Truth Avenged (Green Division Series Book 1) Page 5

  *****

  THUD, THUD, THUD

  “Tuck, hello, Tuckkkkkkkk!” An annoying voice muffled through the door and woke him. “Sexy bitch, wake up!” He stumbled off the couch to the front door.

  “What?” Tuck opened the door, the cool air greeting him. Damn, he should have grabbed some clothes before he opened the door wearing only his black boxer briefs.

  “Nice abs.” Ryan winked at him.

  “Ryan, what the hell?”

  “Nicccce ass, that’s looking pretty tight too. What’s your secret?”

  To use police descriptions, Tuck was 6’02, 190, and had black hair and green eyes. A model he was not, at least in his eyes. Some women would disagree. His co-workers, especially Ryan, ribbed him for his pretty boy looks.

  “Although, I’m guessing you’re a little cold.” Ryan’s eyes wandered south.

  Tuck groaned. “You are the most annoying prick I know. Go away, now, or I am going to pistol whip your ass.”

  “Is that a promise? You know I like it rough, whip me pretty boy!”

  “Leave.” Tuck was no longer joking. Ryan smiled.

  “Answer your cell phone and you won’t have my ass doing a wellbeing check on you.” Ryan was a smartass to the core. He was the most inappropriate employee on the roster and had any of the guys pushed it, would have been fired for sexual harassment. On the job he was professional and courteous. Otherwise, he was Ryan. The only splash of diversity among a group of white men and a handful of tough as nails women.

  “I’m fine. Check completed.” He pushed the door and walked back toward the couch. Ryan’s foot prevented the door from closing. He followed on Tuck’s heels. Tuck collapsed on the couch. His head throbbed.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Fine before you woke me up and gave me a headache.”

  “I have that affect.” Ryan changed gears. “Seriously though, how are you?”

  Tuck sighed. “Tired.”

  “Do you need anything?”

  “No.” Tuck rubbed his eyes. “Any new leads?”

  “Nothing. Kerr talked with her earlier this morning, but she couldn’t give us much more. Basic descriptions, no names. ATV tracks that disappear. They’re interviewing loggers that were working the area yesterday. It’s not going to be an open and closed case, that’s for sure. Be glad you only have to do a supplement and this isn’t your case.”

  “If it wasn’t my case, I wouldn’t have staples in my head.”

  “That’s what happens when you’re a hero. Bad shit.”

  Tuck laced his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling above.

  “All kidding aside, you did good. Real good Tuck.” Ryan stood. “You sure you don’t need anything?”

  “Yeah, I‘m good.”

  “Call Kerr.”

  “I will.”

  “Take care, bud.”

  “Thanks.” Ryan left and Tuck stared at the ceiling. He couldn’t help but wonder how she was.

  He dialed Kerr.

  “How are you feeling?” Kerr answered.

  “I’ve had better days. Ryan said you talked to Chance?”

  “I did. I got the same story as you.”

  “Do you want me talk to her?”

  “We have it under control.” That was Kerr’s subtle way of telling him to back off. “I emailed you the first report of injury and I need your supplemental when you are up to it, no hurry. We are going to finish up here at the shooting site by the end of the day.”

  “What did she tell you about the plane she found?”

  “She didn’t mention anything about a plane.”

  “She didn’t?”

  “No. Call me after your follow up with your doctor. I don’t want to hear a word about work from you until then.”

  Tuck chuckled. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “Sure, I’ll believe it when I see it. Talk to you later.”

  “Bye.”

  Tuck collapsed once again and succumbed to sleep.

  Chapter Four

  Chance was released from the hospital days later, her parents at her side. Indeed, they were there at her side every move she made. She loved them dearly, but nearly losing their daughter had kicked them into super parent mode. If she tried to walk from the bedroom to the bathroom alone, Mary would have a conniption.

  “Mom, I’m fine.” That saying was on repeat. Every time she attempted to do something and Mary would step in, that was the line she used.

