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“For starters, I had to play dead for almost two weeks, which is why you had to play forest ranger.”
“True, but once the people were arrested, why not check it out? If nothing else, being at the site might have jogged your memory.”
“Don’t forget, these people were only arrested a few days ago, but hey, I’m here now!”
To be honest, Zach hadn’t wanted to relive the event. With Mike by his side, however, it didn’t seem so bad. Not only that, since the snow had mostly melted, the area was peaceful and comforting. It wouldn’t stay that way for long, however. December was notorious for bad storms.
“You don’t think there are other vigilantes out to get you, do you?” Mike asked.
Zach turned to his best friend. “I hope not, but even if there are, I’m not going to spend my time looking over my shoulder or stop helping people in need because one of them might want me dead. I have to get on with my life.”
Mike slapped him on the back. “Good. Just checking.”
Zach slipped the map from Mike’s hands. “I know where I was shot. From there, it’s a matter of locating the exact cave.”
“I thought Liam marked it on the map.”
“He did, but the cave isn’t on any trail, and Liam said he had to guess its location. It could be any one of a number of caves around there. Thankfully, my sister put some non-adhesive pink flagging tape on the trees to help my dad and the rescue team find it. She asked that we take them down on our way out.”
“Clever lady.”
Probably because it was winter, they didn’t run into anyone on the way to the climbing site. “Around here is where I was injured. See that path?”
“Yeah, it leads to a rock slab.”
“Exactly. As I turned to take the trail, they shot me.”
“It gives me the shivers thinking about that.” Mike looked around. “Violence in a place so peaceful is wrong on so many levels.”
“Amen.”
Zach spotted something pink hanging from a branch. “Over there.”
It was about two soccer fields away from where he was attacked, so it didn’t take long to reach the cave.
“I see your point, Zach. If you were almost dead, I don’t know how you could have made it this far.”
“Me neither.” A second strip of plastic tape led them right to the cave entrance.
When they stepped inside, Mike placed a hand over his nose. “Whoa. Something died in here.”
“You mean a lot of somethings died. I’m glad I wasn’t aware of much when I was in there.” His werewolf’s strong sense of smell usually served him well. Now? Not so much. Zach couldn’t believe he didn't remember the stench. He nodded to the passageway to the right. “It’s back there. Look for anything that indicates my mystery woman was here. And yes, I’m aware it’s a long shot.”
“Your sister was here. She could have dropped something.”
Mike was good at punching holes in his theory. “I know.”
They had to maneuver around a lot of rocks to make their way down the passageway. No one would hike there if they had a choice. After ten minutes, they reached an area that was larger.
“A fire ring,” Mike said. “Didn’t you say Liam lit a fire?”
“Yes. The black embers and unburned wood means they were here.”
Mike looked around. “There’s too much debris to tell if anyone else was.”
“True, and I was treated by the paramedics in the front of the cave.”
“I’ll check ahead for a bit, in case she went up there.” Mike returned a few minutes later. “That was a bust. I saw squat.”
