Hidden Truths

by David Horne

  Geoff sighed and picked the man up as he laughed, practically carrying him to the door. Inside, he was surprised to see that the cabin wasn't really as small as he'd thought. He helped Branch over to his recliner and then cleared another chair of blankets and books to sit down on what turned out to be a lovely, antique rocking chair.

  "Sorry about this," Branch moaned. "I don't usually indulge like this, but it's been a long few days, you know."

  "Yeah," Geoff replied with a sigh. "I suppose there's not much else to do around here either."

  "Oh no, no," Branch protested, trying to sit up a little straighter. "There's much more than you think. The woods," he said, making a sweeping gesture toward his windows. "There's so much to see and do, hunting and fishing, and just...walking and listening, you know."

  Geoff smiled and looked down at his feet. "No, not really."

  "Well, you should. It's beautiful up here. It makes you feel...connected."

  "With the bears you mean?"

  Branch scoffed at him. "You have to accept the violence too. So many people think that all of nature's bounty was put there just for us to enjoy, but it's not like that. Like I said before, you have to respect it, and live with the fact that it might kill you." He glanced over at Agent Holden, who seemed enthralled by what he was saying and gave him an appreciative nod. Then his face scrunched up in confusion and he asked, "What are you doing here, anyway?"

  Geoff shook his head. "You were drunk. I brought you home."

  "Oh yeah," Branch said, holding up a finger. "Don't you have a family to get back to in Sacramento?"

  "Nope," Geoff said, clasping his hands together uncomfortably. Then he bit his lip and looked away.

  Branch looked away too, and grinned. Then he looked back and leaned toward the Special Agent. When their faces were only inches apart, he closed his eyes and let his lips part like some kind of inexperienced romantic comedy character. It didn’t end the way he’d envisioned though. He opened his eyes to a chuckling Geoff.

  “I’m sorry,” his guest said as he waved it away and tried to stop laughing. “It’s just…I mean…” He suddenly found his heart thumping wildly, and his mind racing, though the look on Branch’s face still made him want to laugh. “I’m flattered, really, but I don’t think either of us is in any shape for…anything.” He cursed himself silently for sounding like a complete idiot.

  Branch nodded, sagely and then he promptly fell asleep in his chair. He didn't wake up again until the smell of bacon wafted into his nostrils. He opened one eye but the morning light felt like a laser boring through his brain so he shut it again. After a few minutes, the smell became overwhelming, so he sat up and tried opening his eyes again. It was a little easier, so he glanced over to see Geoff, standing over his little stove, scrambling up a bowl of eggs.

  "Morning. Good to see you're still alive," the FBI agent quipped. “Hope you don’t mind me staying over. I thought you might need someone to look after you.”

  Branch simply groaned in reply and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Where's Buddy?" he asked.

  Geoff glanced down. "Begging at my feet."

  "That's good." Then Branch carefully stood up and shuffled over to the kitchen. He was thankful that his stomach at least seemed to feel fine. "Smells good," he croaked out. Then he looked up into the somewhat mischievous looking face of the much taller man. "We didn't...you know..." He let the sentence hang there with an expectant look.

  "No," Geoff answered, after leaving it hang there for a moment himself.

  Branch nodded, trying not to look too relieved. He had to admit that the thought had crossed his mind a few times the night before. What he could remember of the night before, that is. He gratefully took a plate of eggs and bacon off of Geoff's hands and went back to his chair. Buddy followed him, knowing he was a sucker for begging, and whined at his feet.

  "You know, you really shouldn't give him human food," Geoff pointed out when Branch gave him a tiny piece of bacon.

  Branch's eyebrows shot up. "You been reading up on dogs this morning?"

  "Well, I might have, if you had reliable internet out here."

  Branch's eyes narrowed playfully, wondering why a man afraid of dogs would know so much about them. "So, you're just one of those encyclopedic people, then?"

  "You caught me," Geoff answered, holding up his free hand. "Afraid so. My brain just, sort of, absorbs useless facts."

