Firestorm

It reminded Anthony of the Joad family saga in Steinbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath'. Despite the apparent hardship, the cheeriness and optimism displayed by the young mother almost overwhelmed Anthony. The parents were treating the entire event like a holiday for their children's amusement and education.

Still, it was a difficult situation for the two Rangers. On the one hand, camping in the National Forest was allowed, the family's error was in having an open campfire, which because of the recent fires, was strictly forbidden throughout the county. Frank Morgan surprised the hell out of Anthony by telling the father to follow him into town. On the way, Frank called his wife and had her meet them at the Ranger Station with the Morgan's camp stove and a few other camping essentials.

As Frank handed the stove over to the father he cautioned him. "Use the stove for cooking, no more fires out there or we'll have to issue a citation and remove you next time. Bring the stove and the rest back when you're leaving."

The father shook Frank's hand, then Anthony's. His eyes were misting as he said, "thank you' and headed back toward his car. Frank gave his wife a kiss. "I'll be home in a half hour." before heading into the station. Anthony stood in wonder, thinking. "Yeah, the guy can be the biggest pain in the ass, then he pulls a stunt like this." Anthony gave a wave to Mrs. Morgan and drove home.

As Anthony pulled into his drive, he was surprised that Ted's Jeep wasn't in the drive. He tried Ted's cell phone once again but got Ted's voice mail for the fourth time. He turned around and headed out to Geena's house.

Mr. Perrison answered the door, not recognizing the young man who stood on the deck, but it wasn't unusual for friends of Geena's to stop by, even this late at night, so he welcomed him in.

"Geena," he called upstairs, "there's a young man here to see you."

Geena came downstairs, surprised to see Ted's young roommate Anthony waiting by the door. After greetings, Anthony asked. "Geena, Ted didn't show up for work today and I can't raise him on his cell. Do you have any idea where he's at?"

"No,' she answered, "he hasn't taken my calls either. I assumed he was working out of cell range. It's happened before."

Anthony showed Geena the text he received at two in the morning. They both agreed it was odd, especially after Geena told Anthony that Ted had left her a half hour before then and didn't seem upset. With the entire episode clear as mud, Anthony said goodbye and drove home; he decided to stop by the Marshall's office on his way to work in the morning.

*****

Anthony spent a good half hour with the Marshall the following day. It took that long to convince Marshall Stephens that Ted wasn't a flake who would just up and disappear in the middle of the night to go hiking. Anthony couldn't blame the Marshall, the Ranger Station received at least one call a week from some parent asking the Rangers to chase some young person who hadn't called in for a week. Ninety-nine out of a hundred of these wild goose chases ended up with the missing youngster returning to town after spending the week having a great time in the woods 'finding themselves' or in bed with a new 'friend'.

But then there's always that one percent, like the young female Pacific Coast Trail (PCT) hiker last seen three weeks ago hitching into town and getting into a truck. Whether she returned to the PCT without anyone taking note of her in town, which seemed unlikely, or did she meet up with someone who did her harm -- right now it was anyone's guess.

To his credit, Marshall Stephens took Anthony's concerns seriously, promised to ride out to the Perrison's cabin to follow up and if he thought there was reason to be concerned, to start an investigation. Anthony made his way to work wondering what else he could do.

At the same time Anthony was with the Marshall, Crawford finished his hike and was picking up his truck from Perrison's garage. The damn hike took a lot longer than he anticipated and he was bushed. Crawford drove to his cabin and fell asleep as his head hit the pillow. The brutal murder of the young man troubled him as little as if he had squashed a bug.

Chapter Five

Ted was missing for three days now. There wasn't a sign of him or his Jeep, no one could raise him on his cell phone. According to Marshall Stephens, the last time Anthony called and checked, there hadn't been any activity on Ted's credit card. Where could he be? Anthony knew he was being a pest and he was putting pressure on the Marshall to get the State Police involved.

Anthony tried calling Geena, but once again only reached her voice mail. The Marshall said when he talked to Geena, she confirmed they hadn't had a fight, he left that night with the promise to see her the next evening, and she couldn't think of one reason why he decided to 'take a hike'.

