A Surprise
I heard the footsteps outside the door and was immediately awake.
I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. The clock read 3:58—two minutes before the alarm was set to go off. Hope breathed peacefully beside me. I heard more sounds coming from the kitchen. Dishes clanking. A drawer opening. Cereal being shaken into a bowl.
I groaned inwardly. It was Tuesday. The day that I would leave my comfortable bed and beautiful wife and go into the mountains to sleep on rocks. Peng was in the kitchen getting ready for the trip. A typical fumbling teenage boy making his way through a tired breakfast. Funny how he never made any noise when he was escaping the house.
Hope stretched and yawned. “Is it that time already?”
I looked at the clock. “Go back to sleep,” I said. “You have another thirty seconds.”
She completed her stretch and then punched me in the arm. “Oops,” she said. “Reflexes.” And then her tone turned serious. “Be careful out there.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“I wasn’t talking about you,” Hope said. “I meant be careful with the boys. If Joey comes back with so much as a scratch, I’ll never hear the end of it from Mrs. Johnson.”
I stepped out of the bed and onto the floor. “I appreciate your concern.” I hit the alarm button just as it began to sound. I was going to try to dress in the dark, but instead, I turned on the bright overhead light.
Hope raised her hand to her eyes, then looked at me. “Stop it,” she said when she saw my pout. “I worry about you too. But you’re an adult. You can take care of yourself. I know how Mrs. Johnson feels. I don’t want to see a scratch on Peng either. My motherly protective instincts kick in just thinking about you guys out there alone in the woods.”
“Maybe Joey wouldn’t be so soft if Mrs. Johnson let him take a scratch once in a while.”
Hope looked at me with dagger eyes.
Jin began crying from the other room. The alarm clock and the voices must have woken her up.
“Maybe you should go pick up our daughter before I punch you again,” Hope said.
I had just enough time to lift Jin out of her big-girl bed and calm her before I heard a soft knock at the door. With Jin in my arms, I went to greet our guest. Undoing the multitude of locks was not easy while holding a squirming toddler.
“I didn’t miss breakfast, did I?” Permelia said, pushing past me into the house. She was carrying a sleeping bag under one arm and pulling a large wheeled suitcase with the other.
“I didn’t think you were coming until later today.”
“You boys are leaving in a few minutes, aren’t you? Girl time starts as soon as the boys are gone. I’m not going to miss out on even one minute.” Permelia dropped her bags on the floor and lifted Jin out of my arms. “We are going to have a grand old time with no boys around.”
“No boys,” Jin repeated drowsily. Funny how some phrases seemed to come easier to her than others.
“Why did you bring a sleeping bag? You know we have plenty of beds,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t use beds at a slumber party. Any idiot knows that.”
Hope and Peng came into the living room from different directions. Hope kissed Peng’s forehead and said something to him, but I couldn’t hear what it was over Jin’s laughter. I motioned to Hope that I needed to brush my teeth and then I would be back.
“It’s time for us to go,” Peng said. “We need to be at Ron’s house in five minutes.”
“I’m sure he’d rather we be a little late than me kill everyone off with my morning breath. I’ll be right back.” We had already packed our gear in the trailer the night before. All we needed to bring this morning were the clothes on our backs and a small backpack with snacks for the car. “Besides, I’d kind of like a kiss from my wife before I go.”
I quickly cleaned the night monsters from my mouth and returned with my pack in hand.
“That wasn’t a very good brush job,” Hope said. “I think you only deserve a peck on the cheek.” She reached up to deliver on her threat, but at the last second, I turned my head, and our lips met.
“That’s cheating,” she mumbled through the kiss. But she didn’t pull away. The kiss was a good one. In fact, it was great. But something didn’t feel right. Suddenly I had a bad feeling about leaving Hope. A really bad feeling. I pulled away and looked at her face.
“You look like the cat used your Cheerios as a litter box,” Permelia said from the floor, where she was sitting cross-legged with Jin.
“What’s wrong?” Hope asked.
I was asking myself the same question. But I couldn’t find an acceptable answer. “Nothing, I guess. I just don’t like leaving you here alone with a child.”
“Don’t be silly. Permelia will be with us all week.”
“Permelia is the child I was referring to.”
“Really,” Hope said. “We’ll be fine. You should be concentrating on the boys who are going with you into the wilderness. Remember what I said about no scratches.”
I still had my arms around her waist, and I didn’t want to let go. The feeling didn’t make sense at all. It was as though if I left now, this might be the last time I ever held her.
She grabbed my arms and pushed me toward the door.
The moment of panic passed, but I still felt the lingering effects. “If anything happens, call Zack,” I said, meeting her eyes in a way I knew she would understand. “Even if you think it’s something small.”
