by Vella Munn
Chapter Twelve
In a one-minute telephone message, Dean told Steve that he was to hire an air taxi and be at McKinley Park before dark. “Hawk doesn’t have the experience for this hunt,” he explained. “He’ll handle getting a helicopter so that we can transfer the grizzly once she’s down, but I don’t want anyone but a pro out there with us.”
Dean turned from the phone and faced Hawk and Calley. “Sorry to be pulling rank on you, Hawk, but you’re a bureaucrat. You’re going to have your hands full keeping the press away.”
Hawk glared at Dean but said nothing. Calley acknowledged a shiver born of both fear and excitement. Grizzlies were unpredictable enough; one who openly hated man couldn’t be trusted. “We’re going to need guns,” she pointed out.
Dean explained that Steve would be bringing a couple of guns with him and then asked Hawk the question Calley knew he’d have to. Were there any high-caliber rifles available?
“Yeah,” Hawk said reluctantly. “And two-hundred-grain bullets. Don’t use them if you don’t have to.”
“I don’t intend to,” Dean said shortly. “But neither do I intend to endanger anyone’s life. Let’s take a look at that map of yours. I want to know where and when she’s been spotted.”
Calley joined the men in Hawk’s office. She tried to concentrate as they pieced together the bear’s movements, but she was restless. She felt better knowing that Steve would be around, but Dean was the only one who could accurately pinpoint where they would be most likely to come across the grizzly and her cub. Unconsciously Calley rubbed her hands over her jeans in an attempt to remove the perspiration there. What was it her mother had asked when Calley made the decision to return to work at the university? Something about a wildlife researcher being no kind of a job for an unmarried woman. “How are you going to find a husband in the middle of nowhere?” her mother asked.
Because at the time she was hurting with the twin pains of losing Mike and facing her parents’ divorce, Calley had replied that marriage was the last thing she was interested in. That was before she met Dean.
“You better get some rest,” Dean said as he was folding the map and placing it in his pocket. “We’re going to be out of here as soon as it gets light.”
“Are you dismissing me?” Hawk had excused himself to talk to one of the rangers about another problem, which left Dean and Calley alone in the office.
“I’m just saying that tomorrow is going to be a long day. I want you sharp.”
“And I want the same of you,” Calley countered. “Dean, we’re not going to do each other any good if we’re at each other’s throats.”
Dean rested his weight against Hawk’s desk. He folded his arms across his chest and looked down at where she was sitting. “This isn’t what I wanted to happen up here, Calley,” he said softly. “I wanted to show you a place I’ve grown to love despite everything that’s happened, not to risk your life.”
Calley had to steel herself against surrendering too quickly to Dean’s tone. “Maybe we’ll have that time yet,” she whispered. “But this has to be done first.”
“I know.” Dean clenched his teeth, but Calley didn’t know who, if anyone, he was angry at. “Maybe—” He drew out the word. “Maybe in the back of my mind I hoped this would happen. I can’t go on hiding forever.”
Calley pulled herself to her feet. She stood before Dean, not touching him, wondering if her love was reaching him. “You aren’t hiding,” she said. “You wouldn’t be doing what you do with your life if you were.”
“That’s what I told myself.” Dean sighed. “I told myself that working on the Flathead was proof that being attacked hadn’t changed me that much. But I don’t handle field work as well as I did before the attack. And being on the Toklat today…” He left the sentence unfinished.
Without waiting for a sign that Dean was ready to have her touch him, Calley took the chance. She rose on tiptoe and kissed him. “One step at a time,” she whispered. “That’s how we’ll take it.”
Wordlessly Dean folded Calley into his arms. He drank in her fragrance, instantly remembering how perfectly her body molded itself to his. He knew he’d been impossible to put up with today, and yet she was still here, reaching for him when he couldn’t admit even to himself how much he needed that. A tidal wave of desire washed over him. There was no way he could hide the emotion from Calley. “I want to make love to you,” he whispered. “Now.”
