Page 31 of Danger in the Wilderness (National Park Protectors #1)

D ekker’s head throbbed, and he fought to clear his foggy mind. Something held him in the darkness, clutching him like a hawk’s claws seizing its prey as it flies upward to transport the prize to a resting spot to devour. No! No! Let me go. You can’t have me. God, please.

Dekker gulped in a ragged breath as tears jabbed behind his eyelids, realization dawning. The crash! He had to help Blaire, but the darkness continued to hold him captive.

God, help me.

A gust of wind swirled into the truck like a slap in the face. Wake up!

Dekker jerked to attention and fluttered his eyes open, willing the fog to dissipate. He peered through the shattered windshield, steam rising from the hood. Fire flickered in front of him as the flames grew in the crater.

A figure appeared through the smoke, approaching fast.

Reed?

Dekker stiffened and reached for Blaire.

But she wasn’t there.

“Blaire?” Dekker’s mind cleared, and he shifted his position. “Where are you?”

Pounding footfalls alerted Dekker to Reed’s approach.

Did he cause the accident?

“Dekker! Are you okay?” Reed’s face appeared through the steam. “Where’s Blaire?”

“I… I…don’t know.” Why couldn’t he use his words?

He had to search for her. Dekker fumbled for the door handle, his fingers finally finding it, but the door was stuck. “Reed. Can’t open.”

“Your front end is in the hole. You have to crawl through the windshield. I can’t get to you from here.”

Dekker moved his legs and winced. He was pinned down. “Call 911.”

“Already did.”

“Is Blaire near the truck?” Dekker’s rapid breathing elevated as angst grew in the pit of his stomach. The thought of her being hurt sent his mind reeling with the worst possible scenarios. Don’t go there. Breathe, Dekker, breathe.

“Hang tight. I’ll search the area.” Reed disappeared.

Dekker continued to work at freeing himself, but the seat belt was locked.

Think, Dekker. He shifted in the seat, his duty belt poking into him.

Then he remembered his multi-tooled knife.

He unclipped the knife, unfolded the blade and cut through the belt.

He freed himself, but his legs were still pinned.

Sirens blared in the distance.

Reed reappeared. “Help is coming. Dekker, I can’t find Blaire anywhere. Maybe she hit her head and wandered off in a daze.”

“The last thing I remember is her being thrust forward, so that could definitely be the case.” Dekker eyed the passenger seat. “But how did she get out?”

“Your truck entered at an angle—your side tipped in. Her door is closer to the top. Maybe she climbed out.”

The sirens increased, and soon flashing lights appeared through the rising smoke.

“Reed, the fire is growing. Get the firefighters to extract me.”

“On it.” Reed beelined toward the approaching emergency vehicles, waving his arms.

Lord, please get me out of here so I can find Blaire.

Dekker’s gut was telling him something was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

***

Dekker sat on the edge of the ambulance’s rear entrance, nursing not only a sore head but also aching legs from where he’d been pinned down.

But mostly, his pain was emotional. After the firefighters had extracted him from his truck, paramedics treated his wounds. Thankfully, they weren’t life-threatening. Cuts and bruises on his face, legs and arms. If he hadn’t reacted quickly, it could’ve been much worse.

Reed sat beside him as the paramedic treated a cut on his hand he received while searching for Blaire—or so he claimed.

Chase approached. “Okay, my men searched the woods along this stretch of the road. There’s no sign of her.”

“She wouldn’t have been able to walk far.” Dekker rubbed his temple. “I was only out for like ten minutes.”

“And I didn’t see her as I drove up,” Reed added.

Suspicion iced Dekker’s veins. Was the man beside him responsible for the crash? “Reed, why are you even here? Do you own a drone?”

He jumped down from the ambulance, eyes narrowing. “You think I did this? You still don’t trust me, do you, Mr. Park Warden?”

Dekker flinched. PCK had called him that too.

“Reed, Dekker told me what happened. A drone appeared out of nowhere and dropped two grenades, causing the explosion in the pavement.” Chase scribbled in his notebook.

“Give me your version of this story. We thought you left to return to the ranch, and here you are back on this secondary road. What do you expect us to believe? You’ve been acting suspicious. ”

Reed threw his hands in the air. “It wasn’t me!”

“Then tell us why you were heading back this way.” Dekker failed to subdue the anger in his command.

“I forgot something at the park station and needed it.”

“That’s a lie. The station had a fire, or did you return to set it on fire?” Chase tilted his head.

He hissed out a breath. “Okay, okay. You got me. I was heading back to meet up with Nadia.”

White approached, holding an item in his hand. “It’s true. I heard Nadia tell him to meet her for a late night coffee.”

Dekker folded his arms across his chest. “But why keep that a secret, Reed?”

“She asked me not to say anything. She’s trying to break up with her boyfriend. He also works at the park, and she didn’t want anyone else to know.” He grinned. “What can I say? She couldn’t resist my charm.”

“Fine. Tell us what happened,” Chase said.

“I came around the corner just as the pavement exploded, and a drone flew off into the trees.” He pointed to his vehicle down on the side of the road.

