Truth in the Bones

by Vickie McKeehan

  “Winston, I need you to figure out a way to boost this thing, amp it up to a wider range than a few thousand feet, a lot wider, like five miles. Can you do that?”

  “I can try. Give me an hour to tweak the software application, okay?”

  Josh ended the call and saw Skye with tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong? Is something wrong with Sierra?”

  “No. She’s fine. She’s cutting another tooth. I knew she was. I should be there with her.”

  “I bet both sets of grandparents have it covered.”

  “Sure they do. She’s fine. I’m not even sure she misses me.” She swiped at tears running down her face. “What’s this thing you and Winston are working on? Will it get us out of here any sooner?”

  “Technology tracking. What’s the one thing a fitness freak does ad nauseam?”

  “Keep track of gym time, everything they eat, their detailed steps. Movement. Oh, my God.”

  “Yeah. It’s brilliant. Winston discovered Smith bought a FitBit, a tracking device, every bit as good as a GPS. If he was wearing it during his…activities back at the Lundquists’ house, we can pinpoint where he is and where he’s been.”

  “This device could even link his movements to the murders?”

  “If he had it on, you bet. The data alone could be a goldmine of evidence.”

  “Caught in a net by technology. I love it.” A gentle breeze wafted across her face as she got comfortable on a slab of rock for a bench.

  They’d stopped nearly twenty feet above one of the rock-bound lakes in the area with its own stair-step down to the water. She dug in her pack to quench her thirst and pulled out another protein bar. “While we’re waiting, we might as well eat.”

  She gazed out over a prairie that in a few weeks would be fragrant grassland. Now it was dotted with small patches of alpine timber.

  They stayed put in that serene spot until Winston’s call came in. Josh was the one who answered the phone and listened intently while Winston went over the details.

  “Okay, it’s done. I ramped up the software, adjusted the range, fine-tuned it, but it tops out at just under five miles. That’s the best I could do. And it’ll drain your phone battery in a matter of four hours, maybe less, so use it as sparingly as possible. My recommendation would be to turn it on now and see if you get a ping. If not, turn it off and keep going. Check it periodically without zapping your power.”

  “Will do. And thanks.”

  “No problem. I’ll check in again tonight with you guys. Try to stay in open areas where the satellite signal has less of a chance to get blocked.”

  “Staying in open areas is a little difficult up here. We’re surrounded by canyon walls made of granite and mountainous rock. But we’ll keep it in mind.”

  “And in case you were wondering, Harry is fighting his own battles with Emmett. It seems he uncovered the reason the FBI is holding back.”

  “And?”

  “Emmett fessed up to his secret, that Michael Smith was a known government operative in a time span that ranges a year after he was kicked out of the service. But nobody wants to own it, not the feds, not the CIA, not DHS, not NSA. Truth is, somebody sent him into countries with suffixes ending in –stan, as in Pakistan and Uzbekistan. And those are the ones people can pronounce. No government agency has any desire to acknowledge Smith added those destinations to his passport.”

  “And Emmett knew about this the entire time? I don’t know what to say. We trusted him. Twice burned, never again.”

  “Not only that, but it means this case hasn’t moved out of the local column,” Skye moaned, eavesdropping on the conversation.

  Winston heard Skye in the background. “And it never will as long as the FBI sticks to their belief that these cases have no connection to each other. So don’t expect any help out of them.”

  “Good thing we didn’t,” Josh stated. “Look, we’d better go before we run the battery down. We’ll talk to you later tonight.”

  They started moving again, first trekking across the prairie land and farther into the wilderness. But soon they had to split off and start ascending through one of the canyons again. They came to another hairpin turn in the trail that had them wishing they’d worn a harness in case a gust of wind blew them over the side of the cliff.

  Once that smoothed out, they had to deal with a steep talus slope covered in loose debris that made for dangerous footing.

  After gaining traction, they made it up a double-peaked saddle reaching the top in just under an hour.