  "Huh," Branch replied, but before he could say anything else, his phone rang. He dug around for it, finally finding it underneath him, in his seat. Luckily, his plate was already clean, or he would have dumped his breakfast on the floor. "Hello," he said as he answered it.

  Geoff watched as the Sheriff listened, a curious frown knitting his brow as the man's face grew darker. When Branch hung up, he asked, "What is it?"

  "Gary Thomlinson's gone missing. He's a local. No one's seen him since yesterday. He went up to help with the search and never came back."

  Geoff's mouth dropped open and the two men stared at one another for a moment, before jumping into action. Branch ran to the bedroom to change, but then stuck his head back out.

  "Want me to drop you at your motel to...freshen up?" he asked.

  "Yeah, I think that would be for the best," Geoff admitted and then cringed at the thought. He knew what was coming.

  "So," Agent Harrelson said, dragging out the word. "Stayed out all night, did we? And who with if I might ask?" she teased.

  "No, you can't," Geoff grumbled and grabbed a clean shirt from his bag.

  "Oh, come on. It's not like there are that many people to choose from around here. Don't make me guess."

  "It wasn't...like that," Geoff insisted.

  "It was the Sheriff, wasn't it?" she prodded. When Geoff looked simultaneously surprised and horrified, she giggled and gestured in triumph. "I've seen the way you look at each other."

  "You've seen what you wanted to see," her boss insisted, though he knew she was right. "We had a few drinks together, him a few too many, so I drove him home."

  "And stayed all night?" she added sarcastically.

  He simply huffed and brushed passed her, leading the way outside to the SUV. "We have another case," he pointed out.

  "Um, I believe it's a local matter, boss," John pointed out, joining them in the hallway.

  "It could be related," Geoff said. "I'm not leaving until we figure out what's going on around here."

  Harrelson and John both groaned, having seen their boss on crusades before. It only took a few minutes for them to get to the Sheriff's department, but by then Branch was already knee deep in the case. As they walked through the door, he was telling his deputies to regroup the search parties.

  "And find out whose group he was in yesterday and interview everyone who was searching with him," Branch said, glancing up at the door as it closed behind the agents. "I want to know why no one noticed he wasn't with them anymore and the last place they remember seeing him." When his deputies nodded and dispersed, he nodded at Geoff and waved the agents over.

  "Gary Thomlinson is eighteen and lives at home. It was his parents that reported that he didn't come home last night," Branch informed them.

  "He is a teenager," Agent Harrelson pointed out. "Maybe he just didn't come home last night."

  Branch shook his head. "That's very rare around here. Most of the parties take place up at the lake and we all know that didn't happen last night, not with everything that's been going on. Besides, Gary isn't much of a partier. He always goes home by his curfew."

  "And no one else noticed he was gone?" Geoff asked, finding the idea a bit suspicious. "What about the search group or whoever was in charge?" he went on, trying not to sound too accusatory.

  "It was a busy day," Gina protested. "We had hundreds of people on our lists. It stands to reason that I might have missed one." She crossed her arms and huffed, but when Geoff gave her an apologetic look, she nodded and thought about it herself. "It does seem odd that his group would
n't have noticed when they came up one short."

  "That's why I want you to talk to them," Branch reminded her. "Now, go."

  "Oh, right. Sure thing, boss," she said and headed for the door.

  "Maybe you two should go with her," Geoff said to his agents. "Find out exactly what happened yesterday since we weren't up there and talk to the people in his group."

  Harrelson nodded and then said, "What are you going to do?"

  Geoff looked back to Branch expectantly and the Sheriff said, "Go talk to his parents."

  As the team split up, Agent Harrelson gave her boss a little wink, but he pretended not to see it. When he and Branch were alone, he shook his head and hesitated. "My agent there pointed out that this is really a local matter. We have no jurisdiction."

