More Than Ever (More Book 3)

by Sloan Parker

  Sitting on the couch in the living room three days later, I heard two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs. One pair was solid. The other trudged along like he’d been awoken from a deep sleep.

  I had every light on in the living room, the coffee table before me covered in an array of books, articles, and my open laptop. I’d been too excited to sleep, so I’d slipped out of bed at four in the morning and got started on more research. I wanted to be as prepared as I could before I returned to Windtree Wildlife Center.

  Richard entered the living room first and came to sit beside me on the couch. Luke followed, sprawling out on his back so his head lay on the book I had open on my lap. He stared up at me with heavy-lidded blue eyes. I was certain the only reason he’d gotten up was because Richard had woken him and told him I wasn’t in the bed with them.

  I smiled down at him.

  “What’s with all the books?” he asked. “I thought you already studied up on everything possible about taking care of wildlife.”

  “Hardly. There’s so much to know.” I shrugged. “I want to make a good impression.”

  “You will. You have almost two weeks until you start, right?”

  “Yeah.” The board at the center had to officially approve the new intern, so I had to wait until after their next scheduled monthly meeting.

  Luke lazily kissed his index finger, then pressed it to my lips. “You’re gonna do great.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What were you reading?” Richard asked as he gestured to the book on my lap.

  I slid the book out from under Luke’s head and showed Richard the cover. “A World of Wildlife in Our Backyard. Alex wrote this one.”

  “Alex?” Luke sat up beside me. “He’s the vet at the center?”

  “Yeah. The book’s all about Majestic Falls and the different types of animals there. Most people who live nearby don’t even get how amazing the park and the surrounding national forest are. Alex has had some really interesting cases. Listen to this.” I sat up taller, opened the book to the part I’d been reading, and read aloud.

  “My assistant and I had been tracking the coyote for an hour, trying to get close enough to sedate it with a blowgun. When I finally got a good shot, the coyote was more than a hundred yards from the river. After the dart hit his side, he took off. When the sedative started to kick in he was too close to the edge of the river, and he fell into the water face-first. That was disastrous. The worst possible thing that could happen. We were trying to help him, and we might’ve just killed him. He could drown in seconds. We had to get to him and lift his head, but we were nearly the length of a football field away from him. He could also still be partially awake and claw and bite at us if we touched him too soon. Nevertheless, we raced for the water. When I was a few feet away, I could see that his head was turned slightly and his muzzle was above the waterline. He was breathing fine. We had lucked out. I let out a deep sigh of relief. Then we got started on situating him for the procedure. The surgery to remove the dead tissue and suture his wound was the easy part that day.”

  “Wow,” Luke said.

  “He had to perform the surgery right there along the river too, trying his best to set up as sterile an environment as he could.”

  “Very cool.”

  “Yeah.” I flipped to the colored photos at the center of the book. I pointed to one with Alex. “That’s him.” I indicated the boy next to him. “And that’s his son, Tomas. He’s a couple of years older now. And this is his wife, Natalie.” I flipped more pages, each depicting various animals and the spectacular cliffs and waterfalls of the park. “He took all these pictures.”

  Luke got a closer look. “Dang, it’s gorgeous there.”

  “Yeah.” Richard indicated a photo taken from the top of a cliff overlooking one of the falls. “Look at that. I had no idea it was so remote or so beautiful. I’ve heard about that place for years, but I’ve never been there.”

  I nodded. “The entire area is this incredible mix of forest, hills, meadows, caves, and gorges. It’s a huge tourist attraction. Lots of campers and hikers and climbers go every year. Did you ever go camping as a kid?”

  “Nah,” Richard said. “My parents were never the outdoorsy type. Camping wasn’t their thing.”

  I looked at Luke.

  “Sure.” He flipped a hand through the air. “My dad and I went all the time, whenever the senate had a recess. We’d canoe, go fishing, roast marshmallows over the campfire, tell ghost stories.” He rolled his eyes. “Not. The only thing he ever did with me was throw the ball around on our front lawn when he wanted a good photo op for the press.”

