He hopped back out of the SUV and bent in to look under the passenger’s side seat.
“I think that I found something,” he called out.
I ran over to see what he had found.
“It’s stuck,” he said, pushing himself further into the SUV. “My arms are too big to fit under this seat; can you try and wiggle it out?” he asked me.
“Yes, let me try.”
Cole moved and I maneuvered inside the passenger side as he had done. I first looked under the seat. My heart began to race.
I couldn’t look under the seat and reach under it at the same time, so I had to feel for the strap that was stuck on the bottom of the seat. I didn’t want to break it but would if I had to. I really wanted to see the photos on this camera.
With a little patience, I was able to free the strap and pull the camera loose. I turned to face Cole and saw that he was excited to see the camera too.
“Does it still turn on?” he asked.
I hoped it wasn’t broken from the crash or had a dead battery. I pushed the “on” button and the screen’s welcome message appeared. I smiled to myself. After another moment, all of the pictures that I’d taken had loaded.
I began to flip through the pictures. The latest ones were of the two men. They looked just as I had envisioned them in my flashback and dream.
“I see why you called them hillbillies,” Cole said, looking at the pictures with me. “Those are some ugly mugs. Look, that one has a big ass scar running down his entire face. Wonder what he did to get that?” he asked.
“Really,” I agreed. “I got close-ups of both of them. And, see, that’s a rolled up carpet. An oriental rug. And, there’s a shovel in the skinny guy’s hand in this photo.”
“Yep, you caught them red-handed,” he agreed. “Nice work. We can give these to the Sheriff.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “We should go back to the resort and upload them to the laptop first. And show your family. Just in case the Sheriff confiscates the camera. He should just take a copy of the pictures, but we shouldn’t take that chance.”
“You’re right,” Cole agreed.
“There are hundreds of pictures on here. Maybe I can see who I am,” I said excitedly and started to flip through the pictures.
At first, I was confused. They were all pictures of wild animals. No people. No family members or friends. What is this? I thought to myself.
I glanced over at Cole and he had a confused look as well.
We just looked at each other. The pictures were good. They seemed to be in groupings. Birds, frogs, foxes, then they changed to a desert-like place. The first picture was of what appeared to be a lot of sand and tall grasses. Then, the next was of elephants.
“These pictures are beautiful,” I exclaimed, surprised to see these.
“Where is this? Africa?” Cole asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said still flipping.
Then I stopped and just stared at the picture that had flipped in front of me.
“Is that you?” Cole asked surprised.
“I think so.”
“You’re posing with the elephants! Zoom in.”
I zoomed in and saw that it definitley was me. Long dark brown hair pulled back into a pony tail. Emerald green eyes and high, sharp cheekbones.
I was wearing khaki shorts and a green safari-like shirt. Was that a name tag on my shirt? I zoomed in even further and tried to make out the name.
“Lindsay. The tag says Lindsay!” Cole said excitedly. “Hello, Lindsay, it’s nice to meet you,” he said, grinning at me.
My eyes felt as wide as saucers. I just looked at Cole and back to the camera. I was speachless.
Holy shit.
I couldn’t believe it. I knew my name. My first name, at least. That’s better than no name. Funny thing was that it didn’t ring a bell like I had thought that it would. I didn’t recognize it.
And the pictures. I didn’t recognize any of them, nor any of the places either. Other pictures had some other people in them. Co-workers? Some must be locals as they appeared to be indigenous to the area.
But no one seemed to be close to me in any of the pictures. There was one group picture where the entire group had their arms around each other and two females were standing beside me. No signifigcant other there.
I was happy to see, that so far, I hadn’t cheated on a husband or boyfriend with Cole. But what if he didn’t travel with me? Then he woudn’t be in these pictures, of course. I continued to flip through them and it was all more of the same.
The pictures were astounding. Beautiful scenery, wildlife, and local people and places. But it didn’t tell me anything that I needed to know right now. Like where I lived, for instance. I was hoping to get some clues from the backgrounds.
Cole saw the confused look on my face and gave me a small smile.
“These pictures might not be what you were expecting to see, but we know that you took them. Go back to the resort and put them on the laptop and maybe when you’re looking at them later, some things will start to come back to you,” he suggested.
I knew that he was right. “Thanks Cole. I’m sure that they will help me to remember. I was just hoping for more clues as to who I was right now. I know I’m being impatient. But at least I know my first name.”
Cole nodded.
“Lindsay,” I repeated.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “This is a good start. And, I don’t blame you for being impatient. Not knowing who I was would drive my up the wall,” he admitted.
“It is,” I agreed.
“Let’s look in the back seat and the cargo area of the SUV and see if we find anything else,” Cole suggested.
After a thorough search of the rest of the vehicle, we came up with the camera bag that had been tossed back to the cargo area during the crash. That was it. No wallet or ID. No cell phone. Nothing. Who travels without ID or a cell phone these days?
Me... that’s who.
Cole looked around the crash area for any other clues and came up short. He grabbed his rifle and called Bella, then helped me back up the embankment.
