The Bachelor Ranger

by Rebecca Winters

  Their arms brushed as she got in. Her long, jeans-clad legs drew his attention before he closed the door and went around to the driver’s seat. She got on her knees and reached over the seat to pet the dog. “How’s my little sweetie?”

  Sergei went into ecstasy. When she turned to smile at Cal, he felt breathless. “I think you already have your answer.”

  “I’m so glad he’s getting better.” She finally turned around and fastened her seat belt.

  “He is, too.”

  Wishing he could take off and be alone with her for weeks on end, Cal started the car and had to be satisfied that for the rest of the day he’d know exactly where she was and what she was doing. He had no idea what the evening would bring, but he’d work that out later.

  En route he caught the nod of a ranger here and there. He understood their double takes when they saw Alex in the car with him. Speculation would be rife because Cal hadn’t been with another woman since Leeann.

  Not only that, Alex would have been spotted earlier eating lunch with Telford. Hopefully the superintendent would learn she’d gone straight from lunch to spend the afternoon with Cal. His colleagues were going to have to get used to it.

  He flicked her a glance. “What do you have planned for the boys this weekend?”

  “Ralph suggested we go to the Hetch Hetchy Valley in the morning.” Thorn again. “I spoke with Vance and he’s arranged for Chief Sam Dick to talk to the volunteers tomorrow after we reach the campground.”

  “That’s a real honor.”

  “I know. My boys especially will relate to him in a way the others can’t.”

  She was right. “Are all the groups going?”

  “I think everyone will come.”

  “Will you be going back to Sugar Pines after?”

  “No. My boys will be staying over at the Evergreen Lodge.”

  Cal had to attend an all-day seminar in Bishop tomorrow with some national forest service heads. He wouldn’t get back until late. Possibly too late to join her.

  “The boys are going to have a fantastic opportunity.”

  She nodded. “Lonan’s fiancée, Mankanita, will be arriving later today for the weekend. I wanted her to meet Chief Sam Dick and his wife. If this experiment works out, maybe she and Lonan will come next summer and bring some of the girls. too.”

  “Lonan’s a good man.”

  “Mankanita’s a wonderful woman. If she approves of what she sees, it will carry a lot of weight with the tribal council for the future.”

  He looked over at her. “Without you, none of this would have been possible.”

  “Don’t give me any credit. It’s all because of great-great-grandfather Trent. If he’d seen Yosemite first…”

  “He and John Muir. That would have been quite a meeting.”

  “My ancestor would have immediately claimed all the Yosemite Valley for himself and El Capitan would be named Mt. Silas.”

  Cal threw back his head and laughed. “I’ll never forget my first sight of the Falls and Half Dome. I’d just been transferred in from Rocky Mountain Park. It was beautiful, but nothing compared to the topography of Yosemite.” He paused for a minute before he added, “If it hadn’t been for Helen, I would have missed the whole experience.”

  With those words, he felt Alex retreat, but he didn’t care because it had to be said.

  “I’ll never be sorry for what she did, Alex. That was the night the world as I knew it changed for the better for me. I packed my things and left after their ceremony was over. It didn’t matter where I went. I just wanted to get far away for a while and ended up in Idaho.”

  “Why there?”

  So she was listening.

  “Idahoans buy a lot of Hollis Farm Implements. On a whim I booked a flight to Coeur d’Alene to see what it was like before I flew on. It just so happened there was a huge forest fire blazing. I mean gigantic. The flight had to be diverted to Spokane, Washington.

  “From there I rented a car and drove to Coeur d’Alene, curious to view it up close. When I saw the lines of fire-fighters flown in from all over, working together against nature, it ignited something in me. I hired on there with the forest service. Months later one of the men I worked with said that if I loved the mountains so much, why not get on at a national park. The rest…was history.”

  When he’d finished talking, Alex didn’t say anything. Instead, she stared out the window at the passing scenery, giving him glimpses of her beautiful profile. He had a feeling she was trying to hide from him, but there was no place to go.