  I bumped shoulders with him. “Sorry.”

  He shrugged like it didn’t matter, and maybe it didn’t anymore, at least not the way it used to. He eyed me with regret as if it had been rude for him to make a joke about his dad in front of me.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “Part of moving past the issues with my dad is finally accepting that I actually have issues. But you know what? Everyone has shit they hold on to. Everyone. Dealing with it and trying to move past it is a lot more than some people do.”

  “Yeah.” He searched my eyes. “You’re figuring that out a lot younger than I did. How the hell did you get so smart?”

  I scoffed. Smart? “I feel like I don’t know anything lately. I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.”

  “You do, kid. You really do.” Before I could say anything in response to that, he added, “Thanks for talking to us about your dad.”

  “Yeah.” Richard’s hand came to rest at the back of my head, stroking my shorn hair. Since I’d cut off the curls, he’d been touching me like that even more than he used to. He offered a couple more strokes. Then his hand stilled on my head. “I’ve been thinking about everything you said about that trip with your dad.” He looked toward the lighthouse painting that hung above the fireplace. He remained quiet for a moment, his focus locked on the image of the raging, choppy water beating against the rocks in the painting. “This isn’t easy for me, but…” He hesitated again, then returned his attention to me. “If you need to see him, I’ll go with you. And I’ll help you find him in any way I can.”

  Luke’s jaw dropped. “What?”

  I gaped at Richard. “How did you know?”

  “It was a hunch. I’m right, though, aren’t I?”

  “Right about what?” Luke swung his gaze from Richard to me, then back to Richard.

  “He wants to find his father.”

  “And you think this is a good idea?”

  “I think it doesn’t matter what you or I think about it.”

  “The hell it doesn’t.”

  “Luke.”

  They held the stare for a moment. Then Luke sat back and ran a hand through his hair. When he dropped his hand, it made a loud slap on his thigh. He shook his head in frustration, but the scowl faded when he turned to me. “This is what you want?”

  “Maybe.” I refocused on the book on my lap that sat open to the pictures of Majestic Falls State Park, the last place where my dad had been a loving father to me and not someone I also feared. “I’m not saying I want a relationship with him, at all, but there are things I need to hear from him. And things I need to say to him. I want him to see how good I turned out without him, to see that I didn’t need him.” And deep inside, in a place I tried very hard to pretend didn’t exist, lurked a part of me that wanted my father’s approval, that also wanted to hear him say he was wrong for hurting me and then leaving us.

  Would I ever stop being that insecure kid?

  As if Luke sensed something about where my thoughts had gone, he bolted upright and spun my way. “You listen to me, Matthew Stewart. There is nothing you need from that man. You are so much better off without him in your life.”

  “I know. But I need closure. My mom said she looked him up online a couple of years ago, out of curiosity, but she couldn’t find anything. No address, phone number, social media accounts, nothing. I
t was like he disappeared. She gave me the name and phone number for the attorney who sent her the divorce papers. He was the brother of one of my dad’s friends. She thought he might know how to get in touch with him. I haven’t called yet. I wanted to talk to you guys about it first.” I paused and forced out the next part. “But I did call Kevin after I left my mom’s house. He said he and Walter could probably contact the lawyer and find my dad for me.”

  Since Luke’s friend Walter was an ex-cop, and his boyfriend Kevin still worked as an investigative reporter, I figured they’d know how to go about something like that.

  “Okay.” Richard took my hand in his. “Sounds like a good place to start. They’d certainly handle it however you felt comfortable.”

  It meant the world to me that he was giving me the space to make my own decision on this, but… “Why are you doing this? You said you never wanted him near me.”

  “Because you need to work through this, and you’re the only one who knows what will help you do that.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not sure what I want to do yet.”

