Chapter 12

Scout reached the rendezvous an hour before the appointed time. The old shack sat back from the county road behind a thick stand of trees. From her vantage point several hundred yards to the east behind an outcropping of rock and thick underbrush she could see both the road and the front of the shack.

Jonas arrived at the designated time and gave her the tracking device. He didn’t stay long, and she was glad. She had not slept well. Several times she’d been tempted to call Cole and explain. But she knew that if she told him what she was doing, he would try to stop her. Regardless of what he thought of her skills and ability to survive in the wilderness, he was still a man, and would feel compelled to try and protect her.

She understood that need. It was part of the reason she hadn’t told him. If he was involved and something went wrong, then he would be in danger. Despite his strength and intelligence, he was at a disadvantage in the wilderness, pitted against men who made their living, however illegal, tracking and hunting.

Scout did not regret her decision to come alone. She only regretted that he would be concerned. And he definitely would have been concerned if he’d been with her during the night.

Wanting to warn the animal population, she’d decided to try and bring on a transformation. It was far easier than she’d imagined. A little painful, but it happened quickly. One moment she was human and the next she was feline.

It didn’t take her long to find another lion. It also didn’t take her long to realize that while she inhabited the body of a lion, she was not completely feline. The first lion she encountered recognized her as a skin-walker. He was not afraid or offended by her presence but accepted her as being a relative to his kind.

She passed on the warning, and he left after assuring her that others would be forewarned. After she was left alone, she felt the urge to run, to roam the land. And so, she did. She passed the night scouting the area surrounding the rendezvous point, moving in ever widening circles until she’d covered more ground than the hunting party would be able to travel in two days’ time.

It was nearly dawn when she returned to the small hunting lodge where she’d left her gear. She ate and lay down for an hour, then got up to prepare.

She took little with her. The locator beacon fit easily into the pocket on the leg of her pants and her knife rested in its sheath on the belt around her hips. She slid the tiny listening device Jonas had given her into her left ear and activated it. According to Jonas, he’d obtained it from a military contact, and it was supposed to have a half-mile range. There was nothing else she needed so she left her supplies and bedding behind.

From her hiding place she was safe from a surprise approach, so she closed her eyes to rest until the arrival of the hunting party. Jonas’ voice in her ear woke her. “Five minutes from rendezvous.”

Sure enough, within minutes a long black sedan turned off the road and rolled down the bumpy path to the shack.

Scout watched as the driver got out and opened the back door. Rick was the first one out of the car, followed by Scott and Mike. Jonas was the last to emerge. He pulled out a cell phone and made a call. Scout could hear his end of the conversation.

“We’re here. Where are you?” After a few seconds pause he spoke again. “I’m not paying you twenty-five thousand dollars to keep me waiting.”

He ended the call and leaned back against the car.

Scout heard the vibration of the all-terrain vehicle before she saw it. A late-model Jeep, painted in matte camouflage fashion, turned off the road and pulled up beside the limo.

Ray was the only one in the vehicle. He climbed out and approached Jonas, who pushed away from the car.

“Ray Moss,” Ray introduced himself.

“David White,” Jonas said then gestured to the other men. “My son-in-law, Steve Green, and my associates Rick Black and Bill Brown.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Ray nodded at the men. “You got your gear?”

“In the trunk,” Jonas replied and gestured to the driver who immediately set about unloading backpacks, weapons and supplies.

“I was under the impression we would have two guides,” Jonas commented. “Where’s our second man?”

“He’ll meet up with us later at base camp,” Ray replied. “Right now, let’s get you loaded up and we’ll head over there now. You boys are in for a treat. The females are just now starting to take their young out, so there should be a lot of activity.”

“Good,” Jonas said. “I don’t intend to go home without a trophy.”

“No worries about that, Mr. White,” Ray assured him and watched the driver put the last of the gear in the back of his Jeep. “That it?”

“Yes, sir,” the driver replied.

“Then let’s get going,” Ray said and climbed in behind the wheel.

Jonas nodded to the driver and took the front passenger seat, leaving his three agents to crowd into the back.

Scout watched them drive away, listening as Jonas commented on the scenery as they drove. He was giving her landmarks. Not that she needed them. She could see the little blip on the locator moving on the screen. On foot, she followed, making sure to stay off the road and out of sight.

* * * * *

Cole walked into the Ranger station and poured himself a cup of coffee. Tim Matthews passed by the door to the break room, saw him and stopped. “Hey, you’re not scheduled until tomorrow.”

“Had nothing else going so I figured I’d get a jump on the high-country patrol. Deters reported yesterday that one of the trails was blocked by a downed tree. Thought I’d take a chainsaw and go up and clear the way.”

