Chapter 4
Tyler
Tyler finished his sandwich and resisted the urge to check his watch again. Thirty minutes, Robert had said. Maybe longer. Every minute that ticked by felt like time stretching too thin.
He should leave. Slip away. Today was Sunday, and it was still tourist season.
The trailhead was visible from the highway, and a steady stream of cars moved along the well-traveled road.
He could just walk to the pavement and stick out his thumb.
Maybe someone would stop. Maybe they’d even be heading back to Irma.
Or they might take him to the seasonal store nearby. From there he could hitch again or wait for Robert and Sue. They could deal with the law and then pick him up after they were done.
The smart move was to disappear before the sheriff’s department showed up. Before deputies started asking questions, taking statements, and running names through their systems. Depending on who responded, running his name might not even be necessary. Too many of them knew him by sight.
Tyler didn’t trust cops, and for good reasons. The kind of reasons that left scars you couldn’t see but were felt every time a badge came near. Some of those badges stung worse than others.
He shifted his weight. His muscles tightened with the familiar urge to move, to put distance between himself and what was coming. His eyes stayed on the access road, watching for the dust cloud that would signal approaching officers.
But he didn’t move.
Two things kept him rooted to the parking lot, and he wasn’t entirely comfortable with either of them.
First, the practical problem. They would want his statement. He had seen the bodies, helped mark the trail, and been part of the group that made the call. If he left now, they’d just track him down later.
He could make things worse by running, or at least seeming to run.
Robert would cover for him and keep his name out of it, but Tyler couldn’t ask that of Sue.
And he certainly couldn’t expect Brooke to stay silent.
But Robert, he would do it. Tyler was certain of it.
Robert knew about his past troubles. He knew everything.
But Brooke—she made disappearing complicated.
Tyler looked toward where she sat in the front seat of her SUV, door open and long, tan legs on the ground as she stared at the tree line. Even from here, he could see the tightness in her shoulders, the way she held herself like she was ready to bolt at the first sign of danger.
He should want nothing to do with her. Getting involved with someone in Irma, someone who’d lived there her whole life and knew everyone, was the last thing he needed. The coffee shop owner, no less. Someone who probably had her finger on the pulse of every piece of gossip and news in town.
Worse still, once she gave her name, he realized he knew her. He’d known her brother fairly well once and had even seen him in recent months.
He’d read several articles about Brooke and members of her running club being trapped during a snowstorm up at the ghost town of Bearwater.
They ended up in a fight for their lives after one of the club members made a terrible choice.
The article had caught his attention because it was such an odd thing for the people of Irma to be involved in.
Odd, but not unheard of. He knew from experience that bad things could happen even in Basin County.
Brooke didn’t seem to remember him. He was glad about that, yet somehow disappointed.
She’d impressed him. That was the problem. Most people would’ve completely fallen apart after stumbling onto bear caches containing human remains. But Brooke had pulled herself together enough to mark the location, to think clearly despite her fear.
The way she moved on the trail spoke of real experience in the mountains. No surprise, considering what he’d read about her and the rest of her running club.
He’d seen them a few times, taking various routes through town on Wednesday nights. According to one of the articles about the trouble in Bearwater, they kept it short on weeknights but did longer hikes and trail runs on the weekend.
Brooke was athletic and capable, comfortable with the terrain even in a crisis. And the honesty when he’d asked if she was okay . . . no pretending, no bravado, just the simple truth.
He liked that about her.
Which was inconvenient in about seventeen different ways.
“You keep looking at her like that, she’s going to notice,” Robert said quietly, coming to stand beside him.
Tyler looked away. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you don’t.” Robert sounded amused. “Sue thinks it’s sweet.”
“There’s nothing sweet about it. We just found a dead body.”
“Two bodies, maybe. Sue likes to think she’s right, but it’s hard to say for sure until they get here and get a better look. I will admit, though, my wife is smart about things.” An obvious look of love passed over Robert’s face as he gazed at his wife.
Tyler tamped down his jealousy. He had that at one time, too, before it was ripped away from him.
“That’s not the point, though,” Robert continued. “The point is you can’t take your eyes off her.”
Tyler didn’t respond. What was there to say? That he’d noticed the exact shade of blue in Brooke’s eyes? That her voice had a slight rasp that did things to him? That when she’d looked at him and said she needed to not let fear win, something in his chest had tightened in recognition?
“She seems nice,” Robert said. “Owns that coffee shop Sue’s always dragging me to.”
“I know where she works.”
“You don’t go there.”
It wasn’t a question. Robert knew Tyler’s habits, knew he avoided certain places in town. Coffee shops and restaurants were on the list. Too central, too visible, too much of a gathering place for people who might ask questions.
He made an exception for a couple of the town’s bars. Not because of the booze, but for darts. He liked the challenge of the game and had a few people he could trust that he played with.
“Maybe I should start going out for coffee,” Tyler heard himself say, then regretted it.
Robert grinned. “Maybe you should.”
Sue wandered over, carrying a bag of trail mix. “The deputies are going to want to talk to all of us, I’m sure.”
Tyler stiffened. “Yeah.”