On an impulse, Anthony drove back to the Perrison's, but the maid who answered the door told him Geena had left yesterday, returning to her mother's home in Philadelphia. The poor girl was distraught over her missing boyfriend and Mr. Perrison thought it best she stays with her mother.

When Anthony finally made it into work, Carol Bates was working the switchboard. There was a message from Larry Page, the District Ranger, telling him to drive out to Lower Keller Lake because of an anonymous call reporting seeing a tent where it was posted 'no camping' off the back trail to the lake. The caller also reported that there were some turkey buzzards circling the area. Why the caller didn't want to be identified was anybody's guess, but the call couldn't be ignored and Page thought it should be checked out.

With Ted's disappearance on his mind, Anthony wasn't paying attention as he pulled out of the Ranger Station parking lot and almost pulled in front of a bicyclist. Anthony slammed on the brakes just in time and came to a stop ten feet from the woman. Anthony waved and mouthed an apology; the bicyclist returned his wave with a middle finger and shouted for Anthony to perform an impossible act.

Anthony took a few moments to breathe and bring his heart rate back to normal. He put the truck's transmission back into 'Drive' and turned left onto the road, heading west toward the Lower Keller trailhead.

As Anthony pulled into the trail head parking area, he could see it wouldn't be difficult to locate whatever was out there; the turkey buzzards were still circling. Anthony grabbed his backpack and started to jog up the trail. At this time of year the trail wasn't very crowded with hikers, Anthony didn't come across anyone on the trail as he made his way.

It took him less than fifteen minutes to reach the spot where the back trail cut off from the main trail; an old deer trail that many locals used as an alternative into Keller Lake. It was only another quarter mile where Anthony saw a tent back in the trees. He shooed away two buzzards that were near the open tent and looked in. A man lay still inside the tent and there was an awful smell. Doing his best not to disturb anything, Anthony held his breath and took a step inside the tent, momentarily relieved it wasn't his friend inside. A pistol was in the man's right hand and when Anthony reached to feel for a pulse, he now saw in the dim light that the back of the man's head had a hole and where the blood seeped into the sleeping bag. That's when he also noticed the ray of light shining through a small hole in the back of tent.

Anthony recognized him, he only knew the man's first name, Gus. One of the old-timers that used to sit and drink beer most weekday afternoons on the pizza parlor's outdoor deck. Anthony backed out of the tent, took two deep breaths and used the satellite phone to call the base.

Carol Bates answered the call. "North Central Ranger Station, Carol Bates speaking."

"Carol, it's Anthony. I found the body, a quarter mile up the old deer trail there's a tent with a dead man inside. It looks like a self-inflicted gunshot wound." Anthony looked up to see the buzzards still circling. "Listen Carol, I'm just going to hang out here and keep the buzzards away until you or Larry tell me what to do."

Carol knew Anthony was trying to hold it together; hell, the kid was only a summer intern and he finds a dead man when he's on his own. Most rangers spend a lifetime on the job without experiencing a dead body. "You OK Roland?"

"I'll be OK, just tell me what I need to do."

"I'll have Larry call you in a couple minutes; he's out by the barn."

The District Ranger called a minute later, told Anthony to stay where he's at, not to touch a thing and he'd be relieved within the hour.

Things moved fast. Less than hour later, Frank Morgan came jogging up the trail and relieved Anthony. Turns out the old man, Gus Smythe, recently received a diagnosis of dementia. Not willing to spend the end of his life as a vegetable in a nursing home, Gus decided to go out his own way, in the woods where he had spent his entire life.

Gus didn't have much in the way of material goods or assets; but what he did have was left to Ingrid, the thirty-year-old waitress at the pizza parlor. Ingrid used the money to make a down payment on a nice double-wide. She also went down to the pound at the County seat and brought home a mutt she named Gus. The mutt named Gus became a favorite of the regulars who sit every afternoon on the pizza parlor deck.

*****

It was early Friday morning, a full week since Ted's disappearance. Anthony was scheduled to work four hours, then have the rest of the weekend off. If he left at eleven, he'd be in Portland in time to have dinner with Lisa. Instead he found a note taped to his locker asking him to stop into Larry Page's office ASAP. The District Ranger was a nice guy and sounded sincere as he explained the problem. "I can't give you the weekend off. I'm sorry because I know you were promised, but we're short staffed without Harris and I need you here this weekend. Look Anthony, I sympathize with your need to see your girl, but I have a National Forest to manage and I can't manage it without your help right now. Sorry."

