Inside the front entrance, the building resembled a wildlife museum more than a ranger station. There were stuffed birds and elk along the walls, pictures of soaring eagles and geysers in between different-sized antlers. There was an empty desk to their left and a hallway beyond that. Kelly stepped into the hallway and saw all the doors were open but there was no one in sight.
“Hello?” Kelly kept her voice low.
A man stuck his head out of the office at the end of the hall. “Can I help you?” Joe asked.
“We need to fill out a report for two missing persons.” Kelly took a step down the hall, but the ranger’s uninterested face made her halt.
“How long have they been gone?”
“Since last night,” Stew answered, stepping out from behind Kelly.
“I’m afraid they need to be missing for forty-eight hours before we launch any sort of investigation.”
“Please.” Stew walked the short hallway, stopping within the doorframe of the ranger’s office. “We need your help.”
Joe sighed, leaning back in his chair and turning slightly from side to side. If not for the genuine concern radiating off this young man’s face, he would have turned them away and asked them to come back in a few days. Joe motioned for Stew to take a seat. Stew waved his friends in and sat down, waiting till they were all there before he began the tale. He told Joe how they’d gone to the hot-pots, drank a little, and had an overall good time. He ended with how they’d waited that morning but Rowena and Doug were both gone, no sign of them anywhere.
Joe rocked slowly in his office chair, running a hand over his forehead. “I just don’t think it’s a missing persons case.”
“What are you talking about? Two people are missing. That’s the whole point of a missing persons case, that they’re not around.” Stew was growing angry. He could smell the booze, mixed with a strong splash of mouthwash, drifting across the table from the ranger’s mouth.
“What we have here is something I see every month since I’ve been working here. It’s so incredibly common among employees.” Joe held out his hands to show them how it worked. “A four to five month contract is a very long time to someone in their early twenties, especially when they’re anywhere from one thousand to two thousand miles from home. So without any warning, they hop in their cars and hit the highway. Just like that, they’re gone. And I think it’s great that there are employees like you guys who are concerned for their welfare. But if you look at this from our perspective, you’d see this is quite common.” Joe leaned back, crossing his arms across his chest. He felt he’d made a good case.
“Is it also normal for those employees to up and leave without their shoes, truck, or glasses?” Stew leaned forward, growing very tired of this man’s lack of cooperation. “Rowena can barely see without her glasses.”
“Did they have any food on them?” Joe asked, becoming intrigued.
“Nothing.”
“Okay, why don’t I follow you out to the campsite and have a look.”
“Thank you,” Kelly said.
“But if we don’t find anything, I want you to fill out the forms and wait the appropriate time, okay?”
They nodded, thankful he was at least going to check it out. The three of them stood and left his office, climbing back into the jeep to wait. Ten minutes passed and there was still no sign of him.
“Maybe he had to take a leak,” Richard wondered out loud.
“No, I know what he’s doing. He’s having a drink.” Stew turned in the driver’s seat. “Didn’t you get a whiff of his breath? He’s a heavy alcoholic. Just look at his eyes next time you’re close enough. You’ll see what I’m talking about.”
“Well that doesn’t matter.” Kelly was angry, coming from a family where her own father had had a bout with alcoholism. “Doesn’t make him a bad man.”
“It does when he blows us off so he can hide in his dark office and sleep one off.” Stew gave Joe a false smile when he finally emerged from the front office, but inside, he hated him. He started the engine and backed out of the parking lot, leading the way to the campsite. “He better not piss me off,” Stew yelled over the wind.
“Just remember that we need his help. So keep it cool at all costs,” Kelly reminded him, gently gripping his wrist to make sure he heard her.
Stew nodded and focused on the road, glancing up every so often to make sure the drunk was still behind them. True to his word, the ranger followed them down the highway and off the road toward the campsite. Kelly became uneasy as they pulled up behind Rowena’s truck. Seeing it just waiting there like that, all alone, felt so wrong. They got out of the jeep and walked past the truck, peering in through the windows to see if maybe they’d come back to an empty site and decided to sleep it off in the cab, but there was no one there.
