Page 19 of Tracked
I grabbed my cup and brought it to my lips, forcing my eyes shut as I downed the first welcome sip.
Stop thinking about Calder’s anatomy.There wasn’t a test. Not when the answer to every question would simply bewrong. Wrong to think about my sister’s ex. Wrong to fantasize. Wrong to want.Wrong to everything.
The diesel engine growled as we headed toward Grand Teton National Park. The tops of the iconic mountains propped up themorning blanket of clouds like poles to a circus tent, the bright-blue sky underneath holding no trace of the ugly storm that had swept through last night.
“How was your night?” Calder asked stiffly, his eyes on the road.
“All right,” I answered as a speed limit sign flew by. Two, actually. Another thing I’d forgotten about Wyoming. There were two speed limit signs posted inside the park: one for during the day, and one for after dark.
“Storm keep you up?”
“Yeah,” I lied. “I forgot how bad they can be.”
They always said that to become a doctor, especially an ER doc, you acquired the ability to sleep anywhere, anytime, and it was true. Two weeks ago, I would’ve slept through a storm like that without any problem. Now, every time I tried to sleep, I was back in the emergency room, staring at that man’s face, feeling a kind of panic like I’d never known.
I had to wonder whether I’d ever be able to sleep well again.
I went to put my cup back in the holder just as Calder reached for his. Our hands brushed, the hot static stumbling the pattern of my pulse. Our eyes connected with a bolt of lightning that split wide all my thoughts for him to see.
“Sorry.” I quickly pulled away before he saw too much.
I’d prepared for a gamut of emotions yesterday on the way to see Calder. I’d prepared for anxiety and uncertainty over whether he’d be able or willing to help me. I’d also prepared for anger and distrust. For the twelve years since they’d broken up, I’d watched my sister’s romantic relationships devolve and destroy her. She might not have told me every detail of what had happened, but I saw enough of the aftermath to prepare for more than a modicum of resentment toward the one good man who’d broken her heart.
But I hadn’t prepared for everything else.
Not the tingling in my skin, like his gaze inebriated my nerves. Not the uneven unspooling of my pulse whenever we touched, nor thewarmth in my veins as though my body were fighting an infection—a disease of inappropriate desire. And definitely not the way I trusted him. Instinctively.Wildly.
“The storms get worse as the summer goes on,” he remarked. “Where are you staying?”
“The Betty bed-and-breakfast in Wisdom.”
Calder made a sound of acknowledgment, one I assumed was an approval, since he said nothing else. The Betty was adorable. Quiet. And only about twenty minutes to Jackson. The owners were an older couple. Very welcoming and sweet. Hopefully, they didn’t hear my cries that always woke me from my nightmares.
I sat up taller, quickly compartmentalizing those thoughts as the large sign for the Moose Entrance flew by. “Wasn’t that what we wanted?” My head swiveled to follow the turn-off.
“No,” Calder replied and then paused, giving me a front-row seat to his internal debate over how much to explain. “There are three entrances to the park, and a campsite within range of each, but there are only two designated areas for elk hunting close to the park. Zones seventy-five and seventy-nine. Seventy-five is to the right of us but back closer to the Moose Entrance. Zone seventy-nine is farther north than the Moran Entrance, which is where we’re headed.”
“You think he’s staying at one of those two because he has a hunting permit,” I mused, my fingers drumming on the to-go cup. “Why start at the north one?”
It would’ve been easy to stop and check the one we’d just passed on the way.
“The Moose Entrance is the main entrance. The busiest and the most patrolled by rangers. With an expired registration on his truck—”
“It would be riskier,” I finished, a thrill running through me when he nodded.
“Track the person, not just their footprints,” he instructed with a low voice. “Understanding the mindset of your target usually reveals where to look next.”
Another rule.
I took another swig from my cup. Calder’s thought process was as satisfying as his coffee. It was sharp without being bitter. Smooth without being watered down. It was a treat.An anomaly.
“Do you think Brandon’s that smart?” I dragged my tongue over my lips.
Calder’smasseterflexed, his beard rippling. “I think people who regularly brush up against the law get pretty smart on ways to avoid it.”
“He’s been in trouble before?” I straightened, unease resting on my shoulders. “Did you talk to the police?”
Calder’s knuckles whitened where he gripped the wheel. “Minor stuff. Mostly parking violations and a few charges for possession.”
