Truth in the Bones

by Vickie McKeehan

  Deer and elk were regular visitors. Bison could be found down the road. Tourists might get lost and end up knocking on the door to ask for directions.

  The Lundquists were always ready to help anyone, any time, day or night. But Jay and Diana had no way of knowing that calm world they knew was about to come to an abrupt end.

  ***

  Smith had meant to wait until dark, but when he found the Lundquist home empty that afternoon, the family gone somewhere else, his instincts were too ripe for a fight to wait.

  He’d used his set of mole grips from his tool kit and broken the lock barrel on the back door. With a simple turn and twist, the bolt had given way, shattering the door lock and rendering it useless. It had taken him all of thirty seconds to gain entry.

  He hadn’t meant to be home when the family got back either. But once Diana had opened the front door and spotted the stranger standing in her living room without an invitation, things had taken a turn and gone crazy from there.

  To subdue the screaming woman, Smith had to show brute force upfront. Since terror was his game, he’d had to bring out the very large .44 Magnum for effect. The gun had done its job to bring the head of the family to his knees. After knocking Jay out he’d used Brayden to tie up the kids while he took Diana into the master bedroom.

  It was all happening fast.

  Cruising down Highway 89 from Livingston, Josh passed a gray Chevy Equinox parked on the side of the road.

  “That’s the rental car,” Skye yelled out. “He’s already in the area.”

  Josh hit the brakes, but Skye had other ideas. “No, don’t stop. We need to keep going. If he’s found the Lundquists that’s where he’ll be.”

  Josh hit the accelerator while all three kept an eye out for the Lundquist address. He had to make two passes before spotting the numbers on an oversized mailbox built in the shape of a cow and painted black and white.

  Josh skidded to a stop, making a sharp right into a driveway. The front yard was a woody thicket full of mature ponderosa pine and aspen, almost hiding the split-level stone ranch.

  Nothing out of the ordinary jumped out at them except a shadow that moved the drapes back at the picture window.

  In a show of strength, they all three got out of the car at the same time.

  Inside the house in the master bedroom, just as Smith wound the plastic zip tie around Diana’s neck and started to tighten it with the intent to choke the life out of her, he heard Brayden’s voice call out from the living room, “A car just pulled up in the driveway, another SUV.”

  “Well, get rid of them.”

  “I don’t think I can. There’s three people already getting out of the car.”

  Smith dropped Diana’s limp body on the floor of the master bedroom and came running down the hallway. “Go! We’ll go out the back door. Now! Move!”

  Outside, Skye, Josh, and Harry approached the front door. But when they reached the porch, Skye heard a thud coming from inside.

  “Did you hear that?” she called out.

  “Sounded like a door opening…” Josh said, stopping and listening. “I’m going around back.” He took off around the corner of the house.

  A few minutes later, Skye heard a holler. “Around here. Back door’s been left open.”

  Before Skye could dart inside, Josh stood there looking out into the forest. “We have two male suspects who just took off running toward that line of trees. One fits the description of Smith, the other looks like a kid, maybe no older than sixteen.”

  By this time, Harry had drawn his firearm and stuck his head inside the kitchen. “I have a man down, bleeding from the head.” He bent down to check for a pulse. “He’s alive. Looks like the wound is still fresh. The blood hasn’t started to coagulate yet. Looks like a bullet grazed the side of his head. Smith must’ve done this on his way out the back door.”

  Skye took out her cell phone, punching in 911. She relayed the address and the situation to the dispatcher. “I’m headed inside now to check on the rest of the family.”

  As she stepped into the kitchen, she reached for the Ruger she’d recently purchased and followed, steps behind Harry into the living room.

  Sitting on the floor with tape around their mouths were three frightened kids.

  Harry picked at the adhesive until he’d removed the tape. “Is everyone here okay? Anyone else in the house?”

  The oldest girl was the first to speak. “Mom. The older man took Mom into the bedroom. She didn’t come back out.”

  “Which way?” Skye asked.

  “Down the hall, first door on the left.”

  “I’ll back you up,” Harry offered.

  Skye blew out a breath as she pushed open the bedroom door. The woman she assumed was Diane Lundquist had been left with a zip tie around her throat. It was tied so tight that Diane was having trouble breathing and in the process of turning blue.

  “She’s alive,” Skye shouted, doing her best to work off the plastic wire. But Smith had left the zip tie with no room to spare. Finally, she reached down and pulled the knife she carried out of her boot. “Sorry, Diane, but this is gonna hurt for a few seconds, and I may nick you, but it can’t be helped if you want to breathe.”

  Once the sharp blade sheared through the plastic, Skye watched as Diana gulped in air. After the woman finally got her breath, Skye helped her into the living room where her kids were waiting. By this time, the kids had managed to surround their father and help him sit up.

  Still standing on the patio making sure Smith and his accomplice didn’t circle back, Josh kept scanning the ridgeline. “I hate to break this up, but Smith’s getting away. I spotted two male figures hightailing it into the Absaroka Wilderness toward Beartooth Lake. And the kid is definitely with him. We need to go. Now.”

