Chapter 2
VICTORIA
There wasn’t much I loved more than a long, hot shower in the morning.
Except maybe my daily chai latte. Unfortunately, this was the last time I would have access to either of my addictions for several weeks.
As such, I lingered over both, enjoying them to the fullest. Then I indulged in the luxury of ordering room service for breakfast since none of the pastries in the coffee shop in the hotel lobby had captured my interest when I’d ventured down to grab my tea.
After I stuffed my face with French toast and eggs, I grabbed my cell phone to call my dad, who answered in the middle of the first ring. “Morning, Tori. You packed up and ready to head into the wild?”
“Just about.”
“Getting a late start?”
I glanced at the clock on the bedside table and laughed. “Not really, Dad. It’s not even seven o’clock here yet.”
My dad wasn’t impressed by my answer. “But the sun’s already up, right?”
“Yeah,” I sighed.
“You better get a move on, girl,” he urged. “There’s only so many hours of daylight, and you’ll want to get to your campsite before dark.”
“I wanted to enjoy my last morning in civilization before I headed onto the mountain,” I explained as I set my empty mug on the table.
“How are you going to do without your creature comforts?”
My dad’s light-hearted teasing was fair, especially considering my reaction the first time he took me camping. But I’d changed a lot from the eleven-year-old girl I’d been back then, even though he often treated me like I was still that young. “I’ll be fine, Dad.”
“Your sat phone is fully charged?”
I refrained from rolling my eyes because he was too perceptive. He couldn’t see me, but he’d somehow hear my physical reaction in my voice. “Yup, I plugged the phone in last night even though it was fully charged already.”
“Did you check to make sure it’s holding a charge?”
I stretched out my legs and propped my feet on the chair on the other side of the table. “Of course.”
“And you have a backup battery charger?”
As a twenty-five-year-old woman, I didn’t have to answer my dad’s questions.
I was an adult and didn’t need his permission to do stuff anymore.
But I knew his interrogations came from a good place.
He worried about me running into trouble whenever I went on a wilderness shoot by myself.
I couldn’t blame him for being worried about me being out on the mountain alone since he spent several weeks missing in action as the sole survivor of a helicopter crash behind enemy lines when I was only six months old.
He hated the idea of me going off on my own, but the kind of photos I liked to take were almost impossible to get if I traveled with someone else.
Most of my time was spent sitting in one spot waiting for the perfect shot, and not many people had that kind of patience.
My days were long, too. It wasn’t unusual for me to spend ten hours in a blind waiting for my prey to appear, only to have to do it all over again the next day because I lost the lighting before they revealed themselves. “A small one that’ll do in a pinch.”
He reacted exactly how I expected. “Skimping on battery power when the sat phone could be your lifeline isn’t smart, Tori.”
“My backpack can only carry so much, and I needed to make room for the solar charger I picked up last week.” My lips curved into a smug grin.
“In fact, they’re so darn cool, I grabbed two and mailed one to you.
It should be in your mailbox any day now.
The manufacturer wasn’t kidding when they called it a pocket-sized power plant.
The charger is small enough to fit in your pocket, is water resistant, and can charge two devices at once. ”
He let out a low whistle. “Nice find.”
“And get this.” I paused for effect before adding, “There’s even an LED flashlight.”
“That feature could come in handy.” His deep chuckle drifted through the line, making me smile. “Thanks for sending me one. You know how I love my gadgets.”
“It’s not the best battery charger out there, and some of the reviews said the solar charging is more of a gimmick since it takes about four days to get a decent charge,” I warned as I got up and padded across the room to tuck my camera case into my backpack.
I’d taken it out last night to get a few shots of the sunset but hadn’t gotten out of bed in time to do the same at daybreak.
“If things go sideways and you’re lost in the wilderness, a few days' wait will be a small price to pay to be able to call me for an evac.”
I nodded, knowing my dad was right. “Which is why I bought the solar charger and brought it with me.”
His voice was gruff as he confirmed, “You’ll text each night and call every three days?”
We’d used the same routine on the past three trips I’d taken, so there wasn’t really any need to ask. “Don’t I always?”
“Only because you don’t want me to haul my ass to whatever remote location you’ve picked, track your ass down at the wrong moment, and ruin your shot.
” He laughed, but we both knew he wasn’t joking.
He’d take even a single missed check-in seriously.
..for which I’d be extremely grateful several days later.
My trip started out perfectly. The location I’d picked to make camp was great, surrounded by tall trees that provided extra protection from the elements, and I made it there with just enough time to set up my gear.
The next day, I got some great images of a mountain lion with her cubs.
Then I found a herd of bighorn sheep the following morning.
After that, I wasn’t as successful, and I was considering changing locations.
I wasn’t sure what had happened, but it was almost as though something had spooked the wildlife into hiding.
After breakfast, as I made my way down to the little stream I was using for cleaning up, the only animals I spotted were a beaver and a king snake.
It wasn’t until I had rinsed off my plate and cup that I heard the unexpected sound of male voices.
Crouching low, I peered in the direction the noise was coming from but couldn’t see any sign of people through the dense tree line.
I used my Nikon often, to the point where the camera was almost an extension of my body.
It was second nature for me to lift the viewfinder to my eye and zoom in as I scanned the area.
As I swung the lens to the right, I saw four men moving in my direction.
I was about to call out to them when I spotted the holster strapped to the thigh of the guy leading the group.
Carrying a gun in the wilderness wasn’t suspicious by itself, but a pistol wasn’t what any hunter worth his salt would choose to carry.
I almost fell into the stream when I saw the weapons the other men were carrying.
Any firepower the first guy lacked was more than made up for by the assault rifles slung over their shoulders.
They’d be able to take down a bear at three hundred yards.
Maybe even more. Something about them sent off warning bells, and my gut told me to get the heck out of there.
With all the hours I’d spent in the wilderness for photo shoots, I should’ve been able to retreat without making a sound.
But my adrenaline rush got the best of me, and I dropped my freaking cup as I stood.
One of the men lifted his rifle, probably to use the sight in the same manner I’d used my camera’s viewfinder, and any doubt I had about their intentions was wiped away when he pulled the trigger.
If the guy next to him hadn’t yanked on his arm, I probably would’ve been dead.
Instead, I found myself running for my life.
I wanted to scream in frustration when I realized they were between me and my campsite.
It was a damn good thing I was wearing my hiking boots and coat because I couldn’t go back for any of my supplies.
The only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that my dad would make good on his threat to hunt me down if I went missing.
I just needed to hide from the men who were chasing me long enough for him to come to the rescue.