  She hated being hovered over and doted on. Yes, she was uncomfortable and in pain, but sitting around watching television and eating all day wasn’t going to change anything other than her waistline. She was going stir crazy after less than a week being home. She’d researched plane crashes in Maine on the internet, but none were on Helter Ridge. None slightly close to it. Nothing popped up when she searched Squirrel in context with a crash. The rucksack hadn’t been returned. She’d called Warden Huan and he’d given her the promise that he would drop it off soon. Soon wasn’t good enough. N-O-W. She needed it now. It held the information she needed. The one thing it didn’t have was the compass she’d discovered. She remembered having it in her hand when she was coming back down the trail. It had to be on the trail somewhere. She could at least start looking for that while Huan kept his finger up his ass.

  “Mom, Dad, I love you, but it’s time you guys go home. I want you here on vacation when we can do things together, or on the holidays. Not to sit around the house waiting hand and foot on me.”

  “We want to be here for you and we’re not going anywhere, so get over it.” Her Mom passed her a glass of iced tea and sat on the couch next to her. Jacob was outside tinkering on her house. “And you love my cooking too much to kick us out.”

  She did love her mom’s cooking.

  “I’ll be home for Thanksgiving. It’s only a month away. By then I’ll be healed up enough so you won’t have to be take care of me like an invalid and I’d prefer it that way. I’m a big girl.”

  “Chance, you were shot and the shooter is still out there. The wardens, bless them, they don’t have any idea who did this to you, so how can they protect you? You’re not safe. Come home to Seattle with us until they figure this out.”

  “Mom, Lyman is my home. It’s where you raised me and where I want to be. I’ll be okay. Dad’s put in an alarm system James Bond couldn’t crack and the police are keeping an eye on my house.”

  “You can’t depend on the police to protect you. They aren’t going to be at the end of your driveway twenty four hours a day.”

  “And the .22 rifle and baseball bat.”

  “You’re impossible to reason with.”

  “You have to go home. I need my space. This isn’t natural, living under the same roof with your parents at my age. And an upscale restaurant in Seattle that’s closed so the owners can take care of their child that doesn’t need fawning over, isn’t taking in much capital.”

  “Well…” Her mother took her words to heart and was hurt.

  “I don’t mean it that way. I love you. And I love Dad, but I want my life back. If I need anything, you’re a phone call away. And I have Paul, John and Amy, and Gabby. They will look out for me.”

  “I don’t like the idea of you here alone.”

  “Mom…”

  “But, it’s what you want. And you’re as stubborn as your father, so I know there is no talking you out of what you want.”

  Chance hugged her mother.

  “We’ll get tickets for tomorrow afternoon. And we are getting you a cell phone before we leave. Then there is absolutely no excuse for you not to answer your phone young lady. I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long without it.”

  “House phone. I haven’t left the house, not much need for my cell.”

  “Good luck telling your father you’re kicking us out.”

  “Can’t you tell him? I’m not feeling so well.”

  “Good try.”

  Chance told her fat
her about her wish for them to return home and his reception was equal to her mother’s. Oh well, they’d get over it. She stretched the truth with the reasons she'd given as to why she wanted them to scurry along. She wanted them out so she could research what the hell she had found. She wasn’t giving up until she found the truth.

  When her parents left, her house was stocked as though she were preparing for the end of the world. They’d filled her pantry, cupboards, and fridge with $400 worth of food and supplies. They bought her a new top of the line phone and her father wanted to fit her with a tracking device. If only he was kidding. Jacob and Paul had installed outside security cameras so she could watch them from her laptop. Paul and Jacob could also watch as well, it was a secure internet site that allowed this access.

  Paul was as paranoid as her parents and had become a pain. He was more shoved up her ass than her parents except when he had to be to work. She on the other hand didn’t need to worry about work for a few weeks, per Paul.

