Page 7 of Dead Air (Moon Murder Mysteries)

Six

“ O h…God. I feel…” Niall forced his eyes open and took stock off all the aches and stings throughout his body.

He was sore in places that made absolutely no sense.

His throat was tender as he swallowed and carefully pressed all over his neck with his fingers.

There was a slight burn in his backside and he felt a little stretched, like he’d gotten a bit too ambitious with his dildo but Niall was almost certain he’d gone directly to bed and hadn’t fooled around during his bath.

“I feel… awesome! ”

He sat up and rocked his neck from side to side, marveling at how tight that was too.

And his shoulders. As if he’d been held down and railed for hours.

Fragments of a really hot dream about Chance came back to Niall as he brushed his teeth and dressed.

The sex had been the good kind of rough so maybe Niall had enjoyed the dream a little too much…

“It’s going to be impossible to act normal around him now,” he predicted, then smiled in the direction of Chance’s campsite. “I don’t think he wants me to act normal.”

Niall was definitely rusty when it came to flirting with other queer men, but Chance hadn’t seemed to mind and had flirted as well.

But he had also behaved like a perfect gentleman and had only mentioned meeting for breakfast so Niall wasn’t going to read too much into it.

A lot of people engaged in flirty banter and it didn’t always mean they wanted to have sex.

All thoughts of Chance and banter were paused as the morning took an ominous turn. Niall was clipping his walkie-talkie to his belt and making sure his cargo pockets were appropriately stocked when the phone rang.

“This is Summit 2.”

“Oh my God, Niall!” It was Kerry and she sounded breathless and her voice had trembled. “Thank goodness you’re okay.”

“Me? I’m fine. What’s wrong?”

“One of the hikers from yesterday is missing. We got a call about fifteen minutes ago from his sister. For some reason, she thought he might have been with you. We’ve already called for a search party but it’ll be a few hours before they can get up there.”

“Why would he be with me?”

“No idea. She sounds really shaken up, though.”

“Of course,” Niall said, nodding. “I’ll head over to where they were supposed to be camping and see if I can find anything and get some better information. Probably have to take the ATV. He might need medical attention,” he worried, receiving an answering groan.

“It can’t be helped. Just be careful and keep in touch.”

“Will do,” Niall promised and hung up.

He grabbed his first-aid kit and keys from the hook by the door and headed out.

There was a narrow dirt road from Niall’s summit post to the visitor’s center at the base of the mountain, just for crew and emergency use.

But it wasn’t always clear and wasn’t designed for regular vehicles.

ATVs were generally restricted in the park and only permitted to a few of the permanent crew and medics because they were loud and did a lot of damage to the trails.

Niall kept to a careful crawl, scanning the terrain ahead of him for any sign of the lost hiker.

He regretted not remembering the man’s name and that Niall’s only impression of him hadn’t been a very good one.

His gut was already aching with concern but Niall’s heart sank when he spotted a flash of black plastic in the leaves and a beer can on the trail ahead of him.

He stopped and dismounted, searching the ground as he approached the items, not wanting to disturb anything or miss any other signs of the lost hiker.

“Hello?” Niall lowered and used a stick to clear the leaves and debris away from the can and revealed a smartphone. He gave the screen a quick tap with his pinkie, frowning when it lit up. “Still has power so it was dropped recently,” he reasoned as he stood and turned.

His instincts drew him off the trail and toward his “secret” salamander spot and the sign, marking a scenic view and cautioning visitors to avoid getting close to the edge of the cliff.

He noticed several broken and crushed branches and twigs as he made his way through the trees and brush, then gulped when he saw the scuffs in the dirt and the leaves when he stepped out onto the outcropping.

Someone had been through there recently and had kicked up the dirt and debris, leaving a single trail of footsteps to the edge.

Niall swung back and only noted what looked like the treads from his boots and one other pair of shoes.

“Hello?” he called again, his concern rising and his heart pounding as he went to take a careful look over the side of the cliff.

“Oh, flick!” he gasped out when he spotted the body below him, not far from where Niall and Chance had been the day before.

“I see you! I’m on my way!” Niall shouted, snatching the walkie-talkie off his waist. “This is Ranger Gilpatrick. I’ve found him.

He went off the cliff at marker 192. I’m going to make my way down and administer first-aid but we need to get that rescue team up here immediately.

