“Whatcha filming?” the middle-aged clerk at the army-navy store asked.
His dad ruffled Dean’s hair. “My son and I are hoping to get footage of Sasquatch. There’ve been reports of sightings in this area.”
A female customer smirked. “What a nut job,” she stage-whispered to her husband.
The clerk winked at the couple and nodded.
Dean’s dad grabbed his purchase and his son and hurried out of the store. “I probably shouldn’t have told them what we’re looking for.” When they got to the van, he’d crouched down to look Dean in the eyes. “Don’t let that bother you, son. People ridicule what they don’t understand.”
Only it had bothered Dean. Now he was long past caring when someone derided his views on Bigfoot yet for some reason the notion of this woman ridiculing him, cut through him. He stood taller. “That’s confidential.”
Even in the relative darkness, he noticed the change in her demeanor. She furrowed her brow and flared her nostrils. “Is that right? Who are you, really?”
Okay, maybe he should have worded his response more diplomatically. He’d obviously pissed her off. Heck, even her horse seemed unhappy with him. It stomped its right front hoof on the ground and pinned its ears back.
If this land did indeed belong to her, then he’d need her permission to continue his work. He held up his hands in surrender. But before he could get out an apology, an owl came out of nowhere, swooped in low and plucked a small rodent right off the ground in front of the horse. The mare startled, backing away from its mistress. The woman tried to get hold of the reins again, but the mare bucked.
Dean approached the animal from the other side to help. The horse whinnied and reared, coming down hard.
White hot pain exploded through Dean’s leg. He tried to step backward but fell the moment he put any weight on his right foot. In the commotion, he couldn’t see the woman for a moment. “Hey, are you all right?” he asked.
“Lycia, it’s okay, girl.” She finally caught the horse’s reins, and the animal visibly calmed.
Thank goodness she was all right. He sure wasn’t. The whole bottom half of his right leg throbbed like crazy.
The woman circled behind the horse and stood over Dean, glaring down at his injury. All he’d tried to do was help her get control of her horse.
Those dark eyes met his, and his heart thundered against his ribs.
He was completely at her mercy, out in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night. God, she was gorgeous, even more so up close. Not that her looks lessened the lethal nature of his situation.
His ankle ached in his boot. His injury made escape impossible. If she planned to finish him off, she could easily do it.
This was bad, very bad. He gulped.
Chapter Two
Was he telling the truth? Or had the paparazzi finally found her? Or perhaps worse—another stalker. She shuddered. With a glance at his leg, she confirmed that he needed medical care, and fast. Lycia had kicked him pretty hard. But she’d been duped before by men pretending to be something other than what they were. Had he been watching her for a while before making his presence known? She was sure she’d heard something several minutes before he’d called out to her.
She took in his plaid button-down shirt and his khaki utility pants. He couldn’t be more different from the men she’d dealt with in the world of modeling. Even tabloid reporters and photographers dressed better than Dean.
Not that she’d expect a guy working in the wilderness to be sporting Hugo Boss or Burberry, but Dean had zero fashion sense. He had a pocket protector, for heaven’s sake. Total nerd wear. And his dark hair was months past needing a haircut. “Who are you, Mr. Hawkins?”
Muscles around his bristly jaw ticked. “I swear, I’m a scientist, a college professor.” Gingerly, he pressed his fingers to the side of his boot and immediately groaned.
Ember crouched down next to him. “Think it’s broken?”
“I hope not. I’m voting for sprained.” When he reached into his back pocket, Ember instinctively grasped her bow. Taking out his cell phone, he turned on the flashlight and shined it on his foot. “It’s starting to swell. Would you help me get my boot off?”
The pain etched on his face told her that his injury was far worse than a simple sprain.
Lycia nickered behind her. Was it a warning?
Ember glanced over her shoulder at the mare and found her calmer than a few minutes ago. Turning back to Dean, she chewed on her bottom lip. Then she grasped the heel of his boot and gently pulled.
Dean ground out a curse. “Wait.” Baring his teeth, he tried adjusting the boot but immediately quit. “It’s already too swollen.”
Ember went over to Lycia and fished in her saddlebag for her knife before returning to Dean. “We’re going to have to cut it off.”
He slid a few inches away. “Do you always carry such an assortment of weaponry on your evening ride?”
“Absolutely.” Since the kidnapping, she always had something with her with which to defend herself. She refused to be a victim ever again, which was also why she’d learned krav maga, and continued to practice her kickboxing. The more she thought about it, the more she was confident that Dean was who he said. And she felt compelled to do something to help him. “We’re going to have to get you to the hospital in Nocturne Falls. The emergency department there is the only place open at this hour.”
“How far is it?”
“About forty-five minutes. The bigger question is how we’re going to get you there.” Even if she called an ambulance, it would take the EMTs forever to get to him in the woods. She was strong enough to carry him, but revealing herself as a supernatural—or supe, as the locals liked to say—was out of the question since that was frowned upon by the powers that be.
“Give me a minute,” he said. “I can use a makeshift cane, and I’m sure I’ll be able to walk back to my camp. We can take my truck from there.” He grabbed a nearby fallen branch and used it to stand up. In a nanosecond, he’d dropped back to the ground, wincing.
