I Hope You Find Me (18 page)

“You coming?” he asked me.

I nodded in affirmation and began following
him. Zoey was so close beside me that she rubbed against my legs as
we walked. She kept her head low and her tail tucked, ready to bolt
at the slightest sound.

Once we reached the door I wasn’t sure what
to do, so I fidgeted with the end of Zoey’s leash while Connor
peered through the windows. He tried the doorknob but it was
locked. He suggested walking around the building, and maybe finding
a way in through a window before he went back to the truck to
retrieve a flashlight. When he returned to the building, he leaned
against the window pane near the door and pointed the light inside.
I watched the fluorescent glow arc around the room, sweeping the
floor, the walls, a hallway, and several pieces of empty furniture.
It appeared deserted inside.

I sighed deeply, trying to hide the growing
uneasiness I felt. “Okay. Let’s try the back door.”

Our feet made crunching sounds in the gravel
as we followed the driveway to the edge of the building. Along the
landscaping we found a stone pathway leading to the back and we
stopped to look in the windows as we passed them. By the time we
made it around to the back door I was sniveling from the cold early
morning air.

Behind the main building a pathway trailed
around a large open lawn. I gasped as I looked beyond the massive
expanse of the lodge and took in the view. A narrow dirt road
bordered the sloped lawn and led to an outside pavilion and picnic
area. Leading deeper into the trees were a handful of smaller dirt
pathways. I saw a solid form in the distance but couldn’t make out
what it belonged to. The trees moved gently in the breeze,
whispering ancient secrets to each other, and I deeply inhaled the
fresh and clean air that smelled nothing like the city we just came
from.

We stayed along the path that led to the rear
porch. It was a wide-open space surrounded by potted bushes and
tiny shrubs full of skeletal-like branches. When I leaned down
towards one of the rustic ceramic pots, I noticed thorns on some of
the bare branches. Spring would turn the naked stumps into colorful
rose bushes. Nostalgia and guilt washed over me as I imagined the
abandoned rose garden at my house, but I straightened my shoulders
and tilted my chin up to the sky, trying not to imagine my garden,
because the last time I was there it was to oversee the burning of
my dead family.

“Riley…the door is unlocked,” Connor said
quietly as he rattled the knob around in his hand.

Before he could push the door open, Zoey
rushed away from us, her leash trailing behind her in the dirt, and
barked once at the building. Both Connor and I jumped, and when we
turned back to the door, a man’s face was on the other side of the
glass, staring suspiciously at us. For a long moment I stood there
next to Connor, transfixed on the stranger’s shadowy glare. Zoey
turned in circles, tangling her leash around her feet and barked
repeatedly at the man behind the door. I bent down to free the dog
before she panicked and when I turned back to look, he was
gone.

“Where’d he go?” I asked Connor. He shrugged
at me and ran his hands through his hair nervously.

“What do you want?” a voice from within
boomed. The curtain on the door moved and the man’s face appeared
again. I took a step backwards as he tapped the barrel of a handgun
against the glass and then pointed it directly at us.

Connor moved sideways, putting himself
between me and the door and used one of his hands to shove me
behind him. Annoyed, I pushed him aside and stepped out, in full
view of the door, despite Connor’s hushed cursing. Shadows from
inside cast distorted shapes around the armed man so that I
couldn’t make out the features of his face. He asked again what we
wanted, and I was the first to answer him.

“Hi.” I gulped and blinked as plumes of my
breath evaporated into the cool air before my face. “We aren’t
dangerous…” I paused, waiting for the man to react, “…um, we’re
looking for a place to stay.” My knees were shaking and I wasn’t
exactly sure if it was from the cold temperature of the mountain
air or the fact that we might be shot. It was probably both.

The man backed away from the door and cursed
loudly. Connor turned to me and suggested we leave.

“Just wait a minute,” I said quietly.

“He’s got a
gun
Riley.” He leaned
close to my ear before whispering, “
We can find somewhere
else.
”

At that moment the door clicked open, and the
tall man inside stepped cautiously backwards. He held his pistol at
his side and twitched it as he grumbled, “Hurry up, it’s cold out
there.” Zoey barked several times and I pulled on her leash until
she was at my side again. He glared at the dog then up at me. I
assured him Zoey was safe on her leash.

