JUSTIN
Justin woke up hard,and memories of his sexy call with Scott the night before made quick work of rubbing one out before he left his warm bed and climbed into the shower. A glance outside confirmed clear blue skies, even though the temperature was chilly. Dressing in layers went with the season. His shifter friends had higher metabolisms and didn’t seem to mind the cooler days.
Justin listened to the weather report as he fixed toast with peanut butter and poured himself a cup of coffee. Today’s blue sky and sun looked likely to hold, although later in the week, predictions warned of cooler temperatures and possible storms.
He had a photographer scheduled midweek to do aerial shots for several local projects and planned to scout locations. After the call with Scott, Justin’s curiosity had him looking up maps of Platt Mountain. Flying up and back would take about two hours round-trip, depending on the wind. Justin took a few more swallows of coffee and then pulled out his phone. Liam answered on the first ring.
“Hey, do you have a couple of hours for an adventure today?” Justin asked.
“What did you have in mind?” Liam sounded intrigued, and there was a moment of muffled conversation as he caught his husband, Russ, up on the conversation.
“I thought I’d go up to Platt Mountain and do a fly-over of the old mine,” Justin said. “You know Scott is writing some articles that include the mine, but he has to use the university’s charter service. He made me curious, and I thought if I went up and got a look at what’s there, I could at least make suggestions to him even if I’m not the pilot.”
What he didn’t say was that his psychic side sensed danger, and he wanted to see if he could find out anything to protect Scott aside from getting him to back off the project.
“And you wanted company for the ride?” Liam chuckled.
“A second set of eyes never hurts,” Justin pointed out. “And that way, you can snap photos if there’s anything to see. It could turn into an interesting library presentation.” He dangled the last piece as an extra incentive.
“I do have a pretty clear afternoon, and this sounds like more fun than catching up on my filing,” Liam said. “I’m in.”
They worked out the details, and Justin smiled as he ended the call. Having company would make the flight more fun, and between Liam’s knowledge of local history and his sharp fox vision, they were more likely to notice anything of importance than if Justin had to both fly and scan the landscape.
He thought about letting Scott know his plans and decided to wait. Justin didn’t want Scott to think he was meddling in his project, and if he didn’t uncover anything noteworthy, then the trip was just a way to sate his own curiosity and assure himself that looking into the history would be safe.
If he and Liam did find something out of the ordinary, he could confess his exploration to Scott and tip him off on interesting items to watch for.
Sure. That sounds like a good excuse.
“No harm in having a look,” Justin told himself as he filled his travel mug with hot coffee and grabbed the lunch he had packed from the fridge before heading to his SUV.
Before he headed for the plane, Justin took a little extra time to see what the satellite photos revealed. The most recent shots showed several of the large mining buildings still standing, and some new construction that he guessed came with the mine being sold.
By the time he had fueled up the plane and done his pre-flight check, Liam arrived with donuts and his own travel mug. “Every adventure goes better with sugar and caffeine.” He grinned.
Justin helped himself to a glazed donut and gave a satisfied sigh. “Bear Necessities makes the best.”
“That’s why keeping them in business is a sacred duty,” Liam agreed with mock solemness.
Justin ran through the last of his checklist, and they climbed into the plane. “I’m not planning to land or make any side trips. But I’m glad that Russ knows where we’ve gone.”
“He made me promise we wouldn’t explore any closer than from overhead,” Liam agreed. “I didn’t require any convincing. I’m curious, but there’s no way in hell I’d go inside.”
“Given the fencing around the property that I saw in the satellite pictures, the owners expect some people to be more adventurous.” Justin started the plane, and they taxied down the lake before lifting off into the sky.
“People can still hike in the area,” Liam pointed out. “From what I read, there are remnants of the ski trails that were cut for that defunct Alpine Peaks resort. I’ve got to say, I’m excited about this. I think a lot of people have never heard of either of them, which would make them interesting topics, especially with new photos.”
“Do I sense a display coming up?” Justin asked.
“Definitely. We’ll interview residents who still remember the mine or the resort, capture their stories, borrow any photos they’ll lend us, then arrange to preserve and archive them. And for the people who were born or moved here since then, it’s brand new.”
Liam’s love of history made him perfect for his job as a librarian. Similarly, Justin appreciated learning more about Fox Hollow so he could share interesting tidbits with his customers.
“Everything I found said that the Platt Mountain mine didn’t run out of ore, it just got too deep to keep mining. Which is creepy as shit.” Liam shuddered.
“Ever wonder sometimes if the official explanation isn’t the whole story?” Justin asked as they soared over lakes and forests. The leaves were starting to fall, painting the landscape in shades of gray. A few early snows would be followed by bigger storms until the land was blanketed in white.
Liam gave him a curious look. “The official explanation is almost never the whole story, especially when big companies are involved. What did you have in mind?”
