Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
TALON
She's not just pretty, she's fucking gorgeous. And pissed.
Based on the attitude I'm getting from the local PD, I don't blame her.
The woman that comes around the corner from the hallway leading off the back of the main lobby of the local police station has been shouting for the officers to get off their asses and start looking for her friend, but when she finds us in conversation out front, she goes quiet.
The way she stands proud and assesses the room in front of her gets my attention even before the dark pony tail and the feminine curves do.
There's not a damn thing about her that indicates she's on anything.
It's Sunday and I was informed that the local chief of police isn't available today.
The officers on duty made it pretty clear they weren't taking Arizona's statement seriously, and now I find myself taking responsibility for the twenty-five year old hiker because somewhere in the course of the day, someone got it in their head that her story is that Bigfoot kidnapped her friend from a campsite in the local mountains.
Hell of a first day on the job.
"Talon Avis." I hold out my hand to shake hers, figuring somebody ought to introduce us.
"Arizona Harper, your prisoner."
She shakes my hand, making direct eye contact with me from a pair of emerald irises.
The quirk of her full lips tells me she's taking our unexpected relationship with humor, but the hardened points straining against her t-shirt tell me she doesn't mind.
I do my best not to get distracted by that, but it's damn hard.
Just like my dick is threatening to be if I don't get my eyes off of her and my mind onto the fact that, Bigfoot or not, there's very likely a missing woman in these mountains and if Arizona's story holds any truth at all-- there's a good chance finding her could lead to the reason I'm here.
"Arizona." I repeat her name, deciding how I feel about it and coming to the conclusion that I like it.
"Just Zona works better. Can we get out of here?"
Her eyes slide to the officers who've gone back to the coffee machine at the back of the office, sharing a video playing on one of their phones and entirely unconcerned about us or Zona's missing friend.
"You got everything you came in with?"
Zona pats her pockets and nods.
As I reach to open the door for us, the police scanners crackle to life. Zona's out the door and ready to be done with this place but I hesitate as I hear the man's voice on the speaker.
"Come in? Guys might want to head up here. We found a couple of bodies. Looks like they were attacked by something."
Our two officers look toward the speaker, then up to lock eyes with me and then my companion.
I don't say shit, just let the heavy wooden door of the old building swing shut while they decide whether or not they're going to do their job.
"Did I just hear that? We have to go up there... Astrid."
Zona catches my hand and pulls me down the steps before she realizes she doesn't have a vehicle here and doesn't know mine.
"This way." I steer her toward the SUV I parked on the street, holding the passenger door for her till she's in.
"We're going, I promise, but I need to talk to my team and fill them in first."
Zona buckles her seatbelt beside me and I pull away from the curb fast enough to leave a mark on the asphalt as I speed toward the house with the number Jaden gave me on speaker.
"You catch the local scanner?" I ask as soon as the call connects.
"Sag and Leo are already up there, Austin and I are on our way-- you heading back or meet us there?"
"We'll meet up with you," I confirm, already ending the call as I hear the curious "We?" from the background.
"Tell me everything you told the cops," I tell my companion, as I point the vehicle up the mountain road to the trailhead where the rangers say they picked her up this afternoon. "Including the part about Bigfoot."
Arizona
"I never said 'Bigfoot.'"
Talon downshifts as we start up the steep grade that leads to the trailhead where Astrid and I left her car parked before starting on a week-long backpacking trip three days ago.
The engine of his SUV revs higher in the low gear, but doesn't slow in the least.
My handler's jaw tightens, but his eyes don't leave the road in front of us.
"What did you say?" He asks.
Looking this guy over carefully, it's clear that his intensity comes from a genuine interest in Astrid's disappearance. He really wants to hear me out and, unlike the cops in town, he's not going to make up his mind about what really happened until he has the whole story.
With a frustrated sigh, I force my body to relax against the leather upholstery.
Okay, "relax" isn't exactly what my body does-- I'm too on edge with worry about my friend; about the ranger's voice over the police scanner that said "bodies," about what we're going to find when we get to where we're going, and about how aware I am of the man driving me up the mountain.
"We backpacked in," I explain. "They just opened up the old road that used to run between here and Moonshine Ridge on the other side of the mountains.
Till then, it was a lot harder to access that area and a lot of hikers have been excited about being able to get in there without having to bushwack their way cross-country.
I might be into hiking, but I'm not exactly 'cross-country bushwacker material. "
Talon's head turns slightly toward me, his eyes traveling down my body to take in my curves.