We stepped inside and closed the door behind
us. Zoey cowered behind my legs as I thrust my hand at the man and
said with a smile, “Hi, I’m Riley and this is Connor,” I said,
gesturing behind me.

He hesitated before reaching out and firmly
pumped my hand twice. The skin of his palm felt rough and callused
but warm. The cuffs of his checkered flannel shirt were folded up
twice, exposing his tanned and thick wrist. After he let go of my
hand he offered it to Connor, who shook it just as swiftly.

“Yeah, hi…I’m Fin.” He stood awkwardly in
front of us and slowly tucked his gun inside the waistband of his
jeans. “Well, shit. I guess it was only a matter of time before
someone else found this place.”

He took a deep breath before he led us
through the entryway into a larger room that had a long counter on
one side, and several plush arm chairs on the other. Stacks of
paperwork were neatly displayed on the nearest side of the counter.
A register and a computer took up the far end. The walls were
covered with a deep earthy green paint and unfinished oak planks.
The lobby was rustic but the designer had obviously taken great
measures to give the open space a modern flare as well.

Connor and I stood in the center of the room
and looked around while Fin watched us carefully. He was at least
one foot taller than Connor and at least five years our senior,
with a solid set of shoulders and bulky arms that he held rigidly
at his sides. His full head of straw-colored hair was cut short on
the sides and combed forward in the front, swirling in small spikes
just above his forehead. His unshaven face was peppered with dark
stubble; a week’s worth of growth, I guessed. And his eyes had a
glassy look to them. I doubted he was sober, and that made me
nervous.

“So, is anyone else here?” Connor asked
Fin.

“No. Why?” Fin made no attempt to hide the
distrust from his voice.

Connor raised his hands up in a mocked
defensive posture and smiled at Fin casually. “Just checking. We
weren’t sure if we’d find anyone here, is all.” He moved closer to
me.

Fin met my eyes when he spoke, “I wasn’t
exactly expecting you, either.” His gaze bore into me so fiercely
that I had to look away. “I’m staying down at one of the cabins. I
came up here to get something before you showed up. I usually stay
away from this building as much as I can.” He was still looking at
me and folded his arms tightly across his chest. I felt my face
warm as Fin’s eyes flicked downwards, taking me in from bottom, to
top.

“Cabins?” Connor asked him.

“Have you ever been here before?” Fin turned
to look at Connor, annoyed.

When we told him no, he shrugged and walked
away from us, leaving us alone. He went back the way we had come
in, and we heard him call out to follow him. We found him standing
at the open door, his hand on the knob, glaring at us.

“Well, there are plenty of rooms upstairs but
they ain’t exactly empty. And you sure as hell won’t be crashing at
my place tonight.” He glowered at us as he began pulling on a large
overcoat that was hanging on the wall. I didn’t know what it was he
was telling us to do, and my heart sank at the thought that we
might have to leave.

I nodded at him and said curtly, “I
understand, we’ll go.”

Fin froze with one arm in his coat, the other
hovering in mid-air and then he laughed. I was so startled by the
change in his demeanor that I backed into Connor.

“Lady, I’m not kicking you out, but I take it
you understand why I don’t want a pair of strangers who show up at
the butt-crack of dawn wanting to bunk up in the room next to
mine?” He smiled at me with a bright-white toothy grin and walked
out the door, urging us to hurry out so he could close it behind
us. Connor shrugged at me and we moved onto the cold patio area
with the dog, not sure where Fin intended on taking us.

We followed him down the dirt pathway that
curled around the grounds and listened as he pointed out each
building and what its purpose was. The first floor of the main
building consisted of the lobby, which we had already seen, the
laundry room, main kitchen and pantry, a bathroom, and an
over-sized closet that Fin said served as a first aid room, and an
office. Upstairs had several cozy rooms.

When Connor asked why Fin wasn’t staying in
the main building he laughed and said, “You’ll see.”

After we passed the detached recreation
building, the pavilion, and the sauna, Fin led us down a winding
pathway surrounded by neatly trimmed foliage and trees. We were
nearing the dark shape behind the trees we had seen from the back
patio of the main building when the small path split into a fork.
To the left was a tall wooden sign posted near the path that said
CABINS 1-7
and to the right was a sign that said
SUITES
8-15.