Anthony didn't say a word. He held it in as he walked out of the office, down the hall and out the door. He sat on the old smoking bench, leaned back and stared into space, silently swearing to himself. He was tempted to walk back into the District Ranger office and quit right on the spot. Quit and head home to Portland so he could at least spend one lousy weekend with Lisa before she leaves for school. Their plan was to spend a long weekend together before she left.

Anthony knew that if he walked off the job this weekend he could kiss any future with the Forest Service good-bye. It just wasn't fair!

He took his phone out of his pocket and called Lisa, gave her the bad news and went in to get today's assignment. To add to his frustration, Lisa didn't sound nearly as put out about the cancellation as he was. She took the news with a slight, 'oh well' cavalier attitude -- or was that just because she couldn't talk while she was at work? He and Lisa used to be in sync, almost able to read each other's minds. Ever since December, that synchronization was slowly fading.

Seven hours later, mid-afternoon on an unusually hot September day filled with sunshine, Anthony returned to the Ranger Station, tired and sweaty from five hours spent removing the illegal campfire circles, beer cans and other trash left by a group, probably kids celebrating the end of summer. What made the task especially disgusting was the knowledge he'd spend this evening alone again instead of with Lisa in Portland, the Friday morning filling giant trash bags with someone else's good times.

As Anthony walked in the door, Carol called out to him. "Roland, call it a day. Go home and shower -- you stink. Be back tomorrow at eight, you have to go up to Keller Peak to close the upper trail for the season." Anthony let out an expletive, grabbed his truck keys from the desk he once shared with Ted and headed out the door.

Anthony drove to the cabin that would be his home for only another two weeks. The cabin's driveway was a winding two-hundred-yard gravel path. As he wound around the big fir tree he had to blink twice. There, standing in front of her Honda CRV, was the most beautiful sight in the world -- Lisa with a smile on her face. Anthony slammed on the brakes and was out of his pickup before it barely stopped.

Anthony was wide eyed as he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Chapter Six

Lisa grabbed Anthony by the shoulders to pull him in for a kiss. "We needed this weekend. Since you couldn't make it home, I decided to take the day off to come up here. I left as soon as we hung up the phone." She teased him with, "I hope you're not disappointed. You didn't have plans, did you?"

Anthony showed his 'disappointment' by squeezing Lisa tight and giving her another kiss. After the kiss, he needed to let her know his only plans. "I have to work tomorrow and maybe Sunday."

"I know. Your boss has already approved me accompanying you up to Keller Peak tomorrow. We'll be hiking together. Your co-workers have been very helpful, the lady named Carol made certain you came right home this afternoon. Your boss thought a civilian 'observer' was an excellent idea. Like a ride-a-long that the police department has."

Anthony had to ask, "What about your father? How accommodating was he?"

"Dad started to say something, but I told him this was non-negotiable. A word Dad can understand. I told Dad I spent the last half school year and all summer playing by his rules. This weekend was mine."

"Why doesn't your father like me?"

"Because you've stolen his little girl's heart. I also think he gets all wound up when he thinks of us having sex."

"He doesn't have to worry there, it's been what -- ten months?"

"Almost, but I was hoping we could put an end to that this weekend. Think you can make it happen?"

Before Anthony could answer, Lisa cut him off. "We have to use condoms; I went off the pill. Sorry"

"I don't have any."

Lisa blushed and smiled. "I stopped on the way here and bought some. I hope they fit. I was so embarrassed asking the pharmacist about the size, trying to describe this." Lisa squeezed Anthony's crotch.

They'd probably get around to discussing the elephant in the room, but not now. There was some satisfaction in each lover's mind until they had that discussion. Lisa happy that Anthony didn't have any condoms in his house, Anthony happy Lisa went off the pill when they broke up and didn't know what size condom to buy.

An hour later Lisa was resting on Anthony's shoulder with her arm wrapped around his bare chest. She liked his chest -- almost as much as he liked hers. "I missed that; I missed you."

