“Not to say you don’t know how to handle yourself,” Jake started, “but if I motion to get down, flatten yourself without asking questions and stay silent, okay?”
“No problem. The smartest leaders know when to follow an expert.”
“I wouldn’t call myself that.”
“You’ve survived out here all these years. I say that qualifies you as one.”
They had to bypass stream crossings where the water ran higher than Jake felt was safe, which took them further out of their way than he’d anticipated.
“This’ll add a few hours to our hike,” Jake said.
“I’d prefer not to camp out tonight. If we’re not across the border by dark, I’d rather keep going, if it’s safe.”
“Don’t worry, we will.”
They made good time despite their detours, and the weather held. It was during that time that Peyton heard the full story from the other man about how he came to live there in the first place.
“How much of my story do you know?” Jake asked.
“Carl told us Maya died in a car accident when he was six, and Ray Dorland, her brother, threatened to turn everyone against you. You returned to Hawaii and raised Carl there. When Carl returned for a visit after he finished basic training, you freaked out over seeing Ray’s brother-in-law. Carl left on deployment, you sent him an email, he responded, but you disappeared. And he’s been looking for you ever since.”
“That succinctly covers the basics.”
“Doesn’t answer any questions, though,” Peyton said.
“Harold—Ray’s brother-in-law—did see us that night. He was hunting for us. It was a coincidence we ended up in the same restaurant, but he told me he’d been looking for me.”
“He was?”
Jake nodded. “To warn me that Ray wanted me dead.”
“Wanted you dead?” Peyton asked. “Why?”
“Why’s that crazy fucker do anything? Inferiority complex? I don’t know. I heard a rumor Ray had made a deal with some shifter in Europe to marry Maya to him when she was of age, but she left Australia before Ray realized she was even gone, and that’s when we met.”
“Any idea who that was?” Peyton asked. “The shifter Ray made the deal with?”
“No. No proof of it, either.”
“In Europe, huh?”
“Let’s say I heard the rumor from enough people that makes me believe there’s weight behind it.”
From there, Peyton learned the full story of Jake and Maya’s meeting and mating and their happy life together, even living in Ray Dorland’s shadow, until her tragic and untimely death.
Peyton didn’t rush him, understanding he was the first person Jake had ever been able to unburden himself to in this way.
Besides, it wasn’t like there was anything else to do while they hiked.
“I did send Carl that email,” Jake said when he finally reached that portion of his tale an hour or so later. “I’d planned to contact him when I re-established myself somewhere else. I flew to Singapore and from there made my way to Europe. I planned to head to New York via Canada. At that point, I figured my trail would be disguised well enough that Carl would be safe. There was supposed to be a guy in Sweden who shifters could go to for a new identity. I had the money to do it, too.
“I don’t know how Ray did it, if he had me tailed or what. I hadn’t even contacted the guy in Sweden yet. When I reached Amsterdam, I stopped to eat that first night at a cafe near the hostel where I was staying. The next thing I know, I’m waking up in a garage. They tranqued me again, and then…” He stopped, turning, holding out his hands. “Here we are.”
“How do you know it was Ray, though?”
“Because before the fuckers doped me in the garage, one of them said, ‘Ray says hello and fuck you, and that you’re lucky he has no interest in taking Carl out.’”
“Ah. That sounds conclusive.”
