David Reingold had moved to within arms reach of her. Appearing vexed by her presence, he checked his wristwatch a second time since she'd entered the store.
Sam decided not to push her luck. She cracked a half-smile, then walked past him to the front end of the nearest aisle and pulled a pair of hiking socks from off the hook. She flipped them over in her hand, pretending to read the label. Safe for now, she thought, and then heard a rapid set of knocks emanating from somewhere in the storage room.
"Excuse me a minute," Reingold said, in a polite tone. "I'll be right back. Holler if you need me."
"Thanks, I will." Sam watched as he walked past the animal traps and into the back room. She waited a few seconds longer to make sure he didn't reappear, then rushed toward where the animal traps were hanging, stopping in front of the entrance to the storage room. She reached up and grabbed the clasp on one of the traps. Stamped into the metal was the familiar number sequence ending in a "V." Victory Brothers. Great, now what? Before formulating an answer, she heard muffled voices coming from the room where Reingold had disappeared into.
Sam poked her head in under the entranceway. The storage room was dimly lit. With no one in sight, she advanced stealthily until she caught a glimpse of a stocky man with black hair in a dark suit. Worried he might see her, she backed out of sight, but remained within earshot.
"Give me a minute," Reingold said. "I'm trying to get rid of her."
"Well, hurry up, we don't have all day. I wanna deal," responded a second male voice.
After a few more words were exchanged and the room fell silent, Sam heard footsteps approaching. She spun around and swiftly, but silently, hurried out of the storage room toward the cash register. She tossed her pair of socks on the counter, then leaned forward on her right elbow as if she'd been waiting there the whole time.
The door jingled. Another customer walked in.
"I'll be right with you, sir. We close in five minutes," Reingold yelled as he made his way toward the counter and picked up Sam's hiking socks. "Is this it?"
"Yeah, that's it." She sipped her coffee while he rang her purchase into the register. "I noticed you had a few antique looking items in here."
"They are antiques. They're not 'antique looking.'"
"Right. Sorry. Do you sell them?"
"I sell everything in here."
"It's odd, but I've never been in a sporting goods store that sold antiques."
"Yeah, well," he started, then paused with a downcast look she'd seen earlier, "my wife used to collect antiques, and since she died, I don't know, I sort of got into it myself."
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know."
"Thank you. They're not big sellers, but they give the place charm."
"Yes, they do."
"Five-fifty for the socks."
"Right." Sam fumbled for her money. "The animal traps you have on the wall over there, you sell those too?"
"I just told you, I sell everything in this store," he replied, seemingly annoyed once again.
"Have you sold any recently?"
"Why so interested? You want 'em? If you want 'em, I'll get 'em for you, otherwise I have another customer to help."
"Right, sorry. No, I don't want them. Thanks for your time."
THE FOLLOWING MORNING on her way to the lodge, the only thing on Sam's mind was Halie. She longed to see her, to stare into those fiery chestnut brown eyes and take in her illuminating smile. The longer she waited in the parking lot, the more the butterflies churned in her stomach.
As soon as Halie spotted Sam's patrol vehicle, she sprinted down the front steps waving. She swung open the passenger side door and hopped in the front seat. "Hey, you! God, I missed you," she said leaning in toward Sam. She placed the palms of her hands on the sides of Sam's cheeks, and pulled her close into a long kiss.
Sam's left hand clung to the steering wheel as she lost herself in the ecstasy of Halie's kiss. Halie slid her hands slowly from Sam's face. Then she slouched against the seat and closed her eyes, a huge smile stretched across her face. "Mmmm, that was nice."
"That was more than nice," Sam said. She reached over and slid her right hand under Halie's golden hair near the nape of her neck, pulling her gently toward her. Sam's gaze fell on Halie's supple lips. She knew she was flirting with a yearning that would have to go partly unquenched, at least until the evening, but that didn't stop her from returning Halie's kiss with added fire. When their lips parted, Sam said, "And you thought I wouldn't miss you."
"Hardly," Halie said, "But had I known you'd miss me this much, I'd have taken the morning off so we could do something about it."
"That makes two of us. How about coming over after work? There's a full moon tonight."
"I'd love to. You'd have had a hard time keeping me away."
"We'd better get started or we won't be going anywhere, and then I'll get written up for this."
A smirk crossed Halie's face. "Well, we can't have that."
"No, we can't. So, where to?"
Halie hesitated. "I thought maybe we'd head over to the Snake River."
Sam's eyes narrowed, wrinkling her forehead. "The Snake River? Why there?"
"I don't know. I thought I'd take Felice up on her invitation for an interview."
"You're kidding, right? You're trying to get me riled, aren't you?"
"What? No, I'm not. Why do you care if I interview Felice? I thought we were over this."
"Because I can tell she likes you, that's why. Besides, there are plenty of other people to interview, why her?"
"I think she'll add interest to my piece."
Sam didn't answer. She couldn't understand why the first thing Halie wanted to do on her return to work was talk with Felice. Had Halie thought about Felice while she was away? What had she thought about? What interest or insight could Felice provide that she hadn't already given Halie?
