Page 34 of Beneath the Mountain Sky (McBride Brother Lumberjacks #1)
KILLIAN
T he signs are everywhere, readily apparent to anyone who knows what to look for—like me .
A snapped twig.
Deep boot impressions in the soft soil in several places.
Disturbed leaves in the underbrush.
From where I squat, examining the area where I heard the noises from last night, I can see it all with vivid clarity.
This is the spot where whoever was in the woods watched us from.
I glance over my shoulder to the fire pit and the surrounding chairs visible through the trees.
A clear line of sight to anything happening on that portion of the homestead.
From this position, he could’ve seen everything .
And more disturbingly, he was close enough to have heard every word I shared with Connor and Liam and what Willow and I said to each other before I forced her inside the cabin.
What the fuck was he doing here?
Why loom in the darkness, watching and listening but not acting ?
A shudder rolls through me at the likely answer.
Whoever it is was stalking his prey. Gathering intel. Planning the same way I do a hunt before I head out onto the mountain.
Only his prey isn’t deer or bear.
It’s Willow.
I push up to my feet, my hand tightening on my axe, and turn toward the approaching sound of footsteps. Connor and Liam make their way toward me through the trees, each wearing a grim expression. Even without having revealed what I’ve found to them yet, they know.
“Where’s Willow?”
Liam motions behind him toward the house. “In the cabin with Raven. She just arrived.”
Connor sneers in that direction, his jaw clenching. “I can’t believe you trust her in there alone. Who knows what she might be digging into, looking for more dirt to?—”
“Look”—I hold up a hand to stop his familiar rant—“she isn’t my favorite person, either. But?—”
The sound of tires pulling across the gravel interrupts my intent to argue that since Raven is important to Willow, then we need to forget the animosity that the past year only grew and accept that she’s going to be part of our lives as long as Willow is part of mine.
Which means Raven will be around forever, since I have no intention of ever letting Willow slip away again.
We all start making our way back toward the clearing the cabin sits in and step from the thick underbrush as the sheriff’s SUV pulls to a stop.
Tony climbs out, adjusting his hat and gun belt as he nudges his door closed, and gives me a dark look. “Did you find something?”
Unfortunately.
I had hoped I was wrong about what was out here last night, but seeing the confirmation of my gut feeling has affirmed that things are far more dangerous than we initially knew.
All the unease I’ve felt since Willow’s return about what might have happened to her suddenly feels suffocating. Coupled with how violent her nightmare was last night and the intensity of her response to it, I know we need a plan of attack.
Waiting for something to happen isn’t an option when it means Willow will be at risk.
I run a hand through my beard as I glance toward the front window of the cabin, where Willow watches us. Our eyes meet, and a million questions swirl in her squally gaze. Ones I can’t answer when I don’t have them.
That woman has put her trust and life in my hands, and I’m as lost as she is.
I turn away slightly, unable to look at her while I’m telling Tony exactly what I think happened. What I’m more convinced of than ever. “Someone was here last night, watching us. Probably for a while.”
His eyes widen slightly. “How did they get onto the property?”
I shake my head as all four of us scan the area. The clearing that houses the main homestead—cabin, barn, Willow’s workshop, animal pens, and a few other smaller outbuildings isn’t large. But it’s always been safe.
Mostly because there’s only one road up or down to it.
Connor’s gaze drifts to the gravel drive Tony just came in on that leads to that sole access point.
“He must have parked farther down the mountain and hiked up on foot. Coming in from any other direction, he would have had to use an ATV, and we would have heard that on a quiet night from miles out.”
He’s right.
Whoever did this knew the mountain well enough to understand how to get up here undetected. This was planned .
Tony nods and pulls off his hat to rub a hand through his dark hair. “Don’t suppose he left anything behind that might be useful in identifying him?”
I picture the scene I discovered in the woods. “Just a pair of size twelve footprints.”
Liam releases a frustrated sigh. “Which could belong to anyone.”
At least we know it is a him , given that size shoe. That eliminates over half the population of McBride Mountain, but it still leaves us with far too many possible suspects.
Tony scowls, staring into the trees. “No point in me callin’ up a forensics team from Asheville then?”
