by Tonya Kappes
“I truly don’t take advantage of living here.” I couldn’t get enough of the fresh air that the Daniel Boone National Forest gave to the world. “I mean, smell that.”
We stopped. I put my hands on my hips and lifted my chin in the air, taking a deep breath. My lungs expanded and released, leaving a long deep sigh as my lips curled into a smile.
“I smell the pines a lot during this time of the year.” He held out his canteen for me to take a drink. “Keep hydrated. Even though it’s shaded and feels really cool, your body is working harder than you think.”
I took a drink and handed it back to him.
“Thank you.” I gulped when our fingers touched. He entwined his with mine and tugged me closer to him. Our eyes met and my heart rendered tenderness in his gaze. The prolonged anticipation of kissing him was almost unbearable.
“May I kiss you?”
Did he just ask for permission to kiss me? My mind reeled. He was a true southern gentleman.
“I couldn’t think of anything . . .” I said before he bent his head down, his mouth covering mine.
He deepened the kiss, showing his eager side and that excited me. It’d been a long time since I’d kissed someone. His lips demanded more and more time of mine as his hand drew down my face and around my neck. He dropped my hand and put it up to my face with his other hand, cradling my face.
My body tingled all over. Or maybe it was the fact I needed to pee-pee. I was willing to hold it until this amazing first kiss was over.
There was a crack of some branches, pulling us apart. We stood still when we noticed a five-point buck gallop out of the park and cross our path.
“Beautiful.” I watched in amazement.
“Yes, you are.” Ty pulled me close to him as we watched the buck bounce away.
“Let’s finish our hike,” I suggested so we could get done and back to the camper. I had other things on my mind. “So we can get back to my place.”
Ty was hiking ahead of me. He’d picked up the pace.
He was so cute. He would kick sticks or rocks off the trail so I wouldn’t trip. He was very aware of those little things that I’d never thought of.
“You okay?” He turned around and asked when he noticed I wasn’t walking as fast as he was.
“I’ve got to go potty.” My brows frowned.
“One or two?” He held up his fingers.
“One!” I yelled, it echoed.
“Just go right there behind the tree. Not too far off the trail. And watch out for poison ivy. And hurry. We are almost done.” He smiled. “Then we can go to your place.”
“Just to check on Fifi,” I joked.
“Yep.” He snapped his fingers. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“I bet you were,” I teased and headed back into the wooded area, watching my step. I didn’t want to step on any critters, like a snake.
“I’m lucky I didn’t have sisters. My parents and I used to hike all of these trails.” I could hear him opening up about his family. He rarely talked about his mom. “You would’ve loved my mom. She would’ve loved you. I mean, you’re really girly but can hang with the guys when you want to.”
The more he talked, the harder it was for me to concentrate on the task at hand. I started to get in position, with a tree trunk against my back to steady me. Peeing on myself didn’t sound like a good thing.
“Come on, Mae,” I encouraged myself out of this stage fright. “You’ve got. . .” I looked down at the toes of my boots. “What on earth?” I leaned a little more forward to try to get a better look. “Omg! Omg!” I jumped up and took off running while pulling my shorts back up. “Omg!” I continued to scream and dropped when I made it back to the trail.
“What is wrong? Did you step or pee on a critter?” Ty’s face light up in delight.
“No,” I gasped and heaved.
“Did something bite you?” He bent down to look at my leg.
“Call Hank Sharp!” I couldn’t stop screaming. “I nearly peed on Ranger Corbin Ashbrook.”
FIVE
The minutes between the time Ty called 9-1-1 and when the first police officer arrived on the scene felt like forever, when in reality, the sound of sirens was about five minutes after he’d called.
Ty had sat me down on a rock on the other side of the trail. He stood next to me with his arms folded as the police officer the dispatcher had sent surveyed the area.
“What on earth is going on around here?” Dottie had brought the officer up to meet us on the trail. She was the second person Ty had called because we needed her to show the officer where we were and she knew these trails.