  “Try your app again now,” Skye coaxed, growing fed up with the terrain. She plopped down on a boulder to wait.

  The first two times he tried pinging the tracker, Josh got nothing. But on the third try, after walking around the top for what seemed like half a mile, he managed to pick up a faint audible ping. The first bleep sounded like a sonar hit. He held it up higher until he was convinced they had something.

  “That’s it!” Skye yelled out, ecstatic they’d gotten the app to work.

  “Let’s hope it belongs to Smith and not some hiker who lost it last summer while on vacation up here.”

  “Nope, the battery would’ve probably given out by now. It’s gotta be him. No negative thoughts allowed.”

  “Let me see the map,” Josh murmured, his voice laced with quiet restraint. After studying the area, he triangulated the signal between two trailheads, Upper Clarks Fork and the East Rosebud. “That’s roughly one point eight miles south of where we’re sitting.”

  Skye looked up at the sun, low on the horizon. “Can we make it there before dark?”

  “I doubt it. But this is a decent spot to camp for the night, high enough to see around us if anyone’s coming. They won’t be able to sneak up on us, that’s for sure. But at this elevation— we’re maybe at seven thousand feet—it’s gonna get cold.”

  “But what if Smith doesn’t stay put?”

  “We’re close enough to keep track. If he starts moving, so will we.”

  The shadows grew longer as the sun disappeared over the mountains. And just as Josh had said, without the sun’s warming rays, the temperature dropped what felt like twenty degrees in thirty minutes.

  “It might be too windy for the tent.”

  Skye’s eyes bugged out. “Then where do we sleep?”

  “When we made that last switchback to get here, I spotted what I think is a cave about six feet below us in the side of the cliff. I could drop down on that ledge and check it out.”

  Skye looked over the rim. “Are you nuts? That’s more like eight feet, maybe more.”

  “Do you want to stay up here all night and fight the wind?”

  “No…but…”

  “That settles it. I can jump down there, recon the cave, and see if it’s even doable.” Josh dropped his pack and prepared to make the leap.

  “What if there’s a family of grizzlies living there? You don’t have an invitation to supper.”

  “I’ll improvise. The tricky part is making sure I land on the ledge and don’t overshoot the sweet spot, exceed my abilities.”

  She blew out a nervous breath. “Just don’t miss, okay?”

  He grabbed her around the waist and gave her a quick smack on the lips before leaping off into what looked like nothing but air.

  Leaning over, with a perfect view of the outcrop below, Skye watched Josh sail as if he were flying, the wind carrying him down. Her heart thudded in her chest until she saw his feet touch the ground.

  “Lucky shot,” she yelled from above. “Wolf agility and all.”

  He grinned at her and waved, then disappeared from sight as he ducked into the natural fissure the rock had given up.

  The cavern had a low clearance, maybe six feet at most. But it had a wide mouth that stretched twelve feet in length. The floor went back ten feet or so in a rocky mess of pebbles and dust. He checked the place for snakes, knocked down a cluster of spider webs, and was relieved to see no sign that grizzlies had ever spent the night th
ere. It wasn’t the Hilton, but it would do for shelter out of the wind and the cold.

  To get back to where Skye was, he vaulted upward, grabbed onto the edge, and pulled himself up and over. “You were right. The drop’s more like ten feet than eight.”

  “Glad you didn’t get eaten by a bear. What was it like?”

  “A single room. Smallish. But it’ll hold us for the night.” He scooped her up. “Tonight, you’re my Lois Lane.”

  She tapped his chest. “By my calculation that makes you either Clark Kent or Superman.”

  “And not for the first time,” he drawled as he swooped down to the ledge again and set feet first onto the rock. He plopped her down, steadying her before letting go. “One more trip for my backpack and we’re all set in the lap of luxury. Not your usual digs I know, but think of yourself as a settler on the frontier.”

  “No way. I was on the other side, remember?” Skye grinned and pivoted toward the opening. “Primal. One or two of my ancestors might’ve stopped here to grab some shut-eye.”

