Night Prey

by Sharon Dunn

  The thought made her heart beat faster as the strange mixture of excitement and fear flowed through her. Keith seemed open to sharing the parts of his life he had guarded before. That meant she had to let him into hers. Her back stiffened. Could she do that?

  Keith took a few steps away from the bird. Jenna squinted, trying to separate the owl from the field. Owls do not make noise when they fly, one of God’s special gifts that allows them to sneak up silently on prey. It did make it difficult, though, to tell if the bird had taken off. She waited for some flash of white in the moonlight. The standard policy was not to leave a bird until it showed it was capable of sustained flight.

  Jenna rose to her feet. Keith increased his pace as he stepped farther away from where he had left the bird. He came up beside her.

  “Did he take off?”

  “Not yet.” Keith stood close; the knuckles of his hand brushed against hers. His hand probed over her palm as he intertwined his fingers with hers. Her pulse surged. Delight at his touch and uncertainty about the future fought a war inside her.

  She could barely discern the image of the bird taking flight. She pulled her hand away to point. “There, there he goes.” The elation and feeling of victory flooded through her. This is why she loved this job. She turned to face Keith. His features were not discernible in the darkness.

  “Kind of a good feeling, huh?” His voice was low and husky.

  His kiss had turned her world upside down. She found herself longing to be in his arms again. Her head undulated, reminding her of her injury. She took a step back.

  “Boy, do I wish I had an aspirin.” She would be able to think clearer and sort through things when her head didn’t feel like it was about to explode. Then maybe she would know what to do about Keith Roland.

  TWELVE

  Keith eased the truck down the rutty dirt road.

  Jenna sat close to him while Jet occupied the spot next to the window. The dog angled toward Jenna and licked her face.

  Her laughter was like a soothing balm. “Do you think he’s mad because I took his spot in the truck?”

  “He’ll get over it.” Keith chuckled. The road flattened out, and they came to a more open area as they neared the crossroads.

  Jenna yawned and rested her head against the back of the seat. “I am pretty tired. It’s getting late. I’ll call the sheriff tomorrow and tell him about what happened.”

  “Have you forgotten we need to have a doctor look at your head?” He was suddenly aware of his own fatigue. Maybe he would finally sleep well.

  “I’m feeling a lot better.”

  “Jenna, don’t argue with me.”

  Keith turned his attention to the dark road in front of him as it changed from dirt to pavement. In his peripheral vision, he saw movement right before metal crushed against metal. The truck was pushed sideways.

  Jenna screamed.

  Another vehicle with no headlights had come out of nowhere and crashed into the driver’s-side door. Jet yelped.

  The sound of squealing tires and a roaring engine surrounded them and then faded.

  Jenna wrapped her arms around the barking dog, making soothing sounds. “What was that about?” Her voice intensified with fear.

  Keith’s heart raced. “I’ll give you one guess.” The truck had stalled out. He turned the key while the engine chugged but didn’t spark to life. “If we can get this thing started, we are going into town tonight to tell the sheriff.”

  Jenna gazed all around them. “And…what if…we can’t get it started?”

  She was thinking the same thing he was, that someone was still out there, waiting for the chance to bash into them again.

  He turned the key once more. The two vehicles hadn’t hit the engine. “We’ll get it started.” The engine turned over and hummed to life. He let out the breath he had been holding. He reached over and touched Jenna’s cheek. “It’s going to be okay.”

  He couldn’t take the look of terror off her face, he could only get her to a safe place. He pressed on the accelerator.

  Jet went into high alert stance, standing on all fours and barking. Keith increased his speed. Jenna’s hand rested on his shoulder as she leaned into him. Jet turned on the seat, barking out the back window.

  The old Dodge wasn’t exactly a race car; its top speed was sixty. All the same, Keith pushed the accelerator to the floor. The lights of the town came into view.

  “Almost there.” He kept his voice level.

  Jenna nodded, but didn’t say anything.