“That can wait. We don’t have many hikers in the park right now and most of them seem to be sticking to the southernmost trails.”

Cole shrugged. “Never know though.”

Tim turned to leave then stopped and turned back to face Cole. “Everything okay, Cole?”

“Yeah, fine.”

Tim nodded. “Look, it’s none of my business, but I know you and Scout have been spending a lot of time together. If there’s trouble between the two of you—”

“No, everything’s fine, Tim. Thanks.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” Cole replied, then changed his mind. “No. I mean we’re not fighting or anything, but she took off two days ago and left me a note that has me a little troubled.”

“What did she say, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Said she had something she had to do that might help bring Jed’s murderer to justice.”

Tim blew out his breath and walked over to the coffee pot to pour himself a cup. He sat down at the table. “She talk with Jonas Roberts lately?”

“Few days ago,” Cole replied and took a seat at the table. “Why?”

“Just a hunch,” Tim said. “I don’t think he was convinced that Bobby Howard was really responsible for the murders.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He asked me a lot of questions—about some of the locals.”

“Any local in particular?”

“Ray Moss. You know him?”

“Only heard of him. That he was partners with Howard. But didn’t his alibi check out?”

“Yeah, his brother and another fellow vouched for him that he was up at the fellow’s lodge doing some fishing when it all happened.”

“But?” Cole asked.

“But it made me think,” Tim said. “Now this is between you and me, Cole. Scout would have my head if she knew I was talking behind her back, but I knew her grandfather pretty well, and have known Scout most of her life.

“Ray’s father and Jed were in business at one time, as trackers. But Jed dumped him because Moss didn’t have the same appreciation for the wilderness and the life in it that Jed did. Jed didn’t believe in hunting for sport. He only hunted when an animal was wounded or had proven to be a threat to livestock or humans. Hunting for the sport was against his belief. But sport hunting was big business and Ray’s father knew there was money to be made in it. He tried to convince Jed.

“But Jed wouldn’t have any part of it. He refused and when Moss went ahead, Jed cursed him.”

“You mean cussed him out?”

“No, cursed him. Said that what he was doing would lead only to suffering and death.”

“That’s hardly a curse.”

“Well, it’s the way Moss’ boys ended up taking it. Moss never said a hard word against Jed, but rumor has it that his sons were pretty pissed. They even went so far as to blame Jed when their father was killed in a hunting accident.”

“How did he die?”

“Mauled by a lion.”

Cole grimaced. “What did that have to do with Jed?”

“Nothing, but they needed someone to blame. A few years ago, they set up this big hunt on private land. All I really know for sure is that they had two packs of dogs and ten city boys eager to go out and shoot something.

“Apparently they crossed the boundary into the national forest and ran into Jed and Scout. Jed accused Moss of breaking the law and conducting an illegal hunt. In front of Moss’ clients. And Scout lit into them and threatened to have them arrested if they didn’t call off the hunt that moment.”

Cole chuckled. “I can see her doing that.”

“Yeah, she’s a firecracker,” Tim agreed. “Anyway, Moss gave in and said he’d stop the hunt. But apparently he just said that to get them off his ass because four days later, a cornered female lion attacked him. His sons and the clients killed the lion, but not before she’d killed Moss.”

“Bad way to go,” Cole commented. “But what does that have to do with Scout?”

“Word has it that Ray blamed Jed and Scout. Said they cursed the hunt. That if his father hadn’t been upset over the altercation with them, he would have been on his game and the lion wouldn’t have gotten him.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Yeah, it is,” Tim agreed. “To a rational person. Problem is, I’m not real sure Ray’s been rational since his father died. He and Scout damn near came to blows just before Jed died. Ray made a smart-ass comment about Jed in her presence, and she went after him. Don’t know what. But I do know she went after him. Physically. He had her arrested. She spent three days in jail rather than let anyone bail her out, and let it be known that if Ray came within a hundred feet of her, she’d gut him.”

Cole was taken aback by that. “Are you sure Scout said that?”

“That’s what I heard.”

“Did you ask her?”

“No, I didn’t think it was wise to bring it up. Particularly considering that Jed was killed a couple of weeks later.”

Cole shook his head. “I don’t buy it. Scout’s tough and hardheaded but she’d never make that kind of threat against someone.

“You sure about that?” Tim asked and held up his hand for Cole to wait. “Look, I love her like a sister, Cole. But she’s not like the rest of us. There’s part of her that’s…I don’t know. Wild. Jed was the same way. Like he was more part of the animals than he was with men, if that makes sense.”

