so much more than just my neighbor, even if I wasn’t man enough to admit it out loud, was a trained Park Ranger who had three years as a street cop in Dallas under her belt. She could handle a sticky situation, I knew that, but something didn’t feel right.
Knowing all of that, my gut still rolled.
I hopped out of the truck and raced for the side door of the garage.
“Bones, go to the office and print out the last email from Roni. Laptop password?—”
“Kenz’s favorite animal followed by her birthday; I know.”
While he did that, I got inside, ran to the pull cord hanging from the ceiling. I made my way up the stairs as they folded down. The lockers of gear awaited. I needed to pack fast.
I filled my large rucksack with first aid supplies, flashlights, head lamps, night vision goggles, and ammo. I pulled down my AR-15, a scope, and my long-range rifle from the locked cabinet before sliding on a tactical belt. It was full of fun things that would help keep us all out of trouble. I slid the knives into the sheaths and headed down the ladder.
It would take a little over an hour to get to the park entrance, then I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get to where they were camping. We needed to hurry. Time was of the essence here.
“Girls, come on, keep up. We’re almost back to the campsite.”
Smiling, I turned to see them each wrapped in a towel, their packs flopping against their backs as they ran to catch up. We’d been down at the river for the last few hours. I’d gotten lucky and found an area that dipped inland just enough to give them a small beach area they could play in while I fished a few dozen feet from where they were.
It made us all feel better that they’d gotten to do something they’d asked to do on the trip.
The gaggle of fish in hand would provide us with a good, hearty dinner tonight. Then later, we would go for a little hike to a small crop of brush where I was sure we could watch the birds. The girls loved doing that at dusk. If we were lucky, and we would be, we’d get to see a few bats as well. And possibly some of the small woodland animals that are nocturnal.
I didn’t mind spending the quiet time with them at dusk. It’s different being out here, away from the distractions of everyday life—work, especially. Being off the clock, able to explore and give my time to the girls was priceless.
And, like with this afternoon, who doesn’t love fishing? Even if I don’t catch a single fish, it’s been a good time. Being one with nature—it’s good for the soul.
We had a few days left on this trip to do more exploring and learning—all while having fun. I’d pack us up tomorrow morning, and we would head down to Spicewood Springs. We would hike and explore the area, swim, and do some more fishing down at the river. They had campsites, fish-cleaning stations, and restrooms down by the river so that would be nice for our last few days.
On the way to the camp, we came to a small clearing in the brush along the river. My gaze landed on a few broken twigs, drag marks from either a canoe or kayak, and booted footprints.
I tried to push the intrusive thoughts away, but my gut, it was warning that something wasn’t right. Who goes canoeing or kayaking in boots? The treads looked to be deep, so whoever it was—they were big.
These tracks reminded me of the ones I’d seen a couple days ago. I hadn’t paid them much attention since they were just off a hiking trail, but now…my instincts had me looking around, my eyes scanning our surroundings.
You had to have a permit to enter the park from the water, no matter the time or who you were. They could have been given permission after I’d left, but John would have sent a message through. Though to be fair, the signal sucked dishwater in a lot of these areas. But if he had, it would have come through this morning up on the hilltop.
Of course, following proper channels and getting permits didn’t always happen, so we watched out for this kind of thing. Their tracks were obvious, like they wanted them to be seen. Whoever was out patrolling should have seen it, or would see it, when they made their way down here, I guess. I had left them a ranger down this week.
I had to remind myself that I was off duty. I was not Ranger Nash today. This was not my business—concern—right now. The girls were.
I shook off the unease and turned to walk backwards, watching the girls. Their happiness was what this trip was all about. Bonding, having fun, and not being confined to the normal routines our lives become.
“We’re almost there,” I called out, turning back to the path.
When we made it back to camp, I sent the girls into the makeshift shower area, which was just a couple of tarps wrapped and hung between two trees to give everyone some privacy. They had a big pail of water between them and a rag each to clean up with. A quick and dirty scrub-down as my grandpa would have said.
While they giggled and splashed water around the tarps to get each other wet, I set out the stove and got things ready to cook lunch. I was going to heat up the two jars of stew I’d made last week and canned for this trip. We’d all had a very active day so far, and if they were half as hungry as I was, this pan would be empty in no time.
My eyes scanned the campsite. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were no tracks in or out other than ours. I wasn’t sure why I was borderline on edge right now. I had my service weapon clipped to my hip, hidden under my T-shirt. It would stay there until this feeling left me.
“Aunt Roni, will you French-braid our hair?”
“Sure thing. By the time that’s done, the stew should be hot and ready to eat. Girls, brush out your hair for me. Cora, you come sit here; I’ll start with you.”
I had their French-braids done in no time. So now, it was time for food. My watch said it was just after 1:00 pm. This afternoon I was going to focus on what would come next, using their Junior Ranger Guides to help.
“Here you go,” I said, passing out bowls, “let’s eat up. Does anyone want to help me clean the fish so they’ll be ready to cook tonight?” I sat on the ground, my legs ready for the break.
“I can, Daddy showed me how to gut them little suckers too.”
I chuckled. Why did that not surprise me? “Okay, Kenz is helper number one; who else?”
“I can, Aunt Roni. I like scaling them. Can I use the spoon like Papa taught me?”
That’s my girl.“Sure, kiddo.” I clapped my hands together. “All right, that leaves Bree and Gwen to clean up around the campsite. Toss the sticks into the brush, empty the water buckets in the shower area, and then you can get the sleeping bags ready for tonight. I think we’ll go down with the sun.”