“Why’d you leave the sleeping bags and all their stuff on the ground?” Kelly asked, looking down at Rowena’s overnight bag, the corner of her wallet barely visible.
“I don’t know.” Stew rubbed the back of his head. “We kind of thought it was better not to touch anything. Kind of like a scene of the crime thing.”
“Was there a crime committed?” Joe asked as he entered the site. “Other than having a fire without a fire pit.”
“No, we don’t think so.”
“What’s your name, son?”
“I’m Stewart; this is Richard and Kelly.”
“Okay, now what are you talking about, Stewart?”
“Doug had this massive crush on Rowena. But last night she pretty much told him she wanted nothing to do with him in that way. Broke the guy’s heart. So he rolled over and went to sleep. That was the last we ever saw of him.”
“Are you insinuating he might have taken her out into the woods to…have some kind of confrontation?”
“I have no idea. All I know is that they were both there last night and now they’re gone.” Stew’s voice rose in volume.
“Calm down, Stewart.” Joe held up a hand as he walked toward them, looking down at the sleeping bags. “We’re all just trying to figure out what happened here.” He bent down and unzipped Doug’s sleeping bag. “This is blood.” Joe pointed to a small drop by the top right corner. “Did he suffer from nose bleeds? High altitude and all that?”
“I don’t think so.” Stew wasn’t entirely sure, but Doug had never mentioned it or had one in his presence.
Joe stood, looking the site over. “Why don’t we walk down to the thermal pools and create a search line? We’ll go down and come back. Then we’ll spread out a little more and do it again. Sound good?” Joe watched them all nod. He looked down at the missing woman’s bag. Her thick glasses were lying on top. “Okay, let’s go.”
Joe turned and led the way, setting a slow and cautious pace. He did a very thorough job, looking between his feet, along the sides of the path and even up into the trees. Every few yards he’d hold up his hand and signal a stop, taking a few minutes to bend down and examine some loose soil or look over a broken branch. After they’d made two complete trips to and from the thermal pools, Joe decided to call off the search and focus on the site itself. He was about to examine the missing girl’s sleeping bag when the walkie-talkie hooked to his belt crackled and whined, emitting a woman’s voice.
“Say again Rita, your voice is breaking up, over.” Joe released the button and held the speaker to his ear.
“I’m about seven miles west of West Thumb and we’ve got a missing fireman, over.”
“I copy. I’m on my way, over and out.”
“Wait, hold up.” Stew held out his hands, shaking his head. “You’re taking off?”
“We’ve just spent the last hour and a half walking back and forth through the woods for two people who are probably fine and dandy. Now I have a fireman that’s legitimately missing.”
“So our two friends aren’t as important as one fireman?”
“That fireman is working his ass off to put out a fire that was probably started by some punk ass kid like yourself, taking it upon themselves to have a fire where they aren’t allowed.” Joe raised his voice and pointed down at the fire pit.
Stew tightened his fists and stepped forward, but Kelly and Richard held him back. Joe saw his advance and pointed at his chest, warning him with a single glare not to come any farther.
“I’d listen to your friends and cool it, Stewart. Don’t forget that this is a National Park and you’re speaking to a ranger.” Joe turned and got into his truck. “I suggest you all go back to Old Faithful and stay put, come back in the morning and fill out those forms if your friends haven’t returned,” Joe yelled out the window as he backed up.
“Ranger, my ass,” Stew mumbled under his breath, his blood boiling. “More like a drunk!” The last he yelled, tossing the words from his mouth directly into Joe’s open window.
They waited anxiously as they saw the ranger’s brake lights come on, glowing red in the fading light of the day, but he released the brakes and drove off. Kelly and Richard stepped back and waited as Stew took long, slow breaths till he’d gotten his temper under control. He turned toward them with an apologetic face, knowing he wasn’t helping the matter.
“What do you want to do?” Stew asked them, looking up at the black clouds of smoke above and the brilliant red light from the setting sun. He hadn’t realized the day had slipped by.
“If it’s okay with you two, I’d like to walk down that trail and try over that way. At least till it’s dark.” Kelly looked at them with her sad eyes and knew she’d have company.
