Chapter 32
HUDSON
After spending my day doing a lot of nothing, I called Gus.
Technically, I had not been doing nothing.
I had made a lot of phone calls and got the ball rolling on the employment agency.
There was still a lot more that needed to be done, but I was another step closer.
I also finished my paperwork for the search and rescue team.
Everything I did was to further put down roots in Camden. I didn’t want to disappoint my family.
They wanted me to stay. I wanted to stay.
I was telling myself this was a mission.
This was something else to overcome in my life.
It was up to me to decide this was what I wanted to do.
If I was going to do it, I was going to do it right.
That meant giving it my all. I was going to get serious about buying a house.
I ordered more furniture and was buying a car at the end of the week.
Gus agreed to meet me at Teresa’s pub for those fish and chips she was bragging about. “I was surprised to get your call,” Gus said.
“I hope you weren’t busy,” I said.
“Nah,” he replied. “I’m never too busy to have fish and chips.”
“You’ve had these before?” I asked.
“Oh yeah,” he said, nodding. “I’m a frequent visitor to the pub.”
I did notice he seemed to be at the pub a lot.
Then there was the way he and Teresa had been talking.
I wondered if there was something going on.
The big brother in me wanted to jump in and tell him to back off my sister.
But she wasn’t a little girl. She wasn’t a na?ve teenager.
If she wanted to date the guy, that was up to her.
From what I had seen, Gus was a good guy.
He would treat her right and take care of her.
Teresa delivered our meals and walked away. I took a few bites, swallowing it with my beer. I wasn’t sure if I was going to tell him about the situation with Trey. Obviously, that was why I called him. I appreciated he wasn’t rushing me.
“Did you work on your business plan today?” he asked casually.
“I did,” I said, nodding. “Turns out, I had some free time this afternoon.”
“How so?”
I cleared my throat. “One of the guys I brought on wasn’t a good person.”
“What happened?”
Without looking at him, I picked at one of my fries. “He was harassing Natalie. He got pretty aggressive when they were alone at the shop last night.”
“Is she okay?” he asked.
“She’s fine,” I said. “I haven’t talked to her about it, but from what I did hear, it was just words. He was crowding her space and being rude. He pulled the same shit at the party. She mentioned some guy was giving her a hard time, but she didn’t tell me it was him.”
“What’d you do about it?”
I grimaced and finally looked at him. “I hit him.”
Gus nodded. “I see.”
“If we are being technical, he pushed me first,” I said. “And he tried to take a swing before I hit him.”
“How bad did it get?” he asked.
“Not bad. My brother was there to intervene along with a couple of the other guys that work in the shop.”
“And Natalie?” he pushed.
“She was there,” I said, sighing.
“You haven’t talked to her.”
“No,” I answered. “She stormed out. My brother told me to leave. I think I just confirmed everything she suspected.”
“What would that be?”
“I’m fucked up,” I said, shrugging. “I’ve got issues. I thought it was just the lack of sleep. Now, I’m thinking I might have to approach this with a little more seriousness. I’m not doing as well as I thought I was.”
“Do you think you need to get into some therapy?”
“Know a good shrink?” I asked with a laugh.
“I do,” he said.
“I feel like my skin is too small. Like I woke up in somebody else’s skin.
This doesn’t feel like my life. I don’t feel like I’m fitting into anything.
I’m pissed all the time and I don’t even know why.
I’m afraid someone is going to do something that really pisses me off.
I don’t think I trust myself not to lose my temper. ”
“You’re not the first guy to feel like this,” he said.
“The fact you recognize this so soon is a good sign. You know you’re on the edge.
Doing something about it is going to make a huge difference in how quickly you get through it.
I’ll give you a counselor’s number I’ve personally used and recommend to others.
He’s a good guy. I’ve known plenty of people that have felt a lot better after just a few visits. ”
“Shit, hook me up,” I said.
“With what?” Teresa asked. She slid into the booth and hit me with her hip.
“With the number of a counselor,” I answered.
“A counselor?” she questioned. She looked confused and then it dawned on her. “Really? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “I’m just being proactive. There are some things I’d like to change and the only way that happens is if I get a little outside help.”
She put her hand on my shoulder. “Good. I’m glad. I’m proud of you for taking the step. It’s a big deal. Of course, you know we will support you any way we can.”
“I appreciate that,” I said. “I’m not promising I’ll be cured overnight, but I’m going to try.”
“Still having the nightmares?” Gus asked.
“Not like they were, but it’s there,” I admitted. “I don’t know if it’s going to get worse after today. I don’t know if it’s going to be another memory manifesting as a nightmare. Honestly, I’m not looking forward to finding out.”
“Do me a favor,” Gus said. “Don’t turn to alcohol to try and help you sleep. It doesn’t work. We’ve all been there, done that.”
“Just remember, we are all here for you,” Teresa said. “Anything you need. You are welcome to stay at my place. We can stay up all night if you want. Whatever you need.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I said. “I’ll leave a nightlight on.”