Anthony couldn't take it, he turned to look Lisa in the eyes and had to ask. "Have you been with anyone else since we broke up? Your father was adamant about you having 'college experiences'."

Lisa almost seemed hurt that Anthony had to ask. "No Anthony, I haven't. I even stopped taking the pill in January, knowing I wouldn't need them. My 'experiences' have consisted of attending a few concerts and other events with a couple guys that I consider friends. But nothing romantic."

Lisa held her breath. "What about you? Any women chasing my guy?"

Damn, he just loved it when she said, 'my guy'. "Sounds about the same. There are a few girls at school who have been friends. And not friends-with-benefits."

Lisa wasn't aware she was holding her breath until she let the air out, then turned to get her nude body on top of Anthony. Looking down on him, feeling skin on skin, it felt so intimate. "I love you."

Anthony grabbed the cheeks of her ass and squeezed. "I love you too, babe. These last ten months have been hell. How are we going to make it another three years?"

"Let's not try and answer that right now. Right now I want you to make love to me again."

And that's what they did.

*****

It was seven o'clock, Lisa and Anthony were hungry and there was little in the way of food besides cereal and canned soup in the cabin. They got dressed and headed into town to the Burger Barn and Brew. The BB&B as it was known followed the silly Washington State liquor laws by having a single brass railing that separates the 'bar' area, which consisted of eight stools at the bar, from the rest of the establishment, which consisted of six tables, four booths, a pool table, and a postage sized dance area. Liquor could be served throughout the entire establishment, but minors were not allowed in the narrow bar area.

Being under twenty-one, Lisa and Anthony found an empty booth at the back of the place. Neither paid attention to the large man sitting at the end of the bar; they were too caught up in the glow of the past two hours.

Alex Crawford saw the two lovebirds walk in and impulsively decided to improvise from his original plan. When fate hands you a brass ring, you grab it. It was an unusual move on his part and maybe his first two Boilermakers affected his reasoning or maybe he was feeling cocky and invincible. Although he hadn't had time to finish his research, he had been on the Roland kid's Facebook page and knew the girl sitting next to him was the kid's high school sweetheart. Crawford ordered a third beer, paid cash as he always did in this small town where no one knew his name and sat back to wait.

Opportunity knocked when the Roland kid got up and headed to the bathroom. Acting on impulse Crawford left the bar area and went in after the boy.

Anthony stood at the urinal, facing the tile wall, wondering how life could get any better, Lisa was back in his life. Then, without warning, the man who just walked in the room slammed his head forward, breaking his nose on the wall, Anthony didn't black out, but was too woozy to resist as the man grabbed the back of his neck.

Crawford grabbed some paper towels to place under the kid's bloody nose to prevent blood falling on the floor. He grasped the kid by the belt and dragged him into a stall, leaning him face down on the toilet so it looked like a person drank too much and was praying to the porcelain god. Crawford stepped out and slid into the booth across from the girl.

Lisa stared at the intruder, he was a large man and looked dangerous, especially with the sneer on his face. Lisa did her best to remain polite as she said, "I'm with someone."

"Yeah, I know, but he's indisposed at the moment. Before he comes out, I want you to listen to what I'm going to say." The man moved the glass on the table and grabbed Lisa's hand, squeezing it tight. "You need to make him understand that if he continues to make a stink about his roommate's disappearance, that things will get a lot uglier. He needs to shut up about the text message he received. As far as Anthony is concerned, Ted Harris is a flaky kid who decided to get lost. Anthony needs to make certain he retracts his statement to the Marshall. He needs to finish his little summer tour here and go back to college. He needs to do this to protect himself and you, Miss Lisa Collins. Palo Alto isn't too far to make a visit. Understand?"

In his peripheral vision, Crawford caught the sight of Anthony staggering out the restroom. He knew the kid hadn't seen his face, but it was still silly to take a chance getting caught in the place. Never know who's carrying a gun in these small towns. Crawford headed out the back door.

Lisa saw Anthony and stood up to help him into the booth. "Anthony, baby, are you OK?"

Anthony removed his handkerchief from his nose, Lisa recoiled from the sight of his beautiful nose bent so far to be nearly touching his cheek. "Some son of a bitch pushed me into the wall, then dragged me into the stall."

"We have to get you to hospital."