She nodded, affirming that she had gotten the message. We didn’t talk much about my past and the potential for it to infringe upon our current lives, but we tried to prepare for contingencies.
“You boys have fun,” she said as we moved out the door. “And don’t forget to say a prayer before you start driving.” She paused, and I saw a wrinkle knit her brow.
“You’re feeling it too,” I said. “Admit it. We should cancel this whole trip and stay home.”
“No,” Hope said, her face thoughtful as if she were listening to an inner voice. “You need to go on this trip. I’m sure of it. And you told me the bishop was convinced as well. I’m probably just having first-scout-trip mother anxiety. Just make sure that whatever you do, you bring those boys home unharmed—especially my son.” These were Hope’s last words as she pushed us out into the yard, fighting back tears.
The door closed, and Peng and I moved off into the dark. I held up my watch to check the time, but I couldn’t see the hands. This watch had no illuminated dial. It had a vintage face and a secret tracker hidden inside.
* * *
Most of our drive was in the dark, but by the time we reached the Mirror Lake trailhead, the sun’s rays were busily removing the dew off the leaves of the trembling aspens. Despite the sunlight, my darkness remained. I had a bad feeling I couldn’t shake, and it wasn’t because the boys were bouncing up and down in their seats and had decided to sing sitcom theme songs at the top of their lungs.
Something was wrong. I just didn’t know what it was.
I was driving Ron’s SUV. He said he had some last-minute preparations to take care of and was busy holding a flashlight in his mouth and scribbling on a map. So much for my plans to catch up on some sleep—although the singing probably would have killed that anyway.
“Can I drive?” JR asked. This was about his fiftieth request in the past two hours. I was tempted to let him take the wheel just so I could shut him up.
“Too late,” I said. “We’re here.” I turned on my blinker to turn into the Mirror Lake trailhead, where we were scheduled to begin our journey.
“Keep going straight,” Ron said.
I started to explain that this was our starting point, but when I looked at Ron, he shook his head and brought his finger to his lips. He darted his eyes back toward the boys, suggesting that he didn’t want them to know about it.
Apparently he had a surprise for the boys. I didn’t think this was wise since it would also be a surprise for everyone else, including the bishop, the boys’ parents, and me. We had a very detailed and structured itinerary. People knew exactly where we were supposed to be at each leg of the trip.
I hoped he knew what he was doing.
* * *
“Carney, I think we’ve got a problem.” Jackson spoke into the radio clipped to his shoulder as he balanced the binoculars with one hand, trying to get a good look at the target in the dim light of the morning. There were two men in the front seat of the SUV—the driver, who looked like your typical soccer dad, and the front-seat passenger. Even at this distance and in this light, even though this last-minute job hadn’t included a picture of the target, and even though he could barely make out the figure through the windshield, there was something about the man that looked dangerous.
Jackson felt himself smiling. He liked dangerous.
“What do you mean a problem?” The voice on the other end sounded like chains being dragged through gravel.
“They signaled like they were turning into the trailhead but then just kept going. And they’re not slowing down. I don’t think they’re going where we think they’re going.”
Jackson heard swearing on the other end of the radio.
“Did they see you?”
Jackson looked at his partner. Even at twenty paces, he wouldn’t be able to see her if he didn’t know she was there. “No way. Our position is secure.”
“Then why didn’t they stop? Could someone have tipped them off?”
“Who? We didn’t even know we were going to be here until a few days ago. The guy in the passenger seat seemed to be looking at a map. Maybe they just decided to change their plans.”
“Scout leaders don’t go to the trouble of communicating every step of the journey and passing out flyers to the parents just to suddenly decide to change plans when they get to the trailhead.”
“This one did,” Jackson said. What had looked to be a routine job might actually turn out to be interesting.
“Can you catch them?”
“’Course we can.” Jackson was already moving toward the car. “Don’t worry. Jillian, Tiny, and I will be right behind them.”
“Keep your distance. Don’t let them see you.”
“And what if they do? All they will see is a stunning woman and two extremely fit men out enjoying the mountains. We’re just a group of ultrarunners doing some cardiovascular training at elevation. Our cover story is solid.”
“The guy we’re chasing is an expert on cover stories. Don’t make contact until it’s time to make a move. I don’t want them to see us until it’s too late. And, for heaven’s sake, don’t tell Jillian she’s stunning. The team is small enough as it is without having to scrape you off the highway.”
Jackson looked over at Jillian, who had moved from her position and was walking toward him. She looked annoyed. But, then, Jillian always looked annoyed. He was glad Carney had put her on the crew.
Now, she was really dangerous.