“I … I don’t know how.”
A smile spread across Damon’s face. “How about we do it like we always do? Start with a beer? And then we can just … talk and go from there?”
Krieger sighed. “All right.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Well, spank my ass and call me Sally!” J.D. chortled as she rounded the bend up the steep mountain road. “Tim and Angela, really? And you walked in on them doing the nasty?”
“Don’t remind me,” Dutchy groaned. “It was a miracle I was able to look them both in the eye throughout that dinner.” Of course, a reminder of last night only brought back the dark cloud she’d been fighting.
“Stop that.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop looking like the world is over,” J.D. said. “It’s not. You’re going to show up at his cabin and tell him you’re sorry. He’s going to be so happy to see you, and he’ll ask for your forgiveness for being a jackass.”
“He wasn’t being a jackass.”
“He was being presumptuous, thinking he could fix you. News flash, Dutchy: You’re already awesome. Plus, that comment about Ian was a low blow, and you didn’t deserve that. So don’t you let him walk over you like a doormat either, okay?”
Dutchy couldn’t help the smile on her face. “I’m really glad you’re here, J.D. I mean … I know you and I weren’t friends in the beginning and we just were kind of tossed together when everyone found their mates. But … I’m glad to call you my friend.”
“Awww … now you’re going to make me cry.”
“I promise not to ignore you if Krieger and I ever work it out.”
“You mean, when,” J.D. corrected. “And Dutchy, it’s all right. I totally understand. That’s just how things are, you know? You find your mate, then the kids arrive, and they come first. I’m happy to be the cool aunt on the sidelines who gets to spoil all the babies and then hand them back to their parents when they start crying while I kick back in my bachelor pad.”
She grinned gratefully at J.D. While she may be tough on the outside, Dutchy always knew J.D. had a soft inside. She only hoped that the blonde mechanic could find someone—mate or not—who could handle all that and deserve her.
“Say, Dutchy” J.D.’s delicate nose wrinkled. “Are we almost there yet?”
She peeked out the window. They’d been driving over an hour and half by now, and the road signs said they were approaching Contessa Peak. If she remembered what Krieger had told her correctly, the main road should lead to a parking lot on the other side where most day hikers started their journey. But the dirt road to his cabin split off before then. “We need to get off the highway soon. Should be up ahead.”
A few miles later, Dutchy spotted the turnoff. “There. Slow down … yeah, through here.”
J.D. maneuvered the vehicle onto the dirt road and they rumbled along. “Wow, this really is a long way up,” J.D. said. “I don’t think I’ve been this far up the mountains.”
“Do you go to the mountains a lot?”
“When I was young, with my old man,” J.D. said. “We used to love to go out and hunt together, but we never made it up here. Our animals prefer flatlands and dry climates.”
Dutchy held her tongue, trying not to ask the question on her mind. She’d always wondered what J.D. was exactly, but never did ask because, well, that was rude in the shifter world. However, from the scent of fur, she could at least tell J.D. was some sort of feline. But what kind of cat specifically liked flat lands and dry heat? Lionesses? Cougars?
“There was this one time—whoa!”
They bounced up so violently that her teeth rattled in her brain. J.D. slammed on the brakes. “What the fuck—did we run over a dragon’s turd or something?” The car then began to slide back. “Oh crap!” The engine roared as she pressed on the gas, but they didn’t move. “Fuck!” Taking her seatbelt off, J.D. got out of the car.
Dutchy unbuckled her belt and slipped out. “J.D.?”
The blonde mechanic squatted down near the back of the car. “Aww shit. Looks like it rained a lot last night. Washed out the dirt and left that big boulder sticking out. And now the tires are stuck in the mud.”
Walking over to her, Dutchy bent down next to J.D. The rear tires were, indeed, mired down deeply in a mix of mud and wet leaves. “Could we get it out?”
“We could try.”
And so, they did, with J.D. in the back pushing while Dutchy attempted to drive it out. The tires spun and spun, and the engine roared and sputtered, but the car didn’t budge.
