by David Horne
The next morning, Branch slept in a little late, allowing his deputies the responsibility of opening up the office. It was another common practice in their little community and usually wasn't a big deal. As he walked through the front door, though, Gina Larson popped up from her desk and rushed over to him.
"You're not going to like this, Sheriff," she said.
Gina was much too perky and energetic for that early in the morning. At least, for Branch's tastes. "I already don't like it," he mumbled. "What is it?"
"The FBI's on their way."
Chapter Two
Geoff Holden had no idea where he was. He sat in the passenger seat of a large, black, rather nondescript SUV, and glanced at the map he had open in his lap. He'd have much preferred to consult the GPS on his phone, but it wasn't working anymore. In fact, his cell phone wasn't getting any service at all.
"Explains why they didn't just call for help," a voice behind him pointed out.
Geoff glanced behind him and gave the agent a nod. He preferred not to comment on an investigation, they'd just started, though he knew she was just making a joke. He looked back at the map and pointed to the road they were supposed to be on. Then he looked back up and pointed.
"Take a right!"
The driver swung around, almost sending them careening off the road. When they'd straightened back up and Geoff had opened his eyes again, he took a breath and swore under it.
Twenty minutes later, the agent behind him said, "Are you sure this is the right road? We seem to be getting deeper into...nowhere."
The trees seemed to close in around them and the sky darken and become ominous. Just as Geoff was about to give the order to turn around and try another road, a couple of houses came into view through the trees. Before long there were a few more and then they came to a small sign telling them that they'd reached Grand Arbré.
"Thank God," the female agent breathed.
Finding the Sheriff's office was much easier than finding the town itself, and a few minutes later, they were piling out of the SUV and stepping into the small building.
Geoff glanced around, taking off a cap to reveal a thick mop of wavy hair. He brushed it back with his hand and looked around for someone in charge. He didn't like these small town gigs. He wasn't much for navigating in the wilderness, and the locals had a tendency to want to keep their investigations to themselves. Still, he noted that the hardwood office had a warm, inviting feel to it, as had the quaint little town, despite the oppressiveness of the forest.
***
Back in his office, Branch shook his head slightly and said, "What the hell does the FBI want?"
"Probably something to do with what's going on up at the lake," Dale answered.
"I told you, something's always going on up at the lake." Branch had barely had time to take off his coat and hang it up in his office. It wasn't much smaller than the rest of the place put together. The Sheriff's department had no real waiting area. Everyone knew each other in Grand Arbré. Anyone who needed anything simply walked in. Which is exactly what the FBI had just done. Branch's deputies parted when he noticed them and got up to walk back through his office door. The three people in the main office were glancing around like they were looking to buy some real estate.
"Can I help you people with something?" Branch asked, hands on hips.
The trio glanced around and one of them stepped forward. It was clear he was the boss. He gave Branch a curt smile, and Gina cocked her head as he moved closer. Her eyebrows crept up at the realization that the two of them could have been brothers, except for one glaring difference, the FBI agent was about a foot taller than Branch... and had a beard. Other than that, they had the same dark hair, the same big brown eyes, even the same ruddy complexion and stocky build.
After a moment of looking one another over, the taller man finally produced a badge and said, "I'm Special Agent Geoff Holden with the FBI. I take it you're Sheriff Fouche," he added, pronouncing the name with the proper French long "a" sound at the end.
"It's Fou-she," Branch corrected him. "My ancestors changed it to the 'ee' sound a long time ago. You know what, forget it," he added, waving the discussion away and crossing his arms. "What can I do for you, Agent Holden?"
"There's been a report about Grand Arbré Lake," he answered.
"It's the lake," Branch and Gina replied in unison.
The FBI agents stared at them in confusion for a moment and then Geoff nodded slowly. "It's a missing person's report. Two as a matter of fact."
"And you're here because...?" Branch asked slowly.
"They're a couple from Las Vegas. Their last known whereabouts was the forest surrounding the lake. One of them made a call to a relative —"
"That's a shocker," Gina said. When the agents gave her a strange look, she added, "Phones don't work much up on the mountain."
"Yes, we noticed. Anyway, Melissa, the missing woman, told her mother they were hiking to Grand Arbré Lake. The interstate aspect of the case –"
"Yeah, yeah, the FBI was called in. We get it," Branch grumbled. That didn't mean he'd have to like it. One thing that the residents of Grand Arbré didn't care for was having outsiders poking their noses into their business. There wasn't much he could do about it, though. After a moment, he finally nodded and said, "We've already been up there, found their camping gear."
"And you didn't report it?" Geoff asked with a frown.
"We were handling the investigation just fine. In fact, we were just about to put a search party together."
Geoff nodded again, not sure how to handle the feisty little Sheriff. He decided to go for the friendly approach. "Well, since we were called in, we might as well coordinate."
Branch crossed his arms over his chest and thought about it for a moment. He knew the FBI had jurisdiction and that this Agent Holden was either stalling or truly did want to cooperate. He decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt.
"All right, we'll show you how to get up there," he said.
"Sheriff," Gina started to protest, but Branch held up his hand.