No way could she make him wait for an ambulance. Regardless that he was a trespasser, he was badly hurt. It was up to her to get him to the hospital, even if she had to hoist him up onto Lycia’s back herself. She’d have to be sure to give him some of the magical water from the falls, which was locally bottled and had the effect of making supes harder to detect for humans.
She crouched closer to him. “Put your arms around my neck.”
His eyes widened. “Um…”
“Just do it. I’ll help you onto my horse.” She inched closer and detected his piney, masculine scent.
“I weigh almost two hundred pounds.”
Waving off his doubts, she picked him up with ease, carried him to her horse, and deposited him onto the saddle. “What were you saying?”
Lycia swished her tail back and forth. “Be nice, girl,” Ember told her.
As Dean settled on the mare, his jaw worked, but no words came out.
She opened her saddlebag and fished out a bottle of Nocturne Falls water. “Drink this. You don’t want to get dehydrated to add insult to injury.”
He accepted the bottle and slipped his left foot into the stirrup.
Ember took Lycia’s reins and started leading her in the direction of her house. “My place is about a two-mile walk, but we’ll go as fast as you’re able. I’m sure that leg must be killing you with each step the horse takes.”
“You have no idea. My truck is closer.”
Perhaps it would be better not to take him to her house. After all, she had no idea who this guy was. “Point the way.”
They’d been walking for a good ten minutes before either of them spoke.
“So you know my name,” he said, pain evident in his voice. “What’s yours?”
“Ember.” She thought she saw another of those electronic lights up on a bluff to the south of them.
“That’s ve
ry pretty. Unusual.”
Ignoring his comment, she gestured toward the glowing green light. “How many more cameras do you have on my land?”
After a moment, he answered. “Two more.”
“I wish you’d tell me what you’re trying to photograph. I’m saving your life, after all.”
“You’ve got me there,” he said. “Okay, fine. There have been reports of a Sasquatch in the area. That’s what I’m after.”
Years ago she might have found the possibility that Bigfoot existed ridiculous. But living near a town full of supes had expanded her worldview. At least he was being honest. “You really think there’s a Bigfoot here?”
“Maybe more than one. They’re extremely camera shy, as you’d suspect.”
Lycia neighed. Ember patted the mare’s neck as she considered Dean’s answer. Camera shy? Boy, could she relate. “Did you ever consider that perhaps they merely want to be left alone?”
He snickered. “Clearly, or else we’d have a lot more evidence of their existence. Like most creatures, they’re fearful of humans.”
“Rightly so.” Throughout history, how many species had man exploited?
“But if we could capture one on film that would be the first, crucial step to studying them and understanding them.”
She gritted her teeth. For so long, she’d felt like a science project herself, an object of the public’s idle fascination, with no right to her privacy.
Dean adjusted his injured leg, grinding out a curse under his breath as he did. “The scientific benefits would be incredible. Just think of it. Do you know how rare it is these days to discover—or actually to confirm—a new large mammal?”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. More than three-quarters of all species on earth are still unknown to us. Even if you take microbes and bacteria out of the mix, we estimate that there are over five million species yet to be discovered.”
“Hard to believe.” She ducked to miss a low-hanging branch. “Nothing as large as say, Bigfoot, though. That number must refer to things like insects and deep-sea creatures.”
“Not exclusively. In the last few years, scientists discovered a small primate in Africa called pygmy galago, which is about the size of a squirrel. And in Mexico, a spider the size of a softball, which represents a new genus of arachnids.”
She shuddered at the thought.
“So who knows about so-called cryptids?” he said.
“What’s a cryptid?” she asked.
“Cryptozoology is the study of creatures that are rumored to exist. Many of them actually do. The skunk ape, which is related to Bigfoot, has been reported in my adopted state of Florida, and was photographed there almost a decade ago.”
Ember didn’t doubt that many beings most people considered to be myths existed. She herself was an Amazon. Her bff, Stevie was a witch. And her friend Jordan communicated with animals. Heck, the town of Nocturne Falls was rife with vampires, gargoyles, shapeshifters, and werewolves. Anything was possible.
If Dean was successful in his goal of photographing Bigfoot here, would that bring other researchers to the area? And with them, a host of media people, snapping pictures, and shattering the safe, comfortable existence they all enjoyed?
She couldn’t let that happen. “I’ve been all over this mountain, and I can assure you that there’s no Bigfoot living here. If there were, I’d have seen it.”
He chuckled. “You think so? There’s a reason that these species remain shrouded in mystery. They live in the most inhospitable places you could imagine, like deep inside caves, around the thermal vents under Antarctica, and deep in the Amazon rainforest. Have you explored every cave here? Gone way inside?”
Of course, she hadn’t. Being claustrophobic meant that she wouldn’t set foot inside any of the many caves that dotted the mountainside.
“My campsite is just over that rock,” he said. “I don’t think I can drive my truck. Unless I do it with my left foot.”