“Fuck.” J.D. cursed as she kicked the tires and wiped the mud from her jeans. She’d also lost her hat at some point, and her wild mop of blonde curls stuck out from her head. “Sorry, Dutchy. Your tires just weren’t made for this.”
Dutchy sighed. What else could possibly go wrong today?
“Hey, none of that now,” J.D. admonished. “You said this dirt road lead up to his cabin, right? We’re both young and healthy, we can make it up there.”
She glanced up at the road ahead. J.D. was right. It wasn’t the end of the world just because her car was stuck in the mud. “All right, I guess we should start walking.”
J.D. scraped off as much of the mud as she could, then they began to trudge up the road.
“Sorry you had to get stuck up here with me,” Dutchy began. “And that you got all dirty.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it,” J.D. said with a wave. “I was never afraid of a little dirt.”
They continued their walk up without speaking much. It felt like they had been going for a long time, yet there was no cabin in sight. Had they taken a wrong turn, or was it farther than she thought?
“Are we there yet?” J.D. asked.
“I think—”
A shriek from somewhere deep in the woods made them both freeze. “What the hell was that?” J.D. swung her head around.
“I don’t know. But I don’t like the sound of that scream.”
“Me neither.” J.D.’s brows furrowed.
“A lost hiker, maybe?”
“The rangers should—”
Another ear-piercing cry rang through the air. Goosebumps rose all over Dutchy’s arms. “Oh. God.”
J.D. let out a hiss. “We should at least check it out. If someone fell and hurt themselves, they might need help sooner than later.”
Dutchy glanced up the road, feeling torn. But J.D. was right. Someone could be hurt bad, and she’d never be able to sleep at night if that person was in need when she could have done something about it. “All right. Let’s go.”
“I think it came from that way,” J.D. cocked her head into the line of trees. “I can hear them … follow me.”
Dutchy focused her sensitive hearing. She could hear some faint rustling sounds from deep in the forest, but being feline, J.D.’s ears were much more sensitive, so she walked ahead. As they made their way through the thicket, she could hear more sounds—shuffling feet and voices.
Suddenly, J.D. held up a hand, then turned to her, put her finger over her lips, then motioned for her to get lower on the ground.
They crouched low and waddled forward, slowly approaching the source of the noise which came from behind a low ridge. Peering over the top of the ridge, Dutchy bit her lip to prevent the gasp from escaping her lips.
“… think we used enough tranqs?”
“Yeah. She’s a tiny thing, shouldn’t need much.”
Two men wearing forest fatigues stood over a small heap on the ground. Focusing her vision, Dutchy could see that it was a small doe. One of them knelt down beside it and tied its front and rear legs together, then hauled the doe up onto his shoulders. “C’mon, let’s get her in the cage before she wakes up and shifts back.”
Dutchy opened her mouth in outrage, but J.D. slapped a hand over it, sending her a warning glare. They didn’t move for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, J.D. loosened her hand. “They should be far away enough,” she said. “But stay quiet, okay?”
>
Dutchy nodded, and J.D. released her. “Oh God. That poor doe … those men … how did they even get up here?”
“I don’t know.” J.D.’s light hazel eyes burned, and Dutchy could feel her animal’s rage. Her fox, too, was fueled by J.D.’s anger and let out a hiss. “We need to rescue her.”
“But … but shouldn’t we get help?”
“It might be too late,” J.D. pointed out. “Who knows what they’ll do to her by the time we can reach Krieger’s cabin or if we can even find help.”
Her fox nodded and agreed.
“Let’s at least follow them and see what they’re up to. If they have some kind of transport, we can take down the make, model, and tags, then report them to the rangers.”
“Krieger has a radio in his cabin,” Dutchy said. “He can call it in. They’ll catch them before they can even get off the mountain.”
“All right, let’s go. They went …” J.D. closed her eyes as she focused her senses. “This way.”
Her heart thumped as she followed J.D. though the woods. How she managed to stay calm and collected as they tracked the men, Dutchy didn’t know, but she admired her friend’s nerves of steel.