  Branch thought for a second and then waved it away. "You're already here. Besides, I hate to admit it, but it could be related to your missing campers, somehow." He didn't want to think about what that might mean for his community. Until then, he'd assumed that the couple from Vegas had gotten lost and went down the wrong ridge somewhere or that they actually were at the bottom of the lake, but now, one of his own was missing, one who knew the terrain and knew better. For Gary Thomlinson to be missing meant that something truly was going on in Grand Arbré.

  Gary and his parents lived just a short walk from the Sheriff's department, so the two men decided to walk. No need to frighten them further anyway, was what Branch had suggested. They walked in silence, both deep in thought, until they came to a bright little cottage painted seafoam green, with wild roses around the sides and a well-kept lawn.

  "See, this is what I mean," Branch said. "Gary would rather be here, taking care of the place. He does all the gardening and such."

  Geoff looked around and nodded. "This is impressive for a teenage boy."

  "Gary is bright...and quiet. Like I said, not much of a partier. He helps out with the city gardening too. They don't even pay him, he volunteers his time."

  Geoff didn't want to say it, but he did. "It’s starting to sound like you're making the argument against why anyone would want to hurt him."

  Branch cringed. He wasn't sure that's what he'd been trying to do, but the man was right. He couldn't figure out why anyone would want to do anything to Gary, but he knew it was looking like a possibility. He put on a confident, yet compassionate, face and knocked on the door of the Thomlinson's house. When Gary's mother opened the door, she looked relieved and grateful, right up until her gaze turned toward Geoff.

  "He's from the FBI, isn't he?" she demanded of Branch.

  "Yes, Thelma. He's here because of the hikers who went missing."

  "The ones my Gary was looking for when he..." She couldn't bring herself to say the words.

  "He's here because it could be related."

  Thelma gave him a strange look, having never thought about it. Branch could tell she was now mulling over the possibilities in her brain and he thought it best to distract her before some of the most horrible ones occurred to her.

  "Mind if we come in and ask a few questions?" he quickly asked.

  ***

  John and Harrelson went with Gina in the other department SUV. Dale was already long gone, putting together a new round of search parties and questioning everyone who'd been on the mountain the day before just for good measure. Gina had gotten the names of the group Gary had been with and had phoned them up, asking them all to meet up at the community center.

  "We could have just had them come into the station," Gina pointed out.

  "It would be a little cramped," Geoff replied. "Plus, I'd like to keep them separate enough so they couldn't come up with a story, you know."

  "In case something sinister happened and they're covering?" Harrelson asked in surprise.

  "You never know, right?" Once again, Gina's voice was a little too enthusiastic for comfort.

  When they got to the community center, most everyone they'd called was already there. There were ten of them, making separate questioning a little impractical, so Gina put them into pairs in different rooms. Either way, they all knew it was going to be a long morning. As with Gary's mother, the group showed immediate distrust to the FBI agents and Gina had to explain their presence just as her boss had done. Even then, some of the witnesses seemed to clam up, permanently, in their presence. By afternoon, all they knew was that everyone had seen Gary the morning before, had had lunch with the young man, but then he'd disappeared sometime between then and dark.

  When Gina called the Sheriff back at headquarters, he sighed and thanked her before telling Geoff what they'd found out.

  "That's not much to go on," Geoff pointed out.

  "No," Branch agreed.

  "Maybe we should get up to the mountain and help with the search."

  As Geoff suggested it, Gina and the other FBI agents walked into the office. Branch looked them over and noticed that they were starting to look as weary as he felt.

  "How's Dale doing with the search?" he asked Gina.

  "Pretty much every free soul in town is up there," she answered. "I don't think there's any room on the mountain."

  Branch nodded. "Go ahead and go up there anyway in case he needs some help getting everyone rounded up."