Halie continued. "Do you know whereabouts along the river she's working today?"
Sam breathed deep. "I can find out," she replied.
"Great."
"Great." Sam radioed dispatch. Her promising reunion with Halie was turning out to be anything but. She drove them to the river in awkward silence. Fidgeting in her seat, she began thinking that maybe she'd overreacted. Why would Halie's interest in Felice be anything but business related? In her heart, she knew it was all business. Eventually, the length of Halie's silence broke her own. "How was the rest of your weekend?" Sam asked in a softer tone.
"Fine, I was happy to see everyone."
"How was Father's Day?"
"Father's Day was crazy," Halie said.
Sam could see Halie wasn't going to make conversation simple. "How so?"
"Our family has huge gatherings that usually last well into the night and this one was no exception. I stayed over and helped Mom clean up. The next morning, Dad and I played nine holes of golf."
"Golf, huh? Hadn't pictured you as a golfer."
"No? Why not?"
"Don't know really. That was nice though. I'm sure your dad enjoyed it."
"He did. What about you? Do anything interesting?"
"Not really. I visited the sporting goods store to see if I could find out anything."
"And did you?"
"Not much. The place appeared normal enough, but I didn't get a good vibe from the owner. He sells antique sporting equipment too. He had two of those animal traps. I checked to make sure they were from the same company. He wouldn't tell me anything about them though and got testy when I asked."
"Interesting."
"I thought so." Sam unwillingly pulled to the side of the road next to Felice Lohan's truck. "Here we are," she said before getting out. "She should be north of here, somewhere along the river. I'm sure she's not that far ahead of us."
"Great," Halie said, grabbing her bags and following Sam through the brush toward the river. "Did you say anything to him?"
"To Reingold?"
"Yes."
"Not really. What was I sup
posed to say at that point, 'I think you're full of crap.'? A couple of guys came in through the rear door while I was there. I caught a glimpse of one of them. They were in a rush to get him to close the store. I heard the one guy say something about wanting to deal. The whole thing was strange."
"Do you think those men would show up again? If you want, I'll go with you next time and stake out the place. I can take photographs."
"Thanks for the offer, but I don't know." Sam noticed Halie cock her head as if to indicate 'what's not to know?' "I don't want you getting hurt."
"That's sweet, but I can handle myself pretty well. I mean, it's not like I'll be shooting a grizzly or anything."
"Right." Sam traipsed onward with Halie in tow for close to a mile over the rocky shoreline before stopping to watch several rafts float past, part of a guided scenic tour.
"That looks like fun," she said, as one of the tour guides waved at them. Halie waved back.
"It is fun," Felice Lohan interjected. "I could take you sometime."
Halie jumped. "Felice! I didn't know you were there. We didn't hear you. Where were you hiding?"
Sam wasn't at all startled by Felice or surprised she'd try to make a grand entrance.
Felice pointed to a large rock formation twenty-five feet from them. "I was sitting behind that boulder watching a mother-bear show her cubs how to fish before the rafters spooked them."
"Oh, how cute. No wonder we didn't see you," Halie said.
"Sam."
"Felice."
"So what brings you out here today? Did you happen upon me, or were you seeking me out?" Felice asked with a half-cocked grin.
The words were difficult for Sam to speak. "We were looking for you. Halie wanted to interview you if you have the time."
"Of course I have the time."
"Great," Sam muttered.
"It is, isn't it?" Felice replied. "So, where do you want to start?" she asked Halie.
"If you two don't mind," Sam said, "I'm going to take a walk down river. Why don't you come get me when you've finished."
"Happy to," Felice said. Then she channeled all her attention and charm on Halie.
SAM KNEW SHE shouldn't have let Felice get under her skin or have any reason to be jealous, but she couldn't help how she felt. And rather than remain quiet in the Expedition on the ride back, Sam tore into Halie. "I can't see why your interview with Felice lasted so long. I mean, what did the two of you talk about?"
"Her work mostly, and changes the park's undergone in the past several years," Halie responded. "Why? What do you think we talked about?"
"I don't know. I just don't see why you had to interview her. I know plenty of other people you could have talked to. You knew how I felt about her."
"Not this again."
"Yeah, this again. So I guess you got everything you needed today?" Sam said with sarcasm in her voice.
"Yeah, I did."
"Great."
The remainder of their ride was spent in silence. As Sam pulled alongside the curb to let Halie out, she said, "I have a feeling you're not coming over tonight, are you?"
"Yeah, I think I'll pass." Halie didn't get out of the Expedition right away.
Sam knew she should try and explain why she'd acted like she had, but she couldn't. Instead she merely asked, "The offer you made to go with me to Wilson and stake out the sporting goods store, is that offer still good?"
"I said I'd go. Why wouldn't it be?"
"I don't know. You still seem mad."
"Look, Sam, I'm crazy about you, but you don't give me enough credit. I gave you no reason to get all bent outta shape about Felice. You took a perfectly good day and--" Halie's cell phone went off. She checked to see who the caller was. "Sorry, I have to take this, it's my boss."