They continued to follow them, going deeper into the forest. Where they were, she didn’t know, but it didn’t seem like they were anywhere near a road where someone could park any type of getaway vehicle.
J.D. halted all of a sudden, then crouched low, pulling her down. “Holy crap. Over there.”
The men had reappeared through the thicket of trees, then headed toward a solid, jagged wall covered in moss, seemingly melting right into the rock.
Dutchy frowned. “Where did they go?”
“Hmmm …” J.D. worried at her lower lip. “Might be a cave, let’s take a closer look.”
As they drew nearer to the wall, Dutchy’s nose picked up a powerful odor. “Oh God, what the hell is that?”
J.D. lifted her head and took a sniff. “Ugh. Smells like bear.” She opened her mouth, flicked up her tongue, and then grimaced. “Definitely bear … but it seems … wrong.”
“Wrong?”
“Yeah. Bears—both shifter and real ones—have unique scents. For real bears, I can usually tell if it’s a different species. But this … it’s like a bunch of different bears had some kind of wild orgy and rubbed themselves all over the place.” Her eyes narrowed. “That, or it’s a manufactured scent.”
“A fake bear scent? Why would anyone spread that here?”
J.D.’s expression darkened. “To throw off anyone that might get too curious.”
Her heart leapt into her throat. “Oh God.”
“I’ll bet there is some kind of cave hidden back there,” J.D. said. “We should go in and investigate.”
“What? No!” She grabbed J.D.’s arm and pulled her back down. “What if there’s more of them? We can’t go in there by ourselves. Let’s go back and get help.”
J.D. hesitated as she glanced back toward where the men had disappeared with the doe shifter. “What if …” She huffed. “All right. I mean, you’re right. If we can make it to Krieger’s cabin, he can call for backup.” She stood upright and brushed the dirt and leaves from her pants legs. “If we—yeow!” she yelped as she slapped her left hand over her other arm.
“What’s the matter?”
J.D. yanked something out of her arm that looked like a long silver tube with a pink pompom at the end. “Dutch …”
“What—J.D.!” J.D.’s eyes rolled back, and her body fell forward. Dutchy lunged to catch her, but something hit her in the back, making her double over. Her face hit the ground, and pain bloomed in her cheek. Planting her palms down, she pushed herself up, but her limbs weakened, and she fell down again.
Footsteps drew nearer, and panic rose in her as her fox’s hackles raised and urged her to get up. Though she wanted to move, her body protested. Exhaustion seeped in, and she could barely keep her eyes open.
As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she wasn’t sure if the things she could hear and feel were real. There was a sensation of floating—or was she being lifted up? Harsh, angry voices rang around her. Then she was thrown down and dragged across something cold and wet. Finally, there was a sound of metal clanging and a heavy clicking sound before everything went silent.
Her body fought and fought. It was like swimming for hours in thick syrup. But at some point, she took a deep gulp and opened her eyes. Her vision was still blurry but slowly adjusted to the darkness as sensation returned to her limbs. Her body tensed, but when she opened her mouth, a small hand grasped over hers. She took a sniff, and the scent of familiar fur filled her nostrils. J.D.!
Slowly, her eyes focused. She was lying on her side, face to face with J.D. Her eyes were open wide, and her hand squeezed hers tight. Understanding that she wanted her to keep playing possum, she gave her hand a squeeze back and closed her eyes.
A light flickered on overhead. Footsteps closed in on them, and she could feel their presence right over them, staring down.
“… what the fuck are these two broads doing up here anyway?” the first man replied. “I thought we were far away from the trails?”
“Maybe they got lost,” a third man said. “Why the fuck did you shoot them, Gordon? They might have just gone away.”
“And what if they didn’t, huh?” the second man—Gordon, apparently—spat back. “What if they saw enough of our little operation here and ran back to those fucking rangers? It’ll be months of work down the drain, and we haven’t broken even yet. You gonna tell our investors we can’t pay back their money, Turner?”
