Survival Instinct: Brian Book One (Van Zant Siblings 1) Read online

  “Doctor?” Rose’s eyes were sparkling when he turned back to her.

  Brian pointed to his still-filled plate. “Have you eaten? Could I buy you lunch? I do so hate to eat alone, and maybe we could share a dessert. I hear the caramel cake is wonderful.”

  “Oh, it is! If you haven’t tried it, you really should, and I think I would like some lunch, but I insist on paying. You are the visitor, after all.”

  ♥

  Hawk passed by the auto body shop on his way out of town. Brian’s mangled, bright yellow jeep glared at him as brightly as a summer sun. Seeing the color, he couldn’t keep from smiling. What kind of man bought a yellow vehicle?

  One with a positive outlook on life. Hawk nodded. The kind of man confident enough in his sexuality to wear a black thong with a hot pink bow.

  The kind of man he wouldn’t mind getting to know better, because having met him at his worst, Hawk had a feeling Brian was probably even more audacious when life was going well.

  Getting closer to the vehicle, Hawk realized the bumper was covered with gay-pride stickers. Stunned at the passionate display promoting gay marriage, equality, and tolerance, he stopped and stared. The layers were a timeline of the evolution of LQBTQIA rights. It was an impressive statement to say the least. Brian was the man who could shake this town up and drag it right into the twenty-first century.

  Wiping his grease-stained hands on a shop rag, Matthew Jenkins came up to stand beside him. “Heard you saved the man’s life.”

  “It was touch and go for a while, but he got through it.” Hawk thought Matthew might make a comment about the bumper stickers or about Brian being gay, but he didn’t, and so Hawk didn’t mention it either. He asked, “Is it salvageable?”

  “Could be, but not bloody likely. It’s gonna take more money to repair than it’s worth. He’s over at the diner trying to decide whether he wants to save it or scrap it. Right now I’m in limbo. No point ordering parts yet.”

  Hawk left town at a fast pace, but waded some fairly deep drifts before he finally reached a place where he could strap on his cross-country skis and make decent time as he traveled up Forest Service Road 500. He didn’t expect to see anyone, but five miles in he caught sight of a man, who promptly disappeared.

  What the fuck?

  He hadn’t been hiking long enough to be seeing things, so his best guess was winter white camouflage gear.

  Not more than a mile later, he saw two men hiking, the squawk through a handheld radio marked them as lookouts, not nature lovers. When he heard one of them reply, he knew there was more than one other in close proximity, but that wasn’t what made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. They were speaking in a foreign language with an accent he hadn’t heard since summer. The implication stopped him in his tracks. No, it can’t be Erik. It has to be a coincidence.

  Hawk lifted his binocular to take a closer look at what was going on high up the ridgeline and saw a darkened depression that shouldn’t be there. He frowned as he focused in and out. He said softly to his K-9 companion, “It has to be a shadow. Or a trick of the light.”

  The wolf-dog growled under her breath softly.

  “I agree, I don’t like the feel of this place. Something is definitely going on.”

  Chapter Seven

  ♥

  Rose saw two women she recognized, called them over to the table to meet Brian. “This is Cheryl Henry, the mayor’s wife and best seamstress we have in town if you ever have need, and this is Lila Jenkins. I believe her husband is working on your Jeep.”

  Brian shook their hands and invited them to sit. Laughing, he said, “I doubt he’s doing much work on my Jeep, though. It’s totaled.”

  “I’ve never seen anything my husband hasn’t been able to fix with enough time,” Lila volunteered, then blushed. “I guess it depends on how attached you are to it, if you want to put the time and money into saving it.”

  Brian thought about that. He did want to save it, and what else did he have to do? He’d decided when he crossed the bridge out of Ohio, he’d land where the wind took him. Guess this was it for now. Whether he was meeting people in this town or another, it wasn’t like Seattle was going anywhere. The point was to get away from Cincinnati. He’d done that. He was definitely moving on with his life. Here or there, he could focus on his art. He’d originally thought of the west coast when he’d considered moving because he could see himself starting over as an artist there. A new life demanded a new career, and although he’d only painted landscapes as a hobby, he didn’t doubt his talent. He’d thought seascapes would be relaxing, but mountains would prove just as calming and twice as challenging.