  “There you go.”

  “While you’re getting your gear, I’ll set out the food. I could eat a bear. Let’s hope we don’t see one. Where’s the fire go?”

  “Near the opening. We’ll put our sleeping bags toward the back, but not so far that we won’t be able to hear someone trudging up the trail.”

  For the next half hour, they organized and arranged everything within efficient reach. They had only to scrounge along the trail for kindling and enough branches to make a fire.

  Skye prepared their MREs—tonight’s menu was chicken dumplings—as she had the night before. Warm and toasty, they sat cross-legged on their blankets scarfing down the food.

  “How long do we intend to avoid talking about tomorrow?” Skye wanted to know. “Or avoid coming up with a plan?”

  “Until we’re done eating.” But that didn’t sit right with Josh. “It occurs to me we have a problem. On the one hand, Smith is this expert survivalist, keeps in shape, and is unpredictable as hell. Then we have an unknown younger male, who may at one time have been a captive, but now might be a devout follower.”

  “Which makes him just as volatile and unpredictable as Smith. So, we go in with guns drawn and hope they give up without a fight?”

  “I wish. Does Smith sound like the kind of guy who’d give up to avoid a fight?”

  “Sadly, no.”

  Huddled together, they began devising a plan.

  When they were sure of each other’s role, they cleaned up their area and got ready for bed.

  “Now, we should relax. We need a good night’s sleep to prepare for tomorrow’s…encounter.”

  Skye cannoned out a laugh. “That’s a nice way of putting it.”

  “A clear head, much-needed shut-eye, and...a sure-fire way to relax those tired muscles…all over your body.” He narrowed his gaze. His silver eyes glowed back at her in invitation.

  “I could use…your hands all over me right about now.” She rubbed her fingers along the flannel he wore, stopping when she felt something lumpy in his shirt pocket. “What’s this?”

  “Oh that, I whacked off a lock of Sierra’s hair before we left. I wanted a part of her with me.”

  Touched, her heart warmed. She opened her mouth to speak but had trouble getting out the emotion. She held the ringlet between her fingers, touched the curl to her cheek. “You’re such a softie. I love that about you. I love seeing you interact as a father.”

  She leaned in, molded her body to his. “But what I’ve always loved the most is your gentle touch.” To show him she meant business, she offered her mouth in a fierce kiss that wasn’t gentle at all. She wanted to devour, to conquer, to leap into the fire that was the man.

  The atmosphere made for a primal enough setting, raw and rugged, that it set off basic instincts to plunge and take. He did just that by tugging on her hair, bringing her head back, deepening the kiss.

  Neither felt the cold as they tore at each other’s clothes just so they could feel flesh. Aching with need, he pulled her to a position across his lap.

  Urgency reared up.

  They twined around each other, bodies moving in slick rhythm. They took from each other, climbing to that plateau higher than where they were. It built and swirled like the fire warming them. Flames licking, it raged on, taking on a life of its own. Pleasure rushed out like liquid gold.

  “I wanted you.”

  “Mmm. Right back atcha.”

  Spent, he rested his head on hers. “I want to say this right, now more than ever. I love you more every day. I didn’t think it was possible to feel this way after three years together.”

  “We’re stronger like this, we always have been. Even when we’re not on the same page, we’re…it seems sometimes our hearts beat in rhythm. That sounds corny, I know, but…”

  “It’s not corny if it’s true.”

  The chill set in, and she grabbed for her sweater. Rushing to put their clothes back on, they crawled into the sleeping bag for cozy warmth.

  Getting comfortable for the night meant several tries at finding the right position. After trying out a few, Josh kissed the top of her head and pointed out into the pitch-black darkness.

  “No moon. See the fog as it moves over the valley below us.”

  “This is something we’ll tell our grandchildren about, the night we spent in a cave on the side of a mountain.” That was her last thought as she snuggled against Josh’s body, letting the cave close in around them.