Probably a helicopter. I’ll let you know as soon as I get down there and can assess. ”

“Got it. Be careful, Niall!” DeeDee shouted through the walkie-talkie’s speaker.

It didn’t take very long for Niall to collect his climbing gear and run a line from one of the thicker trees. He quickly clipped himself into a harness and repelled down the cliff with his first-aid kit.

“Hey. Can you hear me? Help is on the way,” Niall said as soon as he touched down.

He unclipped himself and rushed over but Niall could tell by the man’s opened, glassy eyes and the dried blood around his mouth that it was too late.

The man’s skin was pale, slightly gray, but Niall gently checked for a pulse. “Sugar!”

He fell back on his bottom, sniffing past the burning in his nose and blinking back tears as he raised the walkie-talkie and pressed the call button.

“This is Ranger Gilpatrick. Cancel the helicopter and rescue team. He’s gone. Tell them we’ve got a recovery up here and let Shelby know.”

“Damn it!” DeeDee said. “Good job finding him so fast and getting to him. You okay, love?”

“Me? I’m fine,” Niall insisted despite his rolling stomach and the goosebumps covering his upper body. “But I am…confused,” he admitted as he slowly stood and estimated how far they were from the hiker’s campsite and Niall’s cabin. “It looks like he might have been headed in my direction but…why?”

“Did you know him?”

“No! I met him briefly yesterday but we didn’t even talk to each other. I’m going to climb back up and see if his sister will talk to me.”

Getting back up took a lot longer and Niall was sweating by the time he reached his ATV.

He searched the trail for more clues as to what had happened to the dead man or why he was on his way to Niall’s.

But Niall hadn’t discovered anything else by the time he reached the camp and the young woman he’d met the day prior was too upset to relay anything useful.

“He didn’t want to hear us fucking so he said he was going to look for you,” she managed, leaving Niall at an even greater loss.

“Okay…” He wasn’t sure how he could have helped but didn’t push her any further. “I’m so sorry for your loss. We’re going to do everything we can to figure out what happened.”

“Thank you!” She swiped the tears from her face, blinking at Niall. “He…said you were fruity, but maybe he liked you? You’re so nice.”

“I’m…? Thank you,” Niall shared a mystified look with her boyfriend. Kyle mumbled out an apology and admitted that they had been drinking and that Roger was intoxicated when he left them to find other company.

“Did you know him?” Shelby asked when he arrived.

“No! We saw him for a moment yesterday—me and Dr. Curn—when we crossed paths on the trail, but we didn’t even speak. I had no idea Roger was headed my way or I would have met him with a flashlight and warned him about going off the trail at night.”

“Right,” Shelby agreed as he nodded. “What about this Dr. Curn? You said he was with you when you met Roger. Did he and Curn seem to know each other?”

“No,” Niall shook his head. “Not at all, although…” he paused, not wanting to make it sound like a bigger deal than it really was. “I thought I caught Chance—Dr. Curn—staring at Roger strangely.”

“Strangely, how?”

Niall replayed the moment and how bothered Chance seemed by Roger. “Look…” Niall checked over his shoulder to make sure no one could hear him and cleared his throat. “I don’t know anything about Roger but there was definitely something…off about him.”

Shelby’s brow hitched. “Off?”

“He was just…” Niall grimaced and shrugged. “He didn’t seem like he was thrilled to be here or happy with his sister. And I got the feeling he was upset with me.”

“With you?” Shelby asked, sounding surprised. “Why would anyone be upset with you?”

“No idea but there was a generally…off vibe about him. His sister and her boyfriend seemed really cool, but Roger kind of gave me the creeps,” Niall whispered to Shelby.

“Okay.” Shelby turned back to the tents, considering the scene. He swung back to Niall and squinted. “What about Curn? Would he have a reason to come up here after dark?”

“Not that I can think of. And he was meticulous about recording his coordinates wherever he went, he was so worried he wouldn’t be able to find his way back to his camp. I can’t see him up here in the dark.”

“Probably not,” Shelby agreed. “I took a good look at the scene, where the victim dropped his phone and the tracks he left. I couldn’t find any sign of a struggle and there were only two sets of boot prints: his and yours.

I can’t understand why he’d run off that cliff but yours line up with everything you’ve told me.

I can see where you got off the ATV and approached the edge of the cliff and how you scaled down to him.

That’s the only part that makes sense up there. ”