Rock Harbor Series - 03 - Into the Deep (24 page)

Molly brought her another cup of coffee. She wiped her streaming eyes. “I about can’t work for worrying about Samson. I’ve been saving him a soup bone. You bring him in as soon as you find him, eh?”

“I will,” Bree choked out.
When
she found him. Not
if.

Mason came through the door and saw her. His face grim, he joined her. “Those men still aren’t talking,” he said.

“What can we do?” she whispered.

“We’re doing all we can.” He ordered coffee and breakfast. “Even Hilary went out to look with me last night. How’s Davy?”

“Too quiet. Anu has been keeping him busy.” She desperately wanted to hear good news of some kind. “Hilary must be doing better.”

His gaze flickered to her, then away. “She still cries most every night.” He ran his hand through his hair. “She tries to cry softly, but I still hear her. I don’t know what to do. I feel so guilty. If she had another husband, she could probably get pregnant again. As it is, the doctor says it’s doubtful.”

“What about adoption? I mentioned it to Hilary a little while ago, but she got mad.”

“Don’t take it personal. She gets mad at most everything these days.”

The weariness in Mason’s voice tugged at Bree’s heart. “Did you know Lauri needs to find adoptive parents?”

His eyes widened and his mouth went slack. “Lauri’s baby,” he said as if he’d never heard the words. “Naomi’s not taking it?”

“Nope. She and Donovan have enough on their plates right now. Do you think Hilary would consider it?”

A dawning hope transformed Mason’s face with color. “That’s a great idea, Bree! When is the baby due?”

“Around Thanksgiving, I think. Let me call Kade and ask.” Any excuse to hear his voice. His calm manner helped still her terror of what could be happening to Samson. She punched his number on her cell phone.

“Ranger Matthews.”

Her heart went into overdrive at the sound of his deep voice. “Hi, it’s me.”

“Bree?” The surge in his voice told her he was glad she’d called. “Out on your afternoon search yet?”

She gulped. “No. I’m meeting the group in an hour to search some more. Listen, I’m talking to Mason. When is Lauri due?”

“November fifteenth. You need to get out here to the lab. Mason too. There’s been an explosion. Can you get him?”

“He’s right here. I’ll tell him. Is Cassie all right?” Bree asked, urgency raising her voice.

“Everyone is fine. But we need to figure out who did this.” He paused. “Why are you asking about the baby?”

“Mason wants to talk to Hilary about it.”

“That would be great!”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” she warned. “Hilary may shoot them down.”

“Lauri has been depressed ever since she found out Naomi and Donovan wouldn’t take the baby. She’d be thrilled.”

“Don’t say anything to her yet. I wouldn’t want her disappointed if Mason can’t talk Hilary into it.”

“I won’t. Hey, I want to take Davy to ride go-carts, get his mind off Samson. How about it?”

“I’ll be out searching.”

“We’ll go after dark.”

She wanted to be looking for her dog every minute, but Davy needed her too. “Okay,” she said finally.

“We can visit the bookstore in Houghton and go for pizza after-wards. How does that sound?”

“I’ll tell Davy.”

“How about I bring Lauri too? If she’ll come.”

“She’ll come if you ask her nice.”

“I can be nice.”

“So I’m finding out.” She loved this teasing banter between them. She’d forgotten what it was like. A tingle started at her toes and finally settled in her stomach, warming the ice she’d been encased in ever since Samson was taken.

“I’ll see you then. I love you.”

He hung up before she could answer, but she sat there with her mouth open. So much for the words being hard for him to say. He’d sounded almost poetic.

“There’s been an explosion at the lab. Kade needs us out there. He said they’re all okay though.”

Mason sighed. “I’d like just one calm weekend.” He checked his cell phone. “Looks like I missed a call. Probably the lab.”

I haven’t been on a go-cart since I was twelve,” Lauri said. “You quit taking me.”

Kade grinned at the sulk in her voice. “I can always let you out at the movies.” He knew she wouldn’t miss this outing. She’d been talking about it ever since he got home.

“You can ride with me if you forgot how,” Davy offered.

In the backseat of Bree’s Jeep, Lauri leaned over and ruffled his hair. “I think I can remember.”

Kade reached across the seat and linked his fingers with Bree’s. “Just one big, happy family,” he whispered.

“Except for Samson,” Davy said sadly.

Kade felt Bree’s fingers tighten, and he squeezed them reassuringly. “We’ll find him,” he whispered.

