Page 6 of Creed (Rock Hard Mountain Men #3)

I’d been camping before, but that had been at a designated campground. This would be true wilderness camping. I could already picture the article I was going to write about it, and made sure to bring my laptop, camera, and plenty of supplies to document the whole trip.

Even if things didn’t work out with Creed the way I hoped, I’d at least get a new experience out of it.

We were just finishing packing up the bags we were going to be carrying, when an unexpected visitor arrived at the property.

I did a double take when I noticed a police car park next to my own rented vehicle.

Despite all of my adventures, I’d only interacted with the police a few times.

Yet, everyone else acted like the police suddenly showing up was a common occurrence.

No one else was panicking, so I kept my own misgivings to myself.

“Deputy Hillard,” Brody greeted the man who stepped out of the car. “What brings you here?”

The man, Deputy Hillard, eyed the large pit in the middle of the property. “Is it any surprise? Your little group here seems to get in trouble every time I turn my back.” He paused for a moment when his gaze landed on me. “And you keep multiplying. Who are you?”

I opened my mouth, about to introduce myself, when Creed cut me off.

“He’s a friend visiting from out of town. He’s not involved in anything. What are you here for? Everything’s been quiet with us, so there must be trouble on your end.”

Deputy Hillard rubbed nervously at the back of his neck, giving the impression that he wasn’t as old as he seemed at first.

“Not trouble, per say, but... well, I’m actually here for your help. It’s about the items you found in that coffin. The locket, the key, and the journal.”

Locket, key, and journal?

Creed had mentioned something about these items in relation to a dead body, but he made it sound like the case happened a while ago and was already closed.

Was there still an open investigation?

Creed, Magnus, and Brody all shared a look. It was clear some sort of silent communication happened, though they gave no indication of what they decided.

Brody stepped forward to invite Deputy Hillard onto the porch of his house. The large ginger man seemed to be the unofficial spokesperson of the group. I’d noticed that whenever an important conversation needed to happen, he was usually the one with the most words to say.

Knowing what I knew about Creed, that was probably for the best. My friend had a lot of talents, but words had always eluded him. Half the fights he got into in high school were mostly because he said something in the wrong way, or remained silent when he should have spoken.

There were only three chairs on the porch, so most of us were forced to remain standing. I chose to sit on the steps leading up to the porch. This position put me mostly out of sight, so I’d be overlooked, but still allowed me to clearly hear the conversation.

“The locket and the key have both been returned to police custody,” Brody said, his wooden chair creaking as he slowly rocked back and forth. “The journal was stolen and still remains in the wind, but that is your responsibility. It has nothing to do with us.”

Without even looking at Deputy Hillard, I could tell the man was sweating where he sat. “The journal is what I wanted to talk to you about. Before it was stolen, we managed to take some pictures of its pages.”

There was a rustling of paper, where I assumed the Deputy was showing Brody the photos in question.

Creed’s almost silent footsteps stalked across the porch to get a better look for himself. “You’ve had these photos since the journal was first discovered. Why are you showing them to us now?”

Deputy Hillard hesitated for a moment. “Because we need your help. Look at the photos. The writing in the journal is complete gibberish. We assume it must be some sort of code, but we haven’t been able to crack it.”

I dared to peek around the railing porch railing, hoping to get a look at the photos for myself, but Brody was keeping them held close to his chest in a protective position, like he feared they would be snatched away at any moment.

“So, you’re bringing this to us now in the hope that we can figure out the code for you,” Brody mumbled half under his breath.

Off to the side, Magnus scoffed. “Typical. We’ve been the driving force behind every part of this case. At this point, I’m starting to wonder if there’s a purpose to your police force even being involved. We shouldn’t have to do your job for you.”

Brody handed the photos over to Magnus, who immediately took them inside the house.

“We’ll think about it,” Brody said.

The Deputy started to argue, but Brody cut him off.

“Deputy Hillard. We’ve been threatened, kidnapped, hospitalized, had our property damaged, and gotten into multiple shootouts all because of this case. Surely, you understand why we’re hesitant to involve ourselves any further.”

In his seat, Deputy Hillard hung his head. “Yes, I... can understand that. But I do hope you’ll help us so we can finally put this whole thing to rest.”

“And as we said, we’ll think about it,” Magnus growled as he stepped back out onto the porch.

Brody nodded toward the deputy, and Magnus took that as his cue to escort the man to his car. Luckily, Deputy Hillard left without any further argument, and soon the black and white paint of his police cruiser disappeared into the trees.

“I assume you’ll be helping them once again,” Creed said when Magnus jogged up to join everyone else back on the porch.

Brody stood from the rocking chair, stretching his arms over his head until his spine audibly popped.

“Of course. At this point, I doubt they could handle anything without our help. I just don’t want them to get too comfortable making demands of us.

Did you leave the photos in my office? Great.

I’m going to go look at them. See what new challenge awaits us. ”

Everyone scattered in different directions after that. Ellis went with Brody, while Trent and Magnus went back to the other house.

That left me alone with Creed for the first time since I’d arrived. I would have loved to take advantage of the opportunity, but a heavier question weighed on my mind.

“Hey, Creed?”

He didn’t jump, but I could tell from the widening of his eyes that he’d forgotten I was there.

“Kayden. Um... what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” I repeated, insulted that he’d even ask that.

“I don’t know. You tell me. You mentioned that your friends found an old coffin on your property, but I thought that was already taken care of.

Now it looks like that case is still being investigated.

And Brody said you’d been kidnapped? Hospitalized?

That sounds... that sounds really serious. So, tell me, what exactly is going on?”