“I’m not sure.” My eyes blinked several times. I rubbed my hands vigorously together and put them between my knees.
“How on earth did you find him?” she asked.
“I had to pee,” I whispered and looked down the trail after we’d heard some heavy footsteps.
“Do you think he had a heat stroke?” Dottie asked.
“It’s not that hot out,” I said. “But I don’t know. Maybe a heart attack or something.”
The rustling of the trees overhead, the cracking branches, and the sounds of the forest played like an eerie tune you’d hear in a scary movie. Goosebumps covered my legs.
“Are you cold?” Ty asked and bent down to my level.
“No. I have a bad feeling.” It was something I wished I could put out of my head. “The fact that Corbin, who knew these trails as well as Dottie, is dead.”
“Has William shown back up?” I asked.
“Nope.” Dottie’s lips made an exaggerated pop.
“Where is William Hinson?” I asked.
“Very good question. I’ve been wondering that myself.” The heavy footsteps stopped. Hank Sharp stood over me like one of the big oaks, his green eyes hiding behind a pair of Wayfarer sunglasses. His black hair was combed neatly to the side and slicked with just the right amount of gel. He wore a two-piece black suit with a blue button-down. His gun snapped in the holster around his waist. “His fiancée has been at the office all morning waiting to file a missing person report.”
We all looked at him. Ty stood back up. The two men had a sketchy past that I’d not been able to uncover. The tension could be felt between the two men. Luckily the sounds of more footsteps ascended the trail. I stood. Ty took my arm as though he were helping me balance. Hank’s sideway glance didn’t go unnoticed. He pulled his glasses off and his eyes were fixed on Ty’s hand around my forearm.
“It’s probably the coroner. I’ve got the trail blocked off and the officer called to report that Corbin is dead.” Hank shifted his weight to the front of his feet while he pulled a notebook out of his back pocket. “The officer also told me that you found Corbin. Is that correct?” He opened the suit coat and took a pen from the inside pocket, clicking the point out.
“Yes.” My voice was weak. “Ahem,” I cleared my dry throat and swallowed. “It was me.”
Hank’s face wore a not again, sort of in disbelief look.
“Mae, it appears the only times you and I interact is when we get into sticky situations. For instance, this morning when you and Alison were having that heated conversation you didn’t want to tell me about.” He flipped through the notebook and started to write in it. It was best to keep my mouth shut until he started in on his many questions. I’d seen this dog and pony show a couple of times. It was during those times that I’d gotten myself in more trouble instead of less.
“You saw him today?” Ty asked. “You were almost late and texted me you were at the bank.”
“I talked to her during the unveiling of the Cookie Crumble’s cookie honoring the mayor.” Hank had a smirk on his face.
“I would’ve went with you.” Ty was so sweet to have offered.
“It was by chance that I was in the area.” I wasn’t in the mood to explain to either of them why I was downtown.
Ty nostrils flared and his jaw tensed.
“You want to tell me what hap
pened?” Hank had made enough waves with me and Ty for the moment. I couldn’t help but think he’d enjoyed every minute of getting Ty’s goat at my expense.
“We were hiking and…” Ty started to say.
“You two were hiking?” Hank gestured between me and Ty with his pen. “Together?”
“Yes. Together. A date.” Ty’s face was stern and his jaw set as he glared at Hank.
“I’m sorry.” Hank stopped the interview and looked at me. “Was the text you got from Ty? Because I thought you said you had to get back to work.”
I glared at him with no answer. He was really baiting Ty and I wasn’t going to help reel him in.
“Go ahead and tell me what happened here while you were on your hiking date,” Hank said.
“And Mae…” Ty started again, but Hank interrupted him. Again.
“I’d like Mae to tell me.” Hank put his hand up in front of Ty’s face, but his eyes were on me. “Mae, you found the body. Correct?”