Cole couldn’t tell Tim that it made more sense than Tim would ever realize. But he could argue in Scout’s defense. “And from what I’ve always heard Jed Windrider was one of the most humane, wise men who ever walked. That he was against violence and never even carried a gun. That his was a path of peace.”

“That’s true.”

“And he raised Scout. Taught her. She’s the same way. She might fight to the death if threatened, but she wouldn’t ever set out to harm a life. Any life. It’s not her way.”

What he couldn’t say, was that the animal part of Scout would not see any need for senseless killing. Lions killed to eat. End of story. They did not kill for pleasure or profit or out of spite. For them, killing was necessary for survival. The part of Scout that was a lion shared that view. The part of her that was human cared too deeply for life to end it unless it was a matter of kill or be killed. He believed that.

“You’re probably right,” Tim replied. “But that doesn’t change the fact that there’s bad blood between her and Moss, and Moss was one of the prime suspects in the murders. Or that Scout’s gone missing after talking with Roberts.”

“She said she did a lot of work for the CBI.”

“She does. Any time there’s a missing person or a manhunt for a fugitive or someone on the run from committing a crime they call her in.”

“Then maybe that’s what it is this time,” Cole suggested.

“No reports of missing persons in the last few days,” Tim replied. “But hey, what do I know. The CBI might have info that hasn’t been released to the public. Anyway, I didn’t really mean to get into all that. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Cole said and remained seated as Tim got up and left. If that was a heads up, then on what? Was Tim trying to tell him Scout had gone off with Jonas on something that was dangerous? Was he suggesting that she was getting into something that involved this Moss fellow that might get her killed? Or was he suggesting she might be off trying to take the law into her own hands?

None of it was appetizing in the least, and all of it worrisome. Cole needed to find out where she’d gone. And he needed to do it fast. The problem was, who could help him?

He got up and went to the supply building for a saw, intending to go take care of clearing the trail. As he entered, he heard the man who ran the supply department talking with another of the rangers.

“No shit. Jack said the lion saw him, stopped, and just watched until he got back on his four-wheeler, and it watched him drive off. Never growled. Didn’t run. Nothing. Said it was strange as hell. Damn thing acted like a person.”

A chill skittered down Cole’s spine. “Hey, Russ. Some strange tale. Where did Jack say he was when he saw the lion?”

“Up along the north pass, close to the border,” Russ replied.

Cole nodded and turned to leave. “Thanks, man.”

“Hey, you need something?” Russ called after him.

“Nope, I’m good.” Cole threw up his hand and kept walking straight to his truck. Now he knew where to go for answers. The problem facing him was how to get close enough to ask.

* * * * *

Scout worked her way around the perimeter of the hunting party’s base camp. It was the third day of the hunt and so far, things had not gone well. Ray’s brother Jimmy had brought in the dogs yesterday and not even they could pick up the scent of a lion.

Jonas had complained long and loud last night when they returned to camp, tired and hungry. Jimmy had left with the dogs, and Ray had turned his attention to a fifth of Jack Daniels.

Several times the agent posing as Jonas’ son-in-law had approached Ray. They talked and drank and talked more. But so far Ray had not taken the bait on any plot to do away with Jonas. His only comment was that if the man wanted Jonas dead, he should just pull out his gun and shoot him when no one was looking and call it a hunting accident.

Scout knew that wasn’t enough for Jonas to use to put Ray behind bars. Unless they either cornered a lion or something happened to loosen Ray’s lips, this mission was going south fast.

She heard Ray telling the men to gear up and they’d head out as soon as his brother arrived with the dogs.

Less than an hour passed before Jimmy Moss arrived. But he did not have the dogs with him. He called Ray over to his truck, and they spoke for a few minutes, then Ray yelled to the hunting party that he and his brother were going to check something out and they’d be back inside an hour.

Scout fell in behind them. They walked about a hundred yards outside the camp and stopped.

“I told you something about that guy was familiar,” Jimmy was saying when she got close enough to hear. “When I got back last night, I got online to check it out. Took me almost all night but I found it. The guy saying he’s Bob Brown is really Mike Billings with the CBI.”

“No way,” Ray argued.

“I’m telling you it’s the guy! If you don’t believe me then look at this.” He pulled something from his back pocket and handed it to Ray.

Ray accepted and unfolded the printed sheet of paper. He was quiet for a few minutes as he stared at the paper then he wadded it up tight in his hand.

“Motherfucker!”

Jimmy nodded. “I told you something was wrong about those guys.”

“Well, why the fuck are they out here?” Ray barked. “You think it has something to do with Bobby and those New York boys?”

