Wild Keepers

by Dee Bridgnorth

  She nodded slowly. “And he keeps saying those words that Fairley screamed as we were leaving.” She felt a cold chill go through her. “They are coming.”

  Thad nodded. “Too much of a coincidence,” he said. “Fairley is just like your father, although he can talk. But his mind is addled. That must be the only reason they let him go—they know that no one will believe his rantings.”

  She shivered again. “If it’s true,” she whispered, “what are they doing to people in there? And why?”

  He ran a weary hand over his face. “That’s what I intend to find out,” he said grimly. “First thing in the morning I’m going there. Josiah has given me fairly good directions.”

  Keeley bit her lip. “Don’t they have a security system? How will you get around it?”

  Thad shrugged. “I’ll figure that out when I’m there,” he said slowly. “Keeley, I’ve worked cases like this before. This was my job, before everything happened.”

  Her eyes glimmered with tears. “You are determined, aren’t you? Even if it means you might be found and dragged in there?”

  He nodded. “I’ve found my purpose again.” He hesitated. “It seems like it was meant to be. The cabin and Coyote River feel a long way away, now.”

  “You’ve changed,” she said slowly, her eyes raking over him. “I don’t just mean that you look different. You are different. When I first met you, you could barely look me in the eye. And now you are just brimming with fire.”

  Thad smiled slightly. “This is the real me,” he said. “The man I used to be. If I can find him again, even if it’s just for a little while, it will be worth it. As well as trying to save the world, of course.”

  “You really believe that?” she said slowly. “That whatever they are doing in that building is going to affect the whole world?”

  He nodded. “The book says so,” he said. “And I have experience with the Vilgath. They are ruthless and single-minded.” He took a deep breath. “But besides that, I would still be going to that place, Keeley. They are taking people for sinister purposes, and that must stop.”

  She fell silent, trying to process it.

  Thad stood up. “I’m going to try and get some sleep,” he said. “I need to know, Keeley, whether you want to go with me tomorrow morning.”

  She stood up, too, facing him.

  “I’m coming,” she said slowly, her eyes glistening. “I must be crazy too, but I’m going to do it. I owe it to my dad, to find out what that place is.”

  He stared at her. “Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “I’m sure. I couldn’t live with myself leaving you here to find out alone.” She shuddered slightly. “I still don’t know if you are crazy, Thad Morgan, but I sure as hell don’t want you to die.”

  He couldn’t stop himself. Afterwards, he told himself it was her words of support, but really it was the look in her eyes, wet with tears. Those beautiful pale blue eyes with a hint of green. He reached out and pulled her into his arms.

  She didn’t resist. She gazed up at him as if she had been waiting. Wanting him to do it. He folded her into his arms, staring down at her face. Up close she was even more beautiful. He swept a reverent hand over her peachy skin.

  “Keeley,” he whispered, his eyes glittering.

  “Shhh,” she said, putting a finger to his lips. “Don’t talk.”

  Their lips slowly met. He gasped, pulling her closer. How long had it been since he’d kissed a woman? Too long. But this wasn’t just any woman. His desire for her was threatening to overtake him completely.

  She sighed softly beneath his lips. The kiss deepened, so that they were straining against each other, twisting frantically. If he let it continue he knew where it would lead, and a deep part of him wanted it too. He could easily push her back onto the bed and he knew that she would probably welcome it as well. He could feel her equal desire in the touch of her lips and her hands.

  He pulled away, breathing raggedly. She gazed up at him, and he could see that her eyes were burning with need.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, turning to the door. “I’ll come for you in the morning.”

  She didn’t answer. Instead, she raised a hand to her lips as if she couldn’t quite work out what had just happened.

  He walked out, towards his own room, his heart hammering. He had to be very, very careful. She was so beautiful, and it had been so long. But he knew that it would only complicate things if he had given into what lay between them. He needed to be strong for what lay ahead. Focused. And he could hardly be that if he was distracted by lust.

  He reached into his pocket for his room key with a trembling hand. It was all too much. And he knew that he had nothing to offer her, anyway. Yes, he had changed recently, as she said, but he was still the man who had let his brothers die and the Wild Keepers be destroyed. There was still a glimmer of the man he was there, but how long would it last?

  It didn’t matter, anyway. He would probably not survive whatever was before him, and he couldn’t afford for Keeley to get attached to a dead man walking. She had suffered enough pain in her life.

  It was better this way. Safer. He knew that. So why did his heart contract as he let himself in his room and stumble to the bed as if it was about to break?

  ***

  Keeley collapsed onto the bed, hearing the mattress shift slightly from the impact.

  Stupid, she berated herself. She had been stupid, giving into that kiss. She didn’t understand anything of what was happening between them. And then he had broken away and ran off with his tail between his legs. He obviously regretted it.

  She rolled over onto her side and punched the mattress in frustration. The kiss had been wonderful. More than wonderful. The attraction that had been simmering between them like a low burning cauldron had suddenly flared up and overtaken them both. She could have gone on kissing him forever.