  Jet whimpered and settled back down.

  “We’ll go to the emergency room first.”

  He drove through town, past a dark bank building and general store. When he pulled into the parking lot of the tiny hospital, there were only two other cars in the lot.

  Keith pressed against his door, but it didn’t budge. “This side is smashed in. I’m going to have to get out on your side.”

  “They damaged it so much the door won’t open?” Though she was making a valiant effort, her anxiety was obvious.

  He brushed a hand over her cheek. “You’re safe here.” Did he believe that himself? These people were relentless.

  They scooted across the seat. Jet jumped out, pacing back and forth on the asphalt. Jenna got out next. She stayed close to the truck while Keith placed his feet on the pavement. Keith commanded Jet to get back in. He shut the truck door. Jet’s face was barely discernible in the dark cab.

  Jenna had grown quiet. It wasn’t just her physical state he was worried about at this point. She was pretty shaken.

  She hurried her pace and walked a few feet in front of him.

  With a wary glance around the parking lot, he caught up with her and pushed open the glass doors of the ER.

  “I’m so glad you are here.” Her voice was faint.

  A nurse bustled from behind a high counter and gathered Jenna into her arms. “Oh my goodness, Miss Murphy, what happened?”

  “Long story,” Jenna said.

  The nurse addressed Keith. “You wait right here and Dr. Benson will have a look at her.”

  His makeshift bandages had come off her head, revealing the gash across her forehead.

  Keith paced the hallway of the emergency room. If memory served, the rural hospital had only ten or so beds. If the doctor had any concerns about Jenna’s condition, they would have to drive into Billings. A task he would be glad to do. She seemed okay…physically, anyway.

  The nurse came back momentarily and settled behind the counter. “You’ve had quite a night.”

  Keith winced, suddenly aware of a pain in his shoulder.

  “Are you okay?” She shot to her feet.

  He must have banged against the door in the crash. “I’m fine.”

  The nurse stared at his scars. He pulled his arm back, but she grabbed his wrist. “I worked at a V.A. hospital when I was younger.” Her voice was filled with compassion. “You don’t need to hide those from me.”

  She was an older woman with salt and pepper hair and a sweet smile.

  A lump formed in his throat. “Thank you.”

  She winked at him and then sat back down at her desk. “I am sure your girlfriend is going to be okay.”

  He didn’t correct her on the girlfriend thing. Actually, he kind of liked the idea of it. He tensed. His plan had been to leave at the end of the summer. He stopped and leaned a hand against the beige wall. He hadn’t thought about the implication of the kiss when it happened. The desire to kiss her had been so strong. The fallout from it might be that he would end up hurting Jenna.

  If the kiss had meant as much to him as it had to her, maybe he could change his plans.

  “Do you have a newspaper?” he asked the nurse.

  She pointed with her pen. “Yesterday’s is over there with the old issues of Field and Stream.”

  Keith sat down and scanned the help wanted ads. Pretty scarce pickings where jobs were concerned, even if he decided to commute to a larger city. He tossed the
newspaper back on the little table as frustration burned through him. This was total fantasy. What could he offer Jenna besides instability at this point in his life? He wanted to be with her. To take care of her. But he couldn’t do that yet.

  He rotated his sore shoulder. Pain shot down his arm.

  “The doctor can look at that, if you want,” the nurse said as she rose to her feet to clip a chart on a wall.

  “I’m all right.” Probably just some bruising.

  He settled into an uncomfortable chair, resting his eyes.

  Twenty minutes later, Jenna emerged from an exam room followed by the doctor, a middle-aged man in a brown cardigan.

  “I am okay,” she said. “I’m just going to have a bad headache for a couple of days.”

  The doctor pushed his glasses up his face. “A mild concussion. I don’t think we are dealing with any long-term problems. She knows what to watch for. She needs to rest and no strenuous activity until the headache goes away.”