  He tried to imagine himself painting the Bitterroot Range but failed, seeing only the man who’d gone to climb it. If he stayed, it wouldn’t be for the view. It would be for the man.

  Thinking about Hawk alone on the mountain, he certainly wasn’t leaving things the way they were. Hawk had hurt his feelings, and he was at least going to get in a last word. “I guess I need to talk to your husband.”

  “But not before cake,” Rose insisted.

  “Oh definitely not before cake, and you still have your life story to tell. If you ladies don’t mind, I’d love to learn more about you too.”

  A woman came in the diner and shouted, “I’m here!”

  The other ladies started clapping, as the brightly colored woman approached. Bright blue hair, a goldenrod yellow high-necked blouse, topped with a true red sweater. A purple wool coat was slung over the same arm that held a turquoise blue handbag. Black and white herring bone slacks and black ankle boots completed her ensemble. Rose introduced, “This is Hattie Bryant, owner of Hattie’s Arts and Crafts.”

  Brian accepted business cards from each of the women. The women all leaning a little closer as each started revealing the turning points and heartbreaks of their lives. The afternoon flew by, and before Brian realized just how quickly the day had passed, the dinner crowd was filling the diner. “I guess we should give up our table.”

  “Nonsense,” Rose said. “I’m staying for pot roast, so you might as well just sit right there because you know everything there is to know about us, but we don’t know anything about you.”

  “Oh, I’m staying too if we get to hear your story,” Cheryl announced. “I could go for some pot roast.”

  “I’m in,” Hattie agreed.

  They all looked at Lila. “I’ll call Matthew and tell him we’re eating dinner here tonight. That way you can ask him about fixing your Jeep, too. But before he gets here, maybe you can tell us about how you discovered you were homosexual.”

  Cheryl gasped, and Rose choked on an ice cube she’d been sucking, but Brian only laughed.

  “Well, I can’t help being curious, and Matthew was no help at all when I asked him about you.” She defended herself to her friends. “It’s not like we have hundreds of people organizing gay-pride events around these parts and from the number of bumper stickers on your jeep, I’m guessing you’re not shy about your sexuality.”

  “Well, thankfully, marriage is legal in all fifty states now, even the more conservative ones,” Brian assured her she wasn’t out of line in asking. “And you are right, I’m a very up-front guy about being gay. People can either take me or leave me. I can’t change who I am.”

  “That’s the way it should be,” Rose encouraged.

  ♥

  Hawk’s heart was racing a mile a minute as he turned to go back the way he came as silently as possible. He doubted he’d been seen by the two men ahead, but the man he’d startled in winter camo had definitely sighted him.

  Seven miles later, he crossed back onto the main road. He shook his head as everything ahead blurred for a second. He needed sleep. Since rescuing Brian off the mountain, he’d had very little, only a few hours spread over the course of days. Now he was running on pure exhaustion based adrenaline. It happened sometimes when he was working emergency rescue and put in a forty-eight. He knew from experience if
he stopped moving, he’d probably fall asleep and face plant. He decided the sheriff had been right. If there really was trouble on the mountain, he was out of his league and needed to go back to town for help. He’d been pigheaded, refusing the sheriff’s offer to send along a few deputies. So now he’d have to eat crow and accept help, except he still knew no more than he had when he left the diner, except that there were several men loitering at the base of the mountain.

  The sun was setting as he hit town, and it was a toss-up between going to the diner for food and going straight home to sleep. Seeing Jenkins with his head under Brian’s Jeep’s raised hood, Hawk crossed over to the lot. “Keeping late hours, old man. “Any word on a decision yet?”

  “Haven’t heard a peep—hold on.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cell and read a text on the faceplate. “Guess I’m joining my wife at the diner for dinner in a bit. Want to join us?”