  But he had fled from it, and now they had to deal with the aftermath. Keeley sighed. It would be awkward and strange between them now. She knew enough about Thad’s personality to realise that. He was reticent, and it was only since he had come to Farrow Valley that she had seen another side of him. A more confident man, who spoke directly. A man with a shine in his eyes. Now that man would probably retreat into the shell that he had lived in for so long.

  She got up, walking to the bathroom. A bath might do the trick. It was always her go-to stress reliever. She stared in dismay at the small, stained tub tucked into the corner. Should she brave it?

  With a sigh, she turned on the taps, watching steam fill the air. When it was full, she lowered herself gingerly into it, trying not to think of how many bodies had sat in this tub before her, or how long it had been since it had been scrubbed properly.

  She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. It had been a strange, exhausting day.

  Finding Josiah and Daisy Connelly and their role in the mystery of what happened to her father was fortuitous. She smiled in gratitude that she had been given the lucky break. If Thad had decided to keep driving and not go back to their vegetable shack, she would still be none the wiser. She probably would never have found anyone else who remembered her father or what had happened to him.

  She opened her eyes. Or if they did, they weren’t about to tell her. Jim Scott, for one. And she suspected that others in this odd town knew as well.

  Josiah’s story told her that her father had indeed been here and searching for something in the desert. Had he found it? Was it actually connected to this mysterious building?

  She knew that she had to find out. Even before Thad had put her on the spot and asked whether she was going to accompany him tomorrow, she knew that she couldn’t walk away. Whatever misgivings she had—and there were quite a few—that was the truth.

  The water was getting cold. With her foot, she deftly manoeuvred the hot tap, turning it on and off. Warmth spread through the water once again. She ducked her head under briefly then emerged spluttering.

  Had her father
been into that building, or taken there? Was that the reason that he was the way he was now? She thought of Fairley. A crazy man talking gibberish about aliens and abductions. Or had he been driven crazy because of what had happened to him?

  Was there a kernel of truth in Fairley’s ravings, just as Thad claimed? Or even worse…was everything he said true?

  She closed her eyes again, her mind switching to thoughts of Thad and the kiss. Her face burned slightly at the memory, but she had to get over it.

  Thad would pretend that it never happened, and so must she. She needed him. She had to walk through this maze of crazy stories and odd people to get to the truth, and she saw now that there was no way to do it but with him by her side.

  And another thought slowly dawned on her. If any of it was true—that this mysterious place was taking people for unknown purposes—then it might just be the story to break her career.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Keeley opened the door on the third knock, swinging it wide open. Her heart caught a little in her throat.

  Thad. Dressed in the same faded blue denim jeans he had worn yesterday, with a fresh white t-shirt. All her resolve about how she had to ignore the spark between them suddenly fizzled to nothing. All she wanted was to wrap her arms around him and tell him to kiss her again, in the same draining, dizzying way they had kissed last night.

  But she didn’t do that, of course. Instead, she smiled at him politely.

  “Are you ready?” he asked in a small voice.

  She noticed that he refused to look her in the eye.

  She took a deep breath. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  He nodded, ducking his head. “I thought maybe we could grab some stuff at the local bakery to take with us for the day. We could also grab something to eat now as well.” He paused. “The bar doesn’t open until ten for breakfast, and I’m keen to make a move.”

  Keeley nodded too. “Sounds like a plan. Hopefully it will be better food than the bar.”

  He laughed. “It couldn’t be any worse, could it?”

  She stepped out of the room quickly, brushing against him. She pretended not to notice his swift intake of breath as she locked the door, heading towards his truck.

  She took a deep breath. She just had to ignore it, that was all. But she knew that it was easier said than done. Spending all day alone with Thad might just be too much for her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had last been so infatuated with someone.

  It was only a kiss, she told herself fiercely. Get over it.

  He frowned slightly as he drew closer to her, noticing the camera hanging around her neck. “Are you planning to take photos?”

  She smiled at him innocently. “Why not? If we don’t manage to get into this place, at least we can look at photos afterwards. We might see something we missed at the time.”

  He relaxed a little. “Good point. I didn’t think of that.”

  She nodded, not meeting his eye. She wasn’t about to tell him that she had other ideas for any photos she happened to take. Like keeping them for the story that she was planning to write. She reached into her bag, making sure that her notebook and pen were in there. As soon as she could she would try to jot down anything of interest.

  She felt a small shudder of excitement. Since she had made up her mind to do this, she knew that she was potentially sitting on a goldmine if anything of what was claimed about this place was true. Imagine the reaction she would get if she could prove that in the middle of nowhere abductions were taking place, and people were being forced to stay against their will, apparently for years?

  It wouldn’t just launch her career. It would skyrocket it.

  But she knew that Thad would try to dissuade her if he knew, so she had resolved to keep her mouth shut. What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. When all of this was over she would write up her story and he would be none the wiser.

  She narrowed her eyes slightly as she stared at him. He had made it plain that he didn’t want to pursue anything between them, anyway. He couldn’t get hurt if she had her own agenda for this, could he?

