by Janie Crouch
“Everything good?” Bree’s hand slid into his and she smiled up at him.
“Perfect. We’re right on track and right on schedule. Not that we have anything too aggressive planned, since our group is made up of quite a few novices.”
“Excited novices.”
He smiled and took a sip of water out of his canteen before offering it to her. “Those are the best kind.” He leaned closer so only she could hear him. “You know I would’ve done this without all those special...favors you offered.”
She smiled as she sipped the water. “That’s okay. I didn’t even get to the really good stuff I was going to offer if I thought you wouldn’t say yes.”
Tanner couldn’t keep in his bark of laughter. This woman. He’d created a monster when he’d taken her to bed nearly a year ago. The very best, most sexy kind of monster. And he got to keep her as his own personal monster for the rest of his life.
“I can’t wait to get married to you,” he whispered, reaching closer to nuzzle behind her ear with his nose.
“I’m just glad to leave all the wedding planning to your sister and the other gals. This will allow them to do what they’ve wanted to do for a while—get rid of the feet-dragging, decision-phobic bride. They’ll be able to get stuff done a lot quicker without me there. Plus, they can’t force me to try on my wedding dress again if I’m off hiking with you.”
“Are you sure you’re okay being gone this close to the wedding?”
She grabbed his shirt and pulled him close, rising up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. “More than sure. Believe me, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
They turned to look at Noah, who was crouched down, showing Sam and Eva something in the wildlife behind them.
“You didn’t tell me Noah was coming,” Bree said. “I was surprised.”
“I didn’t know he was coming. I haven’t talked to him since we paid Jared our little visit. I know Noah’s been around, keeping tabs on Marilyn and the kids as often as possible.”
“Anything new regarding Jared?”
He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and fingers. “No. I’m still poring over the files. Still trying to find anything that might prove he was connected to the fire. Ronnie and I even went out and questioned Paul Wyn and George Pearson, to see if they had alibis for the night of the fire.”
“And let me guess, they did.”
“Yes. Each other, and Jared.”
She let out a sigh. “Convenient. I just feel so frustrated that I can’t do more.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder as Noah began leading the group forward again. “How about no thinking about Jared today. No thinking about the case or the ankle monitor. No tulle. Only thinking about the majestic beauty surrounding us and making this trip as memorable for the kids as possible.”
She leaned into his side. “You had me at the words no tulle.”
Chapter Ten
The tents were set up and everyone was settled in for the night when Tanner came out to sit next to Noah at the fire.
They made it to the camping site with no problem and had caught fish in the stream tributary of the Colorado River they’d be coasting on tomorrow. By the time they’d finished making the s’mores with the ingredients Tanner had sneaked in as a special surprise, the smile on everyone’s face had been near giddy.
Except Noah’s.
Not that his brother was ever going to be much of a talker or smiler, but he was definitely tenser now than he had been when they first started the hike.
“What’s going on?” Tanner asked softly. He didn’t want anyone else to hear this conversation.
“Nothing I can put my finger on.”
Tanner sat down on the log across from his brother. “But you’re thinking there might be trouble?”
“I don’t have concrete evidence of anything.” Noah looked around into what anyone else would consider to be peaceful darkness.
Tanner rolled his eyes. “I’ll take your gut feeling over 99 percent of the population’s concrete evidence any day.”
Noah was quiet for a long minute. “I’m not sure I can trust my gut too much either, to be honest. But there’s nobody around us right now, that much I know for sure. I set up a few observation traps that would let me know if anybody had been surveilling us. When I checked them a few minutes ago there was no evidence of anybody else around.”
“Could be stress wearing on you. That talk with Jared definitely didn’t put me at ease.”
“That’s for damn sure. Bastard was way too confident he wouldn’t be convicted at the trial. Like he knows something we don’t.”
Tanner nodded, lips tight. Oscar Stobbart already put a call in to Sheriff Duggan, Tanner’s boss. Nothing formal, just a verbal complaint and concern about harassment against his client. Fortunately, they didn’t have an ID for Bree, so there was nothing official Oscar could do. But Tanner had no doubt this would come up again at the trial if Stobbart could possibly work it in.
“Have you been following Jared more? We don’t want to do anything that gives Stobbart any reason to try to have the case dismissed outright.”
“I’ve got a colleague who’s gone into Denver a couple of times for me, with instructions to stay far from Jared. I do know they’ve still got those building plans and maps out everywhere. Stobbart has joined them most nights. Another man joined them last night.”
“That’s probably Marius Nixon, the guy who provided money for Jared’s bail. He arrived back in the country yesterday.”
Noah rolled his shoulders. “They’re planning something, Tanner.”
“Do you know that for sure? Has your guy been using the surveillance equipment you talked about?” Anything the man heard wouldn’t be allowable in court, but at this point, Tanner would be glad just to have information. Once they knew what was going on, they’d figure out a plan later.
“I know there’s something going on because my man couldn’t hear anything with his surveillance equipment. They’re using counter surveillance equipment.”
