“Alright, Charles, calm down,” Jackie told him. “There is nothing that can be done now. This is Thanksgiving. Let’s be thankful we are here together and hope Heidi and Robert come home safe.” Becky ran to her room in tears. “I’ll go talk to her.”
“Jackie, wait. I’m out of line, I’ll talk to her.” Charles followed Becky to her room and knocked on her door. “Becky, I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. Please come back to the kitchen and have breakfast.” He waited for her to answer. Becky opened the door.
“I shouldn’t have let her go. I’m sorry Charles.”
“Jackie’s right. We can’t do anything about it now. Go wash your face and come and have some bacon waffles.”
“Bacon waffles, yummy.”
“Yup. Go wash up and come eat.”
Becky gave him a nod. “I’ll be there shortly.”
“Good,” that was all he said and returned to the kitchen. He was pissed but he wouldn’t ruin Thanksgiving.
Chapter 12
It was early and it would take them a couple of hours to get to an arranged meeting place near the town of Deer Lodge. Robert didn’t say anything for a long time.
“How is Charlie’s mate doing?” Randy asked, trying to break the frosty atmosphere.
Robert let out a sigh. “She’s doing really well. The doctor just took her off most of her restrictions. Couple more weeks before she can travel. We always go to my brother’s place in California for Christmas, I don’t know if we’ll make it this year. Were you with your family for Thanksgiving?”
“I was,” Randy replied.
“I’m sorry, man. I’ve been so pissed off, I wasn’t even thinking you might be in the same boat I’m in.”
“That’s alright. Do you want to talk about it?” Randy asked. “Sometimes it helps.” Most of the SAR team members were shifters. Randy was a black bear.
“Damn it.” Robert punched the dash. “I fucked up. I just found my true mate and I had a fight with her before I left.”
“Wow. Congratulations. That’s great, but why did you fight?”
“She wanted to come with me.” Robert stared out the window.
“She should have known you couldn’t bring her with you. Not on a Search and Rescue.”
“I told her, but she wouldn’t listen. When I told her she couldn’t come, she told me she’d leave and go home to Oregon.”
“What!” Randy was shocked. “Maybe she isn’t your true mate. A true mate wouldn’t do that. Is she a shifter?”
Robert nodded his head and answered. “Yes, she is and I haven’t even seen her shift. We’ve only known each other for two days.”
“Did you bond with her?”
“We bonded with each other.” He rested against the headrest. “I love her so much. I asked her to wait for me, I can only hope she does.”
“But if she’s your true mate, why would she say that?”
“The past year has been horrible for her. She was one of the girls that Charlie saved in Oregon. She’s been through hell, rejected by life in general and her family because of what happened. Even those bastards that kidnapped her rejected her in the cruelest of ways, you couldn’t start to imagine.”
“Yeah, Charles told me about some of that. Poor kid.”
“I love her so much, Randy. All I can do is pray that she stays with Charlie and stays safe.”
Heidi listened to Robert declare his love for her. She had no doubts he loved her. She didn’t make a sound, but tears fell unchecked. The tears finally stopped and she fell asleep until she was jolted awake when the truck came to a stop. She could hear men talking. She carefully looked out and could see a large crew truck being loaded with supplies. Someone yelled to them that there was a meeting, they could load their gear when they were done.
Heidi watched them all enter a nearby building. This was her chance to find a place to hide. She grabbed her bag and got on the specially designed rescue vehicle. It carried eight to ten men and all their gear. There were several rows of seats. She kept her head down and snuck to the very back and settled on the floor behind the last seat. She wrapped Becky’s coat around her to stay warm and rested her head on her bag. All she could do now was wait and hope she wasn’t discovered.
It wasn’t long before the SAR team got in the vehicle and they were on their way. They had already been given the run down on the campers that had been reported missing. A married couple with three young children between the ages of four and six. Twin boys, age four and a six-year-old girl. They were supposed to be home before Thanksgiving and never made it.
“Why in the hell would a family go camping in the middle of winter with young kids?” Robert commented to the crew in general. No one replied.
“Relax, Robert,” the crew chief told him. “We’ll be at the check point in an hour. Get some rest, you won’t have a chance later.” Everyone hunkered down in their seats and tried to get what little rest they could. Heidi, hiding behind the seats, did the same.
They finally arrived at the designated checkpoint where two snow-cats were stored, ready for them. Everyone piled out of the crew truck, grabbing their gear as they went. One of the men made one final check in the truck to make sure they weren’t forgetting anything and found Heidi.
“Hey, Chief Stanton, could you come here please, we appear to have a stowaway.”
“What?” The crew chief climbed back in the truck and found his crew member standing over a young woman. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
She was about to answer when Robert got back in the truck to find out what was keeping the chief.
“Son of a bitch. Heidi, what the hell are you doing here? I told you to stay with Charlie,” Robert yelled, rage washed over him. He was furious.
“You know this woman, McCormick?”
“Yes sir, she’s my mate. She must have snuck into the truck. Could I have a moment alone with her, sir.”
His chief gave a nod and headed for the front of the truck.