“Do you remember how far you drove before you crashed here?” he asked me. “Maybe we can find what they buried. Or call the police and give them the general area?” he suggested.
“I looked down the road and tried to remember where I had come from. I assumed, from the way that I had crashed, that it was further on down the road. But, I didn’t know for sure.
“I’m not sure. We can drive down the road a ways and see if anything looks familiar to me. But I don’t remember the actual crash. I only remember after I woke up,” I told Cole.
“Okay, well, let’s drive down the road some and see. But, if you don’t remember driving, Im sure you won’t remember how far you had to run to get to the SUV from where you photographed the two men,” Cole supposed.
“Yes, I remember running, or saw it in my dream, but not where I was running or for how long,” I admitted.
We drove down the road for about a mile and didn’t see any signs of anything unusual. Cole turned the truck around and headed back the way we had come. I wanted to get back and get the pictures uploaded to the laptop anyway.
“I’m sure that you will eventually remember where you were. We’ll come back when you do,” Cole said.
12
Sophie
Alec drove us around several blocks and then took a road out of town. The road looked fishy, and I gave him a look.
He looked back at me. “What?”
“Where are you taking me?” I asked him.
“Wow. You’re an extremely suspicous person,” he said.
“Not suspicous, just trying to protect myself. You are a stranger who I just met like ten minutes ago. I got into your truck and now you are driving me down some dirt path,” I said, a matter of factly.
“Big Jim lives about a mile down this road. It’s not some dirt path. It’s called Canterbury Road.
It is a dirt road. It’s on the map. Check your phone if you don’t believe me,” Alec relayed.
“I believe you,” I told him.
“You do?”
“I don’t really have a choice,” I informed him.
“Maybe. You could check your phone and see that I’m telling you the truth. Or you could open the door and jump out if you really believe that I’m trying to kidnap you. I don’t have you locked in.”
I quickly looked over at the door lock. Alec chuckled. “Oh boy,” he said laughing.
“I don’t think this is funny, at all,” I told him. “Look at it from my pont of view, will you?” I tried to ask nicely.
“Okay, you’re right,” he said, still grinning.
“Where’s this house that you insisted is down this awful road? You said one mile. It’s been more than a mile.”
“It’s right here,” Alec replied, pulling into a rocky driveway with a trailer home at the end of it. A red pickup truck was parked in front of the trailer. A big black dog came running out of a run-down shed and began to bark at us.
“Stay here for a minute until I talk to him,” Alec asked me.
“Okay,” I agreed.
Alec got out and yelled, “Big Jim, you home? It’s Alec Randal from the hardware store.”
A moment went by and nothing happened. Alec went toward the rickety front porch. The black dog came over to where I was sitting in the truck and sniffed up at me.
I rolled down the window and greeted him. “Hi puppy,” I called down to the dog. He looked at me for a second before wagging his tail. Guess he decided that I was okay. Then he slowly walked over to where Alec was standing on the porch.
I saw the front door of the trailer open. Good, I thought, he’s home.
“Big Jim, hey,” Alec called out.
Big Jim opened the screen door and stepped out onto the porch. He shook Alec’s hand. I heard Alec explain to him why we had come and he pointed over at me. Big Jim nodded and Alec waved me over.
I put the window back up and got out of the truck. I stepped down and my shoe instantly squished into the mushy ground.
Yuck, I thought but tried to keep a straight face. I didn’t want to offend anyone else today, especially not someone who might help me find Lindsay. With each step, though, my heels sank into the muddy earth. I sighed and couldn’t help but to frown. These were seven hundred dollar shoes!
I looked up to see Alec grinning at me. I gave him my best smirk and his grin got even wider. If Big Jim wasn’t waiting to greet me, I’d have some choice words for Alec.
I finally reached the porch and held out my hand to Big Jim. He seemed like a decent guy as he greeted me with a smile and a hello.
I pulled out my phone and showed him a picture of Lindsay. His face showed instant recognition.
“Yes, I talked with her last week one morning over some coffee. Can’t remember which morning, to tell ya the truth. But she came into the diner down in town, and we talked for about an hour. She was looking to photograph a Ptarmigan nest up in the mountains here. She asked me and my boys if we had come across any nests while hunting.”
I could hardly contain my excitement. “Did you tell her where to go?” I asked quickly.
“Not only told her; drew her a map,” he answered.
“Big Jim, can you please draw me the map? I really need to find her. She’s been missing for several days now,” I pleaded.
“Of course. Give me a minute to go inside and get a pen and paper. Be right back.”
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate this so much,” I told him.
“No problem. No problem.” He went back inside and let the screen door bang shut behind him. The black dog barked at it.
I looked at Alec. He was standing there patiently with his hands in his jean’s pockets. I noticed how handsome he was again.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” I thanked him. “I mean really it.”
He nodded. “Sure, I’d hope that someone would do the same for me if I needed it,” he answered.
I smiled at him and he grinned his sexy grin back at me. His bright green eye sparkled in the sunlight.
Big Jim came back outside and handed me a crinkled piece of paper that was half ripped from a writing tablet.
