“He did, but the cave isn’t on any marked trail, and Liam said he had to guess its location. Thankfully, my sister put some pink tape on the trees to help my dad and the rescue team find it. She asked that we take them down on our way out.”
“Clever lady.”
Probably because it was winter, they didn’t run into anyone on the way to climbing site. “Around here is where I was injured. See that path?”
“Yeah, it leads to a climbing site.”
“Exactly. As I turned to take it, they shot me.”
“It gives me the shivers thinking about that.” Mike looked around. “Violence in a place so peaceful is wrong on so many levels.”
“Amen.”
Zach spotted a pink ribbon hanging from a branch. “Over there.”
It was about two soccer fields away from where he was attacked, so it didn’t take long to reach the cave.
“I see your point, Zach. If you were almost dead, I don’t know how you could have made it this far.”
“Me neither.” The ribbon took them right to the cave entrance. When they stepped inside, Zach almost gagged.
Mike placed a hand over his mouth. “Whoa. Something died in here.”
“You mean a lot of somethings died. I’m glad I wasn’t aware of much when I was in there.” His werewolf’s strong sense of smell usually served him well. Now? Not so much. Zach couldn’t believe he’d survived the stench. He nodded to the passageway to the right. “It’s back there. Look for anything that indicates my mystery woman was here. And yes, I’m aware it’s a long shot.”
“Your sister was here. She could have dropped something.”
Mike was good at punching holes in his theory. “I know.”
They had to maneuver around a lot of rocks to make their way down the passageway. No one would hike there if they had a choice. After ten minutes, they reached an area that was larger.
“A fire ring,” Mike said. “Didn’t you say Liam lit a fire?”
“Yes. The black embers and unburned wood prove that they were here.”
Mike looked around. “There’s too much debris to tell if anyone else was.”
“True, and I was treated by the paramedics in the front of the cave.”
“I’ll check up ahead for a bit, in case she went up there.” He returned a few minutes later. “That was a bust. I saw squat.”
“I checked this area in here thoroughly. Nothing either. How about we head back? I need to breathe some clean air.”
His friend chuckled. “I’m with you.”
As Zach headed out, he became more and more convinced that he had help. If he’d climbed around all these boulders, he would have remembered.
Once they exited, they removed the pink plastic tape where his sister had marked the trees.
“What’s the plan now?” Mike asked.
“I’m not sure. Even if we found some indication—other than the brush on the outside of the cave—that I had help, I can’t imagine a woman would be staying in a tent for the last two weeks. More importantly, why she would she want to? But I won’t give up.”
“I never thought you would, however I don’t recall seeing any caves nearby that anyone would want to camp in. Mice, in particular, like to take shelter in caves during the winter, not to mention a few other critters.”
“True.”
“Don’t forget there is the Granger cabin,” Mike said.