Warriors for Wildlife is a serial novel, with a new episode published each week. Start from the beginning with the prologue and contents, or jump right into Episode One. If you are enjoying this project, I encourage you to purchase the prequel War on Wildlife trilogy!
Episode Five - Old Acquaintances
Caleb arrived in Granby late Monday afternoon and pulled into a gas station to refuel. He filled his tank and walked in to buy a cola and some chips. When he was done he returned to his truck, and checked his watch. With a few minutes to spare, he pulled out his phone and sent a message to Angie, “Made it to Granby, almost there.”
With no immediate response, he brought up his destination on the maps app. With the push of a button, he received a display indicating twenty minutes to arrival. He checked his watch again and started the engine. Just then he heard the familiar jingle indicating a text from Angie. “Be careful, Caleb,” it read.
“No worries,” he replied.
A lone black pickup truck was parked in front of the local dive bar when he pulled up. Colorado veteran plates were the only indicator that he might find himself in friendly territory. There were no indications of military service on his own vehicle. His new “Born to be Wild” plates were the only sign of possible allegiances.
He walked into the dark pub, stopping for a moment to let his eyes adjust. Sitting at the bar was a lone patron, lean and tanned, wearing a backward black ball cap with a subdued American flag patch. The bearded man with shoulder-length hair turned to stare at Caleb as he approached. Caleb sat down and spoke a single word, “Delta?”
“Fallujah first wave,” the man said.
Caleb replied, “Second battle.”
“John,” said the man, extending his arm to shake hands.
“Caleb. Nice to meet you.”
John waved toward the bartender and pointed at the mahogany. The bartender filled two frosted mugs with draught beer and set them on the bar.
“I understand you boys saw some real action,” John spoke deliberately.
“To say the least, it sounds like you and the others have seen some action lately as well.”
“We saw too much killing over there to let these big mouth red-necks disrespect what we did.”
“It’s something how they think slaughtering an innocent animal makes them some kind of a big man.”
“Harvesting they call it.”
“That’s not what we called it.”
“No, so you are doing something about it?” asked Caleb.
“We need to make an example of some of the worst. Maybe the rest will think twice.”
“Agreed. Are you guys all about wildlife, or do you solve other problems as well?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I might have a problem with a South American gang over in Denver.”
“I saw something about that on the news. That was you?”
“It was.”
“You need to get a concealed carry permit, you can’t count on a just a knife.”
“I’ve never needed one before.”
“You need one now.”
“I suppose. My roommate used to be a forest ranger, and she carries.”
“How many are you up against?”
“I don’t know yet.”
A heavy silence settled between them as John handed him a card with his phone number on it. “My personal number if you need it.” Caleb slipped it into his wallet, and then pulled out his own business card for John. “I’m an investigative journalist these days, so if you need some recon done, I’d be glad to help out.”
As Caleb stood to leave John said, “Watch your six.”
Caleb nodded in silence and strode across the room. He opened the door and reached for his phone as he took a seat in the truck. He was already typing a message to Angie as he got comfortable for a long ride. “Hey Angie, I’m done with my meeting. Thinking of spending a night in the Sand Wash.”
He waited for a moment for the return message, and then started the engine. Soon he was cruising west toward Craig, the last stop for gas before entering the vast uninhabited expanse of the Sand Wash Basin Horse Management Area. Soon he heard the chime indicating a message from Angie, and he pulled off the road to read her reply.
“That’s a good idea Caleb. I hope you get some good pictures.”
“Everything going okay?” he asked.
“Yes fine. Jessie and I are almost ready for Saturday’s show, and Michelle is going to meet Heather for coffee.”
“Did something happen?”
“No, she was just bored and felt like catching up with Heather and the latest gossip at the park service.”
“Okay, tell her hi for me.”
“I will.”
