Page 17 of The First Hunt (The Final Hunt)

JOHN

“ H ey. John. Wake up.”

John opened his eyes. His dad sat on the edge of the mattress beside him. John rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the bright daylight filtering in through the blinds.

“I’ve changed our plans. We’re going to head back to the airport this morning.”

His dad crawling into bed at two in the morning came flooding back to him. “What? Why?”

His dad ran a hand through his brown hair. “I want to see if we can catch an earlier flight instead of the red eye. That way you can get a good night’s sleep in your own bed before school tomorrow.”

Becoming more awake, John propped himself up on his elbow. “What about the hot springs?”

His dad’s features relaxed. “I’m sorry. We’ll have to do that next time when we come back in the fall to go hunting.” He patted John’s legs beneath the comforter. “I’m going to get in the shower, then we’ll go.”

John threw back the comforter and saw he was still in his clothes that he’d worn on his walk last night.

Had his dad noticed? After the bathroom door shut, John turned on the TV.

A dark-haired lady in a pink blazer and matching skirt appeared on the screen beside a large weather map covered in swirling shades of blue and white. She pointed to Fairbanks on the map.

“We’re expecting more snow on the way for Fairbanks this weekend, with up to six more inches of snowfall by Sunday before we move into highs in the mid-fifties and even some patchy sunshine by the end of next week.” She smiled and looked into the camera. “Paul, back to you.”

The screen changed to a man sitting behind a news desk with the same backdrop of Fairbanks as last night’s evening news. The news anchor stared into the camera with somber eyes.

“Breaking news this morning after a young woman’s body has been discovered in a ditch off the Parks Highway.

Detectives have yet to release her name to the public, as they are waiting to confirm her identity.

But she is believed to have been last seen leaving the Timberline Tavern in the early hours this morning. ”

The shower water turned on. John shot a glance toward the bathroom.

“The victim was discovered partially clothed, despite the below freezing temperatures. Authorities have confirmed they are treating her death as a homicide and are asking anyone with any information to come forward.”

John was barely aware of the shower turning off as the news went to a commercial.

When his dad emerged from the bathroom a minute later, John still stared at the screen.

Heart pounding, he flicked off the TV. As he looked at his father, a strange numbness came over him.

It started in his fingertips, making them feel heavy and distant, as though they no longer belonged to him.

“Ready?”

John followed his father outside to their rental car in silence, his gaze cutting across the street to the Timberline Tavern. In the daylight, all the letters were visible on its sign. He pictured the dead woman leaving the bar last night before climbing into his dad’s car.

Behind him, the car door opened. “Get in, son.”

John turned to his dad, who held open the passenger door.

His father’s look of impatience morphed into concern. “What’s wrong?”

John averted his gaze from the bar and met his father’s warm eyes. He worked to relax his shoulders, afraid his dad could sense the emotion raging inside him. “Nothing.” He trudged toward his father who rested a hand on John’s shoulder before he sank into the passenger seat.

Through the frosted windshield, John watched his dad’s outline move around the front of the car.

He climbed behind the wheel to start the engine before stepping out to run an ice scraper across the windshield.

Warm air blew out of the car’s heater, and as John shifted in his seat, something bumped against his tennis shoe.

He reached down, fingering what felt like a shoe on the floor.

He lifted it up. It was a woman’s sneaker. Baby blue. The brand name Keds was etched into the sole.

His heart froze, as if time itself had stopped.

His dad sank into the driver’s seat beside him. John felt the blood drain from his face as he turned to his father, still holding the shoe.

“I don’t know what this is doing here,” John heard himself say.

His dad snatched the shoe from John’s grip and set it on his thigh. “Must be from someone who rented the car before us.”

John sat in silence, staring at the dirty mounds of snow piled along the side of the road as his dad drove toward the airport while keeping the shoe on his lap.

About two miles from their hotel, John spotted three patrol cars parked on the shoulder of the highway, with yellow crime scene tape stretched across the adjacent ditch and running across a clearing, connected to one of the trees that marked the edge of the woods.

A blue and white van marked CORONER was parked in front of the patrol cars.

As they drove past, John craned his neck to get a look at the scene. He couldn’t see the body, but he spotted a man in a dark suit carrying an evidence bag to his car. When John recognized the light blue Ked inside the clear plastic bag matching the one on his dad’s lap, he thought he might puke.

He inhaled audibly, then glanced at his dad to see if he’d noticed. But his dad peered past John out the passenger window as they sped away from the scene.

“Wonder what happened there,” his dad said.

John gulped. They passed a sign that read “Parks Highway” as John’s M&Ms from last night rose to the top of his throat.

John already knew that’s what highway they were traveling on.

The newscaster had said so that morning.

He avoided his dad’s gaze as they continued toward the airport, knowing there was no way he could hide what he knew if he looked his dad in the eye.

John gripped the door handle as his dad pulled into the empty parking lot of a Dunkin’ Donuts.

“Let’s grab some breakfast.”

A Fairbanks patrol car pulled into the lot and parked in the spot beside John. John froze as the officer got out of his car. His dad grabbed the shoe and slid it inside an empty McDonald’s bag from the backseat before getting out.

“Morning, Officer.” His dad nodded to the cop.

John held his breath, afraid his father was about to confess. Then his dad stuffed the bag into a covered garbage bin outside the entrance, coming around the car and opening the door for John.

I should say something, John thought. Now’s my chance. Guilt swept over him, chilling him to the core. As he climbed out, he kept his gaze on the pavement.

His dad bent over and gripped John squarely by both shoulders, forcing him to meet his gaze. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.” He smiled, tussled John’s hair, and led the way into the Dunkin’ Donuts.

John followed his dad in silence. I sure as hell hope so.

His dad placed a hand on his stomach as he strode toward the building’s entrance. “Man, I’m starving.” He held the door open for John.

John moved through the doorway, and a warm, sugary scent hit him.

The cop stood at the register, and a young, redheaded woman greeted them from behind the counter.

John stared at the donuts in the display, mentally replaying his dad coming back to the motel in the middle of the night, waking John from his sleep.

He knows where that shoe came from, John thought. He has to.

John turned to his dad as he flashed the woman behind the counter a charismatic smile, making her blush.

John couldn’t help but be impressed at his father’s lack of reaction to the shoe and crime scene they’d passed on the highway.

His father was an even better actor than John had given him credit for.