  “Alex?” he prodded.

  “What happened to you and your brother?” She was still turned away from him.

  “Jack discovered Helen’s promiscuity for himself and figured out she was the reason I left home. Once we’d talked, he divorced her. Today he’s married to a wonderful woman and has four children. In the end we both got what we wanted.”

  Alex was too quiet. “Why are you telling me all this?”

  His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “To help you understand that my rejection of you over the years wasn’t based on anything to do with you personally. The fact is, Helen was an exceptionally beautiful girl. So were you. She also came from a rich, prominent family like yours. When you came to the park, I made the mistake of drawing comparisons from the moment we met. It wasn’t fair or logical. It was simply a gut reaction on my part.”

  “Six years is a long time to be mistaken about someone.”

  “I had a lot of help. Between your father, who let me know he expected me to protect you, and the Chief, who told me I could look, but not touch, I kept you at arm’s length.”

  “Until I pulled a Helen on you,” she muttered. “You must have been totally repulsed.”

  “Hardly. You remember what happened as well as I do. If you were listening the other night, I didn’t kiss Helen back.” He reached for her hand and clasped it. “You’re not the person I thought you were.”

  “I still don’t know what you’re driving at. You fell in love with Leeann and married her. None of this is relevant.” She moved her hand away.

  “Except that she died, and my world changed again. You’re here again and the old rules no longer apply. I want to get to know the real you and see where it leads.”

  Her head was lowered. “My world has changed, too, Cal. We’re both different people now. The other day you asked if we could be friends. I think that’s the best way for us to get along. I’ll only be here until the end of July, maybe not even that long. It depends on the boys.”

  He took a deep breath. “What do you mean?”

  “The tribal council was concerned the boys might get too homesick if they’re gone so long. Depending on the feedback from them, Halian will ask for a vote at the end of June to see whether they should return home or stay through the end of July.”

  That was only two weeks away…

  “Does Vance know about this?” Cal knew for a fact Jeff didn’t, or his friend would have told him.

  “Yes, but he was willing to risk it. In case we do go home early, the money from the Trent fund will still be in place to pay for replacement volunteers. The LTSY has lots of kids who’d be willing to come, so the park won’t suffer any loss.”

  If Cal had been upset earlier over a possible relationship between her and Telford, it was nothing compared to the possibility that she might be gone by the end of the month.

  He felt like a bottle in a lab filled with expensive chemicals. Except for one dangerous moment when he’d felt her mouth moving beneath his, he’d kept that bottle tightly corked because opening it would set off a chain reaction that would alter his universe. But her news had brought him to the point where he had to pop the cork or he was going to explode anyway.

  “Cal?” Her voice brought him back from the edge. “Unless the boys are somewhere else, we just passed the turnoff for the Meadows.”

  “You’re right, but there’s a tourist in a red car up ahead who’s been doing fifty i
n a thirty-five mile an hour zone for the last few minutes. Eight bears were killed in this area last year because of speeders. Two were hit and died since the opening of the Tioga road this year.”

  Cal turned on the siren and went after him.

  AT ANY OTHER TIME SINCE Alex had known him, Cal’s suggestion that they start a relationship would have been the fulfillment of a dream, but for some reason she felt numb inside. Despite everything he’d explained, Cal had married Leeann. He’d moved on. Alex didn’t want to simply be a substitute.

  While she sat there in a daze, Cal maneuvered through the traffic to pull the motorist over. He reached for his hat lying on the back floor and got out of the car. Sergei made whimpering sounds. No doubt he wanted to get out, too.

  “He’ll be right back,” she said as she watched Cal approach the other vehicle. In full gear he was gorgeous, but he could also be intimidating, forbidding even.

  She shivered and rested her head against the window, glad she wasn’t the one receiving the ticket from him. It wouldn’t stop there. Those intelligent eyes would turn a fierce blue while he gave the driver a much-needed verbal warning.