  Her parents left as promised. Though she had strict instructions to stay couch bound for the first week at home, Chance was restless. The intrigue of the woods beckoned her. Scattered metal of the downed plane was out there, waiting for her to discover it once again. Maybe she had imagined everything she’d seen, but she could prove the plane’s existence. She would find it. The internet hadn’t yielded any answers, but now she could dig deeper without prying eyes.

  She paced around her house, the dull pain in her side was hard to ignore no matter what she did to distract herself. She huffed. She wanted to go up to the ridge. She may be a fool to try to hike the ridge in her condition, but she wasn’t fool enough to not tell someone she was going in the event something happened, again. She couldn’t tell Paul. Amy! Amy Quiney was her childhood friend they’d remained close through adulthood.

  “Chance!” Amy greeted excited. “I’ve thought about you every day! How are you?”

  “I’m doing okay. Listen, I need a favor.”

  “No good conversation ever started out with those words coming from your mouth.” Chance told Amy where she was going and when she’d be back and NOT to tell anyone in her family where she was. She needed to do this and if she hadn’t called by 9 p.m. to call Paul. Amy wasn’t a happy camper and threatened to call someone to stop her, but at the reminder of all she’d done for Amy, Amy stood down.

  “You better hurry your little butt out of the woods, you are putting me in a hell of position. If anything happens to you—”

  “Nothing will happen to me Amy. It’s not like the poachers would be hunting in the same place again. And I have a gun.” Not that she’d be carrying it. She believed very strongly they wouldn’t be in the same place at the same time again and she wasn't fond of firearms.

  “You be careful Chance. It’s not worth getting hurt, whatever you are looking for. You are still hurt, I mean, a gunshot wound doesn’t heal in a week.”

  “It’s going to heal the same whether I’m sitting at home, or taking a leisurely stroll.”

  “You are so full of crap.”

  “I’ll call you when I get down.”

  She sighed heavily. “Be careful.”

  “I will.”

  She put on her hiking shoes and grabbed her new iPhone. The old phone was still somewhere in the damn woods. Her GPS with it, but she wouldn’t need it on this reconnaissance mission. No matter what noise tried to beckon her astray this time, she would stay on the trail. No getting lost for this girl, not this time.

  Climbing into the Jeep was a painful reminder of how little the wound had healed. She took a deep breath and kicked it into reverse. Northbound once again.

  *****

  ♫I’ve got friends in low places,

  Where the whiskey rounds,

  And the beer chases,

  My blues away♫,

  Tuck mouthed the words to an old Garth Brooks song as he worked on restoring his 1967 Mustang, a project car that sat in his garage for two years with no idle time to restore it to its proper glory. Now that he had at least two weeks off from work, time was abundant.

  A familiar number flashed on Tuck’s cell phone, but he couldn’t place it. To ignore, or not to ignore.

  “Hello.”

  “It’s Paul Marston, Chance’s editor, I spoke with you last week.”

  “I remember.” Jesus, this guy saved my phone number, wonderful. Paul was going to be one of those. People who would call for everything and anything assuming he was their new best friend.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but I didn’t know who else to call.”

  Yup, here he goes looking for personal favors. “What’s going on Paul?” Tuck clicked off the radio and wiped the grease from his hands.

  “It’s Chance. She’s impossible, I swear to God she is.” Annoyance and anger heightened his tone. “She went up to that mountain, saying she’d lost something and needed to get it.”

  “Wait, mountain? Are you talking about the same place I found her? Helter Ridge?”

  “Yeah, mountain, ridge, whatever the hell it is. She shouldn’t be out of bed, let alone on a damn mountain.”

  Ridge, Tuck thought, but didn’t correct him.

  “I don’t know what is wrong with her, she’s so god damn stubborn. I’d go myself, but—” Paul sighed and paused. Tuck waited for the rest of the story. “I, I can’t hike, not with my leg.”