  Besides, it would give her a focus. A professional edge. She was still unsure about it all, but if she told herself she was just chasing a story it made it easier in her mind.

  They were almost to the truck when Thad frowned slightly, gazing back the way they had come. She turned around. Jim Scott was walking towards them, a wide smile on his face. Keeley frowned too. What on earth did he want, and why was he smiling like a normal person for the first time since they had got here?

  “Heading out for the day?” he called, his smile widening.

  Thad nodded. “Yeah, getting an early start.”

  The motel owner was almost level with them. He stared from one to the other with a puzzled look on his face. “I didn’t realise that you two knew each other?”

  Thad smiled slightly. “Yeah, we are neighbours, back in Coyote River.”

  Keeley forced herself to smile, too. “It was such a surprise when I saw Thad’s truck in the parking lot!” She took a deep breath. “We thought we might as well join forces to sightsee.”

  Jim Scott’s smile returned. “Well, that’s just great! Two’s company is better than one, like they say. What are you two planning to get up to today?”

  Thad sighed. “We’ve seen all the gold mines in the area, so we thought we might just hit the open road and see where it takes us.”

  Keeley nodded. “And I haven’t forgotten your recommendation to see the park in the next town, Jim.”

  The motel owner nodded. “Good, good. Well, I guess I should let you go.”

  They nodded to him, then climbed into the truck.

  “Just smile and wave,” whispered Thad, between clenched teeth, staring at the motel owner through the front window.

  Keeley burst out laughing. “Just like the penguins from Madagascar, hey?”

  Thad was laughing too. “Something like that.”

  He put the truck into reverse, and they slowly drove out of the parking lot. They could see Jim Scott hadn’t moved an inch.

  ***

  Jim Scott kept watching until the old beat up truck had disappeared entirely from view. The smile he had plastered to his face slowly faded. He walked back towards the office, a frown puckering his brow.

  He had been right about them.

  He opened the door to the office, cursing slightly as he tripped on the faded welcome mat. He scooped it up and threw it into the room. It was way past its use by date, like everything in this godforsaken place. He wouldn’t be surprised if one morning he woke up to see that vines had overtaken the whole building and it looked like the Mayan ruins.

  Twenty goddamn years of his life. He was sucked completely dry.

  His eyes flickered to the clock on the wall. He had to replace the battery more regularly than he liked, but it was the one thing that he insisted on keeping in order here. He needed to know the time. Sometimes he would spend hours just watching the slow moving hands. Dreaming of a time when it had all been different.

  It was just after nine now. Still too early for a heart-starter drop of tequila even for him. He eyed the clock surlily. As soon as it hit nine-thirty he would unscrew the top of the bottle and pour that golden liquid into the glass.

  He walked over to the filing system, such as it was, taking out the forms of the only two guests of the Hacienda. He gazed down at them, squinting. He had left his glasses somewhere and couldn’t be bothered trying to find them.

  Thaddeus Morgan had given his address as Appletree Road, Gorge Mountain. If he had been better acquainted with the geography of that area, he would have realised straight away that it was close to Coyote River. A drive of mere miles.

  He studied the neat handwriting on the other form. Keeley Walters lived in Coyote River, and he had recognised the name of the town immediately.

  He slapped both forms down on the counter, staring off into the distance. He should have let them know before now. They would b
e displeased with him. But sometimes the lure of the tequila addled him by mid-afternoon and he couldn’t pluck up the courage to speak to them. Ditto the next day, when the hangover was raging and biting at his heels like a crazed terrier.

  Everything was a bit beyond him these days.

  Still. He should have got on the phone to them as soon as Keeley Walters had sidled up to him, asking if he remembered her father. He had lied, of course, and he thought that she believed him. It hadn’t been a hard lie. Who would be expected to recall a guest who had stayed here for a few days fourteen years ago?

  But he had remembered, and a cold shiver had fallen through him at the mere mention of Gil Walter’s name. The reporter. A man who had asked as many questions as his daughter. A man who had claimed to be investigating a mysterious building in the desert that he had been told about.

  Jim smiled at the memory. He had sat with Gil Walters in one of the back rooms of the Hacienda, drinking tequila one night. The man had been wary, but the liquid had loosened his tongue after a while. He had told Jim about the book that he had found, which he knew was connected to the building. How he knew he wouldn’t tell him, even after Jim had poured him another tequila.

  He sighed, now, remembering how Gil Walters had set out on that last day of his stay, determined to find it. Jim had sent him in the wrong direction, of course. A wild goose chase. But Gil Walters must have gotten close, or even into it. Because the next thing he knew there was word all over town about how old Josiah Connelly had found him wandering in the desert and taken him back to Coyote River. Jim smiled grimly. Connelly had always fancied himself a Good Samaritan.

  He had known at the time that it was fine. If Gil Walters had been let loose, he would have been contained somehow. All the ones that they let loose were contained. Some had become the crazy simpletons of the district, infamous for their ravings, which no one believed. Others were stricken dumb and unable to talk at all.

  So, Jim Scott knew that Gil Walters would not be talking of anything he had seen. Or if he did, he wouldn’t be believed.