Tanner let out a low curse.
Noah nodded. “That’s how I felt too. It’s high-end stuff. Took my man a night to figure out the info he was receiving wasn’t legit. He happened to hear a loop in the recording their equipment was spitting out. Most people wouldn’t have caught it at all.”
“What do you think they’re planning?” Tanner leaned closer to the fire, trying to process all of this.
“Honestly, I think they have something up their sleeves for the trial, then are planning to take Marilyn and the kids somewhere. I’m not going to let that happen, Tanner.”
Tanner nodded. “We’re not going to let that happen. Not you, not me, not Bree, not anyone else at New Journeys or in Risk Peak. Marilyn and those kids are one of ours now. You’re not alone in this. Neither is she.”
Noah shrugged. “It’s hard for me not to work alone.”
“We’ve got almost four months until the trial. We know the ankle monitor is working, so we focus on figuring out their plan. In this case, the best offense is a good defense. But we’ve got to let the law handle this. We cannot go after them just because they’re doing suspicious stuff.”
“Roger that.”
“So let’s try to enjoy this camping trip and make it something memorable for Marilyn and the kids. Unless you think there’s actual danger here.”
Noah ran a hand through his thick black hair that looked so much like Tanner’s own. “Honestly, I don’t know. I feel like something is off, but my neutrality is definitely compromised when it comes to that woman and those kids. Maybe I want Jared to be here so that I have an excuse to take him out and make sure they’re safe for the rest of their lives.”
“As an officer of the law, I’m afraid I’d probably have to let you do exactly that if Jared showed up here.” Tanner gave his brother a wide grin
.
“I have the emergency radio,” Tanner said after a few minutes. “If there’s any change in Jared’s status, Ronnie will let us know right away.”
“Good. There’s probably nothing out there right now except my own feelings of inadequacy haunting me.”
“Well, you better let those die out in the cold, because we’re going to need your help protecting Marilyn if Jared really is found innocent by some miracle. And I need you on this trip because those kids certainly look up to you. Especially Sam.”
Noah shrugged. “That’s good, because I look up to them too. And especially their mom.”
That was about as gushing and flowery as Noah got. Tanner swallowed his chuckle, but not quickly enough.
“Stuff it, jackass,” Noah muttered.
“Yes, sir. How about I take first shift on lookout, just in case? We’ve got a long day of hiking and rafting ahead of us tomorrow.”
None of it would be very rough—nobody wanted to take young children on rapids they couldn’t handle—but it would be a full and exciting day.
“Wake me up in a couple hours and I’ll relieve you.”
Tanner settled into his place by the fire, listening for changes in the night noises around him. That would be his first indication that danger was nearby. He looked up at the moon, barely visible through the trees. Standing guard was no hardship for him. Maybe Noah was right, and his gut feelings were just a manifestation of the frustration inside him for not being able to do anything about the abuse Marilyn had suffered.
But either way, Tanner would be ready in case danger came.
* * *
BEING OUT HERE in the woods was so much better than wedding planning, but it didn’t take Bree long to recognize tension in both Noah and Tanner the next day.
It wasn’t overt—they were both still teaching and smiling, at least as much as Noah ever smiled, and they seemed to be having a good time. But there was a tension in Tanner—an awareness—that hadn’t been there yesterday when they’d started their trip.
“What’s going on?” she asked when they stopped for water. She’d been watching him all morning and all through their lunch break. Watching him watch the area around them, looking for threats.
“Nothing’s going on. Why do you ask?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t know. Maybe because I’ve seen you around enough dangerous situations to recognize the I’m-about-to-turn-into-supercop look? What aren’t you telling me?”
He pulled her against him and kissed her temple. “Nothing. I promise. Nothing concrete. Noah just got a little spooked—although it ended up being nothing—and both of us just want to be diligent.”
“But nothing happened besides Noah’s Spidey senses tingling?”
He smiled and kissed her. “Nothing. I promise I’ll tell you if I think you need to be concerned.”
“Really? You have been known to keep things from me before. Important things—because you wanted to handle it all by yourself.”
“Believe me, I’ve learned my lesson when it comes to keeping things from you. We are a team.”
Bree kissed him and turned back to the group. She watched as Noah took a sip of his water, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand afterward. Sam, sitting right beside him, mimicked the motion almost exactly a couple seconds later.
They spent the next two hours making steady progress through the wilderness. Tanner and Noah took multiple opportunities to indicate different plants and animals along the way. They showed some edible berries, but then were quick to point out the poisonous berries that looked very similar.
They identified poison oak and other plants to avoid, as well as specifying the multiple different trees and flowers that made up the beauty of this part of Colorado. Their respect for the wilderness around them was evident in every sentence. It was nearly impossible not to get caught up in their passion for the land.
The running theme was obvious: respect nature. Nature wasn’t always gentle, but even in its harshness there was beauty.
They came across all sorts of animals. The racer snake they saw along one rocky ridge was Sam’s personal favorite, even though it had everybody else squealing in fear.