She squeezed his hand in return.

“Cassie seemed glad you came to help. Are you sure you’re up to this tonight? I’m sure you’re tired.”

“I’m fine,” she told him. “I’m worried about her though. The level of violence keeps escalating. I’m not sure where it will stop.”

“Mason is on it. Let’s not worry about anything tonight.”

Bree nodded her agreement.

“Hey, Davy,” Kade said, “I had to move a bear the other day.”

In the rearview mirror, he saw Davy’s eyes go wide. “A bear?” the little boy squeaked.

“Yep. A big black bear. I got to the campsite and he was just sitting
there like he owned the place. He’d filched a sack of food from one of the cabins and was just munching away.”

“Like Yogi,” Davy quipped.

“Just like Yogi. Only we can’t let the bears do that. When they get used to taking food from people, they can get dangerous. So I called for help, got him tranquilized, and we had him taken to a remote part of Ottawa.”

“Did he scratch you?” Davy swiped his hand like a bear paw and growled.

“No, I was careful. But he was a big one.”

“Samson can beat anything,” Davy declared. “We should find him so he can protect you from the bears.”

“Samson doesn’t like to fight,” Bree said. “He’s a good dog.”

Kade caught Lauri’s eye in the rearview mirror. She nodded when she understood his facial expression and turned to distract Davy.

Bree turned the radio noise to the back and lowered her voice. “Have you seen any more sign of the dogfighting going on? I heard in town yesterday that another small dog came up missing. If we could maybe watch other dogs in town, they might lead us to Samson.”

“I hadn’t heard that.” He shook his head. “I haven’t seen anything, but I’ve been watching. There’s no guarantee it’s a dog ring, Bree. You know that.”

She moved restlessly. “I don’t know who else would have taken him.”

“I’ve been driving around the woods, stopping at a few cabins and looking for dogs. If I find any other pit bulls, it would bear more investigation.”

“Only pit bulls?”

“They’re the most common dog used in these rings. They’ve been bred to fight to the death.”

Bree shuddered. “We have to find Samson.”

19

W
e clean up the debris, and we’ll be back in business in no time.” Cassie knelt and tossed a handful of rubble into the Dumpster they’d hauled in this morning. She was unutterably weary. After yesterday’s violence, she’d lain awake in her bed watching the clock tick through every hour.

“I don’t know, Cass, it looks pretty bad. Makes you wonder if we’re not supposed to be here. Maybe the environmentalists are right, and this is the wrong thing to do.” Salome knelt to help her.

Yancy laughed. “You sure you didn’t help them, Salome?”

Salome shot him a poisonous glare. “Don’t even joke about it, Yance. I’d like to kill whoever did this.”

“Quit teasing her, Yancy,” Cassie said.

Salome lowered her voice so Yancy wouldn’t overhear. “I’m scared, Cassie,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about looking for another job. This is just getting too dangerous.”

Cassie blinked. “You can’t leave now, Salome. Our success here means more money than we can imagine! You’d lose your bonus. Besides, when this drug hits the market, you’ll be able to name your own price at any other pharmaceutical company.”

“That won’t do me a bit of good if I’m dead,” her friend said. “We all survived it this time. But what about the next time? If I leave, I’ll be safe.”

“Has someone been threatening you? I’ve never known you to quit anything.”

Salome looked away. “Nora is scared too. We all are.”

“So you’re all about to jump ship and leave me with no one?” Cassie grabbed a whisk broom and dustpan and brushed aimlessly at a clean spot on the floor. She didn’t trust herself to speak.

“I’m sorry, Cassie.” Salome touched Cassie’s arm. “You should go too.”

“I’m not leaving my job! This is my baby—our baby, Salome. You’ve been with me from the beginning. Please, we can’t let them win. This is our big chance to prove we’re somebody. If we quit now . . .” Her voice broke.

“You care too much about what other people think,” Salome said softly. “Your life is more important than a new drug.”

“It’s for my dad,” Cassie said. “It’s not just for the glory.”

“That’s what you say. But I don’t think it’s true. For you, it’s always been about proving yourself. Grow up, Cassie. The world doesn’t revolve around you. I have plans for my life, plans that don’t include getting killed before I have a chance to marry and have a baby.”

“I have this under control,” Cassie said through gritted teeth.

“Do you? Or does it have you?” Salome flipped her hair out of her eyes and stooped to pick up debris.

