Stranded with My Stepbrother Chapter 26

-Jacey-

The boat skimmed over the water as Caleb and I sat on the middle seat. There was a conservation officer in front of us and two Mounties behind in the boat.

A helicopter had been thrown around as an idea, but ultimately, the Mounties hadn’t wanted to scare the loggers off.

The conservation officer had taken our description of the terrain and the cabin and decided we had probably gone past Little Shimmer in the storm to a little pocket of a lake called Devil’s Mouth. He eagerly informed us of how good the fishing was there, provided you could get in and out. Getting in and out was the problem. Not even the conservation officers went there—not even on a sunny day.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, for us, this old-timer had absolutely no fear and regaled us with stories of every nook and cranny of Shimmer, Little Shimmer, and the various portages and tiny lakes around them.

“Christ, man, how did you all even learn about this lake?!” one of the Mounties finally said from the back of the boat as he tried to navigate through a minefield of rocks.

“Oh, back about forty years ago, water in the lakes was as high as it’s ever been, and a couple of fishermen managed to get back there. When they told the others about their haul, well, real fishermen follow the fish, son. Not many a soul would brave the area now, but that spring, they were coming out of here with buckets of big fish. Buckets,” the older conservation officer said.

The Mounties looked at us. “How did you even get back here?”

“We had a canoe. With a motor, but... well, those are probably destroyed or sunk or something by now,” Caleb answered.

“Did you really go walkin’ through the woods naked?” the conservation officer chortled.

I blushed, and Caleb put an arm around me, life jacket and all. “We didn’t have much of a choice after the wind blew our clothes away.”

“I’d have paid good money to see that. Not to besmirch your modesty, young lady, just to see two people walkin’ around the woods naked in September. It’d be a rarer sight than Bigfoot,” the conservation officer said.

The boat hit a rock, and the conservation officer frowned. “Do you two need me to come back there and drive?!”

“I’d like to see you try it, old man!” a frustrated Mountie shot back.

“Then get out of my way, whipper snapper,” the conservation officer barked.

The Mountie who had been running the motor switched places with the conservation officer.

“Caleb, Jacey,” the conservation officer said authoritatively. “Get out them paddles. You two at least have some experience, not like this landlubber.”

I stifled a laugh and picked up one of the oars. Caleb picked up the other, and we very slowly navigated through the rocks, Caleb occasionally giving a little push on one side when the conservation officer called out, me on the other.

It didn’t take long before he didn’t even have to tell us what to do. As the conservation officer did his best to get us through without hitting anything, Caleb and I bumped and prodded the nose of the boat between the harder passings.

The Mountie at the front of the boat looked embarrassed while his partner couldn’t stop snickering.

“Don’t laugh. We have to get back out of here, too,” the Mountie at the front of the boat grumped.

That made the other Mountie go quiet.

Eventually, we made it to the mouth of a very small lake. Rocks rose on all sides. There didn’t seem to be a safe berth to tie the boat to.

“Oh, that’s promising,” the conservation officer said, pointing to one side of the lake.

Bobbing listlessly between the rock and the shoreline was my purple life jacket.

“Yeah, that’s mine,” I confirmed.

Caleb was alert and looking around. “The shore we ended up on should have ‘HELP’ spelled out in rocks unless the loggers got rid of it.”

“How would anyone even see that from here?” the Mountie in front snorted.

“Good thinking, son, but the landlubber is right. We’re not going to be able to see that from behind the rest of the rocks here,” the conservation officer said.

“Thanks,” the landlubber in question grumbled.

The conservation officer navigated the boat close to one shoreline, bumping the nose between two rocks. “All right, landlubber, time to earn your keep. I’ll keep running the motor and keep the boat here. You go up and see if you can find anything.”

The Mountie groaned but dutifully got out of the boat and carefully picked his way over jagged rocks to investigate the shoreline. “No, nothing here. Not enough loose rock to make a ‘HELP’ sign, no signs of activity.”

“Well, then, get back in the boat,” the conservation officer said.

The Mountie was even more careful getting back, and let out an audible sigh of relief once he was back on the front bench.

The conservation officer chuckled. “You’re just going to have to do it again. I’d keep holding your breath.”

The other Mountie tried to cover an explosion of laughter with a cough.

We took Devil’s Teeth in a circle, the Mountie getting out periodically to check the shoreline again. Once we were about three-quarters of the way around, the Mountie stopped as soon as he got past the rocks and let out a whistle.

“Does that mean we should get out?” Caleb asked.

“You’re our best bet at finding the landmarks,” the other Mountie said. He crawled to the front of the boat and began carefully walking across the rocks himself.

“I’ll stay here and wait for you to come back,” the conservation officer reassured us. “I’d come, too, but there’s nowhere to tie off the boat.”

“So, just the four of us are going to go up against a bunch of big, burly guys with guns?” Caleb asked, incredulous as I was.

One of the Mounties flashed us his sidearm. “Also, as soon as we find the loggers, we’re setting down a GPS device and getting the hell out of Dodge. You don’t need to be there for that. You just need to get us to the road.”

