Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
TALON
"You okay?"
My passenger has gone suddenly quiet, and when I look over at her, Zona's face is pale.
The road up the mountain narrowed shortly out of town and wound up in elevation in a series of switch backs with more hairpin turns than I could count.
A road like that is enough to make anyone carsick.
By the time we reach the place where the paved road ends, Arizona's pallor has been replaced with anger.
"Do those assholes back at the police station know that?"
She turns fully toward me, pulling the seatbelt tight against her chest so that it runs between her full breasts and strains against her shoulder.
I tell myself that's not one of the important details to take notice of, but there's no way to ignore the outline of the orbs beneath her t-shirt or the mesmerizing movement beneath the fabric as her body shakes with rage.
"My understanding is yes."
I grit my teeth and pull to a stop in a large, graveled clearing with signage indicating the nearby trailhead.
I see Sagan and Leo standing near a forestry vehicle, deep in conversation with a uniformed ranger. Austin is standing near a well-equipped Jeep, looking over maps. I don't see his brother, Jaden, anywhere in the fray.
"They know that it's not safe to hike in those woods and they haven't said anything? The ranger station just issued us a backcountry permit for our trip and the only thing they thought to warn us about was bears?"
Zona's rage is contagious. I had no idea the local agencies weren't making hikers aware of the recent events. They know full well that we're here and exactly why.
The threat hasn't been confirmed to be eliminated.
It's fucking irresponsible as hell to not be making people aware of what they know-- especially not a couple of young women heading into the wilderness on their own.
But then, my protective nature seems to be in overdrive since setting eyes on Arizona, ever since she started telling me what happened to her friend, I haven't been able to get past thoughts of how easily it could have been her. How easily I could have lost her before I even knew she existed.
Before she has a chance to jump out of the SUV and go tearing the rangers new assholes-- which I'm more than happy to let her do once our conversation is done-- I remind her that she still needs to explain to me why the local PD wrote her off as stoned and hysterical.
"Because of what happened right after they got out of the clearing."
Zona's indignation leaves her with a sigh. She straightens in her seat and lets her shoulders slump as her gaze fixes on nothing in particular somewhere beyond the windshield.
"Just as they got into the trees, where the forest got dark, something-- someone--"
I don't miss the intonation when she self-edits, the way the conviction of "something" becomes the acquiescence of "someone--" telling me that no matter what anyone else wants to hear, or what she wants to believe herself, she doesn't think what she saw was human.
"Someone came out from behind the trees after them."
I nod, watching the scene around us outside the vehicle unfold as another ranger vehicle arrives.
"Okay, now tell it exactly the way you saw it."
Zona swings her head to look at me, and I catch the uncertainty in those green eyes.
"I know you've already told your story a few times. I know the officers in town didn't believe you. But I need to know what you saw the way you saw it-- no judgement."
"It was like, the shadows of the forest just came to life."
She shivers at the memory.
"Like something had been there the whole time, standing in the trees, completely invisible.
As soon as the men with Astrid went passed those trees, the shadows just..
. followed them. I-- I don't know what happened after that.
It's like that was the thing that shook me out my daze.
I just ran all the way back to the road and kept going until I came across the ranger.
"You know the rest."
We climb out of the car in silence, most of Zona's fight has left her now and the urge to go to her and pull her into my arms grips me strong as I look over to where she just stands beside the SUV, watching the scene around us with her arms wrapped across her middle.
With a firm shake of my head, I get a hold on my better judgment.
Leaving her there, I make my way to the other members of my team to catch up on what they know so far.
One thing for sure though-- Zona never said "Bigfoot."
Arizona
Talon heads toward a man standing at the back of a jacked-up Jeep that looks ready to run the Rubicon.
A couple of men who'd been deep in conversation with the uniformed forest rangers notice Talon and join him and the other man by the Jeep.
It's hard to miss the one man's missing leg; there's no attempt to hide the prosthetic that runs from below the man's knee joint to the boot below it.
It's also damn hard not to be impressed with his lack of a limp as he strides purposefully across the open lot toward the Jeep, talking seriously with the man beside him.
The man with the missing leg is massive and the leg isn't the only sign of a violent past; a deep scar peeks out from under the short sleeve of his Army green t-shirt, wrapping around a bicep the size of my head. What look like burn scars mar thick forearms on both sides.
But he's in good shape; broad chest and flat stomach aren't hidden by the fitted shirt, and the tactical cargo pants similar to Talon's, can't hide the tree-trunk thick thighs.
When he turns his head to give me a glance, however, I involuntarily step back. His expression has a darkness to it, like he's pissed off and looking for a fight anywhere he can find one.
The hard glare from his dark features gives me the willies. If that guy is on your side, you're golden-- but if he's not? You're toast.
The man walking beside him isn't much less scary, to be honest. He's nearly as tall, just as ripped, but built with a slimmer overall physique. Long, dirty-blonde hair is tied back from a face that's rugged and as hardened as his companion's, under a beard a shade darker than his hair.
