Read Online Boneyard Ridge by Paula Graves - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Paula Graves
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and soon. Because this cabin might be well-hidden and reasonably well-fortified, but if the authorities weren’t already searching these woods for the pretty young event planner who’d just gone missing, they’d be crawling these hills by morning.
And they were the lesser of the two evils who’d be looking for them.
Settling on the sofa, he reached into his battered rucksack and pulled a slim leather wallet from a pocket hidden deep inside the pack. Flipping it open, he gazed at the photo tucked inside the first clear plastic sleeve. It had been taken almost a decade ago, just before his first tour of duty. His sister, Janet, and her husband, Dale, had driven to Georgia to see him off, and Dale had snapped a picture of Hunter and his older sister, all three of them aware it might be the last day they’d ever spend together.
They’d been right. But it hadn’t been Hunter who’d left the others behind. It had been his brother-in-law, who’d passed away from a burst aneurysm a year into Hunter’s two-year tour of duty, leaving Janet alone to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.
Hunter could have left the Army when his enlistment ended, but he hadn’t. By then, Janet had seemed to be recovering from her loss, working a new job in the county prosecutor’s office.
And Hunter had liked the Army, liked the camaraderie and the discipline, things he and his sister had lacked growing up with a good-hearted but soft-willed mother who’d been little more than a child herself. Hunter had never known his father, and even Janet had only fuzzy memories of the man who’d left when she was just four years old. And their mother had died in a car accident shortly after his sixteenth birthday.
For a long time, it had been just the two of them. She’d been part sister, part mother to him for most of his life, but when she’d needed him most, he’d let her down.
He had to figure out some way to make things up to her. He’d hoped his work with The Gates was going to be an answer, but he’d already blown his first assignment. What were the odds Alexander Quinn would ask him back for a second?
Footsteps on the hardwood floor behind him gave him a brief warning. He closed the wallet and turned to look at Susannah Marsh standing in the doorway.
“Is there anything to eat around here?” she asked.
He pushed to his feet. “Of course. Yes.”
He had to pass her to get to the kitchen situated at the very back of the cabin. It was one of the cabin’s roomier areas, large enough to accommodate a table near the back door and an old gas stove and oven. The refrigerator was small but still kept things cold and the freezer unit kept things frozen. He wasn’t sure how much longer all the original appliances would stay useful, but for now, they served the purpose.
“Want something hot?”
“Soup would be fine,” she said with a smile he didn’t quite buy.
He’d stocked the pantry a while back, long before he’d known he’d be working for The Gates. He’d figured on using the cabin as a place to get away sometimes, to hide from a world that had become alien to him in so many ways. The cabin had belonged to Janet, who’d inherited it from their mother when she died. Janet had handed over the keys to Hunter when he returned home after his injury.
He supposed she’d known that he’d need a place to hunker down sometimes. To lick his wounds in private.
He doubted she’d ever thought he’d be using it to practically keep a woman prisoner.
“I wish I could let you contact your family,” he said.
“Let me?” She shot him a look that stung.
“Bad choice of words,” he conceded. “I wish it was safe.”
“It doesn’t matter. Nobody to contact, anyway.”
He frowned. “Nobody will notice you’ve gone missing? I don’t believe that.”
“No family to contact,” she said with a shrug, looking through the freestanding pantry. “People at work will notice, of course. Especially this close to the upcoming
And they were the lesser of the two evils who’d be looking for them.
Settling on the sofa, he reached into his battered rucksack and pulled a slim leather wallet from a pocket hidden deep inside the pack. Flipping it open, he gazed at the photo tucked inside the first clear plastic sleeve. It had been taken almost a decade ago, just before his first tour of duty. His sister, Janet, and her husband, Dale, had driven to Georgia to see him off, and Dale had snapped a picture of Hunter and his older sister, all three of them aware it might be the last day they’d ever spend together.
They’d been right. But it hadn’t been Hunter who’d left the others behind. It had been his brother-in-law, who’d passed away from a burst aneurysm a year into Hunter’s two-year tour of duty, leaving Janet alone to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.
Hunter could have left the Army when his enlistment ended, but he hadn’t. By then, Janet had seemed to be recovering from her loss, working a new job in the county prosecutor’s office.
And Hunter had liked the Army, liked the camaraderie and the discipline, things he and his sister had lacked growing up with a good-hearted but soft-willed mother who’d been little more than a child herself. Hunter had never known his father, and even Janet had only fuzzy memories of the man who’d left when she was just four years old. And their mother had died in a car accident shortly after his sixteenth birthday.
For a long time, it had been just the two of them. She’d been part sister, part mother to him for most of his life, but when she’d needed him most, he’d let her down.
He had to figure out some way to make things up to her. He’d hoped his work with The Gates was going to be an answer, but he’d already blown his first assignment. What were the odds Alexander Quinn would ask him back for a second?
Footsteps on the hardwood floor behind him gave him a brief warning. He closed the wallet and turned to look at Susannah Marsh standing in the doorway.
“Is there anything to eat around here?” she asked.
He pushed to his feet. “Of course. Yes.”
He had to pass her to get to the kitchen situated at the very back of the cabin. It was one of the cabin’s roomier areas, large enough to accommodate a table near the back door and an old gas stove and oven. The refrigerator was small but still kept things cold and the freezer unit kept things frozen. He wasn’t sure how much longer all the original appliances would stay useful, but for now, they served the purpose.
“Want something hot?”
“Soup would be fine,” she said with a smile he didn’t quite buy.
He’d stocked the pantry a while back, long before he’d known he’d be working for The Gates. He’d figured on using the cabin as a place to get away sometimes, to hide from a world that had become alien to him in so many ways. The cabin had belonged to Janet, who’d inherited it from their mother when she died. Janet had handed over the keys to Hunter when he returned home after his injury.
He supposed she’d known that he’d need a place to hunker down sometimes. To lick his wounds in private.
He doubted she’d ever thought he’d be using it to practically keep a woman prisoner.
“I wish I could let you contact your family,” he said.
“Let me?” She shot him a look that stung.
“Bad choice of words,” he conceded. “I wish it was safe.”
“It doesn’t matter. Nobody to contact, anyway.”
He frowned. “Nobody will notice you’ve gone missing? I don’t believe that.”
“No family to contact,” she said with a shrug, looking through the freestanding pantry. “People at work will notice, of course. Especially this close to the upcoming
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