  “Alex?” He called to her while she was deep in thought. “Are you all right?” He’d gotten back in the car and was staring at her in concern.

  “I’m fine. I was just relaxing for a minute.”

  He let it go, but she could feel his tension. While traffic was still stopped, he made a U-turn and they headed back to the road leading to the north area.

  Another minute and they were making their way to the campground filled with tourists ready to hike the Glen Aulin trail. After he parked the car, she got out and looked around while Cal opened the door for Sergei and put him on leash.

  He caught up to her. “Their work area is up in that meadow to the right beyond the trees. Shall we go?”

  Cal led her through the underbrush away from everyone else. Once they got beyond the pines, the view opened on a hillside spattered with wildflowers. No sight in the high Sierras could match this for breathtaking beauty. Sergei must have thought so, too. You’d never know he’d hurt his paw the way he ambled up the incline alongside his master.

  Here and there she spotted half a dozen volunteers in straw hats and gloves working six different grids. She watched as they painstakingly pulled out the flowering weeds. The thistles’ unmistakable yellow heads were filled with seeds that needed to be destroyed. Once the plants were free of the soil, they were stuffed into doubled plastic bags. Alex counted at least seventy that had to be carted down to the road and taken away in trucks.

  Cal waved to the supervisor, but kept on moving. Alex couldn’t see the boys. She stopped at one point to look around. “Where do you suppose they are?”

  “Their shift is over. They probably went to the river to cool off after work. We’ll go see. In this heat Sergei could use a drink.”

  It was hot all right. As Alex quickened her pace to keep up with them, the dog started barking and pulled on the leash. Suddenly Mika and Lusio, still wearing their hats, their gloves tucked in their back pockets, came walking out of an upper pine belt that followed the lines of an ancient moraine. She expected to be greeted with smiles, but their expressions had closed up. Those dark solemn eyes meant something was wrong.

  As soon as they approached, Sergei was all over them, sniffing and barking much more excitedly than usual.

  Cal pulled him back. “What is it, buddy?”

  Mika looked at Cal. “Come and see what we found a few minutes ago.”

  Alex looked at his companion. “Lusio?”

  The other teen shook his dark head. “It’s not good.”

  The boys were not given to overdramatize a situation, so Alex could tell that whatever they’d seen was not good. She needed to prepare herself.

  The dog strained to break the leash as they made their way into the deepest part of the trees. Sergei suddenly let out a bone-chilling wail only an animal could make. That’s when Alex saw the bodies of three bears, all cut open. The breath left her lungs.

  “Look, Alex.” Mika lifted one of the limbs. “Every paw has been cut off.”

  Lusio nodded. “The hunter took all their teeth.”

  Alex gasped. The sight was something out of a horror story. “I don’t believe it.” Her voice shook in rage.

  A grim Cal was already down on his haunches examining the remains. She could sense his fury and everyone else’s. In a minute he pulled out his phone to make his report while Sergio sniffed around.

  After Cal hung up, his mournful gaze met to hers. “Chase is calling in the U.S. investigator for the National Park Service. He’ll be bringing a couple of special agents from the Pacific West Region and several wardens from the California Fish and Game.”

  “What will they do?” Lusio asked.

  “Once they find out who was involved in this massacre, they’ll file multiple federal charges under the Lacey Act. That means the guys will go to prison.”

  Mika nodded. “That’s good.”

  Alex stared at Cal. “Who would do such a thing? Why?”

  “It’s big business. This kind of carnage will have brought at least thirty thousand dollars to the twisted monsters who did the butchering.”

  “For what?”

  “In certain markets bear paws go for a thousand dollars apiece. They’re used to make soup, which is considered a delicacy. Some believe it’s a curative for respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments. The teeth and claws are used to make ashtrays and jewelry.”

  Alex felt sick just thinking about it. “The cruelty is beyond my comprehension. How do they subdue the bears?”

  Cal’s jaw hardened. “First they lure them with food, then subdue them with an ultrahot bear spray and tranquilize them.”

