Free Faithful Shadow by Kevin J. Howard

get the full story out,” Kelly told Stew, not wanting his emotional state to get the story jumbled and ultimately slow down the process.
    On any normal day Stew might have told her to get off his ass or stop being a nagging bitch, but he admitted his nerves were rattled. His demeanor was shaken, his words quicker than normal and slightly strangled. All that mattered now was finding their friends. Stew simply nodded and stepped out of the jeep, taking the briefest moment to arch his back and stretch. He’d been so occupied with the morning’s events that he hadn’t registered his back and neck were slightly out. Sleeping on an uneven ground in a thin sleeping bag had a way of doing that. Stew followed Kelly and Richard inside.
    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,