"But I need you to let me take point on this. I've been here all my life. I know the forest and I know the mountain. It's difficult terrain, easy to get lost in, and easy to get hurt in."
"That's fine," Geoff agreed. "I only have a small team with me at the moment anyway. I can call in agents as needed, though. I imagine, with this kind of search –"
Branch held up his hand again. "Nah, the whole town will come out to help. I'll have Gina coordinate everyone." He nodded toward his deputy and she nodded back. "I suppose you'd like to take a look at the evidence before heading up there."
"That would be nice, yes," Geoff replied with a slightly sarcastic smile.
As Gina rushed over to her phone with the list she'd made up before the Sheriff even came in, Branch gestured for Dale to lead them to the evidence locker. It wasn't much of a room, having been built for the average small town Sheriff's department, but Grand Arbré was anything but average. As Dale unlocked the door and opened it, the female FBI agent let out a whistle. Every shelf in the room was packed and boxes even lined the floor along the wall.
"I'd say you had a bit of a backlog, Sheriff," she said.
"Welcome to Grand Arbré," he quipped. "Special Agent..."
"Harrelson," she answered and gave his hand a quick shake.
There didn't seem to be any kind of rhyme or reason to the evidence locker, but Branch had a system. The agents watched as he made straight for a bin on the floor and pulled out two loaded hiking bags. Each of them had a tag with the information about where it was found, when and who logged it and so on. He handed one to Geoff and then took the other one himself. He led them into the interview room, the only empty one in the station, and set his bag down on it.
"My deputy," he said, glancing Dale's way, "he glanced inside while looking for their IDs, but didn't find anything out of the ordinary."
Geoff nodded and then followed Branch's lead. He didn'
t say anything, simply unzipped the hiking pack and began unloading its contents onto the table. He slowly sifted through it, but found nothing besides clothes, food and water, a tent, and a few personal items. There was nothing to suggest where the two might be, why they'd left their supplies behind, or if they'd become someone's victims.
"It was a long shot," the Special Agent admitted and then looked over the pairs' driver's licenses.
Gina suddenly appeared in the doorway, itching to say something. "Sheriff, everybody's coordinated and heading up the mountain now. Lucille's bringing some water and sports drinks and she'll be working out lunch later."
"Good work, Gina," Branch said with a nod and then turned back to the FBI. "I guess we should get up there too. This means you're in my group. Dale, you go with Gina and the two of you find a couple of groups to lead."
"Yes, boss," Dale answered with a wide-eyed gulp.
The morning was a little brighter as they went outside and piled into their respective vehicles. Branch didn't care for the idea of taking the FBI's SUV, so he took his too and led the agents up the mountain behind Gina and Dale. He'd cringed at the idea of them taking the other department vehicle too, but he recognized the need for the official presence. He switched on his radio as he pulled out and called up his deputies.
"How many people are we coordinating?" he asked.
"One hundred fifty-two for now. The rest either had to work or weren't in any state to go up to the lake," she added, sarcastically.
Branch knew what she meant. The night before had been a Friday night, and since there wasn't a lot to do for the more restless types in town, the bar was the most popular choice.
"All right, we'll give them a few hours to sober up and then call them again," Branch answered with a shake of the head.
In the imposing SUV behind the Sheriff, Geoff raised his eyebrows, impressed. It was clear that the people of Grand Arbré were caring for so many of them to come out to search for strangers. Though Geoff had an inkling from the snippets of conversation he'd heard and the way the deputies had acted, that they cared about the land even more. It was almost as if they wanted to get this situation over with and get the strangers out of their forest.
The agents carefully followed Branch up the mountain switchbacks, drawing more whistles from Agent Harrelson. There were fewer side roads here, but still enough that Geoff cringed at the ease of access. If someone had taken the missing couple, it would be very easy for them to hide and very easy for them to escape.
"We should get someone in here to close these roads," Geoff stated, "Just in case."
The closer they got to the lake, the heavier the traffic became until it looked like they'd never get up the mountain to get the search started. When they did get there, the parking area was already full and people were having to park along the side of the road.
"What could possibly go wrong here?" Agent Harrelson quipped at the line of cars still half way parked in the road.
"I have a feeling this is more people than have ever been up here," Geoff replied.
"Oh, I don't know. I bet the locals hold all kinds of secret ceremonies up here."
Geoff rolled his eyes at her and then opened the passenger door. The first thing he noticed was that it was markedly cooler. His ears had already informed him of the drastic change in altitude on the drive up. He grabbed a windbreaker from the back of the SUV, one with the very visible FBI written on the back, put his cap back on, and then took in his surroundings.
"What do you see?" he asked Harrelson and his other team member.
"Trees, lots and lots of trees," Harrelson answered. "They look just like the trees at the base of the mountain."
Geoff ignored her and looked out across a fine layer of fog. The breeze was still, causing the fog to hang in the air and descend from the treetops. There were no morning bird sounds though and no tiny insects buzzing around their heads. He may not have been an outdoorsman, but he was pretty sure there should have been more signs of life in the woods.
"Something's off here," he mumbled.