I'd been making a joke, pointing out that I'm well aware that I'm not built like the average serious backpacker-- I'm not built like him. And I'm not built like the kind of woman he probably goes for.
But something about the way his eyes linger half a second longer than necessary has my nerves tingling again.
"So anyway," I cough lightly and shift in the seat, "we got to this spot a few miles in just before sunset last night.
It was a big clearing and that was nice because that forest is so dense, you know?
There aren't a lot of places to set up a tent.
So we decided we were going to set up a base camp and spend the rest of the time doing day hikes to explore the area.
This morning, I took the water filter and our water bottles down to this little stream to get water while Astrid made breakfast for us.
"The stream was a bit of a hike, and it takes forever to hand pump a few liters of water through the filter, so I was gone longer than I expected-- when I came back to camp I heard voices before I even broke through the trees.
I knew something bad was happening-- I could hear Astrid saying something, she sounded scared. "
"So you didn't go closer?" Talon's grip on the wheel seems tighter than necessary as he maneuvers the big vehicle up the narrow, mountain road.
I shake my head sadly, embarrassed at how I froze in the spot instead of doing something to save my friend.
"No. I just froze," I admit. "I didn't want them to know I was there."
"Good girl."
His praise is unexpected. I thought a man like Talon would scold me for not being more proactive, he seems like the 'no man left behind' type.
The tone of his voice helps a little with the shame I've been feeling.
"Zona," his voice goes soft, and his right hand reaches to cover my left where it rests on the console between our seats.
"I know you're feeling like you should have stopped them, but the only thing that would have happened if you'd tried is that you and Astrid would both be gone now-- and we wouldn't know it yet. You did the right thing."
A lump expands in my throat, making it impossible to speak, so I just nod while I watch the scenery outside the passenger window.
Talon's hand stays on mine for a long moment. Since I need something to focus on other than the men that took Astrid, what I saw just after they marched her into the woods, and whether she's okay, I focus on Talon's hand.
It's large enough to cover my own completely, so warm that I feel it all the way to my toes, and heavy over mine in a way that's deeply comforting and yet a little unnerving.
I can't help but think of that weight and how the rest of his body might feel pressed over mine.
The image in my head is clear and visceral and causes a shudder to work through me as my body reacts involuntarily.
Pulling my hand away quickly, I clutch it to my body and try to stop the tingles running through me.
Totally inappropriate, Zone, I admonish myself. And totally out of your league.
Talon glances my way when I move away from him and seems to only just realize he'd been touching me at all.
He puts his hand back on the wheel and sets his jaw in a way that does nothing to make him less attractive.
"And then what happened?"
A new wave of shame slams through me. I've been so busy noticing this man that I lost track of the reason he's even here-- as part of some sort of private search operation or something, from what I heard the officers at the police station saying when they were discussing what to do with me.
Apparently, Astrid isn't the first woman who's been kidnapped in those woods recently; Paradise Point just doesn't want anyone to know about it.
"I never said 'Bigfoot,'" I repeat. "But..."
Taking a deep breath, knowing how crazy it sounds now that I've said it aloud more than once, I prepare for Talon to react the same way the cops back in town did.
"There were two men. One of them had a gun. He wasn't exactly pointing it at Astrid, but he made sure she knew he had it. They were walking kinda behind her, pushing her in the direction they wanted her to go, and they went into the woods where there wasn't a trail at all-- just trees.
"I don't know if you've been up there? Have you seen the forest?"
"I've seen forests." Talon's hands swing the steering wheel to follow the curves in the road that zig-zag up the mountain.
"But not this one?"
He shakes his head slightly and I know he has no idea how dense the Weeping Wilderness gets.
"Not like this one." My voice drops low, thinking about the eerie vibe of the woods I just spent two days camping in. "You know the history though, right?"
Talon's jaw ticks, his eyes narrow as he keeps them on the road.
"I just got here," he tells me. "Came in just before the call came in that you needed someone to come pick you up. I haven't had time to familiarize myself with the area yet."
His eyes slide my way once more.
"My understanding is that these mountains have a history of missing women going back over a century.
After nearly five decades without incident, disappearances began again a little over a year ago.
The people I work for believe there's a trafficking ring using the local folklore to their advantage. "
He says it calmly, but in a firm tone, like he's delivering a press release.
This time the tingle that slithers up my spine lacks the tingly sensation that feels like excitement; this time all I feel is sick.