  After Jenna handed the paperwork to the nurse, Keith pushed the glass door open and held it so Jenna could step outside. It was dark. Most of the windows of the downtown businesses were dark.

  “Are you up to telling the sheriff about what you found and what happened while we are in town?” Keith studied her for a moment. She looked better already.

  “I’m up to it. The sheriff stays at his office pretty late. Let’s go over there now.”

  The sheriff’s office was in a side entrance to the courthouse. Sheriff Douglas sat behind a desk. A second desk was unoccupied. The sheriff hunched over a piece of paper. His left hand twisted unnaturally above the document as he wrote. He raised his head and tugged at his mustache. “Just the people I want to see.”

  “Really?” Keith stepped into the office behind Jenna.

  “That blood sample from your door came back from the state lab. The good news is it’s not human blood. Lab said it was consistent with canine blood.”

  “Canine blood? You mean a dog?” Jenna asked.

  “Could be a dog, could be a coyote, could be a wolf. No one has reported the loss of a beloved pet. I’ve notified the game warden. He should be out of the hospital by the end of the week. If it was a wolf, it was shot out of season. Wolf hunts are very controlled and require a special permit.”

  Keith stepped forward. “Jenna found a stash of items just west of the two buttes.”

  Jenna summarized what had happened and ended by saying, “I only got a quick look at the guy, but his face wasn’t familiar. Either he just moved to town or he is not from around here. I keep thinking, though, that I have seen him somewhere before.”

  The deputy came in from a back room and poured himself a cup of coffee.

  “Was there anything distinct about him?” The sheriff rose from his desk while the deputy carried his coffee over to the second desk and sat down.

  Keith placed his hand on the middle of Jenna’s back. Jenna was a strong woman, but she had been through a lot in the last few hours. “It’s all right if you need time to think about it.”

  “I’m okay.” Jenna stepped forward. “My head started to clear when I was lying in the emergency room. He was pretty ordinary. Brown hair and kind of big nose.” Jenna touched her own face as though she were trying to form the image in her mind. Then she put her hand on her chest. “The only unique thing about him was that he was wearing a necklace that looked like a piece of carved ivory.”

  “Anything else?” The sheriff picked up his coffee cup.

  She shifted her weight. “This is kind of weird, but right before things went black, I smelled a strange smell. Not aftershave but a more earthy organic smell, really strong like—”

  “Patchouli.” The deputy scooted his chair back from his desk.

  “Yes, that is what it was. I haven’t smelled that scent since high school.”

  “I think I know who you are talking about.” The deputy pointed a stapler at Jenna. “Saw him a few nights ago at the Oasis bar. It’s not an ivory necklace, it’s a shark’s tooth. He and four or five friends who weren’t from around here were playing a lively poker game with some locals. They kept calling him Eddie. He was the only sober one in the bunch by the time the night was over. I stepped outside to make sure he was the one doing the driving. His vehicle was a candy apple red SUV, really distinct.”

  “We can call over to the Oasis and find out if he paid with a credit card. That would tell us his last name,” the sheriff added.

  “That is something, then,” said Jenna. Her voice sounded faint. She squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them wider than usual as if she were trying to stay awake. The stress of everything and lack of sleep was probably starting to wear on her.

  “Sheriff, if you want, later today, we can ride up to where it happened. I have to get Jenna’s car anyway,” Keith suggested.

  The sheriff nodded.

  Keith escorted Jenna out of the sheriff’s office. They stepped onto the sidewalk. Jenna stopped for a moment.

  “What are you thinking about?” Keith asked.

  “I was thinking about how we have had an unusual number of calls about bear carcasses. We get the calls because the turkey vultures show up for dinner. It’s always just a partial carcass. The claws are missing, sometimes the head, sometimes the hide. I just assumed another wild animal had already helped itself.”

  “I think I follow you—eagles, wolves and bears. All illegal to hunt this time of year.”

  “Eagles you are never supposed to shoot,” she said. “One or even two people couldn’t do all that poaching. The vandalism at my place was done by at least two people. It was a large group up in Leveridge Canyon that night.”

