I Hope You Find Me (22 page)

I crossed my arms and stood defiantly before
him. “Damn straight.”

***

Three days later, we saw the deer for the
first time. Connor was in the kitchen brewing coffee for breakfast
when he called me over to one of the windows. Behind the cabin, a
large fawn stood cautiously at the lake’s shoreline, lowering her
head for a few seconds at a time to lap up water. She was a golden
brown color, dotted with a handful of faded cream-colored spots.
The white-tailed deer appeared to be alone and monitored the area
very well with her dark brown eyes, ears flicking at all angles to
the sounds of the forest.

“She’s beautiful!” I said with my face nearly
pressed against the window glass.

Connor stood behind me with an arm around my
shoulders. “Do you think it knows we’re here?”

“It must. We haven’t made an effort to be
quiet really, and it has to be able to smell our food and the
fireplaces,” I answered him, still watching the deer take turns
drinking and surveying.

“Why would it come so close then? If it knows
we are here?” He leaned towards the glass, his face just next to
mine.

“Maybe it’s lonely,” I said sadly. I turned
away from the window and walked across the kitchen, to the
backdoor. “Will you keep Zoey in here for a second?” I asked Connor
before quietly slipping outside.

The deer raised its head quickly at the sound
of the door and stood still, watching me walk slowly across the
deck. She flicked her tail from side to side and stuck her tongue
out of her mouth to lick the side of her nose. I leaned onto the
deck railing and smiled at her and for several more seconds she
simply stared at me. She bent to drink more water but suddenly
turned her head to the forest, both ears forward and alert. She
glanced at the cabin once more before darting away in long strides
and hops along the shoreline and disappearing into the woods, south
of us.

Zoey began barking from inside the cabin and
Connor tapped on the window, signaling for me to come back inside.
Once I joined them, Zoey rushed at me and wiggled between my legs,
whimpering.

“Dog...you scared the deer away!” I said to
her, as I rubbed the top of her head.

Connor walked past us over to the front door
and peered out one of the windows. “Actually, she was barking in
this direction, out front.”

“Is Fin outside?” I asked him.

“I don’t see him.” He turned to look at me
and shrugged. “Maybe we should go see if he’s up?” he asked.

“Okay.” I ushered Zoey to the door and then
remembered the coffee sitting in mugs on the kitchen counter.

“Oh, wait...let’s not forget this. It’s cold
out there.”

I handed a mug to Connor and we left the
cabin, taking the trail back up the tree line to Fin’s place. He
met us out front before we could knock.

“I thought I heard something,” he grumbled
and nodded vaguely at the dog.

His face was scruffy, his eyes still heavy
from sleep, and he was wearing the same shirt from the day before.
His hair was pressed comically to one side, the front strands
smashed against his forehead like he had passed out face down. He
smelled faintly of stale beer. I crinkled my nose at him.

“Sorry if she woke you. We thought she might
be barking at you, but looks like this is your first time seeing
the sun today.” I smirked playfully at him.

“Hey baby-doll, if you don’t like my morning
look, you can just kiss my-” He was cut off by Connor, who
interrupted him with a loud and exaggerated clearing of his
throat.

He leaned ungracefully into the door frame
with a thump and glowered at Connor. “Oh my god, dude. It’s too
early in the morning for your chivalry shit.”

“Come on now boys. Play nice. It’s a
beautiful day.” I sipped my coffee and listened to Connor and Fin
banter back and forth before my attention changed to Zoey. She was
emitting a long, low growl from her throat as she faced the trees.
I turned behind me and looked into the intricate maze of trunks,
branches and treetops, not seeing anything different. The longer I
stared the more I realized how quiet the woods were. Too quiet. I
sensed more than heard something that was definitely not organic.
Something…mechanical.

”Guys...” I urged, “listen.”

They continued talking, having moved on from
the friendly buddy-bashing banter, to a more adult dialogue of ball
busting, before I cut them off with a sharp hiss. “Sshh!” I ran
down the porch steps and stood on the path with Zoey whining
anxiously at my feet.