“Oh, Dean. I needed to hear you say that.” Calley didn’t lift her head from his chest. Her voice was muffled when she spoke. “I wish we could spend the rest of our lives like this.”
“It could get awkward,” Dean pointed out. “Hawk said there’s a cabin we can use tonight. If that’s what you want.”
“You know that’s what I want. I—I’m shaking. I’m sorry.”
What she was apologizing for, Dean had no idea. She had every right to make her wishes known if she wanted to make love. After all, hadn’t he just given free rein to his own thoughts? “I love you, Calley. No matter what happens tomorrow, I love you.” He didn’t add that he wasn’t sure his love would be returned after the day was over.
It was after midnight before Calley and Dean finally had time to think about sleep. They had to collect the supplies they would need, finalize plans with the helicopter pilot and decide on exactly where the grizzly and her cub would be transplanted if they succeeded in capturing them. Steve arrived and had to be brought up-to-date on the situation. Phone calls from a wildlife-preservation organization, which had somehow heard about the operation, had to be dealt with, and the upset hikers with the destroyed campsite had to be pacified.
“I think I’d rather face a rogue than those tenderfeet,” Steve observed as he was getting ready to head toward the cabin Hawk had provided for him. “I can’t believe those people had no idea there were bears in the area. Leaving food inside the tent was an open invitation to trouble.”
Dean was still muttering about the ignorance of some people when he closed the cabin door behind him, but when he turned toward Calley, she was the only thing on his mind. “You aren’t going to get the rest you need,” she said.
“Neither are you,” he pointed out before demonstrating what would take the place of sleep. He wanted this night in Alaska to be special, but because he couldn’t avoid the thought that it might be their last, he took her with a desperation that couldn’t be denied. Dean undressed her quickly, barely taking time to pull a blanket over them before pulling her to him. He wanted to tell her that she was the best thing to ever come into his life, but when she responded to his urgent caresses with an urgency of her own, there wasn’t time for words.
When they awoke in the middle of the night and repeated the act of lovemaking, this time at an almost languid pace, once again neither of them spoke. Dean had spent himself and was hovering in that void between wakefulness and sleep when he felt hot moisture on his chest. Calley, with her head cradled on his chest, was crying.
He buried his fingers in her long, tangled hair, knowing his touch wasn’t enough but not knowing what else to do to reach her. Don’t cry, Calley, he thought. Don’t keep yourself shut off from me. I’ll always be here for you, if you want me.
Before dawn when they responded to the sound of the alarm, Dean didn’t mention either their lovemaking or Calley’s tears. In a world where all emotions were safe, he would have asked for an explanation, but he’d learned that certain things could be given life only when their time had come. Calley’s crying scared him. And because he believed he knew what caused the tears, it was something he couldn’t speak about.
After taking quick showers in the rustic bathroom, Calley and Dean dressed and then stepped out into darkness that was tinged with the first blush of morning. They walked over to the jeep Hawk had provided. Steve was waiting for them. “Have you had breakfast?” Steve asked, his voice hushed.
Dean shook his head. Food was the furthest thing from his mind; but he should have thought of Ca
lley’s needs. “What would you like?” he asked her.
“Nothing” was her terse reply.
With Dean driving, the trio left park headquarters. They acknowledged Hawk’s presence at the door to his office but waved without stopping to speak. Everything that needed to be said had been said last night.
The drive to the Toklat bridge didn’t take long, and they were unpacked before it was light enough to see clearly. All three of them carried both tranquilizer rifles and the weapons with which Hawk had supplied them. Jammed in their pockets was extra ammunition, and strapped to their sides were the communication systems that would keep them hooked up with each other and Hawk. They all carried binoculars. The plans had already been made. Calley and Dean were to travel along opposite sides of the lower Toklat, while Steve would cover the East Branch, where the rogue grizzly had also been seen a few weeks ago. They were to communicate with each other every half hour and had agreed to shoot off three quick shots if any of them were in trouble.
