LITMIR.BIZ

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soon as there was nothing left but a cloud of dust, Craig pulled the radio off his belt to call his boss. “Hey, Lucy.”

      “What’s up, Craig?”

      “Buddy. He’s done it again. I’m going to have to go talk to him, probably in the morning. Night’s drawing near.”

      “Want me to send someone to meet you?”

      “I doubt that’s necessary. I’m just going to remind him that the public has a right to be on public land.”

      “What’s going on with him?”

      “Damned if I know, but maybe I can find out. I told a lady artist to let you know if she wants me to find her somewhere else to paint.”

      “He bothered her? Craig, I don’t like it. I can see him getting mad at a bunch of rowdy campers, but a woman alone who’s just painting?”

      “And taking photos.” Craig paused. “It’s the photos that might have been the problem, and that’s what worries me. Why would that bother him?”

      “Are you sure you don’t want some backup?”

      “I never had a problem with Buddy before.”

      “Nobody had a problem with him before. But don’t forget that dead hiker we found at the beginning of the summer.”

      “I seriously doubt Buddy was involved in that. Misadventure.”

      “Misadventure my butt,” Lucy said bluntly. “I’d feel a whole lot better if the medical examiner could ascertain cause of death. I know it probably wasn’t Buddy, but you take care. The guy’s getting weird.”

      Craig tucked the radio away and looked at the sky. The day was waning; it would take him a while to get to Buddy Jackson’s place, which meant there wouldn’t be much light when he got there. Definitely best to wait for morning, especially if he wanted to be able to see anything.

      And seeing what was going on at Buddy’s place suddenly seemed like it might be important.

      * * *

      Sky drove carefully down the service road, avoiding some ruts and keeping an eye out for logging trucks. The sightlines were short along this narrow, winding road, and she could see why Craig had warned her to be on the lookout. A truck could be on her almost before she saw it.

      Her meeting with him had gone a long way to easing her anger, though. So this guy Buddy was apparently a harmless nut. Okay, she could deal with that. And she wanted to go back to that spot, because it had evoked images in her mind that she wanted to get on canvas. The colors had been gorgeous, the valley steep and full of character, the shadows almost haunting. While her paintings were more impressionistic than realistic, she knew she wouldn’t capture what that spot evoked in her if she relied mostly on memory and even photographs. There was a feeling she had while sitting there that didn’t follow her when she left.

      Buddy had sure blown that up this afternoon.

      On the other hand, she’d met Craig Stone. He was handsome, yes, but what appealed to her was his quietude. She sensed serenity around him, an ease with himself and his place in the world that she could only envy. Did spending a lot of time in the woods do that?

      She almost laughed out loud, however, when she thought about that calm and peace that seemed to suffuse him and compared it to the fact that he was packing both a rifle and a pistol. She had wanted to ask him about that. What dangers was he prepared for? Bears? Wolves? People? All of the above?

      She’d heard over the years that occasionally rangers got killed on the job, but she didn’t think it was very common. Well, if she saw him again she would ask him.

      In the meantime, if that peace she had felt in him came from being in the woods, she wanted some of it for herself. She’d gotten an inkling of it during her few days on that hill painting, but she just wished it would stay with her. Instead, by the time she got back to town, it seemed to have vanished.

      When her thoughts started to run on Craig Stone and whether she’d see him again, she sharply reined herself in. Hadn’t she come here to escape all that? Hadn’t she just about decided men weren’t worth that kind of effort? She was supposed to be nursing a bruised heart, not seeking another one.

      Man, she definitely needed some Zen and tranquility. Just for a while. Time to gain perspective, time to ease the wounds, time to replenish the batteries so she could return to her rehab work fresh and ready to aid the vets who needed all the help they could get dealing with their scars, both visible and invisible.

      She made it down the mountain without meeting a logging truck, and pulled into the ranger station. It was a nice-looking log cabin set just inside the entrance to the forest. Two stories high, it appeared big enough for a few rangers to live there for the summer.

      Inside the lobby there were some comfortable rustic chairs, some rugs on the plank floor, carousels holding pamphlets and a long counter behind which the ranger on duty sat. A glass-fronted case displayed souvenirs but the only ones that caught Sky’s attention were the little stuffed Smokey the Bear dolls. Before she left, she’d send one to her niece who lived in Hawaii.

      The ranger, a woman, rose from a desk and smiled. “I hear you had some trouble from Buddy today.”

      “It wasn’t exactly trouble. He was just rude.” Sky felt a little embarrassed, wondering if she’d overreacted to the guy. He hadn’t actually threatened her, he’d just told her to get lost. Still, she thought there was something a bit menacing in the way he’d approached and yelled at her, making a wild accusation.

      The tall, dark-haired woman’s name badge said she was Lucy Tattersall. “Well, Craig will get him to lay off. By the way, do you want Craig to show you some other places that might be good for your art?”

      So Craig had apparently radioed the entire thing to Lucy. Now she did feel embarrassed. “He didn’t have to make a big deal about it,” she protested. “A guy was rude to me. Apparently he’s a little quirky. But I’m not running from that. I’ll paint in the same place tomorrow. In fact, I’ll paint there until I’ve gotten what I want from the location. It’s beautiful.”

      Lucy’s dark eyes sparkled. “You go, lady.” But then the sparkle faded a bit. “Just be careful. Buddy’s never been a real cause for concern, but things can change, you know?”

      “I’ll be fine. If he gives me any more trouble, I’ll report it.” She smiled at Lucy. “I guess I got my backbone up. Public land and I’m the public.”

      “Exactly,” Lucy agreed. “Buddy has always had an aversion to trespassers, which I can understand. It’s his land, not forest land, and some of our hikers overlook that. But if you see him again and manage to get on his good side, maybe he’ll talk to you a bit. He’s got some interesting stories to tell. So same place tomorrow? Be sure to check in before you go.”

      Sky walked out and climbed into her car with the definite sense that Lucy hadn’t told her everything. But why would she? Sky was a stranger and the rangers probably never gossiped, except possibly among themselves.

      Glancing at her watch, she realized she had time to clean up before she met with a local veterans group. Somebody back in Tampa had apparently let the VA up here know she was going to be in the area, and the first day she was here she’d been approached to speak with the local support group about what she did as an art therapist.

      At first she had been annoyed because she was supposed to be taking a break from all of that, but now she found herself looking forward to it. It would only be an hour or so, depending on how much they wanted to hear, and since she didn’t have any personal involvements here yet, it shouldn’t be too painful.

      In fact, it might prove to be part of her healing.

      Chapter 2

      Craig camped under the stars that night, on a back slope so Buddy wouldn’t get the idea that he was observing him. He could

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