I shake my head. “Nope. He’s a ghost. Long gone without leaving anything that might identify him.”
A true hunter.
He blended in with his surroundings, watched, and waited. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that he is experienced and knows this mountain, which only confirms my belief that the snapping twig I heard last night was intentional.
This man wanted us to know he’s around. That he can get close.
Whether it was a threat or a warning directed at me or Willow doesn’t matter. Either way, it was a sign that we can’t sit by and wait for her memory to return.
We have to try something else.
Tony returns his gaze to mine. “Who do you think it was?”
“The person who had her.”
Liam’s brow furrows, and Connor’s head snaps back in our direction instead of staring at the cabin where Willow and Raven now both stand at the window, watching us intently.
Connor shifts closer to me. “What do you mean, had her?”
“Look, we’ve all been thinking it, right? That she couldn’t have been up there alone. Someone held her up on the mountain. Who the fuck knows for how long? But she’s adamant she returned that same day she left.”
Tony’s brows draw low over his eyes. “Explain.”
I slam the blade of my axe into the ground, embedding it there.
“She was on her way back to me after our argument. She didn’t leave town permanently.
She didn’t leave for more than a handful of hours—at least not of her own will.
Someone interfered. Someone took her before she could get home to me. ”
Connor recoils. “You mean she was kidnapped ?”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Liam rubs the back of his neck and glances at the cabin. “What about the notes? The gifts to Raven?”
Connor sneers. “Maybe Raven’s in on it.”
I whirl toward him. “Are you fucking nuts?”
He holds up his hands defensively. “You got any other explanation?”
Literally anything other than that.
“She’s her best friend, for fuck’s sake.”
Tony follows Connor’s look at the cabin and steps closer, lowering his voice. “That doesn’t really mean anything. I mean, you’ve watched those true crime shows, haven’t you?”
I shake my head. “You know I don’t have a television.”
“Well, I sure have, and I’m tellin’ ya, people do crazy shit. Even to their friends.”
“You think Raven held her hostage on the fucking mountain for a year?” I raise a brow. “To what? Keep her from coming back to me because she hates the McBrides?” An annoyed snort slips out. “Now you’re the one who sounds nuts.”
He chuckles slightly, shifts his hat back onto his head, and holds up his hands. “Yeah, when you say it like that. Raven may be a pain in the ass, but she isn’t a kidnapper. So, what do you suggest we do here?”
That question has been rattling around my head for weeks.
Even more so this morning.
What more can we do?
What more can I do?
I scan the horizon, the towering mountains that climb well above our property into the bright-blue sky. Such stunning natural beauty. But it hides a secret—one that has destroyed Willow’s life and taken a year of it from her, along with her memories.
“We get way more people and put together a much larger search party. Someone dangerous is on the mountain.”
Tony doesn’t appear fully convinced of my plan. “How do you know where we should look?”
I turn and scan the vast expanse of wilderness around us again.
“We start at the river. We head down the game trail we know she used to the clearing. From there, we follow the scent trail the dogs got to where they lost it. Then we’ll send out parties of five in every direction.
We cover every fucking inch of the mountain, and we keep going west until we find something since we know she was on that side of the river. ”
He exchanges a look with Connor and Liam. “Killian, that’s thousands of man-hours and dollars you’re talking. Even if we recruited every able-bodied person in town to agree to assist us, this could take weeks. Out there, you know there are places that aren’t even passable?—”
“I don’t give a fuck how long it takes or how much it costs. You know I have the money.”
More than I could ever spend in my lifetime.
“It isn’t about the money, it’s about—” I struggle to figure out how to express the distress she’s been in and how useless it’s made me feel.
But I’ve always been awful at opening up, discussing my feelings about anything, especially what I care about.
That’s why I lost her in the first place. “What if it were Tonya?”
Tony freezes at the mention of his wife, his eyes hardening.
“What would you do if any of this had happened to her ?
That seems to do the trick.
I may not be able to explain how I feel about the situation, but putting him into it allows Tony to at least consider what he would do if our roles were reversed.
He shifts uneasily, but I don’t miss the way his hand drifts to his holster at his side, like subconsciously he needs to hold that weapon. “I’d like to believe I could stay rational about it.”