When we turned left I asked Fin where he was
staying. “I’m at Cabin Three. It’s right by the dock.” He turned
around and casually gestured in my direction. “How long are you
planning on staying?”

“Oh. I don’t know.” I paused to look at
Connor who was walking next to me, staring straight ahead of him.
He seemed uncomfortable and hadn’t said a word since we left the
main building. “Is anyone else here?” I asked Fin.

“Nope,” he looked around at the trees while
he spoke. “You two are the first I’ve seen since I came up here a
few weeks ago.”

“Are you from San Diego?” I asked him.

“Yeah. My brother worked up here last year.
It’s probably one of the few places in the area that has working
power, water, and a fully stocked pantry. I thought this would be a
good place to hide out for a while.”

“We brought our own things, so we should be
good for a bit.” Connor seemed irritated. I wasn’t sure if he would
be able to see my dour expression from the corner of his eyesight
but I glared at his profile anyway.

Fin shrugged and we kept walking on in
silence until the pathway opened up before a curvy row of tall
cabins. The structures were identical, each with two stories and a
sharply pointed roof, covered in what I first thought were
skylights. Fin explained the checkered rectangles of glass were
solar panels. The pathway widened and became a wooden walkway that
continued down toward a long pier where the unfrozen parts of
Laguna Lake glinted in the background.

Fin pointed at the cabin nearest to the dock.
“That one’s mine.” He turned to face us and gestured at the curvy
row of cabins behind his. “They all face the lake, which is nice.
And they have everything you need…bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms.”
He trailed off and looked at us. “Pick whichever one you want,
that’s what I did.” He stuffed his hands in his coat pockets and
lifted his shoulders.

“Are they locked?” I asked him.

“No, I walked through all of them when I
first got here. Just to make sure no one was inside.” He started
moving away from us, to his cabin. “I guess I’ll let you get
settled. You can drive your truck around and park in the dirt lot
back there, but you’ll still have to carry your stuff down the
path.”

“Thanks,” I said to him.

“Sure.” He nodded at Connor, and left us
shivering on the open path. I waved at Fin and watched as he went
inside his cabin and shut the door. The breeze coming off the lake
made my teeth chatter. I tugged my coat collar up close to my ears
and tried not to lick my chapped lips. The first thing I intended
on unpacking was my Burt’s Bees chap-stick.

Connor sighed heavily and pointed at the
empty buildings. “Which one do you want?” he grumbled at me, his
accent strong.

Without answering him I started down the
narrow pathway by myself, pulling Zoey gently on her leash next to
me. Sunlight swept across the path in blotchy patches, stretching
my shadow out before us and I heard Connor’s footsteps fall in
behind me.

***

Connor watched Riley’s feet pound into the
ground, ahead of him. He paced next to the foot impressions she was
leaving on the dirt path, careful not to disturb the tread of her
tennis shoes, or the small dog prints left behind by Zoey. He was
upset with her, that she insisted on staying here before she knew
anything about the place or anything about the scruffy looking
drunk who called himself Fin. It was barely 8 o’clock in the
morning, and judging from the guy’s odor, he had vodka for
breakfast. Unless he never went to sleep and the vodka was a late,
late night-cap. Both scenarios made sense.

He should have tried harder to convince her
to stay at the fire house, at least then they wouldn’t be shacking
up next door to a crazy looking alcoholic mountain man with a very
large handgun that he probably slept and showered with. What did he
need a gun for anyway, in the middle of the woods, with no people
around? As soon as the thought crossed his mind he realized he
would feel safer somehow, having a gun of his own. Problem was he
didn’t know how to handle a real one.

Once he got Riley settled into a cabin, he’d
sit her down and talk to her, find out what her plans were, now
that they were here…and obviously not alone. What was she planning
on doing now? He sure as hell had no idea. The lodge wasn’t very
secure, and other than the front gate there was no way to lock the
whole place down. If they made it here, he imagined others would
find their way up the mountain too. Something told him Fin wouldn’t
be happy sharing the lodge with a large group of people, unless of
course there was another woman or two in the group. Fin only seemed
to look at Riley when he spoke, and made no effort to hide his
interest in her looks. And she seemed too eager to trust Fin,
perhaps because he was the first one to the lodge and offered them
a place to stay, however begrudgingly, or maybe it was because she
didn’t want to be alone with Connor indefinitely.