  “So there is an accomplice?” Just like the crow foretold, Skye thought as she made her way back outside. But she didn’t have time to consider premonitions or omens. She turned to Harry, assessing his outer wear. “I don’t know if you packed for the changing weather up here, but I think you should stay at ground level. And you should probably be the one to stay here and deal with the cops while we go after Smith and his partner.”

  A stubborn look crossed Harry’s face as he looked up at the rolling clouds. “Why can’t you wait until morning? It’ll be dark in a couple of hours. You can’t go into those woods at night in the pouring rain.”

  Skye ignored Harry’s grim outlook. “Think of it this way, if you stay behind you could be our connection to the rest of the team back in Seattle. Not only that, you could act as our eyes and ears with the satellite phone we brought, communicating to us the latest updates. As backup, we also brought along the two-way radio. By using either one, you should be able to reach us no matter what the conditions are. I know you grumbled about us bringing so much gear, but…” Skye glanced up at the staggering height of the mountains to the southwest. “In case he makes it up to the top of that, and we’re dumb enough to follow, we may need help finding our way down. That’s you, whether you like it or not.”

  Impatient, Josh ran a hand through his hair. “Somebody decide. Fast. Because to stay on Smith’s ass, we need to get moving.” He sniffed the air. “Rain’s coming. If it pours, Kiya might not be able to pick up his trail at all.”

  Josh whirled to face Harry. “Skye might have a point. You could stay at ground level with the car and gear. Check into a hotel and set up a home base, stay in total communication with us every step of the way.”

  Harry was suddenly having second thoughts. “This guy is a pro at surviving in the wild. You’re in his element out here. He’s in top physical form. Are you certain you guys can keep up with him? Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?”

  “Smith just tried to kill the Lundquists. He could do it all over again at the first remote cabin he comes to. No telling who’s living nearby. What choice do we have?”

  With that said, no protest was forthcoming. Skye and Josh traded looks an
d then headed for the car to get their backpacks that held all their camping gear.

  She gathered up the guidebook and the maps off the front seat, shoving them into her bag while Josh rechecked their supplies and grabbed his weapons, a Glock and a 9 mm Luger.

  She went around to the rear of the car, attached a metal water bottle to her belt, and tucked a backup .380 pistol into her waistband under her jacket.

  At the end of the driveway, Harry put his arms around Skye in a hug. “Stay safe. Both of you.”

  “We will, don’t worry.”

  Josh nudged Skye toward the back of the house. “We need to go, no time for long goodbyes. The sooner we catch this bastard, the sooner we’ll get back home to Sierra.”

  That got Skye moving. She winked at Harry before turning to go. “Let us know which hotel you picked. Remember, we’re all working for Drummond Investigations now so don’t go blowing through all our moolah on fancy room service and a posh luxury suite.”

  Harry grinned, knowing it was just the right thing to say to lighten the somber mood. “You catch this bastard and let’s get the hell out of Montana. I’m calling Bennington and telling him to get his ass up here to help us. That’s the least Seattle PD can do. And I promise I’ll get you some help from the sheriff’s department out of Park County.”

  “We’re counting on it,” Skye said, sending him a wave before disappearing around the corner of the house with Josh.

  ***

  “But you left the car!” Brayden screamed holding his head in his hands. “This is crazy. We need to go back to the rental and get to the cabin where all our stuff is. Don’t you think it’d be a good idea to leave…now!”

  “Shut the fuck up, you spineless little weasel, or so help me God I’ll shoot you where you stand. My Spidey senses are going off the radar. I don’t know how the hell someone caught onto us, but it’s obvious they did. We can’t go back to the SUV now, you twit. And I’m pretty sure they’re following us as we speak. I feel it in my bones. Last time I felt like this I had a couple of Taliban fighters on my ass that I couldn’t shake. What we’re gonna do is lead them on a chase and see how good they are.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, we left everything back at the rental cabin, including our food. We don’t even have our heavy coats. They’re back in the SUV. We’re gonna freeze our tails off out here.”

  “Not if you listen to me we won’t. What you’re gonna do is exactly what I tell you to do. Follow my instructions to the letter and don’t mess this up, kid. I know this area. I’ve been here before. Advantage goes to me. I’ve planned for this, for every contingency. I have a stash of supplies a few miles up the trailhead. I’ve got this covered. Now get moving. We need to put distance between us and whoever it is that’s back there.”

  ***

  Skye and Josh trudged after Kiya, letting the wolf take the lead. Years of watching and learning from Kiya’s body language told Skye the wolf had already picked up Smith’s scent.

  Skye focused on reading the signs. The wolf’s ears perking up showed a confidence, a reassurance the canine was headed in the right direction. The way Kiya’s tail swished back and forth indicated a relaxed comfort zone. Even the manner in which Kiya sniffed the ground meant the wolf relished the scent. Stiff-legged gaits broadcast self-assurance and stubborn determination. Skye understood it all. With each step they took, it fortified their bond.

  God, she loved her spirit guide.

  At first, the trio skirted the thick woods before zigzagging through a field of prairie grass sprouting with horehound. The trail took an incline upward, a steep climb filled with slippering rocks and rough terrain.