“What’s got her panties in a twist?” Fin said
to Connor and snatched the coffee mug out of his hand and took a
long swig.

Connor came down to meet me on the trail and
the three of us stood there, staring into the woods. “What is it?”
he asked.

“Something in the trees has her spooked. And
I think I heard something.” I paused and looked behind me at Fin
and then to Connor, before saying a bit louder, “I think I heard a
car.”

***

It took us less than two minutes to arm
ourselves with the pistols Fin kept hidden inside one of his cabin
closets. Three more minutes and we were halfway up the trail,
jogging quietly, shushing the dog and darting behind trees to keep
out of sight. We were listening to the woods, for birds, insects,
the rustling of leaves, but we heard nothing.

The week before, we sat down one night after
dinner and talked about what our options were if anyone showed up
at the lodge. Connor and I had been there long enough at that point
to know the ins and outs of every trail, every building and every
hiding place. Our plan was simple...if anyone arrived, we would
remain out of sight if possible, long enough to assess the
strangers and get a feel for their intentions. We would make
ourselves visible only if necessary. Our biggest fear was if
someone showed up at night, or caught us off guard in the front of
the property during the day.

We crept through the trees, avoiding the
trail so as not to be seen, and circled around the south-east side
of the property, staying low to the ground…moving quickly, but
carefully. Thankfully, Zoey had rehearsed this enough times with me
to know to stay quiet.

When we could see the lodge building in the
distance, we stopped and hid behind a pine tree and the dense
underbrush, our eyes scanning the back of the property for any
signs of movement. Fin was crouched close next to me, so close that
I could smell the faint aroma of his deodorant. It was a masculine
essence, clean and crisp and surprisingly not unpleasant. I leaned
into him slightly, breathing in the scent and when he shifted, my
nose bumped into his shoulder. He turned to look down at me.

“
Sorry
,” I whispered.

I felt a burst of warmth heat my cheeks and I
rubbed the back of my hand across my nose, pretending to wipe away
snot that wasn’t there. He opened his mouth to speak but snapped it
shut when we all heard the unmistakable sound of a car door
slamming shut. Zoey huffed and I shushed her, pulling her down to
the grassy ground by the collar.

“
Where?
” Connor whispered above my
head at Fin, who was peering around the tree trunk.

When he turned back to face us, he slid down
the trunk, causing a cascade of broken tree bark to come crashing
down around me, and he whispered back, “
I can’t see anyone. But
that was definitely a car door, right?
”

We nodded yes, and I crawled around Fin’s
feet, tugging on Zoey’s collar as I pushed her over to Connor.

“
What are you doing?
” he hissed.

I was crawling away from him but with his
free hand, he grabbed my foot. I shook him off gently.

“
Let go, I’m just going to look through
the bushes,
” I whispered at him forcefully.

With my foot free, I crawled on my hands and
knees around the tree and through at least ten feet of brush before
I was at an angle where I could see a partial view of the front of
the property. Four men were crowded around Connor’s
truck...checking out the front-end damage, kicking the tires and
peering inside the windows. One of them, a tall and lanky young guy
with thick bottle glasses tried to open the passenger door and
looked irritated when he discovered the handle was locked. Connor
hadn’t left anything valuable inside the truck, but he must have
locked it out of habit.

They were talking to each other but I was
still too far away to hear them so I dropped down onto my stomach
and began pulling myself along the ground slowly and silently.
Behind me I could hear both Fin and Connor hissing my name, but I
didn’t stop. I pulled myself up against a wide pine tree and
brushed the twigs and dirt off my thin coat. I didn’t dare look
back at Connor and Fin, knowing very well they would be furious at
how close I had gotten to the strangers. I could hear the flow of
their conversation, but not make out the dialogue so I stayed
partially hidden behind the tree and did my best to read their
faces.