“We’re taking no chances,” Dean said in a repeat of his instructions of the previous night. “Most of the country around here is pretty open, but under no circumstances are any of us to go into the brush.”
Steve nodded. “How old is her cub? Has anyone gotten a good look at it?”
Dean explained that the cub’s age had been estimated at six months, since it appeared to weigh around fifty pounds. “We’re taking a chance at finding the right female. The bear population is pretty high here.”
“She’ll be the one coming over to shake our hand,” Steve quipped. “We’d better get going. It’s going to be a long day.”
Dean and Calley traveled together until they reached the ruined campsite they’d checked the day before. Dean had been intensely aware of his surroundings since leaving the jeep. Knowing he would have to let Calley take off on her own only increased his sensitivity and unease. He understood that the pain gnawing at his side existed only in his head, but knowing and conquering it were two different things. “I don’t like this,” he said honestly. “I don’t want you out there alone.”
“You’ll be alone, too,” she pointed out. Calley shrugged her shoulders to redistribute the weight of her rifles. “Are you sure you’re going to be all right?”
Her question shouldn’t anger him, for her concern was as natural as his. But there was no stopping his quick retort. “I wouldn’t be out here if I wasn’t all right.”
“Maybe. And maybe you don’t know what’s going on inside you.” Calley gave his hand a quick squeeze and released it. Then she made an impersonal note of the time before starting off.
Dean crossed the river by picking his way across the shallow sandbar and jumping several narrow channels. By the time he was on firm footing, he could no longer see Calley. The thought that the river might keep him from reaching her should she need him buried itself deep inside him. It was still so damn much easier for her. She didn’t have to worry about drowning in memories or wonder if she could truly count on herself. His mind was doing things that he hated.
For close to three hours Calley made her slow, cautious way, keeping the river always in sight. She’d spotted several white dots that turned out to be Dall sheep and came across a fox den in the bushy willows growing along the riverbank. Although she remembered to communicate with the men at regular intervals, time seemed suspended. Calley’s thoughts were with the man whom she could no longer see or touch. She believed that somehow he was beside her, sharing a quick glimpse at two distant magnificent rams squaring off at each other, their massive horns lowered for fight. Dean would understand her delight at finding proof that a family of foxes had made a home here. It seemed unreal that she was out here looking for a creature capable of killing her. It was too peaceful, the distant ice-capped mountains too awesomely protective. The Toklat River was a place for lovers, not danger.
When the silence came, Calley was slow to recognize it. She’d been intent on the beating of her heart when the knowledge finally seeped through her; her heart was the only sound.
Instantly Calley reached for her walkie-talkie. As a result of her last communication with Dean, she guessed he was no more than a half mile away, although the sprawling river made the distance seem much more. “There’s something here,” she said with a calmness she didn’t feel.
“What?” came the quick reply.
“I don’t know. I can’t see anything.” She didn’t have to explain the silence.
“I’m on my way.”
“Be careful,” Calley warned. “She might be near the river.”
Calley had no idea why she’d identified the unseen presence as a female, only that the conviction couldn’t be shaken off. Dean had said he was on his way. There’d been nothing in his tone that said he was fighting private demons; she could depend on him.
There. Movement over by the river.
Calley sucked in a deep breath, speaking into the walkie-talkie at the same time. “I see a cub. I think it’s trying to fish.”
“Where’s the mother?” Dean’s voice came in short hisses, the sounds made by a man running.
“I don’t know.” Calley’s voice remained calm. The cub hadn’t lifted its head or made any indication that it knew it was being watched. “There’s no one direction to the wind,” she continued. “I’m not going to be able to depend on staying downwind.”
“Stay out in the open, Calley! Watch your back.”
Calley didn’t need to be told that, but neither did she waste time arguing the point with Dean. Slowly she moved in a circle, eyes straining for any movement. Dean would understand that she had more important things to do than talk to him. Besides, his energy had to go into reaching her.