“I parked and approached the truck. I didn’t even know it was Dekker and Blaire until I got closer.

Please, you must believe me. I wouldn’t hurt anyone. ”

The man held his gaze at Chase’s intense scrutiny. This told Dekker that Reed Pratt spoke the truth. Finally.

Dekker pointed to the item in White’s hand. “What is that?”

He raised a piece of frayed green-and-navy-plaid fabric. “Found this hanging from a branch.”

Dekker shot to his feet then swayed. He leaned against the ambulance. “That’s from Blaire’s shirt. Where did you find it?”

“‘Bout a half kilometer into the woods.” He held out a bagged note. “This was attached by a safety pin. It’s for you.”

I have Blaire. You’ll find her with your father. Ticktock. Ticktock. PCK

“No!” Dekker had failed to protect his father and now the woman he was falling for.

His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the pavement, pain shooting upward.

Dekker should’ve seen this coming. Prevented it.

But how, when PCK appeared to always be one step ahead of them?

***

Blaire moaned and turned her head, opening her eyes, but only a wall of darkness appeared.

She blinked repeatedly, praying for the room to focus and her foggy mind to clear.

Her head pounded as memories flooded. A drone blasting the pavement in front of them, seconds before the truck took a nosedive into the crater. Dekker!

She jerked into a seated position, dizziness plaguing her as speckles of pinprick lights exploded in her vision like fireflies illuminating the night.

She eased herself back down and waited for her head to still while she felt around her.

Her fingers grazed the edge of a broken spring, prickling her as a memory returned.

Her head had crashed into the windshield, and she momentarily lost consciousness. After she woke, she had cried out to Dekker as a figure appeared beside her passenger-side window.

“Good night, Blaire,” the figure said, plunging a needle into her arm.

Then nothing.

Until she woke up in this dark, cold room. Where was she?

Creak!

Blaire stilled.

She wasn’t alone.

Creak!

She shifted on the bed, the spring mattress squeaking.

Matching the noise nearby. Someone else was being held beside her. “Who’s there?”

“Frank. Hoyt.” His words came out forced.

“Frank! You’re alive.” Relief washed over Blaire, and she attempted to get up. But someone had handcuffed her ankle to the foot of the bed.

“Who…are…you?”

“Blaire Tremblay. Friend of Dekker’s.”

Frank drew in a ragged breath. “Dekker. Is he okay?”

“I—I’m not sure. A drone fired at the road in front of us, and the pavement buckled. We crashed into a hole. Someone drugged me, and I woke up here.” She looked around the room, trying to focus, but darkness still held her in its grip. “Where are we? Are you okay? Weren’t you shot?”

“Only a graze, and the man who took me bandaged it up. He’s been moving me around from caves to cabins, but we’re now in the north end of the park. PCK blindfolded me, but I heard waterfalls, and Dekker told me about them on our hike to our campsite. He said most were in the northern tip.”

Blaire wiggled her foot, testing her restraints. The handcuff snagged her, sending another throbbing wave of pain into her already wounded ankle. “Has he hurt you?” Images of the other tortured victims flashed in her mind.

“He’s been drugging me, so it’s been hard to escape. He hit me twice when I tried to overpower him. That’s when he increased my dosage of whatever he’s giving me.”

“Benzodiazepine.” Paramedic Travis Moore would know the right amount to administer. “Yah, he did me as well.”

“Did you find Rick?” Frank asked. “He abducted him shortly after me. PCK punched him continuously. Was he okay?”

“We did, and so far, he’s the only camper to survive. Frank, have you seen PCK’s face? Who is he?”

“He wore a mask.” He coughed. “Dekker told me about you. My son has a little crush on you.”

“Hardly. We’re just friends.”

“I know my son, and when he spoke about you, his tone changed. Anyway, you’re that profiler, right?”

“Yes.” Could it be true Dekker thought of her as more than friends? Tears welled at the idea of never seeing him again. Were Blaire and Frank PCK’s end game?

“Tell me, what have you learned so far about this Park Campfire Killer?”

Blaire shared what she knew and told him about the teams searching for him.

“What? My family is here?” His bed squeaked, revealing he was moving. “We need to get out of here. He told me he was going to kill the Hoyts he knew. He hates Dekker but wouldn’t say why.”

The door burst open, and light from the outer room blasted into the area.

Blaire squinted from the brightness and turned to catch a glimpse of their captor. Was she about to come face-to-face with Travis—the Park Campfire Killer?

“What’s all the jabbering in here?” He shuffled to Blaire’s bed but remained in the shadows.

“Travis? Let Frank go. He’s not even from around here.” Blaire’s plea came out weak. She fisted her hands and mustered courage, swinging at the man.

But she missed.

“Nice try.” He raised a syringe. “Time for you to go to sleep, Miss Profiler.” He plunged the needle into her arm and leaned forward. The beam of light trickling in from the open door exposed his evil smile, revealing his identity. “Night night.” He winked.

Blaire gasped. Not the face she’d been expecting.