Chapter 22 Annie
Town was quiet, and Annie’s Jeep was the only vehicle on Main Street as she drove with her eyes on the shuttered shops.
It was Sunday morning, and most of Lake Lumin’s citizens were sleeping in or hungover from the raucous after-party at the rodeo, when the horses were put away for the night and Harrison and Tammy Ward brought in their traditional half dozen kegs to celebrate the occasion, as they had done since the sixties.
News of a killer on the loose had tainted the festivities, though, and neither Jake nor Annie had had the chance to enjoy the afternoon as they worked their way through the crowd, warning anyone who would listen to be on the lookout for Justin Grimes.
Annie felt terrible about leaving Daniel alone on the checkered blanket while she spread the word, and he had left early on his own, complaining of a headache.
She’d need to find a way to make it up to him, and she smiled at the thought of setting up a picnic at their favorite lakeside spot, but that was for later.
Right now, there was work to be done, even on a Sunday.
There would be no weekends off until Justin Grimes was found and put into custody.
Annie pulled up to the curb and killed the engine. As she stepped into the station, the phone rang, and Jake, already seated behind the desk with an open map spread before him, answered.
“Hello?… Yeah, she just walked in, hang on.”
Jake passed the phone to Annie.
“Hello?”
“Guess what?”
Annie smiled at the sound of Daniel’s voice. “What?”
“We’ve got a cougar.”
“You’re kidding!”
“No, he’s in one of the snares, I found him this morning. I won’t be able to help you with him though. The Wards had so many lights and speakers going at the stable yesterday that something blew and they want me down there to fix it.”
“That’s fine, I’ll take Jake, just leave the gate open.”
She hung up, grinning, and filled Jake in.
Annie drove them up to the boathouse in the Jeep, heart pounding as she parked.
Together, they loaded the gear into the skiff, and Jake rowed steadily toward the southern shore while she loaded the gun and checked the radio collar for a signal, limbs humming with adrenaline.
It was always this way when coming face-to-face with something wild and deadly. It was truly the best part of the job.
The skiff slid onto the shore, and even before she set foot on the bank, Annie heard the cat in the woods, growling and hissing in frustration. Bright-eyed, she lifted the tranquilizer gun and walked into the trees to meet it.
She caught sight of his back first. Broad and golden, facing away from her as he curled around his ensnared foot in the shadow of the trees. Annie lowered the gun, gazing at him in awe. He was huge. The biggest cat she’d ever seen, muscles rippling as he worked at the trapped paw with his teeth.
Annie lifted the gun again and nestled it into her shoulder. She took a deep breath and let it out, stilling the muscles in her body as she took careful aim.
Pop!
The dart whizzed through the air and struck the cougar in the neck. A perfect shot.
The cat’s ears flattened. His powerful golden body twitched violently, and a feral growl of annoyance rippled through the trees, sending a chill down Annie’s spine.
For several seconds, he tried to swipe at the dart with his free paws, then angled his head downward to nip at it with his teeth, but it was too well placed under his jaw, and he was unable to free it.
Hauling himself to his feet, he hobbled in an unsteady circle around the snare, large yellow eyes hunting the trees.
Annie stayed where she was. When he saw her, he froze, and they stared unblinkingly at each other for several seconds as the dart’s sedative worked its way into his system.
Abruptly, he stumbled on his feet, regained them for a moment, then slumped sideways onto the ground.
His limbs twitched as he fought the drug, then stilled at last.
Annie turned to Jake, who was waiting far behind in the trees. “He’s safe.”
They made their way to the snare, Jake trailing Annie as she came to a stop over the imposing predator.
He was beautiful. Well-fed and well-muscled, with a sleek coat and clean teeth. Young, but mighty; the king of these woods.
Annie knelt beside him and ran a hand over the tawny fur of his torso.
“Hey there, handsome,” she murmured.
His eyes were half-open; massive irises the color of lamplight with dilated pupils that bounced her reflection back at her.
“I’m not gonna hurt you.” She gently stroked his coat with her fingers before reaching up to scratch the spot behind his ear that all cats, no matter their size, loved.
“What’s that?” Jake asked.
Annie smiled at the low, rumbling sound coming from the animal’s chest. “He’s purring.”
“You mean he’s happy?”
“No.” Annie shook her head. “It just means his vocal cords are relaxed. Even dying cats purr sometimes.”
His breathing slowed, his eyes closed, and Annie reached out to lift one of his massive paws in her hand. A wound, badly infected beneath a tattered scab, marred the pad under his toes.
“That explains the limp.” She rested the paw back on the ground.
Annie looked over her shoulder. Jake was standing back with his hands on his hips, staring at the animal with narrowed eyes.
“I can’t just collar him and let him go.
He needs to be transported down to the center in Portland to have this wound treated.