“Fuck. I didn’t spend months living in a cave covered in bear shit for nothin’,” Turner cursed. “Joey—how many have we caught and shipped? Three now?”
“Yeah. Four if you count the doe,” Joey replied. “That’s five grand each.”
“Minus expenses, and we’re still in the hole,” Gordon replied. “Shifter-proofing those doors ain’t cheap, ya know.”
Turner spat. “But what are we gonna do about those bitches? We can’t smuggle them down in our backpacks. That doe alone will be hard to hide if we come across any rangers.”
Gordon huffed. “Tranqs should last until morning. Even if they wake up, they won’t be able to escape. We’ll deal with them tomorrow. C’mon, let’s eat, I’m fucking starved. ”
“Me too,” Turner said with a laugh. “Hunting down these animals is enough to give me an appetite. Let’s lock ’em up and get outta here.”
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed away from them, followed by the sound of metal scraping against stone. When the silence finally settled over them, Dutchy opened her eyes, her vision slowly adjusting to the darkness. “Did you hear—”
“Yeah.” J.D.’s face was twisted in rage. “Those bastards.” Her voice trembled. “We can’t let them get away with this.”
“They think we’re human,” Dutchy said.
“Good.” J.D. braced her palms down and pushed herself up. She sniffed the air. “It smells … damp. We must be in a cave of some sort.”
The rock under her hands as she struggled to get up said as much.
J.D. helped her up. “Are you okay? You—Look!” She pointed to the wooden beams above them.
“What are those?”
“Supports. I know what this is!” She snapped her fingers. “It’s an old mine. For blackstone.” The Blackstone Mountains were named for the hardest mineral on earth—which could only be found here and mined using dragon fire. It was what made the Lennoxes one of the richest families on earth. “I bet this was one of the earlier sites Lucas Lennox mined when he first discovered the blackstone. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just abandoned it when the deposits dried up and no one’s been here for decades. Those guys must have found it.”
“And now it’s some sort of hideout for what … a poaching scheme?”
“Poaching for shifters,” J.D. concluded. “Goddamn bastards! I’m going to tear their throats out then feed whatev
er’s left to Matthew and Jason Lennox!”
“What do we do, J.D.? They said they’d take care of us in the morning.” Dutchy could guess what they mean by that.
J.D. put on a determined face. “Not gonna happen. We’re gonna have to find a way out.”
“There’s light coming from that way,” Dutchy pointed out. “But that’s probably where those poachers went.”
“Let’s try the other way first, then. C’mon.”
They walked along the cramped mine shaft, using one side of the wall as a guide. However, they didn’t get very far and ended up at a solid stone wall.
“Dead end,” Dutchy guessed.
J.D. put her ear to the wall. “Solid all the way through. Let’s see what the other way is like.”
Turning around, they ambled in the opposite direction. When they reached the end, it was blocked by something solid, but a small shaft of light poured through a gap underneath.
“Steel,” Dutchy said as she touched the obstruction. “I don’t think we’ll be able to move this out of the way, even if we worked together. And they said it was shifter proof.”
“Huh.” J.D. knelt down and pushed her hand under the gap. “All right, I’m gonna break us out of here.”
“You are? How?”
She stretched her neck and rolled her shoulders. “How else? I’m going to shift.”
“Into your animal?”
“Exactly.” A smile spread over her face. “I’ll have us out of here in no time.”
What was J.D.’s plan? Was her animal that huge that its bulk would break through metal? “Maybe you should take your clothes off first?”
“No need.” J.D. opened her mouth and let out a sharp hiss as her incisors elongated. Fur popped up on her face. Dutchy scooted away, closing her eyes to give J.D. some privacy. She waited for a deep roar. For powerful paws to slam on the ground. To her surprise, nothing happened. “Huh?” Opening her eyes, the only thing she saw was a heap of J.D.’s clothing in front of her. “What the—”
Blackstone Ranger Guardian: Blackstone Rangers Book 5 Page 16