“God damn it! I told you to stay put. Now you’re going to jeopardize the whole operation.”
“But I wanted to be with you. I can help.”
“Heidi, can’t you understand, this is my job, you can’t be here, I don’t want you here.”
The captain couldn’t hear the conversation at first, but as it heated up, it got louder until things came to a head.
“I hate you, Robert McCormick.” She screamed at him. “I never want to see you again.” Fury blinded her. “I’ll go back to China.”
“Fine. Until you do, stay away from me.” Robert stormed off the truck.
He chief was dumbfounded. He watched Robert storm off and looked back at the unhappy woman in the last seat. Something wasn’t right here. This was his mate. He was just going to leave her like that? He’d better do something about this and fast. He went to talk to her.
“Heidi? Your name is Heidi, right. My name is Tom Stanton. Are you alright?”
“No,” she said sadly. “I knew he would never accept me, I’m damaged goods. He is just using this as an excuse because he’s not man enough to admit it.” Tears ran down her cheeks and she angrily brushed them away. “I’m sorry if I have inconvenienced anyone, I will find my way back, your men are waiting for you.”
“You think you can walk back the way we came, it’s miles of deep snow. No, you stay here and we’ll take you home when we get back. I’ll leave the keys so you can start the truck for heat when it gets too cold and you’ll find some extra food packages under the last seat. Do you know how to start a car or truck?”
She nodded her head.
“Can you shift to keep warm if you get too cold? What kind of shifter are you?”
“A bear.” She didn’t tell him she was a panda.
“Okay. You stay put and stay warm. There are some extra blankets back there, use them. Understand!”
She just nodded.
“Do you love him?”
She nodded, “Yes, very much.” She didn’t say
another word.
The chief left it at that. There wasn’t anything else he could do until they got back. He yelled at his men to mount up, they had lost campers to find. The snow-cats headed out, they had about three hours of daylight left.
*****
Heidi watched them go. Now she had to figure out what to do next. She didn’t want to be there when they got back. She couldn’t bear to look at Robert, her heart was breaking. If she didn’t make it through the snow, she didn’t care.
Heidi put a couple of food packets in her bag and a blanket. Becky’s boots were a size too big. She found a survival kit that had ace bandages in it. She wrapped an ace bandage around each foot to take up the extra space. She still had the socks Robert had given her that morning. She put them on over the wraps. The wraps would help keep her feet warm.
She pulled on a second pair of sweat pants and her other sweatshirt. She found the green cardigan she had worn the night before. She didn’t realize she had put it in her bag. She carefully folded it and laid it on the seat. Robert could give it back to Jackie. She didn’t have any gloves, but she found a pair of work gloves in the truck. She was all set.
Heidi didn’t want to go back the way they came. She decided she would go in a different direction. She had no idea where she was, she didn’t even know what state she was in. She was a bear, she should be okay. As a last thought, she returned to the truck, picked up two more food packets, and the survival kit, and stuffed them in her bag. Maybe she would survive. If she did, she could start a new life where no one knew who she was.
She figured she had two, maybe three hours of daylight and she started out. It had started to snow and she hoped it would cover her tracks. She turned around one time to look at the crew truck.
“Good-bye Robert. I love you.” She quickly turned around and left, heading into the forest and mountains that loomed ahead of her, she didn’t look back.
Chapter 13
The SAR team searched for the campers. It was almost dark and they hadn’t found any sign of them. Chief Stanton called it a day and told the team to set up camp. They would start again at dawn. Robert hadn’t said a single word the whole time.
After everyone was settled and ate a hot meal, they sat around a camp fire. One by one, they retired for the night. Normally they would sit around and talk, but Roberts frosty attitude had everyone avoiding him. The last two sitting at the fire was Robert and Tom Stanton, his crew chief.
“What happened, Robert?” Tom asked.
“When?”
“Oh, I don’t know? This afternoon. Yesterday. When the fuck do you think.” Tom was losing his patience. “Talk to me, Robert. You’re no good to me right now. The whole team is off because of it and we depend on you. You give us ideas and opinions where to look. You haven’t said a fucking thing all afternoon.”
“Sorry.”
“Sorry? That’s all you have to say?”
“Yeah, that’s all I have to say. What do you want me to do? Apologize? Say I’m sorry? I don’t know what to tell you.” Robert was angry.
“What about the girl?” Tom asked.
“What about her. She hates me. You heard her, she wants to go back to China.”
“She loves you, Robert. She told me before we left.”
“Fucking hell,” Robert let out a long breath. “I love her, Tom. I just can’t get my head around the things that were done to her.”
“Hmm, that must be what she meant when she said you didn’t want her because she’s damaged goods. She said you weren’t man enough to admit it and you were using your job as an excuse to not be with her.”
“She said that? I told her I love her. We bonded. Why would she say that?”
“Maybe, because that’s how you’re treating her. What happened to her, Robert?”
Robert hung his head and got his thoughts together. He spent the next hour telling his crew chief what he knew. What he didn’t know, was the rest of the crew, who he thought where sleeping, silently listened to his story. They were horrified and their hearts ached for their friend and his mate.