  “So this isn’t about smuggling. We are talking about a group of guys who hunt illegally, mostly at night.”

  Jenna rubbed her forehead. “I wish I could remember the numbers on that index card. I know there was one that I thought might be a date.”

  “Maybe you don’t need to remember. What if we assume it was some sort of code? Maybe a longitude and latitude that told them where to meet. The cache provided a weapon and keys to a vehicle—probably a four-wheeler or a motorcycle—that they picked up at a different location.”

  Jenna stopped and stared up at the sky. “We need to find this Eddie guy. Someone has to be organizing this. What if he is the one?” She touched the bump on her head. “The sheriff can charge him with assault and then ask him—” Her words trailed off.

  She tensed as she peered up the street. Her father had parked his car and was making his way to his house carrying a stack of books. He stopped for a moment, aware that he was being watched.

  Jenna waved. A look of sadness crossed his features and Richard nodded in response.

  Keith studied Jenna for a moment. He read sorrow in her expression. “Aren’t you going to talk to him?”

  “A wave is enough.”

  “You guys don’t have your noontime get-together anymore?”

  “I’m a grown-up now, Keith.” Irritation had entered her voice. “I don’t need to discuss Treasure Island with my father.”

  From what he could tell, they didn’t discuss anything. Richard’s words at the meeting floated back into his head. The one thing Richard wanted more than anything was to restore his relationship with his daughter. He had a feeling that was what Jenna wanted, too. She didn’t know that he had stopped drinking.

  Keith knew enough not to push. This had to happen on Jenna’s timeline. “Maybe someday, you’ll walk over there and knock on that door.”

  “You think it’s that easy?” Her words took on a defensive tone. “Things with my father had gotten really unhealthy. I needed to set some boundaries.” Jenna’s cheeks turned red.

  “I can respect that.”

  Jenna twisted her hands together. Her tone softened. “It’s just too hard.”

  “I understand.” The anxiety he saw in her expression tore at his gut. But he would not manipulate the situation. This had to be Jenna’s decision.r />
  Richard passed by a window. Jenna took in a breath.

  “I spent a lot of my life focusing on what I didn’t have, a dad. I couldn’t see that I had cool grandparents who loved me. I always thought what you and your father had was pretty special.”

  “My dad is special. He can be…wonderful.” She pressed her lips together then turned to face him. “Keith, you just don’t know the whole story.”

  “Try me.” Was she ready to share?

  She stared at the ground for a long moment, then tilted her head and blurted out, “My father has a drinking problem. Last year, it got so bad that he ended up in the emergency room.” Her voice cracked. “I will not watch my father commit slow suicide. I have to keep myself healthy and not get caught up in his craziness. It hurts too much.”

  “What if he stopped drinking?”

  “That has happened a bazillion times. He always goes back to it. I can’t live through that cycle of becoming hopeful only to have that hope crushed again. If that makes me the world’s worst daughter, then so be it.”

  “I would never think that about you. I can see how much you love your dad. And sometimes love means being tough.”

  She studied him for a moment. Her expression registered surprise, as if she hadn’t expected him to say what he had said. Her eyes glazed. “That’s what makes it so hard. If he was just a big fat jerk, I could walk away. I would have moved somewhere else after college.”

  He laced his fingers in hers.

  “I do care about him.” Strength returned to her voice.

  “You’ll know when the time is right.”

  “I think it is today.” She squeezed his hand tighter. “Will you be the one to knock on the door?”

  “Sure.”

  He led her across the street, and as he walked, each step was a prayer that he hadn’t been out of line and made her feel pushed to do this. Time apart from someone with a drinking problem could be a positive thing for everyone involved, especially if it led to reconciliation. It had taken him twelve years to come back to his grandparents. He prayed that the outcome would be good for Jenna too. Her hand tensed in his when he lifted his free hand to knock on the door.