If we got an early night, going down about 6:30-7:00 pm, we could get up and move sites in the morning with minimal effort from being overtired. At this point, I was ready for a nap as it was.
“I’m tired,” Gwen said, yawning.
“Me too,” I offered.
“Can we nap then do all the chores, Aunt Roni?”
“I think that is a manageable request. You guys have been go-go-go all morning.” I chuckled. “Once we finish lunch, we’ll rinse the dishes and then go nap. We’ll have to wash everything real good when we get up and get ready for dinner though.”
A chorus of “Yes, ma’am” filled the space around me.
They really were good kids.
I got up and rinsed my bowl and double-checked the fish in the cooler. They would be fine for a little bit of time. With everyone’s bowls and the pan rinsed, I ushered the girls into the tent. They starfished on top of their sleeping bags and sighed. I knew that feeling well.
Lying back onto my sleeping bag, I yawned and scrubbed my hands over my face. Yeah, this nap was a damn good idea.
“Ewww, I got guts on my shirt!” Kenzie hollered and did a little jig where she stood, trying to dislodge the blob.
Laughter bubbled up around the stumps we were using as cleaning posts.
“Here, I’ll get it.” Cora ran to her with a paper towel and took the glob off her shirt. “Yuuuuck. That’s gross.”
“I’m gonna smell even more like fishy guts now.” Kenzie huffed. “Stupid fish, why did you do that?”
She was now talking to a dead fish…I should worry, but all I could do was laugh harder.
“It’ll wash off, kiddo. Thought you were tough as nails.”
“I am, but that’s a—that’s—what is it when it’s not not-calling for something?”
I blinked, brows pinched, trying to decipher that little nugget. “You mean it was uncalled for?” I questioned, unsure.
“That! It was uncalled for.”
“This fish is dead. You made it do that,” Cora, who was still laughing, hollered.
Without missing a beat, Kenz grabbed a part of the guts on the paper before her and tossed it at Cora. The shrieking began then. I was laughing too hard to put a stop to it. I gave them a few minutes to cover each other in guts before I whistled loudly.
“All right, all right, enough of that. You two, go take a shower, scrub with soap and get that off you. Go on.” I swatted them both in the butt with the towel as they ran by. “If you smell like fish, you’re sleeping outside tonight.” They giggled and ran off to get clothes.
Before you fuss, don’t worry, I wouldn’t actually make them sleep outside of the tent. It was a harmless threat.
“Bree, Gwen, will you help me clean this up?”
They did, without being asked again. They really were good kids. I was so distracted by the clean-up that I didn’t hear anyone coming into the camp.
A deep voice had me spinning around.
“We heard screaming. You ladies okay here?”
I took in the two men. Both were tall, dark hair and scruffy along the jawline. One had a wicked-looking knife on his belt and the other—I’m pretty sure he had a gun at his ankle. Great. Way to go, Roni.
Composing myself, I nodded, bringing out a smile just for them. “We are, the girls were just playing. I hope we didn’t disturb you. No one else was supposed to be this far out.” I kept my tone light, accusatory but yet, probing. Were they the ones I’d seen the evidence of at the trailhead and then at the water’s edge?
“Ah yes, well, we wanted to make sure what was happening. You sure all is okay?”
What part of yes was he having trouble with? My instincts were screaming at me now. This was just not quite right.
“Yes, I’m sure, thank you. We’re just cleaning up anyway, so we can get ready to move on. Darkness will be here soon.” It might be a good idea to just move tonight. The next area was more public, safer. Staying here now, with them this close, just didn’t seem like the right thing to do.
“You’re leaving already?”
As I watched the man speaking, something was trying to spark in my memory. I knew his face, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out from where. I really hated when that happened.
“Yeah,” I shifted slightly so I had better balance, “We gotta keep up with the itinerary. People to meet, places to explore. Can’t have anyone worrying about us if we’re late.”
I watched the men. When one’s gaze landed on the girls, I pulled them slightly behind me.
“If you need any help, we’d be?—”
“No thanks,” I said, cutting him off. My gut clenched as the man’s face became clearer. I had seen him on the news. Julio Cardozo was wanted in connection with a string of murders, drug charges, and evading arrest. No wonder they couldn’t find him; he was in the fucking sticks. No one in their right mind would look for him here.
The case Jason was working on flashed into my mind. The women had been killed and dumped, they’d collared Julio for it, comparing them to cases in New Mexico and possibly cases in California. This man was beyond dangerous, and here I was with four girls counting on me to keep them safe. Fuck!
“We don’t mind,” he remarked, moving a step closer.
“Thank you, but no.” My voice was a little sharper than I wanted, giving away my unease. “Really, we’ll be fine. If you’ll excuse us, we have things to get sorted before nightfall.”
They nodded and after another look around, they slowly made their way from our camp. “Girls,” I kept my voice low, “Get in that tent and grab your packs. Hurry. Get Kenz and Cora’s as well. Go on, go.”
What should I do?
I needed to call this in. I reached back for the phone on my hip only to have someone grab my arm and twist up.
“That’s not a good idea.”
Holy-fucking-shit.
“Get off me!” I jerked my arm as hard as I could, but all that did was send pain shooting through my elbow.
“Roni!”
I looked up to find Bree and Gwen standing at the tent entrance with their bags in their hands.
What could I do? The choice was taken from me when the other man came from the opposite side of the tent, a gun in hand.
“It’s okay, girls, go in the tent and stay there, okay?”
They looked between the men then disappeared into the tent. God, please give me strength. I had to find a way out of this and fast.