Read Online Justice Overdue: A Private Investigator Mystery Series by Rayven T. Hill - Free Book Online Page B

ready to get back at it the following week.
    He sat and enjoyed the night sounds awhile. The fire crackled and hissed near his feet while crickets continued to surround him with their steady trilling. Somewhere far away a wolf howled—or was it a dog? The leaves above rustled as a light wind blew through the trees.
    Something snapped in the bushes twenty feet away. Was it a raccoon, or a deer, perhaps a moose?
    Jake swatted at a mosquito that had perched on his arm, looking to draw sustenance from his veins. Not tonight. He flicked the dead pest away and yawned again.
    Time to turn in. He doused the fire with the pail of water he’d hauled from the lake earlier, waited a few minutes until he was sure it was extinguished, and then headed for the tent.
    The boys bunked together on a foam mattress, snuggled up in separate bags. Jake lay on the other mattress, zipped up his sleeping bag, closed his eyes, and soon the night sounds lulled him asleep.
    He was startled awake some time later by a whisper from across the tent. It was Kyle. “Mr. Lincoln, wake up.” The voice persisted, repeating, and growing louder. “Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln.”
    Jake groaned and opened his eyes. Kyle was out of bed and crawling on his hands and knees toward him. The boy looked frightened as he leaned in. “Are you awake?”
    “What is it, Kyle?”
    “There’s someone outside. I can hear someone out there.”
    Jake listened a moment. “I don’t hear anything.”
    “There was a minute ago. I heard somebody walking around.”
    Matty rolled over and moaned. “What’s going on?”
    Kyle waved a hand at his friend. “Shhh. There’s somebody out there,” he whispered.
    Jake continued to listen but heard nothing but the natural sounds of the forest at night. He unzipped the bag and tossed the flap aside. “I’ll go take a look,” he whispered, and then stopped halfway to his feet. He had heard the certain sound of a twig snapping outside the tent, close by.
    Matty sat upright, his mouth and eyes wide. Kyle had retreated and buried himself in his blankets, only the whites of his frightened eyes visible.
    Jake held up his hand in warning. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
    He crept to the door of the tent, slowly unzipped the flap, and stepped out into the moonlight. He glanced around the site. There was no sign of an intruder. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow disappear behind a bush thirty feet away, too dark to make out a shape. Was it man or animal?
    Jake took a step forward. “You there, stop,” he called.
    There was no response and no sound from the intruder.
    “Who’s there?” He took another step, and then stopped to listen.
    “Is someone there, Dad?” He turned to see Matty, his head stuck through the flap of the tent.
    Jake waved a hand. “Get back inside,” he said, and then took a step toward the prowler. The bush swayed, and then came the unmistakable sound of running footsteps going the other way.
    Jake went toward the sound, and then stopped to listen. All was still again. He should’ve brought a flashlight. There was an electric lantern in the tent—not much good, but the flashlight was in the SUV. Should he go back and get it?
    Again he heard running as if someone was trying to make a hasty getaway. Whoever, or whatever it was, it was going fast, branches crackling underfoot, the rustling of leaves, and the thud of heavy footsteps.
    Jake dashed into the darkness of the forest, fumbling his way through bushes and low-hanging branches, but the sounds ahead faded from sight. It was gone. He would never catch up now.
    He stood still a moment, listening for further signs of the intruder, but was unrewarded. He returned to the tent and poked his head inside. “I think it was just a deer or a wild animal. Go back to sleep. Nothing to be worried about,” he said, but wasn’t so sure. He had an uneasy feeling it was more than that. Possibly another camper had wandered into their camping spot, but