  “Sure. Meet you there?” He left Jenks standing vigil over the car and hitched his gear bag a little higher on his shoulder as he headed up toward Sarah’s. At his side Shadow quickened her pace. “You’re anxious to see him too, aren’t you, girl?”

  Shadow woofed her agreement.

  To keep from running he counted down the final ten paces. “Ten, nine, eight…breathe.” He felt like he was being watched through the large picture windows that lined the front of the diner. “Six, five, four, three, this is fucking ridiculous.”

  “Hey, Toby!” Mrs. Phelps called out to him, holding the door open for him as she exited, a carryout bag in her hand.

  He grabbed the edge of the metal-frame door. “Thanks.”

  “How’s your grandfather? I haven’t seen him in town lately.”

  Of course she wanted to make small talk. “Oh, he’s fine. Ornery as ever. Won’t take his medicine. Thinks the old ways are better than modern advances in science.”

  She laughed. “Didn’t he name you his successor? You will be a horrible medicine man with that attitude, Tobias Red Hawk.”

  “Let’s hope there are many harvests before I stand in his stead, but he understands I have room in my mind for both the ways of old and new.”

  “You will make a fine leader, Toby.”

  A shout from across the road made him glance to see one of the few teens left in the tribe. Hawk lifted his hand in a wave and took the final step into the diner.

  It only took a second to find Brian in the crowded room. He was sitting at a table with five women, all laughing and joking. He recognized Matthew’s wife and the mayor’s wife, but the rest of the women had their backs to him. Not wishing to intrude he crossed the room and took the only empty seat at the bar, right next to Sheriff Dodd. “You’re back. That didn’t take long. I thought you’d make camp on the mountain.”

  “Yep. Don’t you ever work out of your office?”

  “Nothing ever happens there. This is the heart of the town.”

  “Sure it doesn’t have anything to do with the woman behind the counter?”

  The woman in question put a cup in front of him and poured coffee without being asked, before topping off the sheriff’s cup. She winked at Hawk before turning back to her other customers.

  Dodd harrumphed.

  Nodding over his shoulder toward Brian’s table, Hawk stated, “I guess word got out there was a new bachelor in town.”

  “Doctor.”

  Hawk choked on his first sip of coffee. “Doctor?” Brian hadn’t mentioned that.

  “Archaeology. PhD, not MD.”

  “Huh.”

  “He told them.” The sheriff took a long swig of coffee.

  “That he was a doctor?”

  “No. That he was gay.”

  Hawk’s eyebrows went up. “And they’re still flocked around him?”

  “They’ve been rotating in and out all day, taking turns chatting him up.”

  “He’s been here since I left this morning?”

  “Same chair, same table.”

  Hawk asked Sarah as she passed, “Got any of that caramel cake left? I swear I could smell its sweetness clear across town.”

  She stopped in front of his seat and wiped away imaginary crumbs with her damp cloth. “I made a fresh one for the evening rush, but first you’re going to eat a real meal. All day on the trail, you need more than cake.”

  Hawk snorted and tossed a meaningful glance over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t say cake was the only thing that drew me back to town.” He met her gaze, realizing that was as close as he’d ever come to admitting he was gay in open company. Her smile reassured him.

  Leaning forward, she whispered, “I’d say the feeling’s mutual, honey. He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since you came through that door.”

  Hawk smiled, feeling better. He looked over his shoulder and met Brian’s gaze. He lifted his chin. Brian winked, and the gesture made him feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.

  “What’d you find out, Toby?”

  The sheriff pulled his attention back as Sarah put a big bowl of steaming chili and a slab of caramel cake in front of him. He pushed a big bite of cake into his mouth first and received a stink-eye from Sarah. Defending himself, he said, “The soup has to cool.”

  Walking away, she chuckled. Hawk looked at the sheriff. “I think there’s big trouble happening on that mountain right under our noses. I didn’t get near enough for confirmation, but it sure looked like a cave entrance has been exposed off the main trail.”

  Dodd shook his head. “Nope. I’ve hiked every inch of those trails. No cave.”

  “Well, there is now. Maybe that last avalanche triggered a rockslide. No way could a man open up the side of that mountain without making some serious noise.” He took a bite of chili.

