Chapter 7 #2
He looked away. “It was both. You’re back in town again, and I thought, well. A friend would be nice. But I also needed you to know you can contact me if you see anything suspicious while you’re out here. Which is why I’m here. The second part, not the first,” he finished, blushing again.
“And you had to break in to accomplish that?”
He sighed. “First of all, it’s not your property. It’s the government’s.”
“That really doesn’t make it better,” I mumbled.
“Second,” he spoke over me, “I wasn’t trying to sneak in. I thought I saw you up here and called out when I reached the top of the stairs. When you didn’t answer, I got worried. The lookout in Tower Eight is—”
“Missing, yes, I’m fucking aware. I reported for roll call, though. Why did you assume something was wrong with me? Also, you would’ve had to head this way,” I checked my watch, “right after the call came through to make it by now. Why?”
He sighed. “Look, some weird shit is happening in these woods. People are going missing. After the call came in, I came to see if you’re alright, and to ask a few questions about what you may or may not know about the missing lookout.”
Something about the way he assessed me, and then glanced around as if only casually interested in my belongings, made my scalp prickle. “Her name is Janine. And you’re here to question me about her.”
He didn’t confirm. Rocky whined into the silence, still eyeing the countertop with longing.
I sat on the edge of my bed and looked to the chair in front of the wood stove—the only other chair in the lookout. “Have a seat.”
It felt wrong, somehow, offering him that chair. It wasn’t his chair.
And that was when I noticed the blanket wasn’t draped over the back anymore. Rather, it was sprawled on my bed, as if thrown off in haste.
Tate could’ve moved it, or…
I thought I saw you up here, he’d said.
It could’ve been Charlie.
I sensed it, then. Not exactly the feeling of being watched, but not alone, anymore. A week ago, that would’ve terrified me. Now, with a cop poking around asking questions, it was comforting.
Time to hang up the beaded curtains.
Tate’s casual interrogation was interrupted by my phone ringing not once, or twice, but three times.
The only reason it wasn’t four was because Dad had the sense to check on me first before calling Mom. He’d been on a tarmac somewhere, shouting, “ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” over the loud rhythmic beat of helicopter blades in the background.
I’d texted Bobby to say I was fine and he didn’t have to alert the National Guard, but he’d called to hear me confirm it myself.
Leonard had checked in, too, to make sure I was alright. He couldn’t share much other than what I already knew; they hadn’t found Janine at her post. As the direct supervisor of all the lookouts, I couldn’t imagine the mess and worry over one going missing while on the job.
“So, how well did you know Janine?” Tate asked after I hung up.
“I’ve never met her in person, but we talk quite a bit over the radio. She helped me settle into the job. She’s been doing this for a long time and is a great neighbor. Observant as hell. She catches a lot. We don’t talk much about non-work stuff, though.”
“By neighbor, you mean the next lookout over? Can you see her tower from here? Did you notice anything amiss overnight?” He peered out the windows as if searching for a faraway lookout.
I shook my head. “No. We have a slightly overlapping view of the lake, but her tower is just over that far ridgeline. We can’t see each other.”
He hummed. “How long would it take you to hike there, from here?”
I glared at him. “Are you seriously asking me if I hiked over there in the middle of the night, did something to her, and trekked all the way back here to make it in time for the morning check-in?”
“No. I asked you how long it would take to hike there. You jumped to your own conclusions.”
I rolled my eyes. “You wouldn’t come all the way out here to ask for my best guess on timing a route.”
He just stared.
Then, I realized. “That’s why you’re here so quickly. You came to see me without calling first to catch me off guard—to see if I’m hiding something.”
More staring.
“Well, I’m not. It takes four hours to hike from the trailhead up to my tower, one way.
Hers is a drive-in, so I’d have to take the service road that circles all the way around to reach her.
Another hour, maybe two? I didn’t sign off until close to midnight last night.
She and I spoke for a few minutes on a private channel before I went to sleep.
There’s no possible way I could’ve made it there and back for our nine a.m. shift. ”
“What did you two talk about on the private channel?”
I gave him my best fuck you eyebrow. “Raccoon shit.”