"You mean, besides the two missing persons?" Harrelson commented.
"Yeah."
"Ready to get started?" Branch called from his own SUV. "We have a command tent set up over here." He nodded his head toward the woods and then led the way.
The trees thickened quickly, so at the edge of the clearing, they'd reserved a spot to act as the operations area. Gina sat under a canopy, having searchers sign in and showed them where their groups were. Next to her was another canopy where Lucille, owner of one of the three restaurants in town, had ice chests full of water and energy drinks as well as grills set up to fix lunch.
"Hey, Lucille," Branch called lazily as they walked by.
She smiled at him, but her face fell as she saw the group he was leading. "The FBI?" she hissed. "We don't need their help, do we?"
"Well, it's protocol Lucille," Branch answered, putting one hand on his hip and running the other through his dark hair. "We don't have much choice."
Lucille gave him a tiny huff and then looked the agents over like they were there to rob her, before going back to her work.
"Don't mind her," Branch said as a way of apology. "Many people in Grand Arbré prefer to look after their own, especially the older residents."
"Yes, we get that a lot," Harrelson replied.
Geoff gave her a warning glare and then nodded at Gina in the operations tent. "You have search perimeters planned out?"
"Yep, everything's covered except for..." She glanced down at her paperwork and finished, "The south ridge."
Branch nodded and turned back to his FBI companions. "You left us the south ridge?" he hissed to his deputy.
"Well, you know these woods better than anyone. I figured you could handle it best."
Branch glanced back again, a look of calm and confidence in his face. "It'll be slow going. It's a pretty rough hike on the south ridge," he informed them.
"We understand," Geoff announced. "I guess we'd better get some supplies."
The four of them grabbed flashlights for the darker parts of the woods, some water and granola bars, and a few other things that might come in handy should they get lost looking for the people who were already missing. Radios were some of the most important parts of their gear, though Branch informed them that they didn't always work any better than the cell phones did up on the mountain. Luckily, the FBI agents had come prepared as well and had boots and more appropriate attire in the back of their SUV.
Agent Harrelson was immodest about the whole thing, changing out of her skirt and into some jeans right alongside the boys. At one point, Geoff glanced back to make sure no one was ogling her and was surprised to see that Branch was looking their direction, but at him, not her. When the Sheriff quickly looked away, a puzzled look came over Geoff's face, and then in realization, he smiled ever so slightly.
On the other side of the road, Gina leaned in to see what Branch was looking at and smiled too. “He is cute, boss,” she teased.
Branch started and then blushed, quickly turning and walking away.
Chapter Three
A few hours later, they were all sweaty and tired. The hike to the southern ridge had been every bit as grueling as Branch had warned. It had turned out that some of the most experienced hikers had come out to help, as well as the retired former Sheriff. That left Gina free to go with Branch and the FBI agents.
When Geoff asked about Dale, Branch answered, "He might not look like much, but he's a good hiker."
"As long as it's daytime," Gina quipped.
They'd seen no sign of the lost campers, no signs of anyone really. It was rare for anyone to come up to the ridge. They knew it had to be searched anyway, though, so they pressed on.
"I'm hungry," Gina complained a while later. Noon had already come and gone.
Branch took a granola bar from his shirt pocket and handed it to her. She took it, but looked disappointed. "It would be useless to go back," he
informed her. "It took way too long to get up here."
The FBI agents followed suit and had a quick bite as they slowly combed the area. The truth was, the forest was so thick on the ridge that it was hard to tell what time it actually was. As they glanced at the forest floor, the light was almost dim enough to need their flashlights. Tall, lush ferns clogged the path here and there and the rest of the ground was thick with pine needles.
Agent Harrelson glanced over at her boss and whispered, "How are we going to find anything in this?"
"Just keep your eyes open," he replied shortly.
Ahead of them, Branch ignored the whispering. He knew better what he was looking for and had his ears open and his eyes peeled to the ground. Here and there, he'd kick away some leaves or needles or pull back a fern frond and then move on. Eventually, just when they were all about to lose hope of finding anything at all, he held up his hand and stopped.
"What is it, boss?" Gina whispered, leaning in close.
Branch pointed to the ground in front of him. "Bear tracks."
"Did he say bear tracks?" the normally quiet FBI driver said.
"It is the woods, John," Geoff answered.
"Do you think that's what happened to our campers?" Agent Harrelson asked.
Branch knelt down beside the tracks to get a better look. He carefully brushed away debris from the forest and felt around the tracks. Then he shook his head. "These are older than just yesterday. How long did you say they'd been missing?"
"Two days now," Geoff answered. He moved closer, to look over the Sheriff's shoulder. "Are they older than that?"
"Hard to tell," Branch admitted. He rubbed at the stubble on his ruddy chin and then stood up to follow the tracks.
"Should we be following a bear?" Agent Harrelson hissed.
"Probably not," Branch admitted with a sly smile. They didn't walk very far before he stopped and knelt down again. "Nah, there's no sign of anything or anyone. If this bear had mauled these people or drug them off, there'd be blood and hair and clothes, some evidence. This just looks like a bear out for a quiet stroll."