  Sure, Tuck thought. Her editor and “friend” was an ass. When Tuck relayed the news that Chance had been shot, Paul didn’t hang up the phone in panic instantly dropping everything. No, Paul bickered with himself about his job. When Tuck told him not to rush over, he didn’t. If he was as close a friend as he made himself out to be, he’d look for her himself. His leg was probably immobilized due to a blister, the spineless dick.

  “Did she call you? How do you know she’s up there?”

  “She called her friend Amy and told her she was going back. Amy called me while I was in a meeting, I just got her message.”

  Tuck held the bridge of his nose in frustration. “What time did she leave?”

  “About two hours ago. I’ve called and texted a dozen times, but she won’t answer me. She’s going to ignore me until she gets back.”

  Smart woman. Tuck needed to be careful or his smartass words would escape his mouth.

  “She doesn’t do well with people telling her what to do. And she knows I’d tell her to get her ass back here.”

  “You were the one who sent her up there alone, in the middle of nowhere, to begin with.” The words escaped Tuck’s mouth coming out venomous and accusatory.

  “You don’t need to remind me of that. I’m well aware.” The words cut through Paul, but his voice remained even. “Don’t think I haven’t felt guilty about that every day.”

  Son of a bitch. Personal…professional line…blur. Tuck cleared his throat.

  “I’m not working today. I’m on injury leave. My hands are tied.” Maintain a professional line, he reminded himself. He was not her babysitter and shouldn’t feel the need to run every time someone called with a request like Paul’s.

  “I shouldn’t have called. I’m sorry to have wasted your time.” Paul shook off Tuck‘s harsh words. “I’ll figure something out.”

  “Hold on.” Tuck sighed. “I’ll check on her.”

  “Don’t put yourself out, I’ll find someone.” His voice now mimicked Tuck’s sharp tone. If the two were face to face there would have been danger that fists could have flown.

  “I said I’d go.” He hung up the phone. Tuck was not a rude person, nor was he malicious, but Paul brought out the worst in him.

  *****

  Chance parked her Jeep at the trailhead and studied the ominous trail in front of her. Did she want to do this? Did she dare to go up there alone, again? Her gut told her not to go. Her hands were sweaty and she knew she shouldn’t do it. Yet she swung her feet out of the Jeep and grabbed her light pack. She could do this.

  Scouring the trail, she found nothing.
What were the odds she’d find the compass among all the undergrowth of the trail? It was hopeless. Giving up was not an option though. Amy obviously told Paul of her hike. The missed calls and text messages were an indicator that he knew something was up. She didn’t have to breathe a word of her escape, but on the slim chance something happened, she wanted someone to know where she’d disappeared off to. Amy wasn’t the person she should have told. She was too decent a person and worried too much.

  Daylight flew by. She grew more and more frustrated that her search would end in failure, as everything had thus far.

  “Where is it? Where is the compass! Where is the fucking plane! I don’t understand why you did this to me! What do you want?!” She yelled out in frustration through the vacant woods to ghosts that wouldn‘t answer. Silence followed. “What the hell am I doing?”

  She swept the ground with her hiking pole in anger, pushing the leaves aside searching the ground. One overly pissed off swipe with the hiking pole and she lost her balance flopping to the ground.

  “I don’t understand.” She pulled herself up to a sitting position, curled her legs together, and looked at the sky above.

  *****

  Sure enough, Chance’s Jeep was where he’d found it the week prior. She was incorrigible. He grabbed his bag and headed up the trail. No one knew he was going to check on her. If Kerr found out, he would have his ass.

  Crisp leaves crunched underfoot. Fall had come far too early to Vacationland. Deep hues of red, orange, and yellow littered the ground. The more Tuck trudged, the more worry crept into his conscience. He’d been on the trail going on two hours and still hadn’t come upon her.

  Finally. Movement on the trail ahead.

  “Chance.” He yelled up the trail ahead spotting a florescent long sleeved tee shirt. She put no effort into blending in with her surroundings. She clearly wasn't too worried about poachers.