The blonde man grins at me and raises a hand in half a wave before turning back to his conversation with the darker man with the prosthetic leg.
Another forestry service vehicle pulls up beside the one already at the trailhead, and the ranger who gave me a ride to the police station this morning gets out and joins his colleagues.
The gate across the fire road hangs open about a foot. It was locked when Astrid and I got to this trailhead parking lot a few days ago.
My car sits on the far side of all this commotion, quietly collecting dust.
I pat my pockets, wondering if I even have the keys with me, but no. They're still tucked away in the tiny stash pocket in my backpack where I abandoned it when I ran to find help.
I heard what was said on the radio before we left the police station-- bodies. Plural. But no details.
Falling back against Talon's SUV, I watch everything going on around me like it's a movie; something happening externally and nothing that I'm actually part of.
It's fine that they're ignoring me. Whatever happened-- I don't want to know yet.
This morning, I woke up to the sunrise and birds singing and making plans with a friend for a day hike to summit one of the nearby peaks.
I don't think I'm ready to hear that one of the bodies they found was hers.
"Zona!" Talon's rich voice rises above the sounds of diesel engines idling, muffled conversations, and whatever wildlife hasn't gone quiet from so much human presence. "Come on over."
It takes more effort than you'd think just to push my body away from the side of the vehicle, but once I'm standing between Talon and the man to his left, I'm glad to be here.
Talon's strong body makes me feel safe-- among other things that I don't have time to think about right now.
"Austin." Talon points at the man on the other side of me, the one with the clean shaven jaw and the sandy-auburn hair that's cut short like Talon's and only slightly longer at the top.
Austin smiles warmly and extends a hand for me to shake.
He's close to Talon's height, just as jacked but not as broad. He feels safe, but not in the way that Talon does.
"Leo. Sagan."
Talon indicates each of the other men as he says their names.
Up close, I see attractive features hidden under Leo's long hair and rough whiskers.
"Sorry you're having a shitty day," he tells me in a voice much kinder than I expected from a man that looks like he's been fighting zombies for the last year and a half.
Sagan-- the man with the prosthetic leg-- glares at me, his only acknowledgement of being introduced a guttural noise that sounds vaguely like the huff of a bear.
Up close, he's even scarier. A scar I hadn't been able to see from a distance runs up his forehead from just above one eye, disappearing into dark, messy curls that part to make room for it to travel about an inch beyond his hairline.
Thick brows knit into what might be a permanent scowl above deep brown eyes that narrow on me like I'm a frog to dissect.
I move a little closer to Talon.
"You guys probably already know this is Arizona," Talon tells them.
I swear he steps forward a few inches, putting me slightly behind-- and a little closer-- to him when he looks at the way Sagan is studying me.
Before anyone speaks again, one of the rangers joins us.
"Hey guys-- ma'am--" the man nods in my direction before returning his attention primarily on Austin. "So PD isn't coming up here, it's outside of city limits so it is technically out of their jurisdiction."
The men around me grumble, and the tone of the ranger's voice tells me he doesn't think any more highly of the local police's refusal to get involved.
"So we've got some guys from the county sheriff up there with our men."
The man shuffles uncertainly, his gaze flickering between the men surrounding me before landing on me specifically.
Talon's hand moves to my shoulder.
I'm not sure why, but I'm not complaining.
"Okay then, well," the ranger coughs nervously before continuing. "Two bodies, on the road up there, like they were supposed to be found. Has to be an animal-- for a human to have done that kind of damage they'd have to be--"
Talon's fingers tighten on my shoulder and it's only then that I realize I made a noise.
Austin clears his throat beside me.
"Oh... sorry," the ranger stammers. "Both the bodies are male. No sign of the missing woman yet."
Tension leaves my body and Talon's fingers relax into an open palm that lightly rubs small circles between my shoulder blades.
"I can't let you take the Jeep up there," the ranger tells Austin.
"We have to wait for the coroner to come up from the county office down in Middale.
It's already a few hours out to get all the way up here and those guys are never in much of a hurry.
But if you want to go up on foot, they're expecting you up there. "
The men all say variations on thank you to the ranger, with Talon and Austin reaching to shake his hand.
Sagan and Leo give the man a round of obedient "yes sirs" but I swear if I looked, I'd see them both holding their fingers crossed behind their backs.
"So you guys have this covered?" Austin folds a topographical map and stashes it somewhere inside the Jeep.
"We'll head up there as soon as eyes are off us," Sagan answers.
"We'll be waiting on you at the house."
Talon's hand remains on my back, warm and comforting as Austin follows us back to the SUV.
Austin voluntarily climbs into the roomy back seat behind me and Talon starts driving us back into town.
"You should probably take her to the safe house until we know more," he tells Talon.
Beside me, Talon turns his head to shoot me a concerned glance, then looks back at Austin through the rear view mirror and nods once.
Who the fuck are these guys?