“That’d be my guess,” Jimmy replied. “I tried to get up with Fred to make sure no one had been back to talk to him about us claiming to be at his lodge with him when it all went down, but I couldn’t get him.”

“You think he’d turn on us?” Ray asked.

“Hell, Ray, you know as well as I do that anybody’ll turn if they’re trying to save their own ass.”

“But this report says the guy was involved in the investigation into Windrider’s death, not Bobby’s.”

“Point is, he’s CBI,” Jimmy said. “Which means the others probably are too.”

“But Windrider’s been dead more than a year. No way in hell they’re still on that. Besides, they’ll never pin that shit on us. We covered all the bases. Right?”

“Yeah. We did,” Jimmy replied. “But the same may not be true with Bobby and those New York guys. You made a pretty big mess of that.”

“Well fuck you!” Ray snarled.

“Chill.” Jimmy reached out to put his hand on Ray’s shoulder. “Look man, we’re in this together. They nail you for any of this or the old man’s murder and I go down too.”

“So, what do we do?” Ray asked.

“Let me think,” Jimmy said and paced back and forth, kicking at small stones and pieces of wood on the forest floor.

Ray watched in silence. And in silence Scout watched him. Rage had bloomed fast and bitter when she heard them talking about Jed’s death. There was no doubt about it. They’d killed Jed. Pain and grief swelled to mix with the rage, threatening her control. The skin-walker screamed to be released. All she had to do was let go and the animal inside her would take care of both of them.

She fought against it. The last thing Jed would want was for her to stain her soul with the taking of life. Even life as low and vile as the Moss brothers. But the call of the lion inside was strong. She broke out in a sweat in a fight to stay in control of the beast that demanded blood for blood.

Scout was so caught up in her own battle that she missed hearing what Jimmy said when he turned back to Ray. But his voice filtered in, helping her push back the madness. She needed to know what they planned.

“So, if we take them into the high country and force them to climb, we can rig a fatal fall,” Jimmy was saying.

“Another fall so soon after Bobby might look suspicious,” Ray pointed out.

“But this time it’s different,” Jimmy argued. “We came in from Hastings place in Ourey and hiked out to Black Canyon. That’s what we say the clients were here for. As soon as we stage the accident, we take all the guns, bury them, then one of us goes for help to report the accident.”

“Right, like we’re going to convince a bunch of CBI guys to try and make an ascent in Black Canyon. First, it’s illegal without a permit, and second, they can’t be that stupid. No, it won’t work. We have to come up with a legitimate reason to get them into Black Canyon.”

“No, we don’t. We just head there. Two hours away from camp and they’ll be lost. They either stick with us or try and find their own way out. They’ll follow us. We just have to convince them that we know where the prey is.”

Scout had heard enough. She had to warn Jonas and his men. And she had to get help. The problem was she couldn’t go for help and stay close enough to warn Jonas. Unless.

She made her decision quickly. Working her way back from her vantage point, she found a safe place. After undressing, she put the listening device, tracking device, and her knife into her pants pocket, then wound the pants around the length of her belt. She left the sheathed knife attached to the belt, buckled it in its loosest notch, then sat down and willed herself to change.

It was not as painful as the previous transformation, something she was profoundly grateful for. She sure didn’t want to give away her position and end up being the prey for a hunt.

Once in lion form, she worked her head through the looped belt. It hung like an unwieldy necklace around her neck, but it would suffice. With a goal clear in her mind, she set off as fast as her four legs would carry her.

* * * * *

Cole arrived at the opening of the cave just before noon. A warning scream from inside had him stopping short of the entrance.

“It’s me. Cole,” he called out. “Scout’s friend.”

A deep growl came from inside. “I need help,” he said. “I have to find Scout.”

A more intense growl came in response to his words. Having no idea what else to do, he backed up a little ways from the cave, sat down and waited. And waited. And waited.

Twilight was starting to fall when he heard a sound at the mouth of the cave. The lioness stood there, watching him.

“She’s out there, and in danger,” Cole said. “I need to find her, and I need help.”

The lioness watched him for a few moments, the turned to look back into the depths of the cave. Cole sensed that she understood, and maybe she wanted to help but she was loathe to leave the cubs.

“I’ll stand guard over them,” he offered. “If you can just find out where she is.”

The lioness opened her mouth and released a scream that made every hair on his body stand on end. He didn’t know if she was going to attack him or not, but he didn’t want to make any sudden moves, so he just sat there and hoped for the best.

Which is exactly what he got. She cocked her head to one side as if listening, and then took off, disappearing from sight within seconds. Leaving him to wait.