“Or you could just open the blackout curtains you have up,” Teresa said.
“How do you know about those?”
She shrugged. “Someone told someone and that someone told me.”
That was a pretty easy riddle to solve. Nat told Hux. It was a little weird to think about my brother being privy to my sex life through the other party involved. It was one thing for us to talk about women, but now he would have the other side of the story. That was just a little weird.
Gus’s phone vibrated on the table almost at the same time mine went off in my pocket. “I’ve got to go,” Gus said.
I read the text. “Me too.”
Both Teresa and Gus looked at me. “You do?” Teresa asked.
“Yep,” I said. “Search and rescue, here I come.”
“Shit, awesome,” Gus said. “Let’s go.”
“Wait, what are you doing?” Teresa asked.
“Not sure,” I answered. “My message said to meet at headquarters right away.”
“Mine too,” Gus said. “We’ll get the details when we get there.”
“Be careful,” she said. “Come back here if it’s not too late. Text me and let me know you made it back regardless.”
“Who is she talking to?” I asked.
“Not sure,” Gus said. “Hop in, I’ll give you a ride.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I’m hoping to have a car or something by the end of the week. I’m done walking everywhere.”
“Good,” he said, nodding. “That’s what you need. Move in.”
Everyone was saying the same thing. I was going to take their advice. In many ways, they were my team and they were all helping me make a real go at this settling-in thing.
“What do you think it is?” I asked Gus.
“The call?”
“Yeah, missing hiker?” I questioned.
“Possibly,” he said, nodding. “Tends to be pretty benign. When did you officially make the team?”
“Today,” I said. “I didn’t spend my day doing nothing.”
“It was probably a no-brainer,” he said, laughing. “They saw your application and probably thought they hit the lottery.”
He pulled the car into the parking lot of a small, nondescript building.
He grabbed his pack from the trunk. I didn’t have one just yet, but I knew that wasn’t going to keep me from going out on the rescue.
Once inside headquarters, excitement kicked in.
This was the kind of thing I lived for. People were hustling about with phones ringing.
“Briefing this way,” an older, balding man said.
I followed behind Gus. Two more men and an older woman trailed in behind us.
We all sat in folding chairs while the older man, identified as Bernie, stood up front with a large map on a wall.
“We’re looking for two hikers that went hiking about eight hours ago.
Family has located their vehicle at the trailhead.
From what we understand, they set out around seven this morning.
The family expected them back by lunch.”
I listened to him talk and felt that familiar excitement.
This was what I craved. I loved the feeling just before a mission.
Bernie pointed out the trail the couple were supposed to be hiking.
It was a fairly easy trail. A basic two-mile loop that should have only taken an hour, two tops.
I was looking at the places not on the trail.
Apparently, family members and a few locals had already hiked the trail. The couple wasn’t there.
“Waterfalls?” I asked. “Quiet remote areas a couple might want to visit? Isn’t there a stream in that area?”
Bernie pointed to a spot on the map. “There’s a creek here. It’s down a steep embankment with plenty of signs not to attempt to navigate the rocky terrain.”
“I would bet you fifty bucks that’s where we’ll find them,” I said.
I noticed people looking at me. They were probably wondering who the new guy was and why he was so damn cocky.
I gave a small wave. “I can’t say I’ve done this particular job a lot, but I grew up around here.
I remember that creek. There’s another way to get to it.
When I was younger, my brother and I would catch crawdads at the mouth. ”
“There aren’t any trails,” the woman said.
I grinned. “Nope, there isn’t. But there was a game trail. Great fishing. It was our secret spot. There were a few other people that knew about it but that was a long time ago. Unless the path of the stream has changed, I would guess they would be in that area.”
“He’s right,” Gus said, nodding. “We rescued those two teens last year in that general area.”
“That’s right,” Bernie said. “They were trying to get down to the stream.”
“Sounds like your secret crawdad spot isn’t so secret,” Gus teased.
“It’s the stuff of legends,” I replied. “I sure as hell wouldn’t try to get to it from the official trail. If our parents would have known where we were going, they would have been furious.”
“Sounds like we know where to start our search,” Bernie said.
“It’s too late to get the bird in the sky.
If we can’t find them tonight, we’ll send it up at first light.
As you have all probably noticed, we’re going to get some rain.
The radar has a storm brewing over the water.
We need to get them before that thing opens up.
Let’s not leave them out there all night.
These are some city folk up from Manhattan.
They don’t know the first thing about staying alive in the wilderness all night. We need to find them. Let’s go!”
I picked up a headlamp and was given a basic pack with water and a first-aid kit.
We set out in two Rhino UTVs and headed out to the area the tourists had gone missing.
The weather wasn’t bad, but it would be in the fifties tonight.
That was enough to put someone into hypothermia.
If they’d gotten wet and didn’t have a fire, it was a very dangerous situation.