  Skye was out of breath, and definitely out of practice for such a strenuous trek as this. Her pack already felt like it weighed a ton.

  Josh must’ve picked up on her discomfort because he slowed his pace. “You okay, back there?”

  “I’m fine. I’ll let you know when I need a break. For now, let’s just keep moving and see how much ground we can cover tonight.”

  In some places, the top layer of snow had turned to slush during the warming spring temperatures. But there was still a layer of rock-hard frozen ground beneath their feet where sunlight hadn’t reached or thawed.

  When Kiya took off in a totally different direction it was straight into a forest of conifers. Skye took in the earthy scents around her and spotted the wolf at least twenty yards ahead of them.

  Sweating, Josh huffed out, “I’m beginning to think they must’ve circled back to the SUV, the one we spotted on the way to the Lundquists’ house that was parked at the side of the road.”

  Skye adjusted her pack. “Trust me, if they’d done that, Kiya would be heading northeast. She’s not. Instead, she’s moving through these woods at a fast clip. Want me to take the lead?”

  “We’ll switch off in another hour or so. I want to see where Kiya’s taking us.”

  They crossed over a gulch full of fast-moving water from the melting snowpack above. The outflow raised the brook’s waterline by several feet, easily overflowing its banks. They found brush debris strewn along the path and two sets of deep footprints in the mud.

  “Look there,” Josh announced. “You were right. They ran through here and scurried off between those trees.”

  “They aren’t headed out of the woods but deeper into them,” Skye mumbled, shivering at the prospect of following a madman, maybe two, into the wilderness. But this wasn’t the time or place to panic over premonitions from snake dreams. Instead, she studied the tracks the soft ground provided. “Whoa. Could this guy be so familiar with the area that he already knows exactly where he’s going?”

  “Probably heading to his stash,” Josh murmured in agreement.

  “In which case, he’ll have backup weapons and supplies.” The thought had Skye hustling up the embankment.

  They were in such dense forest land now that Skye could no longer see the mountains spear up, or the snow-tipped peaks in the distance.

  The trail started to climb at an angle. Skye adjusted her pack again, realizing she needed a breather. “Let’s rest here for a minute before we start up.”

  “Good idea,” Josh swooshed out. He removed a water bottle from his waist, slugged down half of it and handed it off to Skye. “Working out in the gym isn’t the same thing as trekking up these rocky slopes.”

  “You got that. I’m straining my leg muscles already.” She glugged what remained of the bottle and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Checking her phone, she held it up. “Look at this. Message from Harry. Sheriff’s department initiating an air search. They went through Smith’s rented Highlander and discovered a cache of weapons and a lease agreement for a cabin five miles from the Lundquists’ place. Harry’s headed there now to dig through it. Which means, Smith and his cohort obviously aren’t as well-supplied as they once were. That’s gotta work to our advantage.”

  “He’s used to doing this. We’re not. And these packs are damn heavy. We may not be able to make the same kind of time he makes. But he has to stop sometime for the night, right? Ready to pick it up again?”

  “Might as well. Kiya’s taken off out of sight now.”

  “We’ll follow her scent then.”

  They climbed higher. Scaling the steep trail turned out to be a humbling experience. But soon they reached the reason people did this for leisure, a natural overhang looking out across the rugged landscape. The rocky ledge where tourists could admire the beauty of the summit and the surrounding valley below caused Skye to take a quick intake of breath. One she didn’t think she could spare. Nearing sunset, the view was spectacular. The clouds had parted to the west long enough for the sun to outline the peaks in warm orange hues, streaking down in wide beams, showing off in a way that only nature could.

  Thunder rumbled overhead and shook the trees.

  Skye heard the first droplets of rain splat against the rocks. “We’re losing the light. Stop a minute, will you, and let’s check our location befor
e it gets dark.”

  She shouldered off her pack to remove the guidebook. Shuffling through pages that were now getting damp from the rain, she announced, “There should be a waterfall after the next dogleg in the trail. We could set up camp there for the night.”

  “So could Smith.”

  “Then what’s your suggestion?”

  “No, I wasn’t arguing the point. The waterfall should make a good place to spend the night. It’s just that…Smith may think so, too.”

  She held up her cell phone. “Service is getting weak. We’ll need to rely on the satellite phone from here on out.”

  An hour later, Skye knew they were getting close to the falls because she heard the rush of water. Standing in a canyon that dead-ended, she looked around at what amounted to perhaps fifteen small campsites tucked back into a remote slice of embankment.

  As the cascade rushed downward, the massive waterfall showered everything in a mist, creating an eerie fog that shrouded the bottom pool from sight. You knew it had to exist, but you couldn’t see it.

  She inhaled deeply at the sight. “We might as well have landed in another world. It’s beautiful here, but also a little spooky. Have you noticed we haven’t seen another hiker since we started?”

  “Who would be crazy enough to camp out here this time of year? We’re ahead of most hearty souls by a couple of weeks. There’s only that one clearing for the tent over there.” He pointed to the smidgen of ground, not much more than a low-lying muddy ridge.

  “If that’s the best we can do.”

  “I could look around for something better, but I wouldn’t count on it.”