Page 114 of Tangled up in You

“Oh.” She looked around. “Are there bears around right now?”

“Not here,” Mark said. “But they’re all through the park. I’ll let you know when I see fresh signs of activity.”

By the time she strapped her pack on and set off following Mark, Jesse almost felt human again.

Sort of.

But they made good time and reached the next sensor late in the afternoon. After checking the map, Mark made an announcement. “Let’s set up camp here.”

“You don’t want to keep going?” she asked.

“No, because you need a break, Chris and I could use a break, and I don’t know if we’ll find a better spot to camp before dark.”

She was even able to clean herself up with one of the soapless cloths she’d brought, change clothes, and she felt marginally better as they sat outside their tents and ate while the mules grazed nearby.

The longer she spent with the men, the more she liked them, relaxed around them.

Felt safe with them, and not just physically.

Emotionally. Mark talked about his childhood and now she understood why he didn’t like to think of himself as a “cop.”

And she made a silent resolution to not tease him about it again.

It wasn’t even dark when she crawled into her tent and closed her eyes, sleep coming immediately.

CHAPTER 10

JESSE

She didn’t know what awakened her, but it was pitch black. Rolling over, she unzipped her tent flap and spotted Mark and Chris standing nearby, facing away from her. They wore headlamps and held guns.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her heart racing as she scrambled to free herself from her sleeping bag.

“We heard something,” Mark said. “Maybe a bear.”

She realized the mules were still hobbled, but the men had tied their lead lines to a rope strung between two sturdy trees. They looked alert, their ears pivoting.

“What do I do?” she asked.

“Put your shoes on and grab your headlamp and bear spray,” Chris said. “Stand behind us.”

“Please don’t spray us,” Mark added. She didn’t know if he was being snarky or serious but she wasn’t of a mind to pick a fight over it.

That’s when she heard the sound, something large moving through the darkness. Not immediately close, but closer than she’d like.

One of the mules let out a snort.

As she struggled to get her shoes on, the men took a few steps toward the sound and started shouting over each other.

“Yah, bear!”

“Hey, bear!”

“Go away, bear!”

“Get out of here!”

She found her bear spray and joined them, echoing their yells as she nervously scanned the area. Then Mark held up a hand calling for silence.

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