  “It’s okay. Take your time. Think it through. When you know, we’ll be there for you.”

  “Yeah.” Luke sounded reluctant, but when I looked his way, he said, “Richard’s right. It’s your decision. I can’t say I feel good about you having that man in your life in any way, for any amount of time. In fact, I’m not exactly sure how I’d keep from beating the shit out of him if I ever saw him near you.” He slid an arm around my shoulders and kissed my temple. “But I get needing closure. I really do.”

  “Thanks.” I just wasn’t certain I’d ever know the right thing to do. I waited until the flood of emotion passed. Then I bumped elbows with Richard. “How do you always know what I’m thinking?”

  “I don’t, trust me. I wish you’d talk to us more.”

  “Yeah,” Luke said. “Same here.”

  I gave him a quick kiss, then one to Richard.

  When I shifted to lean back against the couch, something dug into my ass cheek. The TV remote. The sound of the local news filled our living room.

  Luke laughed. “Your ass is very talented.”

  I turned to him to offer a comeback but stopped short. A familiar image was on the TV: a picture of Alex Vega superimposed over a map of Majestic Falls State Park.

  “Search dogs and a helicopter are being used to comb through the park in an attempt to locate the veterinarian or his remains.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What?” I spun toward the TV, focusing on what the reporter who stood near an entrance to the park was saying.

  “The sheriff has given no indication as to whether they believe foul play could be a factor in the veterinarian’s disappearance. The sheriff did say that the doctor went into the park alone for a routine animal rescue on the day he vanished, and that their search efforts to locate him will continue throughout the day. We’ll bring you more as this story unfolds. Reporting live from Majestic Falls State Park, this is your local Action News Team, on the ground and in the air to bring you the news you want most.”

  I grabbed the remote and clicked the TV off. “Oh my God.”

  Richard placed a hand in the middle of my upper back.

  “What should I do?”

  “I don’t think there’s anything you can do.”

  “Maybe I could call the center, see if they need anything.”

  He nodded. “Sounds like a good idea.”

  “What time is it?”

  Luke checked the clock on the wall. “After seven thirty.”

  Before I could move, Richard got up and retrieved my cell phone from the end table. He handed it to me. “I think it’s okay to try calling now, given the situation.” He sat in the chair facing me, while Luke stayed beside me on the couch.

  I clutched the phone in my shaking hand. This couldn’t be happening. I stood and paced the room as I dialed. A man answered. I identified myself and told him I was supposed to start work there soon and that I’d seen the news about Dr. Vega.

  “Ah, yes, Mr. Stewart. You’re on my list of people to call. I’m the head of the center’s board of directors. I’m sorry to say that we’re temporarily closing the facility.”

  “They haven’t found Alex yet?”

  “No. We thought it best to close until we know more. Even with all our volunteers, it’ll be hard to keep the place running without the doc. We’re moving most of our seriously injured animals to other facilities in the state who’ve agreed to take them in. A handful of regular volunteers will care for the rest. That’s really all I know for right now. I can call you when we have a more permanent plan in place on when we’ll reopen. We’ll understand if you need to make other arrangements for employment before then.”

  “Is there anything I can do? I could come in and help with the animals.”

  “The volunteer coordinator is organizing their care. I’ll let her know you’re available if they need assistance.”

  “Are the police asking for people to help with the search?”

  “No. Right now they’re using local law enforcement and the park rangers. They don’t want anyone else to get lost in the park.”

  “You think that’s what happened? That Alex got lost?”

  “Probably not. He knows that park better than anyone. I imagine he was injured in some way and couldn’t make it back to his truck, but they haven’t found his vehicle yet either.”

  My heart sank. Would they find Alex in time? Or was it already too late? And what about Tomas? Would he lose his father? Would he ever know what happened to his dad?

  The director added, “I probably shouldn’t say more, but there’s also speculation that this might not be about something happening to him in the park. I guess he and his wife have been hurting financially, and with the added pressure of a new baby… Well, the sheriff is looking into the idea that he just couldn’t take it anymore and drove off.”