“Yeah, I’ve got some flashlights in the glove box.” Stew ran off toward the jeep, more than willing to put in a few more hours. Even if that drunk excuse of a ranger didn’t think his friends were worth the time.
14
M
arco was agitated. Enraged even. He’d gone through such a shitty day, waking up to find two people he knew had disappeared right out from under his nose, then rushing back to Old Faithful to get to work on time, only to get called in to have a one-on-one meeting with his stupid ass supervisor. Mr. Parsons was probably the most pathetic excuse of a man he’d ever seen. He was as thin as a rail and balding terribly despite the fact he was only thirty-one years old. Worse was how he combed the few remaining hairs over the top of his scalp as if it could possibly hide his bulbous head. At least Marco shaved it off. His glasses were thick and he had a slight slur. The only reason a spineless wimp like him was given the title of supervisor was because he’d been there for three years straight and therefore had seniority. But what bothered Marco more than all that was how he had to sit there and take his words of encouragement. He had to feel small and helpless as this loser sat on the edge of his desk and told him to be more diligent, to do his job with pride. Pride? He was a busboy for crying out loud. But luckily it had been just a pep talk, no disciplinary action was taken against him. So Marco was more than willing to meet Janice and Sonia at the employee bar after their shifts.
He’d been the first to arrive, getting out of work early due to a complete lack of customers. He ordered a beer and took a seat in a booth at the back of the room, watching the other employees play darts or shoot pool. One employee in particular—some blonde with an impressive rack, bending over a pool cue—caught his immediate attention. With wide eyes and a slack jaw, he watched her slide the stick through her fingers as she aimed, finally pulling back to smack the ball.
“Looking for a game?” Janice stepped between him and the blonde, her arms folded. “You’re like a dog.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Janice shook her head and took a seat, purposely sitting between him and the pool table. A moment later Sonia walked in, stopping by the bar to order a pitcher of beer for her and her friends. She grabbed the pitcher and the stack of cups and carried them back to the table, wondering if Marco would surprise her with at least an attempt to get up and help her. But she wasn’t shocked to see he hadn’t moved. Sonia set the pitcher and cups between them and poured herself a glass, needing it so very badly after such a long day. Two customers had come into the shop, only two. They were both well into their seventies and barely ordered anything. So she’d pretty much had the entire day to just sit there and think about her friends.
“All I can do is think about the last thing she told me,” Janice told them, staring over Marco’s shoulder without seeing him, lost in thought. “She said she was late.”
“For what?” Marco poured himself a beer.
“What the hell do you think?” Janice smacked him in the shoulder. “Her fucking period.”
“She was pregnant?” Sonia’s mouth dropped, shocked to find out that mousy bitch was even having sex, let alone having unprotected sex. “From who?”
“God only knew.” Janice read their faces and nodded, her eyebrow raised. “You both thought she was a little nerdy nun, didn’t you?”
They both nodded.
“That girl made me look like a prude. She probably stepped out with just about half the guys here, except Doug of course.”
“Maybe that’s what happened.” Marco got jittery in his seat, running the thought through his mind to set it out in a plausible string of events. “Maybe Doug was so obsessed with her that when he found out she was pregnant, he just snapped.” Marco hit the table with his beer, quieting down for a moment as people around them lost interest. “One of those things where if he couldn’t have her no one could.”
“Or maybe he couldn’t take the fact that she’d spread her legs for just about everyone except him,” Janice added.
“Or maybe you’re both just totally full of shit. There’s no evidence Doug dragged her out into the woods and butchered her.” Sonia was getting angry, not wanting to speculate over the numerous possibilities without a single shred of proof. At this rate it was only a matter of time until they mentioned an alien abduction.
“Finally.” Marco smiled as Stew, Richard, and Kelly entered the bar.
Stew and Richard stopped at the bar while Kelly took a seat at the table, heaving a deep sigh after such a long day. She could tell from their eager faces that they weren’t going to allow her a single moment of rest before making her fill them in on the events of the day. She’d just reached the part where Joe had left to hunt for the missing fireman when Stew and Richard took their seats.