Page 68 of Shephard

“Of course they are.” I left my driver’s door open, fuming as I stormed back inside and into Cane’s office. I scanned the roomquickly, finally looking behind the door. He’d left a jacket there with his scent. It would come in handy if for no other reason than to wrap the sleeves around his neck.

Greg was standing in the same place when I returned, the sheepish look on his face annoying. I understood Greg’s position, which was a tough one, but something had to be done.

“Find a way, Greg, or you’ll lose another ranger and I’m not talking about Cane.” I was furious, tired of Cane’s antics and his private tours when he didn’t tell anyone where he was going. It was something he’d done since my arrival, acting like some cowboy who could do anything on his own. “Keep trying to contact him and if he calls and is fine, I will kill him myself.”

“Don’t go off halfcocked, Denise. He could be hurt.”

“Well, he damn well better be.” With the man’s antics over the last few months and his carelessness, I was shocked he hadn’t gotten himself into trouble before.

I jumped into the Jeep, rolling out of the parking lot within seconds. Rough Rider wasn’t for the faint of heart no matter what time of year. With some leaves already changing yet so many species still full of greenery, there were two issues. The humid mornings left dew on the fallen leaves while the greenery hid the various drop-off locations. Yes, there were markers, but they were easily hidden by the significant growth from the extensive rains in the spring.

And neither Cane nor I knew the hundreds of acres cold. There was no way of doing that given our short staff.

I fumed the entire way as I drove, almost driving recklessly by weaving past various slow vehicles in my way. What the hell was he doing up there? At least there weren’t sign-up sheets forthe trail in the resort or located in the various sports equipment stores. No, it didn’t keep curious tourists away completely, but without the area being as heavily targeted, most tourists had no clue of its existence.

It took me almost thirty minutes to get to the pull-off point at the start of the trail. Greg had texted the last coordinates of where he thought Cane had stopped communicating, which thankfully weren’t too far up the trail. At least Cane’s Jeep was here and from what I could tell, there was no sign of any issue.

As I grabbed my gear and the jacket, ushering Pepper to follow, I started thinking about the glossy brochure I’d seen about park rangers almost five years before. I’d picked it up on a three-day jaunt I’d made with the abusive ex, curious as to what they did in their job.

The concept about providing tours and setting up education classes wasn’t a part of the budget around here. Dozens of departments had their funding cut, but we’d moved from protecting the area and the tourists to nothing but search and rescue. At least I was trained for it, my specialty in the Marines.

Not Cane.

He’d assumed the glossy brochure would be his main function, including providing tours for pretty girls.

The hike was steep, but not as much at this elevation. It was one of the hidden gems I adored, the waterfall and natural lagoon pristine given so few people had discovered its location. But it was a still a major drop-off and an attraction for a wayward tourist.

I had to remind myself it was possible Cane was trying to rescue one of those.

With every step I took I fumed more, which wasn’t a good thing. Still, I was furious with myself for allowing Cane to bother me. He was just one of those guys who took advantage of every situation.

After hiking for almost a mile, I’d found no sign of Cane, but I knew I was in the area where his communications had gone down. I pulled his jacket from around the bag’s strap, crouching down to Pepper. “Yeah, girl. I don’t like this either, but take a nice deep whiff and go find this jerk for me.”

She did as she was told, immediately heading up the trail by a few feet, sniffing every inch of the ground around her. When she took off running, I knew it was a good sign. Unless I had to haul his injured ass back to my Jeep.

I jogged behind her, grateful on this humid as shit day I’d worn shorts. At least cooler nights were expected in the next week.

Pepper had managed to get way ahead of me, her silence troubling. I never liked her to be so far out of my sight but for so long.

I stopped long enough to listen, finally hearing a series of barks in the distance. I took off running, moving as quickly as I could toward the location. As I rounded a corner, I slipped on the rocks, going down hard on one knee. The sharp pain was instant, but I didn’t lose a beat, getting up and racing toward Pepper’s barks.

What I found was more irritating and interesting than shocking, although the rage would arise within a short period of time.

Pepper was acting as if she was going to eat some unknown guy, her barks and growls indicating the person standing in darkjeans and a polo wasn’t a good man. Or that he had drugs on him.

I was no DEA agent and given the mystery man was standing in front of Cane, I knew frisking him would not be the best thing to do.

“Get the fucking menace away from me.” The mystery man dared raise a hand and I immediately pulled out my weapon.

“I suggest unless you want a bullet between your eyes that you put your hand down nice and slow. And make certain it’s very slow or Pepper will rip it off.” No, she wouldn’t unless I gave the command, but the jerk with the snarl on his face didn’t know that.

What I found chilling was the stark darkness in his eyes. It wasn’t that they were a gorgeous dark shade; there was no light to them. No life. No verve. It was as if he was dead inside.

Cane had turned toward me, his hands on his hips as he offered a sharp glare.

When the stranger didn’t move, Pepper continued barking, now sitting back on her haunches. The unknown person definitely had contraband on him.

“Last warning,” I said as I walked closer, the weapon pointed at his eye level.