As the men milled around the truck, a very
thin woman with long, dark hair and exotic features sauntered
around the vehicle and began talking to one of the men. She was
wearing a thick, designer winter coat that barely contained her
absurdly large breasts and dark skinny jeans with high-heeled boots
that went clear up to her knees. She looked completely out of place
in the mountains. She also didn’t look happy. The man she was
talking to pushed past her and disappeared behind the truck while
she continued to lash out verbally at whoever stood closest to her.
Her high-pitched voice carried into the trees around me, making me
feel exposed…though I was sure the group couldn’t see me watching
from the brush.

A very portly man wearing a bright red bomber
hat raised his voice at the saucy woman and she yelled at him in
Spanish then spun on her designer heels, kicking up miniature dust
clouds as she walked away. I was sure she swung her hips out
further than her body was originally designed to accommodate,
completely on purpose, so that those watching her walk away would
enjoy the show.

I began slowly backing up, having seen enough
to know we were outnumbered and most likely in serious trouble,
when the long-haired woman’s laugh pierced through the silence,
causing a bird nearby to startle into flight. When I looked through
the brush again to glare at her, a different man was walking next
to her along the path that lead around the building. I stared at
the tall man with the bushy brown hair and something clicked.

I knew him.

***

I lost every ounce of common sense in that
moment.
It’s not possible. How could he be here, alive?
I
asked myself. Forgetting completely that I was supposed to stay out
of sight, that I had two friends also hiding behind me, I sprang to
my feet and frantically screamed out his name.

“
Jacks!
”

I burst through the brush, stumbling on the
uneven ground and snagging my coat and jeans on every possible
branch. It was like the forest itself wouldn’t release me without a
fight. I was aware that every set of eyes around Connor’s truck
were on me, and even though I heard the commotion in the brush
behind me and a part of my brain registered Zoey’s spastic barking
somewhere nearby, all I could coherently think and say was his
name.

“
Jacks! Jacks!
” Over and over I yelled
it, not certain if it was in my head or actually coming out of my
mouth. I screamed it every two steps I took, leaping, awkwardly and
clumsily out of the trees like big foot on fire until I hit the
dirt road that ran around the lodge.

When my feet left the soft and spongy floor
of the forest I skidded to a stop and very nearly lost my balance.
My arms flailed wildly at my sides, like a baby bird taking its
first flying lesson, and I stumbled forward another step. Dust was
floating angrily in the air all around me.

Jacks stood near the striking Hispanic woman
with his mouth agape and his eyes wide open in stunned disbelief. I
heard Fin yelling my name along with the sounds of him and Connor
crashing through the trees and that’s when Jacks got it. He
realized who I was.

An expression somewhere in between panic and
bliss came over his face as he rushed at me, grabbing my waist and
spinning me in his arms so fast that my knit hat flew off my head
and landed in a manzanita tree behind me. Tears began to flow from
my eyes and I felt like a dam inside me was finally breaking. Every
emotion I had suppressed...all my fears, the loss, the guilt I felt
for surviving...it all rushed to the surface and exploded when he
touched me.

Jacks stopped twirling in circles long enough
for my feet to touch the ground again. He cupped my face in his
soft, warm hands before whispering, “
Riley, I found
you
.”

We smiled wildly at each other. Me, with fat
tears streaking down my dirt-smeared face, and Jacks with his
always twinkling green eyes. Just as Fin came crashing out of the
trees behind me, Jacks leaned down and kissed me deeply,
hungrily...and I kissed him back.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It seemed years had passed in the first few
seconds that I held onto Jacks, and for that brief time, it was as
if we were lost in a world of our own. The air stilled around me,
and the only sound I could hear was my heart thumping madly in my
chest as we clung to each other with relief. The early morning
sunlight sparkled on the windows of the lodge behind Jacks, almost
making him glow.

“What the
hell
is going on, Riley?”
Fin’s voice, harsh and cold, boomed from behind me.

I jumped as if shocked. I leaned away from
Jacks, who moved his hands from my waist to my arms, and slowly
down to my wrists. When I turned away from him, he let go of my
right hand and squeezed my left tightly. Connor stared at me and
Jacks with wide eyes, silent. I couldn’t meet his gaze directly, so
I spoke to Fin.