Free Justice Overdue: A Private Investigator Mystery Series by Rayven T. Hill

that seemed unlikely.
    The boys drifted back to sleep, content they were safe. Jake sat in the lawn chair and kept watch lest the interloper should return. Eventually he began to drift off, so he returned to the tent and lay down. He slept uneasily the rest of the night; he had a bad feeling.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 17
     
     
     
    Friday, 7:15 AM
     
    VARICK LUCAS rose up early despite feeling exhausted from his adventures of the last couple of days. After a quick breakfast, it was time to get reacquainted with his surroundings.
    It was several years since he’d been up here. A lot of the familiar trees that surrounded the cabin had grown taller, young ones popping up to take their place. Patches of shrubs and weeds took over the clearing around the cabin. Maybe he would pull them up later and clean up the area a little bit.
    The uncharted wilderness where the cabin sat was at least a couple miles from anywhere, and anybody, in any direction—a long way for people to wander when faced with a dense forest. He had no fear of being discovered. And certainly the cops would never suspect he was so far north.
    If he remembered correctly, the grandfather of one of his old friends had built this place eons ago, then the old man died, and the place went unused for decades. He and his friends had resurrected it a few years ago, but according to Otis, none of the guys had come up here since then. And now, sad to say, Otis had passed on, and it was just him now.
    He had wandered out briefly last night before going to bed. There was a guy—a big guy—who’d set up camp a bit east, in an area not often frequented by visitors. Varick had snooped around their campsite until he heard a kid whispering inside the tent. He’d been heard. As soon as he backed out of the site, the big guy crawled from the tent and tried to follow him. Varick had no weapons with him so he beat it out of there.
    He planned to be more careful this time. That big guy could probably snap him in two given half a chance. But now he had his pistol stuffed behind his belt and Otis’s hunting knife strapped to his leg. Otis had a rifle as well, and a good supply of ammunition, but he would keep that for hunting. He preferred a pistol anyway.
    He locked up the cabin, dropped the key to the padlock into his pocket, crossed the clearing, and headed into the forest. He gave a quick salute as he passed Otis’s grave. Sleep well, old pal.
    It took him just over an hour to reach the campsite he’d visited the night before. This time, he made a more careful approach, walking slowly, and stopping often to listen.
    The site was quiet. Their vehicle was there, but no sign of life. Could they still be sleeping? Not likely. People didn’t come all the way up here to sleep in. More than likely, they were out tromping the woods, or perhaps fishing.
    The faint sound of laughter caught his attention, coming from down by the lake, a hundred yards away. He headed toward the sound and in a moment, he saw them. There were two kids with the big guy—not just one. The boys splashed around in the lake but the big guy was somewhat further to the left, perched on an outcropping of rock.
    No women around anywhere. Probably just as well. From his experience, women were always trouble, always nagging, always wanting to do this, do that. Other than for one thing, women didn’t serve much of a purpose—except for his mother of course. She was a saint. She put up with the old man for a long time, until the drunken skunk finally dropped dead. Varick was only twelve at the time, but it was liberating. His mother smiled more after that.
    In spite of his father’s death, or perhaps because of it, he had excelled in school, usually grading near the top of the class.
    And then his mother died as well. Probably the result of one too many beatings the old man had given her in the past. Well, she was better off now. It was then that he dropped out of high school, vanquishing all thoughts of a