“Corbin. His name is Corbin.” I didn’t want to refer to him as a body. I let out a slight gasp and threw my hand over my mouth while the coroner and his deputy packed up the black body bag with Corbin in it.
“It’s okay,” Ty pulled me to his chest. “I’m here.”
“Mae,” Hank called my name. “Do you want to do this at the station so there’s not so many distractions?”
I wanted to believe he meant the crime scene, but by the look on his face, he clearly meant Ty.
“No. I’m sorry.” I licked my lips and gained my composure. “I had to tinkle.”
“You need to use the bathroom?” Hank asked.
“No. I had to pee when I found Corbin.” It reminded that I never went to the bathroom, bringing it to my attention that I still had to pee.
“You peed on him?” Hank brows lifted.
“Is that necessary?” Ty spoke up.
“It is if her DNA is on him. Yes, Ty. Let me do my job or you can go on back to your hike without her.” Hank’s tone was stern.
“No. I didn’t end up going to the bathroom because when I looked down, I saw his hand. I screamed and ran back to Ty.” I sucked in a deep breath, starting to feel a little more like myself after the men carrying Corbin’s body down the trail had disappeared around the curve.
“You didn’t try to see what happened or touch him?” He asked.
“No.” It was better to stick with single words.
“Did you touch him?” He looked at Ty.
Ty stood there with a blank look on his face.
“Did you touch him?” Hank repeated. His voice escalated with an edge of attitude.
“Oh, so you’re talking to me now?” Ty questioned in a smart aleck tone. The men stood facing each other.
Hank cleared his throat.
“Yes, Ty. This is part of the investigation. There is a man dead. I need to know if you contaminated the scene?” His attitude shifted to at least tolerable and less of being a jerk.
“When Mae started screaming, I walked her way figuring it was a snake or something. She was very upset and said it was Corbin. I did walk over there and looked behind the tree. There was a body and I didn’t need to know anymore than that. I didn’t even see his face. I noticed the green ranger jacket and immediately called 9-1-1. After I talked to dispatch, I called Dottie to let her know that we found a body on Red Fox Trail.” Ty glanced over Hank’s shoulder when an officer approached from behind him.
The officer whispered something into Hank’s ear. Hank gave a few nods, sending the officer back.
“What was that about?” I asked.
Hank looked at me like I had no business asking him, then he focused back on Ty.
“Why did you call Dottie?” Hank wanted to know. The sound of crunching leaves, breaking sticks, and low murmurs sucked up any tranquility the forest usually offered in the late afternoon.
“I wanted her to show the officers where we were on the trail when they got here.” Ty was so smart. I’d never thought of calling her or staying with the body. I’d a hightailed it out of there if it weren’t for Ty. “I had Mae sit down and calm down.”
“Not that she ain’t see a dead body or three,” Dottie muttered under her breath. When she caught me staring at her with my nose snarled, she laughed. “If we can’t laugh about it, we’d be cryin’ about it.”
“Did you see or talk to Corbin when you two were. . .” his chest heaved up and then down, “hiking?”
“No.” I shook my head and looked at Ty for confirmation. He shook his head no too. “We decided to take this trail because we wanted to see if we could find William Hinson before I reported him missing, but apparently his fiancée is in town now.”
“She is?” Dottie asked.
“Yes. She’s been down at the station filling out reports and giving us photos from her phone. It’s not like him not to text her or call her a few times an hour.” Hank appeared to be reading from his notes. “I see that Corbin’s truck was parked at the entrance of the trail. Do you know why he was here?”
“Dottie.” I pointed to her.
“William Hinson, one of the campers renting a bungalow, is missing and I reported it to the ranger station,” she sternly told Hank.
“William Hinson,” he repeated and flipped a few pages back in his notebook. “What bungalow is he in?” Hank asked.
“Five.” I held up my hand like I was some child and quickly jerked it down.