Sam couldn't hear what was being said on the other end of the phone, but by the expression on Halie's face it wasn't good.
"No," Halie replied into the phone, "that shouldn't be a problem. I just wish you had given me a little more notice." She paused, then "Right, I understand. No, it's no problem at all. I'll make sure I'm finished. Okay, see you then." She flipped the cell phone closed and faced Sam. "I've got bad news. My coworker who's doing the other half of our article on another National Park is ahead of schedule. He's wrapping it up, so now my management doesn't want to wait until the fall issue to get our story out. They want to release a special edition next month. They're upping my deadline by two weeks. I'll have to leave July 4th."
Sam didn't know how to respond. Suddenly the day was going from bad to worse and she had no control over it. "On the holiday?"
"They don't care, as long as I'm at work on Tuesday."
"I thought we'd have more time--"
"I know. So did I. We'll have to take it as it comes, that's all," Halie said. "There's not much else we can do."
"No, I suppose not. I feel like we should talk though."
"I pretty much said what I wanted to say, Sam. If you want to add anything--"
A long silence followed before Sam answered. "No. I'll see you tomorrow."
Halie sighed. "See you tomorrow."
Sam watched as Halie walked into the lodge. This was not how she wanted their day to end.
Chapter Twenty
"ABOUT THE OTHER day," Sam started tentatively. "I'm sorry for the way I acted--you know--about Felice. You were right, I was being ridiculous."
Sam and Halie sat in one of Charlie Tynes' old beat up trucks in the rear parking lot of a strip mall adjacent the sporting goods store. Sam had borrowed the truck, knowing her ranger vehicle was too obvious a sight. Even still, the number of cars in the lot were substantially fewer than had been there the prior two evenings when she'd driven over with Jake, which gave Sam an uneasy feeling, especially with Halie in the car.
"I never said you were ridiculous. I said you had no reason to get bent out of shape. I told you I'd rather be with you than with Felice. I don't know why you don't believe me."
"I do, it's just that I got jealous. It's not one of my better qualities."
"You're right, it's not, but in a way I guess it's kind of cute. I'll think about forgiving you, but it'll cost you."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Dinner Saturday night at a restaurant of my choosing."
"Is that all?"
"Well, and dessert, of course," Halie said, placing her hand on Sam's thigh.
Sam swallowed hard, wishing she hadn't wasted the last couple of days being so stubborn. As they sat quietly in the car watching people come and go, the minutes stretched into an hour.
"Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"How come you don't like talking about your job much?"
"What's to talk about?"
"I don't know. Like is there anything you worry about while you're on patrol?"
No one had ever asked Sam that question before, and she wasn't sure how to answer at first. The worries always lingered under the surface, she'd just never verbalized them before. And now that someone asked, she wasn't sure she wanted to share, but the words made their way out. "I worry about a few things. First, that I don't make it home one night. Not so much because of me, but for Jake and Mom. Second, that I'll call for backup and because of personnel shortages no one'll respond, and third, that I'll be called to a scene one day where I'll be helpless to save someone, and I'll have to watch them die."
Silence followed Sam's response. She stared out the driver's side window. She thought of the many close encounters she'd had where those fears were thankfully never realized. Then she thought about Tina.
"Thanks for sharing that part of you with me, Sam," Halie said in a hushed voice. "I'm sorry."
Sam nodded. "It is what it is." She glanced at her watch, then at the back door of the sporting goods store. "Looks like another bust. We may as well go home."
"Hang on, someone's coming out," Halie said, as a sliver of light shone through the back door as it cracked open. She readied her camera. While they sat and watc
hed, two men exited the store, followed by David Reingold. One of the men, who appeared to be in his fifties, wore navy dress pants, a blue and white striped dress shirt with gold cufflinks, and black shoes. He was about six-foot tall, but clearly overweight. He sported black hair and a salt and pepper color beard. The other man was probably ten years younger, a good fifty pounds lighter, and clean shaven. He wore dark blue jeans with a brown leather belt, brown loafers, and a white cotton dress shirt with the cuffs rolled up. He also had black hair, but his was tied into a ponytail.
"That must be them," Sam said. "Reingold's the guy in the back."
Halie snapped a photo. "I hope they don't see us," she whispered, then snapped a few more. "That must be their car parked next to Reingold's truck. Guess they got here before we did."
"Can you get a picture of the license plate?"
"Not from this angle. Maybe when they pull out."
"Wonder what he's got in the briefcase," Sam said. "Something's sticking out on the side, but I can't make it out."
"I'll see if I can zoom in on it." Halie adjusted the camera lens. Several seconds passed. "Looks like part of an animal tail. Makes sense. They're probably trading furs."
"Did you get a picture?"
"I got a few. I'll develop them tonight so we can show the Chief tomorrow. Maybe he'll agree to go to the Sheriff with the photos."
"I hope so," Sam said, after which she noticed the men had stopped talking and were now glaring in their direction. Theirs was one of the few vehicles left in the parking lot. "Something's going on. I think they've seen us."
"Let's get out of here then," Halie said, her voice shaking.
Love Another Day Page 14
