“I’ll come with you.” Taking out the GPS unit from my bag, I noted the coordinates. The Fish and Game guy in the area, Jesse Wakefield, would want all the information we could give him.
Lana snapped a few more shots, then put her phone away. “So, where does this leave us with Dustin? Do you see his footprints anywhere?” She glanced down at the ground.
Quickly, I scanned the area. “There’s definitely evidence someone was here. See the way everything is matted down?” I pointed to the forest floor.
She nodded.
“I can’t tell you how many different people were here, though, or if one of them was Dustin. There’s too much debris to get good prints.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Well, that sucks.”
“It does. I’d like to know how many people we’re dealing with. Is it just the same two we saw down by the river, or are there more? This carcass isn’t that old. Maybe a few days. It’s possible the poachers are still in the area.”
Lana glanced around. “Now I wish we had more than your hunting rifle for protection.”
“You have a knife, right?” Anyone who went into the Alaskan wilderness needed at least some sort of blade.
“Of course.”
“Good. Keep it in an easily accessible pocket, not in your backpack.”
She lifted the hem of her jacket to show me the waistline of her pants. A short sheath hung from her belt. “Already ahead of you.”
I lifted an eyebrow, once again impressed by her preparedness.
A quick smile flashed across her pretty face. “Stop being so surprised I know how to survive in the bush. I was born in this state, you know.”
I chuckled. “So were a lot of other people who don’t have a clue what to bring when they hike up here.”
She acknowledged that with a tip of her head. “True. Thankfully, I’m not one of them.” Her gaze darted to the rotting bear carcass. “Can we move away from this thing? It’s… unpleasant.”
“Yeah. Let’s head back to the river and pick up Dustin’s trail again.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Stepping over a small branch, she quickly passed me, heading back to the river’s edge.
I followed, a little more slowly, taking the time to scan our surroundings. Those were clean cuts removing the bear’s paws. Not a hack job. Someone had probably done this before. As much as I hated to even think it, that probably wasn’t the only poached animal up here.
That thought didn’t sit well when I knew there was a missing hunter. He could have stumbled over them harvesting one. I really hoped we weren’t going to find anything other than a bear dead out here.
Reaching the river, we located the trail of footprints and set off, following Dustin’s northeast. He’d stuck close to the riverbank as he hiked, which was a smart plan. Easy to navigate and not get lost. Wildlife also came down to get a drink from the fast-flowing water. He could easily track multiple bears by staying near their water source.
Another half hour up the river, that scent of decay hit my nostrils again, and I paused.
Lana groaned, reading my expression. “I was really hoping the wind just shifted and wafted up the scent of the old bear stuck to my boots. There’s another one, isn’t there?”
Mouth set in a firm line, I nodded. “I think so.”
With a sigh, she swept a hand toward the trees. “Follow your nose. I’ll follow you.”
Chapter 8
Lana
The river roared beside us as we made our way back upstream after locating the source of the second smell, following what I hoped were Dustin’s boot prints. We’d found another dead bear with its paws removed and all the meat left, just like the first one. It was even fresher than the last one. Toren had been able to see that most of its internal organs were there, but he hadn’t seen the gallbladder. I hoped that was the last animal we’d find, but I had my doubts.
On shaky legs, I heaved myself over the yoga ball-sized rock in my path, wobbling as I came down the other side. My muscles were exhausted, and I could feel hotspots forming on my feet, despite my cushy socks and good boots. Once we stopped for the night, I needed to tend to them. Thank goodness I remembered to pack the hydrocolloid bandages. On the plus side, my sore feet might help take my mind off what we found.
I shuddered as the image of the dead bears flitted through my mind. The smell still permeated my nose and wasn’t one I would soon forget.
