Grave Shadows (14 page)

Chapter 56

“We can’t call the police,”
Hayley’s aunt said. She looked like a deer caught in headlights. “I didn’t tell you everything those guys said. They told me if I went to the police, I’d never see Gunnar alive again.”

Hayley gasped.

“His Jeep was found in the lake,” she continued. “I suppose those guys did it.”

“But they don’t know where he is,” I said. “How can they hurt him if—?”

“I’m not going to the police,” she said.

On my way home, I passed the middle school. The tarp was still on the outside, and a wood saw whined. Another cement truck sat near a few construction trucks. One was a blue pickup with a toolbox in the bed.

I peeked inside the cab and saw a box on the front seat. I stepped up on the running board to get a better look.

“What are you doing?” someone said. I turned to see a man with massive sweat stains on his T-shirt. He had dark hair and a scar on his forehead.

My legs shook. “I go to school here.”

“In my truck?”

I pointed. “No, at the school.”

“Then why are you trying to get in my truck?”

“Oh! I wasn’t. I was just—one of my friends has some things missing. Mind telling me what’s in that box?”

He stepped closer. “If I were you, I’d leave right now.”

I took his advice, but I looked back and got his license-plate number. He was still staring at me.

Chapter 57

We rode in Jeff’s parents’ van
on a dirt road around the mountain. The setting sun cast a golden glow, the river a brown snake winding through the valley. Homes perched on the side of the mountain seemed as if they might fall off at any moment. What must it be like to live here and watch the sun come up every morning or see clouds roll in and dump snow?

Jeff pointed at a swimming pool with a curly slide. Kids laughed and threw beach balls. On the other side of the road sat a general store with a couple of gas pumps. Behind that was a lodge where Gary waved us over to the edge of the parking lot.

A stream ran past it, and two more swimming pools lay at the bottom of the hill. “You two are staying here tonight. You can eat at the lodge restaurant and go swimming or just relax in the stream.”

“Isn’t it cold?” Jeff said.

Gary laughed. “Stick your foot in and find out. People come here in the winter in their bathing suits to sit in that hot springwater. In some places it’s 130 degrees.”

We unloaded our stuff and put it in front of the lodge door, then got the key at the front desk and said our good-byes to the Alexanders and Gary.

Jeff turned, his eyes bulging, and slapped me a high five. “Can you believe it? We’ve got this place to ourselves!”

After we put our stuff inside—where we found two beds, a TV, and a bathroom—we headed to the restaurant. It had a huge fireplace with a deer head and a moose head mounted over it, both complete with gigantic antlers. Standing taller than me was a stuffed bear, but the scariest thing was a stuffed mountain lion, poised to kill with its teeth bared. The eyes seemed to look right through you.

I had heard mountain lion screams near our house. They sound like humans, a haunting yell like a woman crying. Even though the thing was dead, it gave me the creeps. I couldn’t imagine meeting one of those along the trail and having to defend myself.

Jeff ordered a buffalo burger, and I had grilled cheese. Then all I wanted was to soothe my sore muscles in that hot water.

Chapter 58

I called everybody I could think of,
even the principal’s wife, but nobody knew anything about the building project at the school.

“Saw your brother today,” Sam said that night. “Got close enough to see the smile on his face.”

I wished I could have been there.
The Gazette
pictured the bicyclists arriving in Buena Vista and added that another report from Jeff and an in-depth story would follow the next day.

Mom said a group from the middle school was planning to meet the riders when they finished the trip.

I followed Sam to his office. I pulled a Post-it note from his stack and wrote down the license-plate number of the truck.

“What’s this?” he said.

“I’m trying to find out who owns this truck. It’s a suspicious vehicle.”

Bryce and I tried not to ask Sam for help, but I knew he had contacts with the police.

He handed me a business card. “You’ve met this officer before. I don’t think he’ll give you information, but you can try.”

Chapter 59

The water felt so warm and good
that when we started throwing a beach ball around, I almost forgot Jeff had cancer. We were just two kids having fun.

Later we walked down some steps to a concrete walkway. The river running past the pools was filled with rocks, many arranged in circles.

We scooted down the edge, hopping from rock to rock. I dipped a toe in one pool and pulled it back quickly. The water felt like it was boiling.

“Try this one!” Jeff said.

It was cooler. A few feet away the river was frigid, but here the water was toasty. A cool breeze blew, and goose bumps rose on my arms. A wave of warmth swept over me, and I realized the water was bubbling from beneath us rather than flowing from the river.

“I heard Native Americans used to come to these pools because they felt the water would heal their diseases,” Jeff said.

“Yeah, they probably stopped here on those long bike trips hunting buffalo.”

I closed my eyes and put my head back against a smooth rock, and it felt like I was floating on warmed air. The curve of the rock fit my head and neck perfectly. “I wish I could take this pool home with me, complete with the rocks and sand.”

When Jeff didn’t answer I opened my eyes and saw him staring across the stream. His mouth was open, and I was afraid he was having some sort of seizure.

“What’s wrong?” I said, rolling over and splashing water on him.

He pointed. “Look under that rock over there.”

There were pine trees and several large rocks on the other side. Something was moving under one of the rocks. It looked like a long band of diamonds against a yellow background.

“Looks like a bull snake!” someone downriver called.

I didn’t care if it was a bull snake, a cow snake, or any other kind. I was done with the pool.

“I have to write my column,” Jeff said.

We grabbed our stuff and headed back.