I curled up on my tiptoes to get a gander at the notes Hank was writing because it was more than just writing the number five. He gave me the side eye and drew the little pad to his chest.
“I did go and see them before we went hiking. I wanted to get some information for myself, firsthand,” I said, making Hank pop his head up in curiosity. I knew that would get his attention. “They said they went to the girly bar to see if he’d gone there early because they’d had plans.”
Hank and Ty gave each other what I’d call a guy look and even though there was tension between them, it did make them smile,
“Seriously?” I groaned. “Why are you asking all these questions? Was Corbin murdered?”
“When the officer came over here, upon inspection of the body, Corbin didn’t have any visible signs of foul play.” It was news I didn’t want to hear.
A primitive grief overcame me and I sat back down to get my wits about me before I passed out.
“Detective!” The officer yelled from the crime scene with something blue dangling from his fingers.
“Listen, you don’t need to hang around here.” He flipped the notebook shut and shoved it in his pocket. “I’ll stop by and interview each of you after I get the crime scene cleared.”
Dottie, Ty and I stood there as Hank hurried back to the crime scene.
“What do you think that is?” Dottie asked.
“It looks like a sweatshirt,” Ty said and put his hand out to help me stand back up. “Come on. There’s nothing we can do here.”
On the way down the trail, my mind was jumbled and all the words started to tumble out of my mouth.
“This is our trail.” Technically, I didn’t own it, but the start of the Red Fox Trail was on my property. It was my job to maintain it. Alison will get a hold of this. With this on top of this morning’s article, we’ll have a million cancellations.
The silence of Ty and Dottie said a lot to me. They knew I was right.
“This means one thing.” I abruptly stopped and turned around, Dottie nearly knocking into me. Both of their eyes were big and round.
“Don’t even say. . .” Ty slowly shook his head.
“I’ve got to figure out who did this before it gets out.” I turned back around. “Where the hell is William Hinson?”
“That’s the million-dollar question right now.” Dottie hurried along side of me and pulled me close. “I think it’s a great idea for us to look into this.”
“Us?” I asked.
“No. No. This isn’t a good idea,” Ty poo-pooed the i
dea from behind us.
I squeezed Dottie’s arm and smiled.
“Okay, dear,” I said in a teasing voice.
“Dear? Great. You’re not listening to me.” Ty tried to hurry along side of us, but he wasn’t quick enough because we’d reached the beginning of the trail, where there were police officers all over the campground.
SIX
The campground was crawling with officers and cop cars were scattered all over. Some of the officers were sitting on the bales of hay Dottie had situated around the campground for extra seating.
The leaves on the trees swayed from the late afternoon fall breeze that was coming in from the park, a few falling down. Soon all of the trees would be bare and signs of winter would be on the way. Soon the pumpkins and gourds nestled in baskets at the end of cornstalks would be long gone and we’d be gearing up for the campers who loved to celebrate the winter season hiking in colder temperatures. Today brought on a sadness that seemed to fit the falling and bone-chilling temperatures.
There were a few campfires already started and the smell of wood burning took over the smell of death lingering in the air.
“Did you find William?” Jamison ran over with a frantic look on his face. “No one will tell me anything. They brought out a body in a black bag.” His face went pale.
“No. It wasn’t William. It was the ranger that he got into a fight with yesterday,” I told him as I watched the door of a police cruiser open in the distance. A petite blonde in white cropped skinny pants, a pink cardigan, and pearls jumped out.
“Jamison!” she screamed, with one hand on her heart and one hand waving at him.
“Penelope,” a heavy sigh escaped him.
Penelope? I watched as the two of them met in the middle, hanging onto each other.
“Who’s that?” Dottie jerked the old cigarette case with the snap top out of her bra and had had lit the thing and was sucking on it before I could even answer.
“Penelope, William’s fiancée.” I couldn’t help but notice Jamison’s hands were in a place that made it appear they were just not consoling each other about their missing friend/fiancé.