Page 16 of Finding Chaos

“Oh, yes. I checked in the day before and was trying to find a way up the mountain, only the people in town don’t seem to like outsiders. No one would talk to me but the sheriff.”

Walker picked up his coffee. “The sheriff knows you’re here?”

“Of course. I had to file a missing person’s report. He’s the one who told me you’re the best tracker in town. He suggested I call your boss to get the ball rolling.”

“Of course, he did,” Walker mumbled. “Remindmeto thankhimfor that.”

“I’m sorry I’m imposing, but I’m not sorry that you were the one assigned to help me. I need the best tracker and based on their recommendation that’s you.”

“And nothing but the best for your boyfriend. I get it,” he said.

Her cheeks heated from Walker’s assumption, “Ex. If you must know.”

He bit into a thick slice of bacon. “I don’t.”

“It was a long time ago. I am where I am today because he introduced me to all this…paranormal stuff.”

Walker just nodded as if tuning her out.

“This mountain has always been a mystery to him,” she said.

“Why is that? I thought you just said that a source sent him the picture.”

She dropped her gaze and picked up her fork, stabbing at the scrambled eggs. “When he was just a boy, his mom and dad took him camping up on this mountain. He claims to have experienced the woman in white.”

“So, he’s hunting the ghost?” Walker asked.

“I never said the woman in white was a ghost,” Destiny answered.

“The name alone implies a ghost, but it sounds like a hallucination to me.” Walker grabbed two more pieces of bacon and ate them before carrying his plate to the sink.

“I’ve seen weirder things,” she called out as he washed his dish and set it out to dry.

While she finished eating, he packed their things for the hike. He was a quiet man, holding his secrets close to his chest. Secrets she had every intention of prying free.

She slid into her socks and boots before grabbing her jacket while Walker checked the backpack and his guns. He ejected the clip and shoved it back in before meeting her gaze.

“There are dangers in these woods. I need you to stay close to me.”

“Like ghosts?”

His brows dipped. “Like poachers with guns who don’t want to be caught.”

Surprisingly the hike to the first cave went without a hitch. The pain meds had kicked in. They’d only had to stop three times for her to catch her breath and inhale some thin mountain air. The white snow blanketed the entire landscape. Several inches had fallen overnight. But the sun was out and on their side. For today anyway.

There were no signs of anyone having disturbed the area much less been in the cave.

“Well this looks like a bust,” Walker said.

They stepped into the cave. Her heart raced, half in anticipation and half in dread. The cave was dark and creepy. Thankfully, there were no claw marks on the stone. Only spiders and bits of an old bird nest. The walls were cold to the touch and stones skidded into the darkness as they walked deeper into the chilly enclosure.

Walker kept her behind him and his gun in his hand, ready to shoot whatever shadows might jump out. “Thanks to all the snow slowing us down, I don’t think we’ll make it to the next cave by nightfall, so we’ll have to check that one tomorrow.”

“Whatever you think we need to do is fine with me,” she said.

The trek back to the cabin was quiet. His mood was somber, hers, optimistic. Putnam wasn’t an idiot. He knew how to take care of himself.

“You ever find anything on that show of yours?” he asked as if trying to fill the silent void and get her mind off of her missing friend.

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