Page 28 of Fire Peak

“Me?” Nick couldn’t imagine anything he could possibly help this weatherworn, mountain-savvy former miner with. “I doubt it.”

“Close the door, would you?”

Nick scrutinized the man and caught the real worry on his face. “Be right back,” he called to Hailey, then closed the door behind him. “What’s going on?”

“Well, I know you’re good at finding people. That’s why I came to you. You found Charlie, slick as bar oil.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

Solomon’s mouth dropped open. “It’s for a chainsaw,” he explained, astonished.

Moving on. “I didn’t ever find Charlie, you know. But it’s true, generally I manage to find the people I’m looking for. Who’s missing?”

“I got a mining claim out Fire Peak way. I keep a rig out there, and once in a while I work it. Never been too productive, but I like to keep my hand in. Got a camper I stay in. Last time I went, someone was camping along the creek. They had a tent set up, one of those expensive ones, not the old Army shit I use. They had a lot of high-tech gear. Even a satellite dish. Generator. Portable solar panel. Looked like they’d moved in. I didn’t want no confrontation, you know me. I’m a man of peace. So I stayed behind a tree and watched until they came back. Young couple, real fit-like. Athletic gear, expensive shit.”

“Are they trying to work your claim?”

“Nah, they’re up the creek a ways. Anyways, I snuck away with them none the wiser. I thought they’d be gone the next time I went out to the creek. Their whole setup was still there, every bit of it. But I didn’t see anyone. I waited a bit, then took a peek inside their tent. Saw blood. But no dead bodies or even a severed limb.”

“You were expecting a severed limb?”

“You never know,” Solomon said wisely. “You just never know in these mountains. Bears can get real feisty if you catch them in a mood.”

Nick reminded himself not to let Hailey wander the trails by herself. “Have you been back since then?”

“Once more. Didn’t look like nothing had changed. I was too spooked to look inside the tent again.”

“You’re telling me Solomon gets spooked?”

The man shuddered dramatically. “I once put a knife to a man’s throat because he wouldn’t stop telling me a ghost story. Claimed the spirits of the folks that were murder spree-ed here in the eighties are still around. Mother fucker.”

Nick hadn’t heard about that event, and wasn’t sure he wanted to. To his mind, there was no need for ghost stories because the real ones were bad enough. “So what do you want from me?”

“I want you to make sure nothin’ bad happened to those folks. Find them, see if they’re alive, or if they’re dead. They have all that communications gear, so if they were in trouble they could likely call someone. Maybe they did, but then why’d they leave all that pricey shit? I thought about helping myself, but I wouldn’t know what to do with it.”

Nick might be good at research, tracking and surveillance, but he was no mountain man. That required a different skill set. “I wish I could help, but I’m not here to work. I’m on vacation with my daughter.”

“I’ll make it worth your time.”

“I don’t need money.”

“Not in money. I don’t got none of that, and whatever I do have, it’s spent soon as I get it. I’m a trader. I’ll trade you some home-brew and some information I bet you’d like.”

Nick felt his eyebrows lift. “I’m listening. Not committing, just listening.”

“If I tell you where Charlie is right now, will you check on those campers, find out where they’re from and what they’re doing here? I’ll give you the GPS coordinates. It’s not a hard trail, nothing you can’t handle.”

Damn, Solomon really was a good trader. He knew exactly what would entice Nick to take on a job. “You know where Charlie is?”

“I’d only tell you if you promise you don’t mean her no harm. But I never thought you did.”

“Is she here in town?” If she wasn’t, the information wasn’t much use to him. He wasn’t going to abandon his vacation with Hailey to chase after someone who wasn’t even his target anymore.

“Do we have a deal?”

“If she’s here in town, sure.”

“Close enough.”

---