Shadows were growing long on the back deck as Angie and Jessica put the final touches on their plans for Saturday’s fashion show. Angie wanted to fill Michelle in on camera placement and footage ideas, and wondered what was taking her friend so long. “Have you heard from Michelle?” she asked Jessica.
“No, and it’s getting late. She was just going for coffee.”
“Yeah, she knows we need her. It’s not like her to be late without calling.”
“We should probably give her a call.”
Angie dialed Michelle’s number and let the phone ring until it stopped. “Hmmm,” she mumbled. “I guess I’ll try again.” Angie dialed again, and the phone continued to ring.
“Wait,” said Jessica. “Do you hear that?”
“What?”
“I hear something, I think it’s out front. Now I don’t hear it. Dial her number again.”
This time Angie also listened, and both women walked through the house to see what was going on. Jessica exclaimed, “Oh my God,” when Angie opened the door. Michelle’s car was still in the driveway with the driver’s side door open, and her phone was ringing from the pavement below. Jessica picked up the phone while Angie looked around the inside of the vehicle. “Her purse is still here. She wouldn’t take off without her purse.”
“Or her phone,” added Jessica.
Angie exclaimed, “You call the police, I’m going to call Caleb.”
Angie dialed Caleb’s number and waited for a reply. He didn’t answer, so she dialed again and left a message, “Caleb, I need you to call me right away.” She followed up with a similar text message, and turned to Jessica, who was on the phone with police dispatch.
Jessica clicked off her phone and said to Angie, “They are on their way.”
A female officer soon arrived, and checked her records for Angie’s address. “Weren’t we just out here for a disturbance a little while ago?”
“Yes, a home invasion,”replied Angie.
“Do you think this is related?”
Angie replied, “It might be. We were up at the Tack Haus the other day, and the hostess said there was a strange man looking for three women fitting our description.”
“Did you report it?”
“No, we weren’t even sure it was about us. We talked to some locals though, to have them keep an eye out for strangers.”
“Okay, I’ll file a report and we’ll send somebody up to the restaurant to see if we can get a better description from your hostess. What was her name?”
“Jade was our hostess and server.”
The officer was already on the radio filing a report, as shock set in for Angie and Jessica.
Caleb had still not replied, and Angie was growing more frantic by the minute. “Come on Caleb, pick up,” she yelled at the phone as it rang endlessly.
Finally she heard a click, and fragments of a sentence as Caleb drifted in and out of signal range in the high desert.
“What are we going to do,” asked a tearful Jessica.
“I think I finally got through to Caleb,” she replied. “He picked up, but the signal was breaking up. I’m sure he’ll be smart enough to check for text messages. ”
“Don’t you guys have a porch cam?”
“Oh, yes... And it has motion detection. Michelle would have activated it for a few minutes when she went out. Let’s go see if we can bring it up.”
The women logged into the desktop computer, and brought up the recording. Michelle had gotten into her car and sat for a while with the door open, looking at her phone. Just then, a vintage sedan raced up and stopped behind her. Two dark-skinned, tattooed men wearing backward ball caps leaped out, approaching a startled Michelle from behind. One man dragged her from the car while the other quickly duct-taped her mouth. They forced her into the backseat of the sedan, then backed up and wheeled around to escape toward the east.
Angie heard Caleb’s text arrive, and read it immediately. “What? What is it Angie?” Jessica pleaded.
She replied to Caleb’s text, “Come home right away, Michelle’s been taken.”
“What?”
“She was kidnapped by those people.”
Outside, another vehicle had pulled into the driveway. It was Heather, wondering why Michelle hadn’t showed, and why she wasn’t answering her phone. Angie filled her in, and Heather sat motionless, looking shocked. Eventually she gathered her wits and called her supervisor, explaining that one of their own was in trouble.
“I don’t know if it will do any good, but Park’s has sent out a statewide message with Michelle’s description.”
“Oh, thank you so much Heather.”
“I’m sure we’ll find her in no time.”
“I hope so.”
Episode Four <««« »»»> Episode Six