A cough that sounded like a guttural moan coming from the bowels of the earth snaked through Calley’s nerves. She couldn’t see the mother bear but it was out here with her. Maybe ready to charge. Calley brought the walkie-talkie into position again but cut off the words before they were out of her mouth. There was nothing Dean or Steve could do.
Once again she made her slow circle, the tranquilizing gun now held in her hands instead of on her back. She knew why she’d reached for that weapon instead of the one capable of killing. Even if this was the rogue, Calley had never killed a bear. She wasn’t going to start now.
The grizzly was on the hillside above her, staring down at her with tiny eyes. Slowly it reared up on its hind legs, its front legs hanging limp but ready. Calley was between the mother and her cub. She had no doubt that this was the one they’d come after.
“Hurry, Dean,” she whispered. It didn’t matter whether the grizzly heard her or not; Calley simply couldn’t raise her voice beyond a strangled hiss. She wanted to look at the river, to see if she could spot Dean, but she didn’t dare take her eyes off the grizzly.
Shaking, Calley sighted down the rifle, zeroed in on the massive silver-tipped chest and fired. At that same instant the bear dropped back down onto all fours. The tranquilizing dart shot harmlessly over the bruin’s head.
“No!” Calley didn’t know she’d cried out until the word slashed a path through the silent air. The bear was advancing on her, large paws splaying outward with every step. As Calley threw down the useless rifle and grabbed for the other one, it seemed to her that the bear, the world itself, was slowing down. Although she knew that the bear had broken into a trot, every movement was so clearly defined in her mind that it was as if she had all the time in the world to watch hundreds of pounds of fury coming at her.
Dean, crossing the river, was waist deep in icy water when Calley’s strangled cry reached him. Although there were several hundred yards between them, he could read her mind. The high-powered rifle was in her hands, the barrel pointed at the charging bear. She could empty the rifle into the bear; its life in exchange for hers.
But Calley wasn’t a killer. Either that or she was frozen with fear, Dean realized. Even faced with the choice between her life and the grizzly’s, she wasn’t squeezing the trigger. Un
less Dean wanted to lose the only thing he really loved in life, he would have to kill the bear himself.
The decision was made in a heartbeat. During that mini-second Dean had no existence beyond what was happening. He felt no inner pain, had no memory of a bruin dragging him into the wilderness. There was no fear, no terror. There was only Calley and the love he had for her. Dean felt the heavy rifle in his hands. He swung it up, focused and fired. At the same instant he leaned forward, losing his balance in the swift-flowing river.
The bullet slashed a path through the grizzly’s fur but did nothing more than nick the skin. Roaring in fury, the grizzly skidded to a halt and snapped at her side.
Dean managed to regain his footing without dropping either rifle in the river. He could see Calley trying to bring the tranquilizing gun back into play and cussed her humanity, but there wasn’t time for anger. He had to kill the bear before it killed Calley.
Or—
The thought stopped Dean and then took over. Dean was no more than thirty feet from the cub now. The female could be diverted from Calley if— Without consciously being aware of the act, Dean swung the rifle around and fired near the cub. The bullet deliberately pounded into the earth inches from the cub’s nose.
A startled squall from the cub was all that it took to tear the female’s attention from Calley. With a responding growl, the sow dug in. She charged for her cub, and beyond it, at Dean. The quickness of her response caught Dean off guard. There wasn’t time to think, only time to act.
He dropped the hunting rifle and reached frantically for the tranquilizing gun. Dean was shooting almost before he had the grizzly in his sight. The dart buried itself in the huge creature’s chest just as she reached her cub. For an instant the two creatures touched noses; then the rogue swung toward Dean. She started bouncing up and down on her front paws; short grunting noises shattered the air.
Then, slowly, gracefully, the bear lowered her head as if weary of life. Her legs splayed outward. A moment later the ground shuddered as she rolled heavily onto her side.