Free Faithful Shadow by Kevin J. Howard Page A

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