A book, which had been propped up against the wall on my desk, tipped over. If I didn’t suspect there was a ghost lurking nearby—a cheeky ghost, apparently—I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.
Rocky stood and padded over to sniff the fallen book, before placing his head in my lap for pets.
I took a deep, steadying breath. “Hi, buddy,” I said, scratching behind his ears.
“Everyone always prefers him over me,” Tate said with a sigh.
“He didn’t imply I had something to do with Janine going missing,” I grumbled.
Tate dragged a hand through his hair. “This is a shitty situation, alright. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask.”
My shoulders dropped. “Sure. Look, could she have just taken a day off and forgotten to tell Leonard? Or maybe she went on a hike and fell? Or got turned around?”
Neither of those was a great possibility, but it’d be better than the alternative.
Tate shook his head. “I can’t say much, but there’s reason to suspect she didn’t intend to be away from the tower for very long, if she left of her own free will at all. Have you seen or heard anything unusual in the last forty-eight hours? Or at all since you came out here?” he asked.
“Um…” Of the alive person variety?
And then I remembered.
“She saw someone driving an ATV on the trail near her lookout. Or maybe she only saw the tracks? Not sure. But I also saw tracks down by the lake on my hike in, a week and a half ago.”
Tate’s gaze sharpened. “When did she see them?”
“Yesterday? The day before? I can’t remember.”
“Do you think she would’ve confronted them, if she saw them again?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know her well enough to say, but she was pissed about it. She may have.”
“Have you seen any since your hike in?”
I shook my head. “No. I’ve seen a few hikers pass by on the stretches of trail lower on the mountain. I think I noted them in my observation logs. You can look, if you want. Otherwise, it really has been calm. We only had our first storms in the last couple of days.”
“Yeah, if you wouldn’t mind, I’ll take a look at your logs so I can cross-reference where the hikers went with other towers.”
“Sure thing.” And then you can leave, I thought.
I stood and shuffled through the folder before passing him the completed stack. “I have to keep those to turn in at the ranger station on my next supply run, but feel free to take pictures.”
“Thanks,” he said, and pulled out his phone to do just that.
My stomach growled. “Mind if I start making lunch?”
He waved me on. “No, not at all.”
I pulled out a few pieces of bread and buttered a side of each while a pan warmed on the stovetop. When I opened the cheese bag and peeled off a few slices, I looked down to find Rocky sitting at my feet, giving me the biggest, saddest puppy eyes I’d ever seen.
“You’d think you’ve never been loved a day in your life with those eyes,” I said down at him.
Tate chuckled. “You can give him a bit of cheese if you want. He’ll love you forever.”
“Well, we do have to pay the cheese tax, don’t we, buddy? Yes, we do. It’s important,” I cooed, holding out a small piece.
He slurped it up and grinned at me, tongue lolling.
“Good boy,” I said, patting his head again.
“Thanks for this,” Tate said, waving at the papers. “And if you’d actually give me your number, it’d be a lot easier to get a hold of you, instead of hiking all the way out here.”
I mentally side-eyed that comment. He could’ve asked Dad or Bobby for my number if he really didn’t want to make the trip.
“Alright,” I said anyway, grabbing my phone.
After we exchanged numbers, he pulled a long, hands-free leash out of his bag and hooked it to Rocky’s harness. “I’m glad you’re alright. Really. If you like, let me know when you’re back in town. Maybe we could grab lunch.”
I honestly didn’t know how I felt about that. He seemed genuine in his offer of friendship, but also, I was clearly on a list somewhere of people to keep an eye on, and I didn’t like that at all.
Especially not with what’d happened to Charlie so fresh in my mind.
I laid the assembled sandwich in the pan. God, the smell of bread toasting in butter was unmatched. “My supply runs are pretty quick, but I’ll let you know. You sure you don’t want to stay for a sandwich?” I asked when I was confident he’d already committed to leaving.
“No, I won’t take your food,” he answered, smiling like he knew exactly what I’d been thinking.
“Be safe hiking out,” I said, and meant it.
I may not fully understand his motivations, but I didn’t want the guy to end up missing, too.