“You okay with that?” Sue’s question was gentle but pointed. She knew. Not everything, no one really did, but enough to understand why he might have reservations about dealing with law enforcement.
“Do I have a choice?”
She shrugged, but the look on her face was clear.
“I’m good.” It was a lie, but he’d do it anyway.
His eyes found Brooke again. She was watching the road now, jaw set with determination. Handling her fear, just like she’d said. Not letting it win.
Something shifted in his chest. A feeling he hadn’t experienced in years. Hadn’t let himself experience, because wanting things led to losing things, and he’d lost enough for one lifetime.
But looking at her, remembering the way she’d moved through her panic with courage and intelligence, he wanted more.
He wanted to know her story, to understand the fear she was fighting, to be the person she could look at when she needed someone steady beside her.
Dangerous thoughts. The kind that led to complications.
“She’s single, you know,” Sue said.
“Sue,” Robert warned.
“What? I’m just saying. In case he was wondering.”
“I wasn’t wondering.”
“Uh-huh.” Sue’s smile was pure mischief. “That’s why you’ve looked at her about forty times in the last five minutes.”
Tyler didn’t dignify that with a response.
Brooke stood and stretched, her movements fluid despite the stress. She walked a few steps toward the trailhead, then back, working out the tension. When she caught him watching, she offered a small, uncertain smile.
Tyler felt that smile land somewhere in the vicinity of his sternum.
This was a problem.
“Go talk to her,” Sue suggested. “She’s alone over there, probably spiraling about what she found. Distract her.”
“I’m not good at small talk.”
“Then don’t make it small. You’re both dealing with the same situation. Talk about that.”
Tyler hesitated, every instinct telling him to keep his distance and hold up the walls he’d built so carefully over the past few years. Getting close to people meant vulnerability and risk. It meant danger, and not only for himself.
But Brooke looked over again, and this time her expression was uncertain, almost questioning. Maybe an invitation?
“Fine,” he muttered and walked toward her before he could overthink it.
She straightened as he approached, surprise flickering across her features before settling into something more open.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey.” Brilliant conversation, Tyler. Real smooth. “How are you holding up?”
“I don’t know.” Brooke wrapped her arms around herself. “I keep thinking about it. About the bodies. Who were they? What happened to them?”
“Natural response. Trauma does that.”
“You think? You know stuff about trauma?”
Tyler did. More than he’d ever wanted to. “Everyone’s got something.”
“That’s vague.”
“It’s intentional.”
Brooke’s lips quirked into what might have been a smile. “Fair enough. I’m being nosy.”
“You’re being curious. There’s a difference.”
They fell into silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Just two people standing in a parking lot, waiting for law enforcement to arrive and turn an already terrible day into something more complicated.
“Thank you,” Brooke said after a moment. “For back there. For not letting me completely lose it.”
“You didn’t need me. You were handling it.”
“I was panicking.”
“You were scared. But you still marked the location, still got yourself to safety. You were ready to blast me with your bear spray.” He smiled and she laughed, the sound of it sending a new wave of something through him.
“I was. Believe me, I was.”
“That’s not panicking. That’s being smart under pressure.”
She looked at him, really looked at him, and Tyler felt exposed in a way that should’ve made him uncomfortable. Instead, it felt like being seen. Like maybe she understood something about him without him having to explain it.
Behind them, Sue laughed at something Robert said. Normal sounds in an abnormal situation. Tyler became aware of how close he was standing to Brooke, close enough to smell the faint scent of her shampoo mixed with trail dust and sweat.
Close enough to notice the way her breathing had changed, steady but quick. Like maybe he wasn’t the only one feeling this insane pull.
“Tyler,” she started, then stopped.
“Yeah?”
“Why haven’t I seen you before? In town, I mean. Sue said you’ve worked at the shop for a while.”
There it was. The question he’d been expecting. The one he didn’t want to answer but probably needed to.
“I keep to myself,” he said carefully. “Work, home, play a little darts for fun. Not much else.”
“That sounds lonely.”
“It’s safe.”
The word was out before he could stop it, revealing more than he’d intended.
“Safe from what?” she asked.
Tyler opened his mouth to deflect, to change the subject, to rebuild the walls he’d just accidentally knocked down.
But then the sound of tires on gravel cut through the afternoon quiet. They both turned to see a Basin County Sheriff’s Department SUV coming down the access road, dust rising in its wake.
“Guess that’s our cue,” Brooke said, but she didn’t move away from him.
Tyler watched the vehicle approach, every instinct in him going on alert. The urge to leave rose up again, sharp and insistent.
But Brooke’s hand found his arm, just briefly. A touch that said I’m glad you’re here. A touch that anchored him more effectively than any rational argument could have.
“We’ve got this,” she said quietly.
Tyler wasn’t sure if she was reassuring him or herself. Either way, it helped.
The deputy pulled the vehicle to a stop, and Tyler forced himself to stay exactly where he was—for the investigation; for Robert and Sue, who’d offered him a way out and deserved his honesty; and for Brooke, who looked at him like maybe he was someone worth knowing.
Even if he wasn’t entirely sure that was true.