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1
Troy
June, Present Day
Maple Ridge
* * *
The forest leaves rustle in the wind and whisper secrets. But not the secrets I want answered. Not the secrets telling me what happened to Jess in the past. Not the secrets telling me where the two missing hikers went.
The last time anyone heard from the father and son was three days ago. Shortly after eight this morning, I received the alert from the Maple Ridge Search and Rescue organization—following a night of taking my relationship with Jess to a new level. When I made love to her. When, for a short time, her past wasn’t a dark shadow looming nearby.
That was roughly nine hours ago. Nine hours and still no sign of the two hikers.
I stop walking. “Joseph! Christopher!” My voice carries in the wind, but who knows if it’s being carried in the right direction. I listen for a reply. Nothing.
A twig cracks to my left, but it’s only Ethan Philips, the newest member of the search and rescue team. So far, none of my crew has found any indication we’re even in the correct area.
All we know is their car was found in the parking lot. No signs of foul play. We can only assume they started along the trail as planned. Thankfully, the father had enough foresight to tell his wife which campsite they were staying at. The only reason it had taken so long for them to be reported missing is because they’d planned to camp out here for two nights.
But who knows when they actually disappeared?
I focus on the terrain, the sky growing dimmer with the thickening storm clouds. But even with my Marine and SAR training taking priority, a memory slips into my thoughts. Of Jess, of her silky-soft skin as I eased into her. As I made her come. Memories of how she felt in my arms. Of her scent. Of her moans.
Next time, I want to make love to her in the light of dawn as its golden rays stroke her face so I can see her fall apart as we come together.
If not for the missing father and nine-year-old, I’d still be in bed with Jess, enjoying this new landmark in our relationship. Enjoying the small piece of trust she has given me. The trust I’m slowly building with her—and nearly blew to pieces when I opened her nightstand drawer and looked at the photos of her niece.
A magpie squawks somewhere in the trees above my head. A gust of wind rustles the leaves again, warning of the approaching storm. If we don’t find the missing hikers soon, they’ll be in for a bad night.
And we’ll be forced to return to base camp until the storm passes and it is daybreak.
An hour later, my crew enters a clearing and the end of the grid we’ve been searching.
“We’ll take a ten-minute break,” Sheldon, the team leader, announces.
We scout out a patch of ground to sit on and lower our asses onto the dirt. A blanket of dead leaves and pine needles litters the area, the leafy undergrowth pushing through it and growing thicker beyond the trees.
Voices come through Sheldon’s walkie-talkie from the other crews, all announcing their grids are clear.
“Where the hell did those hikers go?” Garrett asks, sitting a few feet from me. Kellan and Lucas were assigned to two other crews.
“Wish I knew.” I unscrew the lid of my flask and sip the coffee. It’s not the best coffee in the world, but it’s not the worst either.
My thoughts slip back to Jess this morning in bed, and my index finger subconsciously taps a Morse code message on the metal flask.
I repeat it, and slowly the words behind the dots and dashes infiltrate my brain.
I’m in love with you.
My heart hiccups a beat, and my finger pauses mid-tap. Bit by bit, everything about Jess has been slipping under my guard, wrapping around my heart. I’m not a cynic, my heart cold to the possibility of love. It just wasn’t something I was looking for. Not at this point in my life.
Before Jess showed up in Maple Ridge, I’d been too busy with work and the cabins for the Wilderness Warriors program to worry about a relationship.
But here I am, on a mountain, searching for two missing hikers, and the truth behind my feelings is as bright as lightning against a storm-gray sky. But the Morse code message is one I sense Jess still isn’t ready to hear. Whatever happened to her in the past has put her heart into a vault, and who knows if she’ll ever hand me the key?
Patient. That’s what I need to be. And in time, hopefully I can convince her to fully trust me. Only then can we have a future together.