“I drew your friend the same exact map,” he informed me.
I took a good look at it while Big Jim explained to me where the highway met the road. “This is the road heading up the mountain. Turn here,” he said.
I nodded. Then he pointed out some landmarks. Alec looked at the map from over my shoulder as Big Jim explained it to us.
“And the rest shoud be self explanatory. I wrote as neat as I could for you,” he said, pleased.
“Thank you so much,” I repeated.
“I hope that you find your friend. She’s a nice girl. Alec, stop back and let me know if I don’t run into you.”
“I will, Big Jim. Thanks a lot for your help.”
“No problem at all. Good luck. Come on in, Max,” he called to his dog. Alec and I moved aside and waited for the dog to go on by and inside the trailer.
“Good bye, Big Jim,” I called as I walked off the porch, back into the cakey mud.
Alec drove us back into town and pulled his truck up behind my parked rental car.
“So, what are you going to do now?” he asked me.
“I’m going to follow the map and see if I can find my friend,” I answered.
“I had a feeling you were going to say that. You cannot go up the mountain side and hike a mile into the forest wearing that. And certainly not with those shoes,” he exclaimed.
“I don’t have anything to change into right now,” I answered. “My clothes are all in the motel down in Silverthorne,” I told him.
“I know that you are not from here, but this is no stroll in the park. Do you know what a switchback is?” he asked me.
“Yes,” I answered, annoyed. “Paths that go down a hillside.”
“Okay, well,yes. But these ones go down a rocky cliff. A precipice, Big Jim said. We are in the mountains, ya know?” he asked me.
“Okay, so I will go back and change. I did bring jeans and boots,” I told him.
Alec sighed. “You won’t have enough time today. The sun goes down by five o’clock. You don’t want to be up there in the dark. There are absolutley no lights up there and you’ll get lost. We don’t need two lost city girls up in the Colorado mountains.”
I just looked at him. I had to wait? I preferred not to, but he was probably right. Getting stuck up there in the dark was not smart and wouldn’t help the situation. But what if Lindsay was lost up there and all alone?
Alec was watching me intently as I thought through it. I could see that he was ready to pursuade me if I still said that I was going to try to make it today.
“Okay, you’re right,” I told him.
“So, you are not going to try and go today? Right? It would be an utterly stupid thing for you to do,” he said seriously.
“No, I won’t go today. I’ll wait for the morning,” I assured him.
“Okay, good,” he said. Then he turned back to me. “You can’t drive that car up there,” he said, pointing at my rental. “It might get stuck. I’ll take you up tomorrow morning if you want me to.”
“You will?” I asked surprised. I smiled. The offer was unexpected and I was happy that he had offered.
“Yes. I can meet you at the motel at seven o’clock. Is that good?”
“Yes, thank you. I’d really appreciate it.”
“The motel across from the diner in Silverthorne, right?” he asked.
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“Okay, see you in the morning. Dress warm. It gets really cold the higher up you go,” he warned me.
“I will,” I promised him.
I gave him a flirty smile and got out of his truck to go to my car. I looked back before getting in and he was still
sitting there, grinning at me.
13
Cole
Once back at the resort, Stormy and I went to see Dax first. I didn’t know how to upload the pictures to the laptop. Stormy, I mean Lindsay, said that we needed a special cable. I hoped that Dax had one.
I called Dax on his phone and asked him about it. He said that he’d bring it to my cabin in about an hour. I took Lindsay to her room so that she could get the laptop that she’s been using.
Then, we stopped in the dining room and ordered some lunch. I was starving and I’m sure that she had to be hungry as well.
Lindsay looked anxious while we ate your meals. “What’s up?” I asked her.
“Nothing. Just can’t wait to get those pictures uploaded. I need to look at them all again. I hope that I can remember something. Not being able to remember is really starting to get to me.”
“I know. But try and be patient,” I told her again. “Your brain needs to heal still. After seeing your car, it’s no wonder you don’t remember anything. Your memory will return when your body is ready.”
“You’re probably right,” she said smiling. “Thanks for all of your help. I know that I’m taking you away from your job here.”
“You’re welcome. And I’m good with taking a day off. As long as it doesn’t snow, or we have any guest room emergencies, I have a pretty flexible schedule,” I told her.
“You have a really nice thing going here,” she said. “I’d love to live here. It’s so beautiful up here in the mountains.” Her face fell.
“You’ll find out where you do live soon enough,” I reminded her. “And, it’s probably somewhere really nice. You have a great job it seems like. Who wouldn’t want to be a world photographer?” I asked Lindsay.
“Yeah. I appears that I do have a pretty good job. Now that you have put it that way, I guess that I do know somting else about myslef. And, at least, I’m not a bum,” she said smiling.
“Yep, I was relieved to find that out, as well,” I said grinning back.
She wrinkled her forehead at me then smiled.
Back at my place, I fed Bella and we waited for Dax. He showed up a little bit later and I was thankful that he was able to help Lindsay with the upload. As the pictures were uploading, Brad and Harley stopped by.
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