  Geoff glanced at his own people as Gina rushed out. He shook his head. He had no idea what the next step was for them, though he didn’t want to admit it. "We're looking at having to search further out, especially for James and Melissa. They have to be somewhere. I think we're going to have to bring in some more people." When Branch gave him a protesting look, he added, "We have people specially trained in this kind of thing, people with dogs, who can track them, whether they're alive or not." He cringed at the last statement, but he knew it was time to consider the possibility that the pair's bodies were buried somewhere in the forest.

  Chapter Six

  Late in the afternoon, Branch went to his cabin to check on Buddy and get a little rest. He was still feeling a bit fatigued from his bender the night before and he wanted to be a hundred percent to continue the investigation. The truth was, they hadn't learned anything more from Gary's mom than the others had learned from his search team. Once again, it was like the young man had simply vanished from the face of the earth. Agent Holden had sent his people back to Sacramento to report on what was going on and to see if they could gather more resources. He still wasn't sure he liked the idea of having strangers climbing all over his mountain, but he didn't know what else he could do, especially with one of their own missing.

  More than anything, he was feeling sorry for himself, feeling like a failure and he needed to recoup. He sat down in his recliner, looking out at the woods that seemed perfectly innocuous. He knew better, though. He knew that to live in Grand Arbré meant taking the good with the bad. He absently reached down to pet Buddy's head, but a moment later, the small beagle began to bay.

  "What is it, boy?" he asked, and then heard a knock on his door. With a sigh, he got up to answer it and was surprised to see Geoff standing in his doorway. "Agent ," he acknowledged.

  Geoff smiled and nodded slightly. “Sheriff.”

  Branch returned the gesture and then moved out of the way so that the taller man could come through the door. He hid a chuckle at the fact that Geoff almost had to duck to get through it. Small talk wasn't his greatest skill, but he said, "I kind of thought you might go with your team back to the city."

  "No, someone needed to stay here and keep real time tabs on what's going on."

  "Right.”

  The two of them stood in the tiny kitchen and stared at one another, before Geoff finally looked away and took a breath. "I'm not sure why I came over. I guess being alone in my hotel room was driving me crazy. At least, being alone with my thoughts was. I have no idea what's going on around here, but I know it's not a simple missing persons case."

  "No," Branch agreed, but didn't offer any more.

  Geoff snorted and shook his head. "What's so important about this to
wn's secrets that you'd rather keep them than find these people?"

  Branch was taken aback and shook his head slightly. "That's not what I'm doing," he protested, but then thought about it. He turned away as well and then sank down in his recliner. After a few moments, he felt Geoff's presence closer to him. He looked up into the man's eyes and shook his head again. "Maybe that's part of it," he admitted. "Things are done differently in Grand Arbré," he added as a way of explanation.

  "So, I've noticed," Geoff sassed.

  Branch huffed and stood back up. "It is what it is," he insisted. "This town has existed and prospered because we didn't question the forest or its ways."

  "Or the lake's?"

  "Especially not the lake." Branch said it so dramatically that Geoff smiled and before long they were both laughing a little, relieving some of the tension they'd been feeling. "Look, there's nothing left to do this afternoon, not until the search parties get back. Want to...grab a beer at the bar?"

  "I'm not sure that's such a good idea, do you?" Geoff teased.

  Branch hung his head and laughed again. "Okay, maybe not, but still. One beer can't hurt. Want to?"

  "Not really," Geoff admitted. Then he hesitantly took a step closer. "How much do you remember about the other night?”

  Branch looked up quickly and then glanced away with a blush. “Um, yeah, sorry about that. I’m not sure what I was thinking. I mean, I don’t even know if you like men.” He started to apologize again, but Geoff held up his hand.

  “It’s okay. Actually, I do.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down at his feet. “Actually, I like you too, Branch. I just didn’t want us to do anything we’d regret. I thought it was better to wait until we were sober. That’s why I really came here.” He looked up sheepishly, a mischievous grin on his face.

  Branch's eyes widened and he glanced around like someone might be watching or he was on some kind of hidden camera prank show. He craned his neck to get a better look at the man with his wild, wavy hair and dark eyes, and the blood in his veins began to flow quickly.