Page 3 of Seeking Evil

Sierra Parker’s fingers hovered over the choices on the screen. Answer. Ignore. It felt like the summary of their romance since they’d begun dating last year. Short periods of romance that gave her hope, followed by stretches when he would disappear into another case and she was flirting with being ignored again.

Before she made the decision, the call ended. Guilt washed over her. He’d told her she was behaving like a child by running away. He was probably right. But she just couldn’t handle the truth she believed had been hovering over them like one of the monsters their team of Behavioral Analysis Unit agents hunted.

A relationship with Zeke would always come second to his work.

She’d experienced a lot of awful things since she’d joined the BAU team as an agent. Being kidnapped by a serial killer and almost dying by one of their own in the Angel case. The Doctor of Death, as he was known, had touched her personally. When the killer’s identity was revealed, it had been a shock that a respected psychiatrist for fifteen years chose his victims from the patients he treated and used one of his most troubled patients as an accomplice. That darkness had almost wrecked her because she knew him. Trusted him. Was one of his patients.

But it had been losing her mother suddenly at the beginning of the year that had whittled away at her soul, reaching its tentacles into every part of her life.

After her mother’s death, she went to Doctor Silvers for help. He’d used her grief and knowledge of the Doctor of Death case she worked unknowingly against him—to his own advantage.

Zeke had tried to get her to open up, but she’d been violated in the worst possible way.

If Sierra were honest, she’d been spiraling for a while. Which was why this trip was so important. If she were to continue to look into the minds of monsters, she had to find a way to become insulated from their effects on her.

She’d told Zeke all this, but he hadn’t understood. Nothing affected Zeke. He’d lived his own nightmare as a teenager when his sister, Hannah, almost died. Because of what he’d gone through, Zeke had the ability to shut off parts of his emotions. Those were the parts she needed from him the most.

She loved him so much, yet lately, over the past few weeks, Sierra had been forced to see the truth. She wanted a future with him. That included marriage. A family. The whole thing. But she wasn’t sure Zeke would ever be able to give her those things.

And so, instead of telling him what was really bothering her, she’d run. Had promised to call in a few days. That had been four days ago, and she still couldn’t talk to him.

Her bosses, Jack and Megan Montgomery understood her struggle. Their lives had both been touched by a serial killer who walked among their own BAU agents pretending to be a friend.

It made her sad that Zeke, the man she loved, couldn’t relate. Sierra had been planning to come to Wyoming for a while. The mountain climbing here was amazing, and she was ready to step up to the challenge.

The Wyoming state line came and went as she blew into the state heading for Pinedale, the closest town to the Wind River Mountain Range. She’d told Jack and Megan she needed some time off. But no one knew where she was.

An uneasy sensation slithered into the pit of her stomach. Had she made a mistake by coming here alone? Not at least letting someone know where she was going?

Sierra had come here to challenge herself. If she could climb Cirque of the Towers, then she could face the next evil to come her way. And possibly the end of her and Zeke’s story.

She’d been training for months. She had all the right equipment. Sierra had prepared herself mentally for the challenge. So why was she crying?

Because she loved Zeke and she didn’t see a future with him.

The missed call on her phone broke her heart. She didn’t want to break up with Zeke despite what he believed. Quite the contrary.

She pulled over on the road and typed a quick message.

Call you later tonight.

Then she erased it and dropped the phone back into the cupholder and pulled back onto the road, vowing to keep that promise. She’d call him tonight and they’d talk. Somehow, she’d make him understand how she felt.

The last time she’d been to Wyoming was when she was eight years old. Her mother and father brought her and her sister here on vacation. It had been the best week of Sierra’s life. They’d camped and sat out under the stars. Hiked. For a while, their family felt normal. Unfortunately, normal didn’t last. Soon after, her parents’ arguments returned. They’d gotten divorced a few months later.

“Stop it.” She’d learned through her faith not to cling to the past. And she wouldn’t now.

She cranked up her favorite song and drove. In less than five hours she’d be at her cabin in the park. She’d get a good night’s sleep and tackle the climb fresh.

*

Sierra rubbed her tired eyes. The Wind River Cabins’ sign had almost brought fresh tears.

She’d told herself she was okay with the way she’d left things with Zeke, yet the further she drove from him the harder it was to accept. She loved him. Probably had since they’d met, and yet they hadn’t been able to make it work.

Sierra exited the road and followed the neon sign until she reached the cabins. She’d booked one during her drive across the country.

Finding a parking space wasn’t really a problem even though it was a peak summer month and ideal for climbing. There were a handful of cars in the parking lot. Sierra pulled up close to the cabin office and checked the time on her Apple watch. Almost ten. She was cutting it close. The person she spoke to on the phone said the office closed at ten.

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