Cassie put her hands on her hips and sighed. Yancy was watching her. She cleared her throat. “I’ll get out my backup cuttings and we’ll get them transplanted once this mess is cleaned up.”

“You have backups? When did you decide to do that?” Yancy leaned over his round belly and picked up a large piece of debris. Huffing, he carried it to the Dumpster and heaved it in.

“With the hoopla from the environmental group, I thought it might be a good idea.”

“Where are they stored?” he asked. “You’re lucky they weren’t in here.”

“No kidding! I have them in the refrigerator in my office.”

“Hiding with the shriveled apples and the green cottage cheese,” Nora quipped.

“Very funny. Get to work, you.” Cassie pushed her.

Nora chuckled and joined the other workers cleaning the room. “Did anyone call Ian?”

“I tried,” Lola said. “There was no answer. But I think he said something about going fishing on his day off. Maybe he went out for dinner after. I left a message on his machine.”

“He might have gone out of town. He’ll be back tomorrow, but I’ll try to get hold of him again later today,” Cassie said.

By noon most of the debris had been cleared away, leaving only one corner to be finished. All the lights had been destroyed, but they could continue to use the temporary ones for now. A local carpenter had promised to come today to build more plant tables, and Cassie was expecting a shipment of potting soil and containers tomorrow.

The fanatics may have slowed them down, but they couldn’t stop their research. She would find a cure for Alzheimer’s if it killed her.

She heard a sharp intake of breath from Chito Yamamoto. He backed away from the final corner where he’d been working. “Call the sheriff.” His voice was high and strained.

“What is it?”

“There’s a body. I think it’s Ian.”

Rain dripped from the thick canopy of leaves above Bree’s head. The moisture created almost a halo of mist in the clearing. All of her search team had assembled in spite of the weather. Sporting yellow slickers, they slogged through the mud to join her.

“I appreciate you coming,” Bree said when rumbles of their grumbling reached her ears. “I know it’s lousy weather, but consider it good training. Sometimes people get lost in this kind of weather. Knowing how to search now could be the difference between life and death. And Samson is out there somewhere, waiting for us to find him.”

The group’s grumbling petered out. Bree saw Lauri and Eva exchange glances. “What?”

Eva dropped her gaze to the ground. “I wonder if it’s time to give
up, Bree. He’s probably been taken out of the area. I don’t know how we could ever find him.”

“Ooh, did we crawl out of the wrong side of the bed this morning?” Ryan Erickson asked. The paramedic looked fresh and alert. “We aren’t giving up until Bree says it’s time to give up.”

Eva glared at him but didn’t answer. They’d had a “thing” for about two weeks, but now that it was over, they were at loggerheads again. Bree grimaced. The day was shaping up to be lousy.

“I’m not ready to give up yet,” she said quietly. “I still feel Samson is around here somewhere.”

“Feelings don’t tell us where to search,” Eva pointed out.

Bree ignored her comment. “We’ll do some training, then go out and search for Samson. We’re going to work on cadaver scent today,” she said.

“I hate this kind of work,” Eva grumbled.

Naomi shot her a quelling look. “All of us would rather find living people, especially the dogs, but we’re going to be faced with this sooner or later.”

Bree nodded. “I’m going to sprinkle some cadaver scent on gauze and let your dogs smell it.” She prepared the pad and dropped it into a paper bag. “Whichever dog finds it first, I’m giving away a twenty-dollar certificate to the Suomi Café.”

The grumbles changed to smiles.

“Let’s get on with it,” Lauri said.

Bree held up her hand. “I’ve already hidden the scent tube. It’s not going to be as easy as you think. I buried it six feet under-ground.”

“Hey, that will take all day for them to find it,” Eva said, frowning.

“Charley is exempt from the contest,” Naomi put in.

“Wait here. I’ll call you when it’s ready. I want to watch the dogs work.”

“I’m going to look over the grid map and figure out where we want to search for Samson today,” Naomi said.

Bree shot her a grateful look. Her best friend knew how worried she was. “Be right back,” she said.

Jogging through the scent of pine and mud, Bree felt her tension slip away like the ebbing of Superior’s tide. The wilderness sustained her, like an infusion of lifeblood into her soul. God felt just a whisper away out here, and she knew he was in control of everything, even the trauma Hilary and Mason were going through and the trial she was facing with losing Samson. She whispered a prayer for them all and lifted her face to the stinging rain.