  “He doesn’t seem like the type to leave his family.”

  “No, he’s not. It’s just that he’s such a quiet guy, keeps to himself a lot. Hell, he spends most of his free time with the animals or alone out in the park. Most people in town don’t know him all that well, so there’s a lot of talk going around. I don’t think the sheriff is seriously considering the rumors, but he’s got to follow up on everything.” He paused. “Listen, Mr. Stewart, I really need to go. There’s a lot of press here. It was good of you to call.”

  “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

  “We will. Thank you.”

  We exchanged goodbyes and hung up. I returned to sit on the couch and relayed the conversation to Richard and Luke.

  “Dang,” Luke said. “I hope he’s okay.”

  I nodded. “Me too.”

  Richard kept a concerned eye on me from where he sat across from us. “I’m sorry about the job.”

  I shook my head. “That doesn’t matter. I just keep thinking about his family. They must be worried out of their minds. They have no idea what happened to him.”

  With an urgency I didn’t see coming, Luke reached for me and wrapped me in his arms. There was an uneasiness to his touch, and Richard still studied me like he thought this might send me over the edge, like I was about to lose it or something. I’d really scared them lately. What with the drinking and cutting all my hair off and going on and on about my past.

  “I’m okay.” When neither said anything in response, I added, “Really. I’m just worried about Alex and his family. I wish there was something I could do for them, some way I could help.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The ringing of my cell phone pulled me awake. It was past eight. The bed lay empty beside me, Richard and Luke long gone for work. It was the morning I would’ve started the internship, nearly two weeks since the news of Alex Vega’s disappearance.

  I rolled toward the nightstand on Richard’s side of the bed and grabbed my phone before it stopped ringing. I checked the caller I
D. Windtree Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

  I sat up in a rush and answered the call. No one responded.

  “Hello?” I tried again.

  Nothing. I checked my phone. The line was open.

  “Hello? Is someone there?”

  Still no answer.

  I hesitated. “Alex?”

  I waited but heard nothing. I rechecked the phone. The call had been cut off.

  Maybe the caller had a bad connection on their end, and they’d call back.

  Or maybe I should.

  I waited two minutes and then dialed. All I got was a recording stating that the center was temporarily closed and providing the number of another wildlife facility to contact for emergencies.

  I returned my cell to the nightstand and lay down again, speculating on who might’ve called and why. Were they getting ready to open the center again? Did they need my help with the animals? Had they found Alex? Was he okay?

  The latter two options seemed more and more unlikely with each passing day.

  The search had officially been called off, and neither Alex nor his body had been discovered in the park. The local news indicated that the sheriff’s department no longer considered Alex a missing person and that there was enough evidence to assume the doctor had left town of his own volition, adding that if the veterinarian had been in the park, they likely would’ve located him or his vehicle by now.

  The entire thing was heartbreaking.

  I sighed and rolled onto my back.

  Waking up to an empty bed on both sides of me had become the norm lately. I slept in most mornings after tossing and turning throughout the night. I had given notice at my part-time job at the kennel as soon as I’d gotten the offer for the internship, so I didn’t even have that job to go to anymore. I also had no classes scheduled for the summer semester.

  Of all the résumés I’d sent out, only one remained, one place that I hadn’t heard from yet, one more possibility.

  I had nothing to do but wait.

  Reluctantly I got up and then spent the rest of the morning on the couch, binge-watching one of my favorite shows, Teen Wolf. Then, determined to do something more active, I went to the basement to run on the treadmill and lift free weights. After lunch, I took Trixie for a walk and then picked out something for dinner that required a trip to the grocery store. I also decided to splurge and make a fancy dessert as a thank-you to the guys. Since news of Alex’s disappearance, they had been bringing home a lot of takeout so I wouldn’t feel like I had to cook.