Not only did Robert tell him what happened to Heidi and what her boss was doing in detail, he told them what he knew about the others.
“My god. And she’s still enduring extreme cruelty.”
Robert just nodded.
“Robert, you have to get over this. You obviously love her. She’s your true mate. You’ve bonded. Do you have any idea what it will be like for both of you, if you let her go?”
“Yes, I know. I watched my father slowly die when we lost my mother.”
“And you want to go through that?” The Chief asked.
“No, I don’t. Fuck. I don’t know what to do. How do I fix this? I love her, Tom, with my whole being and my bear is so pissed off, he has abandoned me. What am I going to do?”
“Wake up your fucking bear. Go rub some trees.” That got a chuckle out of him. “Go. I know you’ll find us if we leave before you get back at dawn.”
“Thanks Tom.”
Robert retrieved his backpack and stripped out of his clothes. Once everything was in the backpack, he shifted and took off into the dark.
His crew chief watched him go. He hoped Robert could work things out. He was no good to SAR if he didn’t.
*****
Robert’s grizzly ran and ran, until he almost collapsed. It felt good to be out. He needed it more than he knew. He laid in the snow. He must have fallen asleep because it was almost dawn when he woke. He was nearly buried in snow during the night. He stretched and stood. He gave himself a good shake to rid himself of his snowy blanket. He stretched again. He had no idea where he was, but that was okay, he’d find his way back.
Something in the trees caught his attention. A reflection. He made his way through the trees. He had to be careful no one saw him, if people were around.
It was a motorhome. It might be the camper Search and Rescue was looking for. He dropped his backpack, shifted and quickly got dressed.
“Hello in the camper. Anybody home.” He approached the camper and knocked on the door. When no one answered, he tried the door. The door opened and he looked in. “Anyone here?” Still no answer.
Robert entered the motorhome to see if there were any clues as to who owned it. It was neat and clean. There was a box of toys pushed under the table out of the way. He found the registration clipped to the visor. It was registered to the Olson’s, that was the family that was missing. He continued to look around. The dishes were washed and in the drain board, the beds were made. Everything looked normal, like they might have gone for a walk. Then he saw a framed photo on the wall. A man and a woman, and three bear cubs. One of the cubs looking a little older than the other two. “Oh my god, their shifters.”
Robert made sure everything was in its place. He could make his way back to the SAR team, but that would take time. He needed to start looking for the campers. He took a picture of the camper and left a note on the door in case the campers came back or the SAR team found it. They would know he had been there and was searching for the missing campers.
The fresh snow made it difficult to follow tracks so he had to shift. Once he shifted, he could use his senses to smell and hear. He circled the camper several times until he got an idea which way they went. The scent was very weak, but it was there. He followed the scent for about an hour when he started to smell something he didn’t like. The smell of death. The smell of rotting flesh.
Robert came across a gruesome scene. Two adult bears had been killed and skinned. If a shifter is killed in its animal form, it stays that way. Anyone coming across the remains would just think it was a bear, unaware the there was a human there as well. Their skinned bodies left to rot. Robert had no doubt, this was the missing campers. Apparently, they had shifted and poachers found them and killed them. They were in a national park and should have been safe from hunters. He didn’t see any signs of the cubs.
Robert took pictures with his phone. That was all it was good fo
r. He didn’t have a cell signal. He couldn’t make a call. He made his way back to camper and then headed in the direction of the campsite he had left the night before. He was half way back when he saw the snow-cats heading his way. He immediately shifted and was dressed by the time they got to him.
The snow-cats stopped. The crew got out of the snow-cats to see if Robert had found anything.
“Any luck, Robert?” The chief asked.
“They’re dead, Tom. They were shifters.”
“Shit. How?”
“Looks like poachers. I found the camper and followed their scent from there. I found two skinned adult bears.”
“Any sign of the kids?”
“No, thank god, but that doesn’t mean we won’t find their bodies as well.”
“All right, show me where,” Tom told him.
He took them to the motorhome. One of them would have to drive it back. There was no way a tow truck was going to get to where they were at. If it got stuck in the snow, they could use the snow-cats to pull it out.
Then he took them to the bodies. Two of the crew members immediately lost their breakfast. Robert and Randy searched the nearby wooded area for bullet casings and anything that might be a clue to the poachers. They found several shells, a glove, an empty cigarette pack and a credit card receipt. That could be their ticket to finding the poachers. Luckily the snow hadn’t covered up the evidence under the trees.
The bodies were wrapped up and placed on the back of one of the snow-cats. These were humans, they deserved to be buried properly, not left for the scavengers. While the bodies were being taken care of, the rest of the team searched for the cubs, but couldn’t find any tracks and they didn’t find any bodies. They searched for the cubs with no luck.
They started back. Randy drove the motorhome and luckily didn’t get stuck in the snow.
“What’s the plan, Chief?” Robert asked as they ate a hot meal at the campsite from the previous night. “How long will we search for the kids?”
Bearly Saved My Life: Madison Range Shifters (Quake Lake Bears Book 2) Page 7