  Sheriff asked, “Did anyone see you?”

  “There was a man in winter camo at the base of the trail. Startled him good, but he managed to blend and I lost him in the white. Then a few miles up, there were two men pretending to be hikers, but I’d bet money they’re lookouts. I saw them, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t see me.”

  “So what’s up there? And don’t give me any of your grandfather’s delusional stories.”

  “Won’t know until I get into that cave. That many men have to mean big trouble. I’d like to have some backup.”

  “When you want to head out?” Dodd asked.

  “I want to be up the mountain before daylight so first, maybe three?”

  “I can get you Elijah and Frank, maybe Steve.”

  “I’ll take ’em. Tell them to meet me here at two-thirty. After I eat, I need to get some real shut-eye.”

  Sheriff laughed. “Snow travel gets harder the further you go past forty.”

  “Hey! Watch that. I’m not there yet.”

  “I’ve never climbed granite, but I can scale a five-twelve in a gym,” Brian announced from behind him, startling him. Hawk rubbed his hand over his chin, not believing he was even considering taking him.

  “I’m volunteering for purely selfish reasons, though. I did some online research while you were away. It’s been rumored in the scientific communities for years there is a lost city in the Sapphires, but nothing has ever been discovered. What if it was only a mountain range over? You might have professional treasure hunters up there looking for Native American artifacts.”

  The thought had crossed Hawk’s mind as well. Along with a hundred other suspicions—all of them illegal. He met Brian’s gaze, maybe trying to scare him off the subject with danger, but maybe not. “Can you shoot?”

  Brian didn’t flinch. “Yup.”

  The sheriff interrupted. “Huh-uh, no way. No tourists.”

  Hawk challenged him. “You coming?”

  Dodd wasn’t a professional archaeologist, but for an amateur Native American researcher, he knew enough, and Hawk would have welcomed his knowledge. The sheriff hem-hawed around. Hawk knew he wouldn’t go near the Bitterroots after a snow storm. John had died in an avalanche, and although Dodd had been with him, dug with his bare hands
in the snow until they were shredded and bloody, he hadn’t gotten him out in time. John had smothered in the white.

  “Look, Mac, I need an expert, and taking Brian saves the time of waiting for the Montana Center for Archaeological Research to get someone up here.” Standing, Hawk left money by his empty bowl and grabbed what was left of the cake in his hand. Looking at Brian, he asked, “Walk with me?”

  Stepping outside into the cold, they both pulled up their collars. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I want to.” Brian assured him.

  Hawk hitched his chin. “Well, come on. We need to get you outfitted for a snow climb.”

  Together they walked up the block, wading knee-high snowdrifts. “I can’t believe the diner is that crowded the day after a blizzard. Snow like this back home would paralyze the city for weeks.”

  Hawk chuckled. “Guess we’re used to it. Can’t let a little snow keep us inside or we wouldn’t see our friends and neighbors till the spring thaw. Now, that’s not to say there aren’t some homesteaders up in the mountains that won’t be trapped for months.”

  “I’ll bet it’s beautiful up there.”

  “It is.” Hawk agreed, watching Brian as they walked. There was more to Brian than just being a handsome man. His eyes held pain that went deep, though his smile was easy. There was a tightness to his jaw that made him look years older. “So, where’s home?”

  “Cincinnati,” Brian answered. “Or it was until a few days ago. I’m not sure where I’ll call home once I leave here. I was headed toward Seattle when I had the encounter with the elk.”

  Hawk shuddered. “Rainforest.”

  “I hadn’t thought about that, but yeah, I guess it will rain a lot there.”

  “Dreary too.”

  They both looked up at the dark sky and saw stars that seemed close enough to touch but not a single cloud. Approaching the outdoor outfitters building, Hawk opened the door. “You might want to give the mountains a few more days before you head off. Maybe you’d like it here enough to stay.” God, why did I say that? I sounded… desperate. He led Brian through clothing racks, grabbing snow gear, then waved at the checkout girl to get her attention because she had in earbuds. He pointed toward a changing room.