“I’ll drive.” When his camp came into view, she scoped the area for a place to hitch Lycia and found the perfect spot—an oak tree near a small pond. After she’d helped Dean off of her horse and into his truck, she tied the mare’s reins to a sturdy branch close enough to the water that Lycia could drink if she got thirsty. “I’ll be back as quick as I can, girl.”
The horse bobbed her head as if she understood. Which Ember was pretty sure she did. Heading back to Dean’s truck, she passed his tent, which was larger than she would have thought, probably army surplus. The small generator beside it wasn’t running.
She climbed into the pickup and started the engine. Dean’s eyes were shut, but the deep furrow of his brow assured her that he wasn’t asleep. “You okay?” she asked.
“Yup,” he muttered through clenched teeth.
Typical male denial.
Unfortunately for him, the terrain was beyond uneven, and with every bump, he winced or tightened his grip on the armrest. All she could think to do was distract him. “I guess you figured out that sneaking up on a horse is never a good idea.”
He shot her a scowl. “You don’t say. I thought you were in danger.”
Probably not the best distracting conversation she could’ve chosen. “Well, I appreciate…the sentiment.”
Finally, they reached the dirt road that connected with Moonbow Pass Lane, which was at least a little smoother than driving through the woods.
“How much farther?” he asked.
“Not too long.” They had another twenty-five minutes to go. No sense in telling him that, though.
Her thoughts drifted back to one of the many endless, boring photo shoots early in her modeling career.
“How much longer?” she’d asked her mother as stylists buzzed around her, prepping her for the next shot.
“You’re almost done,” her mama said.
“Tell me how many minutes.”
“If I give you a number, you’ll count, and that will make it feel longer, hija Preciosa.”
She hit a pothole, and the truck bounced.
Dean groaned.
“I’m sorry.” Swallowing, she turned on the stereo. Familiar classical music came on. Dean’s shoulders dropped, and some of the deep lines crisscrossing his forehead softened. “A Chopin fan, hmm?” she asked.
He raised one eyebrow at her. “You too?”
“It calms me. Nocturne No 2. How fitting.” She raised the volume.
“Huh?”
“Since we’re heading into Nocturne Falls.”
“Ah.” He combed his fingers through his brown hair. “Pretty strange town. I drove through on my way up here. Halloween is months away yet there were a dozen people in costumes walking the main drag. Vampires and elves and dragons.”
“Oh my,” they said at the same time then locked gazes. She had to admit; he had a pretty amazing smile. For a trespassing geek.
“Sadly, the only creature I didn’t see there was Bigfoot,” he said.
She turned onto the highway. “I’ll mention that at the next Chamber of Commerce meeting. Hire Bigfoot impersonator.”
“Really?”
Rolling her eyes, she grinned. “Kidding.”
Shifting in the seat, he carefully adjusted his right leg. “I don’t think your horse much cares for me.”
“I’d have to agree.” She resisted a chuckle. “Lycia’s possessive of me. Took her months to warm up to my cats.”
“How many do you have?”
“Just two, Artemis and Athena.”
“All females at your place, or is there a mister?”
Her mouth was suddenly dry as dust. Why would he ask about her relationship status? Which was none of his business. “There’s a man in my life.” Technically true. Her papa was definitely an important person to her.
They rode in silence for a while, until they entered the town of Nocturne Falls.
Taking a left at the hospital sign, she said, “Alm
ost there.” The parking lot was mostly empty when they arrived. “Looks like we won’t have a long wait.”
“Good thing.” He pushed open his door. “I need some painkillers, like yesterday.”
Leaning across the seat, she took his arm. “Whoa there. You’re not thinking of hopping to the building, are you?”
Bristling, he patted her hand. “Don’t worry, Mother. I can do this.”
“I promise not to humiliate you.” She tipped her chin at the empty wheelchair sitting by the lighted entrance. “Give me a sec to grab that, would you?”
“You win.”
A minute later she had the chair in place.
As he lifted his injured leg onto the footplate, he narrowed his eyes at her. “Did I imagine that you picked me up and put me on your horse before?”
Stepping behind him, she wheeled him toward the building. “I helped you if that’s what you mean. Pain can cloud the mind.” The automatic doors whooshed open, and she pushed him up to the reception desk.
A nurse took him back right away.
“I’d like to cover whatever this costs,” Ember told the receptionist after Dean was out of earshot.
The young woman squinted at her. “Aren’t you…”
“Nope.” Usually, she wore sunglasses when she came into town, but those were always daytime trips. She handed over her credit card. “I get mistaken for her all the time, though.” Checking the clock on the wall, she wondered if it was too late to call Rod, her nearest neighbor, who lived several miles from Ember’s place. Rod took care of her yard, and the stable, and his wife Mika cleaned her house every week.
Since it was a little after ten pm, she texted him instead. Thankfully, he returned her message right away and agreed to retrieve Lycia, with Mika’s help. That was one less thing for her to worry about.
An hour passed as Ember alternately paced the ultra-modern waiting room and sat on a surprisingly comfortable sofa, thumbing through an old science magazine, which was the only reading material there that wasn’t some trashy tabloid.
Beauty and the Bigfoot Hunter Page 2