They have a rehab-and-release policy. We’ll give them our coordinates and they’ll release him back up here, since he’s claimed this valley as territory and isn’t close to any neighborhoods or livestock. Come on, we’ll take him in the Jeep.”
Jake’s mouth tightened, twitched. “How long will he be out for?”
“Six hours at least.”
He looked doubtful. “You sure?”
Annie nodded.
“Better be.” He stepped forward to join her.
Annie freed the cougar’s foot from the snare, and she and Jake each took a fore and hind paw in one hand.
“I’ll come back for the traps later,” she said as they lifted the heavy cat and started back toward the shore.
Getting the animal to the boat took long minutes, with Jake and Annie resting the dead weight of his body on the forest floor several times. When they finally made it back to the lake, they loaded him into the boat and climbed in after.
Jake manned the oars and didn’t take his eyes from the cougar for one second. Annie had to speak up twice when the skiff angled away from the boathouse, but they made it to the dock at last and slid the cat into the back of the Wagoneer.
Annie secured his paws together with a set of buckled straps, then climbed in beside Jake.
She drove slowly down Lake Lumin Road, wary of jostling, though she knew even a meteor strike wouldn’t wake the cat from his slumber.
They were nearing the bottom of the road when Daniel’s truck appeared, climbing toward home.
Annie sat tall in the driver’s seat, watching for Daniel through the glass as a smile broke across her face. There he was, grinning just as brightly, his hand lifted as they passed each other on the gravel road.
“Will you just look at that smile,” Jake said, laughing. “Man, I tell ya, I’ve never seen such a change come over someone in a month’s time. You know he’s seeing someone?”
Annie pressed her lips together as she turned left onto the paved two-lane road.
She hadn’t told Jake about the relationship yet.
She hadn’t told anyone, actually. The rodeo would have been the place to do it, but it hadn’t worked out that way, and a small part of her was glad.
Half the fun of a new relationship was the cocoon, keeping it a secret from the rest of the world.
“Is that right?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Jake nodded. “Jamie Boyd.”
A moment of silence passed between them. A moment when Annie was certain she must have misheard.
“What?”
“You know, Jamie?” Jake said as Annie turned to stare at him blankly. “The girl that came up to swim when we sawed up the cedar? From the blue house with the fence, Ronnie and Debra’s daughter?”
Annie’s heart dropped into her stomach. She dragged her eyes back to the road, growing lightheaded as a little laugh passed her lips.
“No”—she shook her head—“no, you’re wrong.”
“I know, I know.” Jake lifted his hands in the air.
“We talked a little about the age difference yesterday, but the truth is, she’s nineteen now.
She’s an adult. And he’s only twenty-three.
My dad was eight years older than my mom when they met.
It happens. Honestly, Annie, I’m just glad to see him happy, he’s been isolated up there by himself for too long. ”
It was as though someone had filled her stomach with ice. Rock-hard, burning-cold ice. There must be some mistake. There had to be. This couldn’t be happening to her. Not again.
“Are you sure?” Her voice, high and tense, didn’t sound like her own. “You’re absolutely positive they’re together?”
“Yeah.” Jake nodded. “Saw them kissing in his truck yesterday.”
The Jeep swerved on the road, Annie’s grip tightening so hard on the steering wheel that it squeaked under her fingers.
“Whoa, careful there.” Jake laughed, but Annie couldn’t breathe. She could barely see the road ahead as the trees rushed past in one long emerald blur.
It was happening again. She was once again being cast aside for someone younger and prettier, and Walt Proudy was dead wrong.
The berries were not worth the briars. No amount of happiness was worth the moment of heartbreak when it was all torn away like a layer of flesh, leaving her raw and bleeding.
“Anyway, Jamie’s a cute little thing,” Jake said. “I’m not sure how serious they are about each other, but time’ll tell.”
Annie swallowed mutely.
She couldn’t just stare ahead in stone-faced shock forever. She had to say something, but the words would not come, so she forced her head up and down in a nod instead.
“Gives you hope, you know? Seeing a guy like that find someone. Makes me feel like I might, too.”
Annie didn’t respond. Her fingers were still so tight on the wheel that they ached. She was fighting, fighting hard and losing against the lump welling up in her throat.
“Good for him,” she managed, though she could hear her bitterness plain as day, and Jake must have, too, because his head tilted, and his gaze became searching.
“Hey,” he said gently, “you’ll find someone. I know you will.”
Annie nodded. He had misinterpreted the resentment in her voice, and that was for the best. Let him think it was because she was lonely.
Let him think she was missing Brendan. That was far better than the truth, that a man she had only been seeing for a few weeks had already managed to mend her broken heart and shatter it again.
Jake turned away, moving the conversation on to the Justin Grimes case, and Annie stopped listening, staring instead at the green forest outside as it streamed by in a jeweled flow of light and shadow that blurred as her eyes filled with tears.