I swallowed. “Okay.”

Caleb and I then tiptoed over the rocks and the conservation officer moved back a little so the nose of the boat wasn’t bumping rock anymore.

There, on the ground, was still spelled out Caleb’s ‘HELP’ sign.

“So, let’s go to this cabin first. I figure that’s the first landmark,” the ‘landlubber’ Mountie said.

Caleb led the way to the cabin with a Mountie right behind him. I walked in the middle while the other Mountie took up the rear.

I had to give credit to Caleb’s memory—we arrived at the cabin without veering in the wrong direction once.

Our little love nest looked just as unassuming as it always had. The Mountie in the lead motioned for Caleb to get behind him and opened the door.

A god-awful smell rolled out of the cabin, and we all coughed and covered our faces.

The Mountie did a quick look around the inside, then shut the door again. “Suffice to say, the body was moved.”

“Moved?” Caleb repeated.

The Mountie nodded. “It’s on the bed.”

I shuddered. I’d lost my virginity on that bed.

Caleb must have had a similar thought, because he put an arm around me.

“Well, we might as well leave our life jackets here. We don’t want them blowing away like yours did, and this is the only landmark we’ve got so far,” the first Mountie said.

It was a bit morbid, but he had a point. We all took off our life jackets.

“Where to from here?” one of the Mounties asked.

“I ran into the woods. I didn’t really have a direction,” I admitted.

The other Mountie knelt on the ground and looked into the woods, examining the earth and the pine needles. “I think they left enough evidence for us to follow.” He unclipped a walkie-talkie from his belt. “You two stay here. We’ll radio if we need you.”

“Okay,” Caleb said, taking the walkie-talkie.

The two Mounties walked slowly into the trees, following clues only they could see.

Caleb sat down on a bed of pine needles and gestured for me to sit in his lap.

I did and curled my head under his chin. Caleb kissed my hair and took both my hands, threading his fingers through mine.

“This doesn’t diminish anything that happened here,” Caleb assured me. “I will NEVER forget how you gave yourself to me under the shooting stars.”

I nodded and squeezed Caleb’s hands. “I won’t ever forget it, either. Even if Bill is... currently... um... stinking up the place.”

I must have looked a little green because Caleb kissed me softly. “After this is over, we’re going back to Grand Marais. We’re going to see the sights...”

“The only sight you want to see is me naked underneath you,” I teased.

Caleb inclined his head. “Okay, fair, true.”

I freed one of my hands and caressed his cheek. “I hope this helps you sleep better at night.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Caleb said.

Minutes passed. Then hours.

Caleb finally looked down at me, his eyebrows drawn together in the setting sunlight. “I think there might be a problem.”

“Let’s go back to the boat,” I agreed.

We grabbed our life jackets and made our way to the rocky shoreline again.

There, staring up at us with sightless eyes, were the Mounties, laid side-by-side with bullets in their heads.

I stifled a scream as Caleb grabbed me and forced my face into his shoulder so I couldn’t see anymore.

I did hear a motor, though, and then a familiar tsking sound.

“You two don’t learn, do you,” Girard said.

I wrenched my face away from Caleb’s shoulder so I could see the leader of the illegal loggers, standing at the front of the boat we’d come in on. The conservation officer was still at the motor. He gave us a wink.

“You... killed two officers of the law...” Caleb stated, gesturing to the bodies on the ground.

“We sure did. And they’ll be going in that little cabin, too,” Girard replied. “Boy, you’ve got a lot of blood on your hands.”

Oh, the hell with that. “Caleb didn’t shoot these men. You’ve got a lot of blood on YOUR hands!” I protested.

“There’s Jacey. Not a wilting flower.” Girard grinned at me. “Now, unless you want to end up like these two here, I’d suggest you get in the boat.”

“How do we know you won’t kill us anyway?” Caleb asked.

Girard snorted. “You don’t. But if you stay on that shoreline, it’s a guarantee.”

Caleb stood, holding me for a long moment. Then Girard leveled a gun on us, and Caleb let me go and took my hand, taking me carefully down over the rocks. He helped me into the boat before getting in himself.

“Good boy,” Girard said, putting his gun away. “You two sit tight. We’ve got a ways to go.”

The conservation officer pulled away from the shoreline. Caleb and I sat on the middle seat, while Girard sat down in front, facing us.

“I suppose you had a good reason for bringing two Mounties our way?” Girard asked while the conservation officer got us back to the rocks. We didn’t have to ask if we should take up the oars to help get the boat out—we just did it.

“It’s my fault,” Caleb said quickly. “I couldn’t live with what I’d done to Bill. When we went in to report the incident in Grand Marais...”

“Promised you the world, I’m sure,” Girard chuckled. “Ah, to be young and stupid again.”

“What are you going to do with us?” I whispered.

Girard shrugged. “Haven’t decided yet. I do know you won’t be telling tales about our operation ever again.”

‘Oh God,’ I thought, pressing closer to Caleb. ‘We’re going to die.’