  It might’ve been knowing their sanctuary was secure, or better still, knowing she was loved, but as the thick fog rolled in over the valley, a peace settled inside her. The fear of death nothing but a distant dream.

  They heard the howl of wolf.

  The sound made Skye smile.

  Kiya was out there on guard duty.

  Closing her eyes, she trusted in the wolf, more now than she ever had in her life.

  Because tonight, she knew Kiya the wolf ruled the mountainside.

  Twenty-Nine

  Monday morning

  The sun rose over the mountain peak in ribbons of gold and crimson.

  “When’s the last time we were up this early to catch the sunrise?” Skye asked, sitting up to stretch her back.

  “The night Sierra had that ear infection and couldn’t get off to sleep, remember?”

  “That’s right. We both sat up with her all night until we all three finally conked out around seven a.m. I need coffee.”

  “Gallons of it, please,” Josh muttered, trying to wake up. He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I guess it’s too much to ask for reinforcements to magically show up and drop out of the sky.”

  The sound of a wolf howling in the distance broke that fantasy.

  “Uh, I think Kiya’s trying to remind us that she’s our only back up.” With some reluctance, Skye scooted out of their cocoon to light the fire and get the brew going. “It shouldn’t fall to us to take this guy down, but it seems we’re the likely fools doing it. Why is that?”

  The fire was still warm to the touch and only required another Fire Starter from the kit to bring it to life. She stood over the flames, warming her hands before digging in the backpack for the instant coffee.

  “I’m beginning to ask myself that same question. We could wait until we hear from Harry again before going on? But that seems like a waste of time.”

  “Did you check the signal from that FitBit?”

  “It’s still pinging in the same spot, hasn’t changed since last night. They probably camped there for the night.”

  “But for how long?”

  “No idea. That’s why breakfast probably needs to be quick.”

  She handed him a tin cup, steaming with a dark roast Italian blend. “Thank Starbucks for making the best instant coffee out there.”

  They sipped their wake-up juice, downed another pack of granola, and shared a bag of trail mix.

  “We could call Harry once we hit the trail. With a
ny luck, he’s waiting nearby with a sheriff’s posse,” Skye said, hope in her voice.

  “Yeah. Might as well break camp and do that. We’ll keep moving along the canyon walls until we get a signal. I think I’ve accounted for the elevation and rocky terrain. If my calculations are correct, it should take three hours, maybe even less, for us to walk the distance we have left to reach the spot where Smith is camped.”

  There was no excitement or thrill in the knowledge. In less than a few miles’ distance, they’d meet Smith and his apprentice face to face. Unless there was a miracle hiding behind the next boulder, neither could predict the outcome of such a meeting.

  Kiya led them from one peak to another. They traded one rocky trail for a trip through a narrow pass, still climbing. They had to trek through the rugged country to reach the bowl-shaped basin where the two trailheads would come together in an apex.

  With map in hand, Josh skimmed the area, narrowing his gaze on the canyon walls surrounding them. “Let’s head out of here so we don’t get boxed in. According to the map, there’s a fast-flowing stream up ahead that anglers use for fishing. We’ll head there.”

  In no time, she could hear the water as it rushed around jagged rock, tumbling down in a mad dash to the basin below it.

  Kiya stuck close, keeping her head down and her nose to the ground. The wolf suddenly swished her tail, flinching and then going on full alert.

  Skye grabbed the binoculars from her pack. She nudged Josh in the ribs and pointed toward two men trying to scoop fish from the freestone river with netting in hand.

  Her first look at Smith was an impressive hunk of a guy who had a crop of sandy hair and a rock-solid jaw. The all-American stereotype stood at least six feet tall, maybe more, wearing a black T-shirt and newish-looking jeans. He had two gun belts strapped across his chest in crisscross fashion and wore another hand-cannon on his hip.

  “A formidable-looking foe,” Skye whispered. “The kid looks like a raw recruit, maybe five-eight if you stretched him. Could he be a relative? He looks enough like Smith to be a little brother. Do we have any pictures with us of the family members who were taken and thought to be suspects?”