  “They steal the tranquilizers?” Lusio questioned.

  “That’s right, Lusio. Whoever does this has no conscience. It’s because there’s a worldwide demand for authentic bear parts to be used in traditional Chinese medicine. These products are popular in Asian countries and communities. More and more we’re finding bear carcasses discarded in forests like this in the U.S. because the Asian black bear population has declined. Our bears here are the new targets.”

  Alex hugged her arms to her waist, devastated by the slaughter. The boys’ Zuni heritage considered the animals sacred. She could only imagine how they were feeling. “But why were they cut open, too?”

  “Pacific Rim nations use the bile of a black bear’s gall bladder as a cure-all. The coveted acid is used for cancer and other treatments. It’s dried, ground up and sold by the gram. The street value is higher than cocaine. Some galls are soaked in alcohol such as vodka and then consumed. One gall bladder can bring upwards of five thousand dollars.”

  “This was a recent kill,” Lusio said. “Maybe night before last.”

  Cal nodded. “Then they sneaked away in the dark. Since the gall bladder is only as big as a person’s thumb, it can be put in a jar in a backpack along with the other parts and no one is the wiser.”

  “The evil person could be hiking around Yosemite right now, looking for his next strike.”

  Mika’s comment sent an icy chill across Alex’s skin. She turned her head away, trying to hold back her revulsion.

  “Alex? If you’re up to it, I’d like you to drive the boys home.”

  She swung back. “I’m fine.”

  “Good. I’m going to be here for some time and don’t want them to miss Ranger Farr’s talk tonight. He gives a fascinating program about the water cycle in the park. Experts from around the world come to study our snow.”

  Alex realized Cal’s suggestion was a veiled command. She needed to pull herself together. “I guess you want to keep Sergei with you.”

  His troubled gaze flicked over her. “This is part of his training and will make him even more valuable in the field.”

  Cal walked them to the edge of the trees and patted both boys on the shoulder. “Thank you for being so observant. All the
se people were around today, but you two were the ones who made the discovery. You have keen instincts I admire very much. There’ll be a reward for this.”

  Her throat swelled with emotion because she knew his words had pleased them.

  “Do me another favor?” All their eyes were still fastened on Cal. “Don’t tell a soul what you’ve seen here. Not even Lonan. We need to behave as if nothing happened so the culprits won’t pick up on it. Because this crime was found so fast, it’s possible we’ll catch this person or persons before long.” The boys nodded.

  He reached in his pocket and handed Alex the keys. “I’m going to ask another favor.” His piercing blue eyes held hers. “Drive straight to my house. When you get there, call me and I’ll phone Cindy. She’ll give you a ride back to Sugar Pines.”

  She studied him. “When will you come home?”

  “I’m not sure. One of the other rangers will bring me.”

  Alex got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. An emergency of this magnitude superseded anything else on his agenda. “These people must be very dangerous.”

  The way he looked at her raised the hairs on the back of her neck. “Especially if they think you or the boys know anything. Be careful, trust no one, and above all, drive safely.”

  Alex had a feeling he knew a lot more than he was telling her. “I was going to say the same thing to you.”

  “It’s nice to know I have a friend who cares,” he said in a voice so deep it rumbled through her.

  She didn’t want to be his friend.

  I wanted you! All of you. Your body, your soul. But Leeann was the one you wanted and I can’t accept that.

  Alex leaned over to scratch Sergei behind the ears. “Be a good boy. Mind Cal.”

  The dog tried to follow her, but the leash would only let him go so far. She heard his bark as if he were trying to call her back. She sensed Cal was still watching them, but kept walking with the boys.

  Once they reached the car and headed for the Valley she said, “You guys were real heroes today. You know that?”

  “We didn’t do anything,” Mika muttered.

  “What if you hadn’t gone exploring after work? Those bear remains might not have been found for a long time. At least this way there’s a fighting chance Cal will be able to apprehend whoever did that crime much sooner.”