Noah pointed out the tracks from deer and elk, and even the signs that a bear had passed through at some point. When Eva’s eyes grew wide, Tanner took the time to explain the best way to defend yourself against a bear was actually to avoid it in the first place. Talking out loud and letting a bear know you were nearby was the best way to get it to move along in the opposite direction. Most bears weren’t looking for a confrontation.
Sam wanted to press about what should be done if the bear didn’t move along and charged instead, but that topic of conversation was obviously a little upsetting for Eva, who was soon near tears. A look and nod passed between Tanner and Noah, before Tanner grabbed Eva’s hand to show her a caterpillar that was climbing up a tree. Noah placed a light hand on Sam’s shoulder and led him a few steps over to the side.
Concern clouded Marilyn’s face.
“Don’t worry,” Bree whispered to her. “Noah won’t let the details get too out of hand. Although the way Sam got excited about that snake, I think he could probably handle details about a bear attack.”
“Oh.” Marilyn relaxed. “A bear attack. Right. Yeah, Sam can handle that.”
Marilyn hadn’t been worried about the topic, Bree realized.
“You know Noah would never hurt Sam, right?” she whispered.
Marilyn gave a shaky laugh. “I know that. Of course, I know that.”
“Oh, my gosh, really? That’s awesome!” Sam’s excited voice called out from next to Noah, who was obviously imparting some vast wilderness secret to the boy. “It’s so gross! Mom would never do it.” Sam belly-laughed.
They watched as Noah leaned his head closer to tell Sam something else.
“I don’t want him to live his life scared,” Marilyn whispered. “I already hate myself enough for what I let them witness happen to me. I don’t want to spend their whole childhood hovering over them and making them afraid to try new things and befriend new people.”
Bree ran a hand along her friend’s back, the gesture coming so much more naturally now than it would have a year ago, since she now had so many people in her life teaching her how to give and receive love.
“The world isn’t always a safe place. Your kids learned that early, and, yeah, that’s a tragedy of gargantuan proportions. But look at them, Marilyn.” She gestured first at Eva, who was holding Tanner’s hand and pressing her face close to a tree so she could see the critter, giggling every few seconds. Then over to Sam, who was staring at Noah with huge, wide eyes, obviously completely entranced with whatever the man was saying.
“Yeah?” Marilyn asked. “They don’t seem to be doing anything particularly amazing.”
Bree smiled. “Exactly. They’re kids getting excited about caterpillars and probably some gross story about peeing on a tree to keep away a bear. And they’re fine. Whatever you did, whatever you suffered through to protect them? It worked.”
“I’m totally going to try that!” Sam yelled.
Noah chuckled. It was the first time Bree had heard him laugh. Even Tanner turned around at the sound.
“We’ll check with your mom first. And you definitely have to make sure there is an adult around.”
Noah looked over and winked at Marilyn, causing her to blush. Bree bit her tongue to keep from teasing her about it.
“Noah and I have been spending a little bit of time together,” Marilyn said so softly Bree could hardly hear her.
“Spending time together as in dating?”
Marilyn flushed even more. “Not really. I mean he did have dinner with us once last week before the fire.”
Bree nudged her hip against her friend. “That sounds a little bit like a date.”
“Mostly he comes by after the kids go to bed at night.”
Bree tried not to do a double take at that news. Certainly, they were both consenting adults, and although Marilyn may be technically still married to Jared on paper, it was safe to say the marriage had ended sometime around when he’d dislocated her shoulder, broken her nose, cracked her ribs, fractured her wrist and sent her into a coma.
If Marilyn could find a little bit of happiness with Noah—and vice versa—then damn all the people who would judge her for it. But Bree was still a little surprised.
“Good for you. I say get as much action as you can.”
Marilyn’s jaw dropped and her eyes got wide. “Oh, my God, it’s not like that. Noah doesn’t come over to have sex.” Although the woman didn’t look too distraught about that idea. “He’s been teaching me self-defense moves.”
Now, that sounded like Noah.
“Well, there’s no one better you could learn them from,” Bree said, meaning it.
“I know.”
“And heck, that sort of is dating for Noah.”
“I know,” Marilyn whispered again.
Tanner and Noah got everyone moving forward again, focusing more on the smaller, gentler animals rather than predators. They answered any questions the kids or Barb or Francis had, while Bree and Marilyn brought up the rear.
They’d gone about another thirty minutes when Tanner stopped and pointed out a group of marmots lying out on a rock, far enough from the humans not to be threatened. Noah handed everyone his binoculars so they could take a closer look at the large ground squirrels.
“Marmots are pretty cool,” Tanner said. “They eat grass and flowers and live in groups of between ten and twenty. During warm weather, they pretty much spend all day eating and lying out in the sun, getting fat.”
“Sounds kind of boring,” Sam said.
Tanner rubbed the kid’s hair. “The amazing thing about marmots is that they hibernate over half their lives. At least six months out of every year, they’re underground, living inside a hole, just trying to survive.”
