Page 21 of Glow

Quinn heard the lock turn when he stepped into the hallway. As he drove back to the ranger station, he replayed their lakeside conversation in his mind. Their abilities seemed uniquely aligned, likely to strengthen their emotional bond instead of pulling them in different directions.

That was good, but he worried about the podcast and the looming danger to Dan. If the cryptid hunters knew what they were doing, they would eventually track the sightings back to his Dover address, and from there it wouldn’t be hard to find out that he had transferred everything official to Fox Hollow.

I need to get him to tell the sheriff.

Quinn made a fresh pot of coffee in the ranger station and got a belated start on his emails for the day. He powered through the junk and routine notices quickly but paused halfway down the queue when a headline caught his attention.

“Hiker Reported Missing,” the headline read, and Quinn opened the email. A hiker had missed his check-in time and was not responding to phone calls or emails; therefore, presumed missing/endangered, the note read. Anyone with information was asked to call to make a report, and all rangers and personnel were asked to be on the lookout.

The email supplied a photo of a young man in his twenties, along with a name and description. Quinn checked the last known location and found it to be on the edge of his territory. He resolved to take a drive in that direction and see if he could spot anything, saying a silent prayer for the hiker’s safety.

Nothing else in his emails looked urgent. He checked the online private chat for New York State park rangers and read the most recent posts.

Got another sighting of some weird creature, camper called it a dragon, one ranger posted.

Probably a possum, someone else snarked. It’s the long, hairless tail that confuses people.

Maybe a snapping turtle? a third ranger offered. They get big up here, and most people have never seen one.

Maybe, the first ranger replied. Is anyone else hearing reports?

Two or three of the other rangers said they had fielded questions, but those had been prompted by campers seeing online gossip, not new run-ins. No one had a verified sighting or any photos to back up the stories.

Privately, Quinn wondered if there might be an errant shifter who wasn’t being careful roaming the far corners of the park. Unlike Dan’s daemon, large reptiles wouldn’t be considered cryptids, but they would be unusual in the Adirondacks, given the area’s cold temperatures.

Still, he resolved to keep an eye on the situation in case an unusual, and possibly dangerous, creature had found its way into the park. The appearance of the “dragon” coincided with the sudden uptick in missing hikers, something that didn’t escape Quinn’s notice. He didn’t want to bring that up in the group to avoid ridicule, but a couple of in-person conversations let him know the thought had occurred to others as well.

Quinn logged out of the group and finished his cup of coffee. He resolved to do what he could to find out more about the dragon and add new notices to warn hikers about the dangers.

His first stop was the canteen down the road from the ranger station, a chance for hikers and campers to resupply on essentials and replace basic equipment.

“How’s it going, Ranger?” Bob, the canteen manager, asked from behind the counter when Quinn entered.

“Just another day in paradise.” Quinn grinned. Bob had managed the canteen for over a decade and was a favorite with visitors who looked forward to seeing him as a part of their vacation experience. He brought a couple of fresh flyers to the register. “Can you please put these up where people will see them?”

Bob glanced at the posters and raised an eyebrow. “Having a problem with missing people?”

Quinn nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. More than I’ve seen in the period of time since I’ve been in the Adirondacks. Might be normal for some of the big parks out West, but it’s worrisome.”

Bob took the signs and nodded. “Agreed. There are always one or two, but so many is unusual, and I’ve been here for a long time.”

He glanced around the empty shop to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard. “Any truth to the rumor that we’ve got a dragon wandering around out there?”

Quinn sighed. “You’ve heard the stories?”

Bob chuckled. “It’s made for interesting conversations. Every person who’s been in here for the last couple of weeks wants to know if it’s true and if I have any inside information, like it’s living in my garage or something.”

“The official word is that there are no dragons in the Adirondacks,” Quinn replied. “But unless someone just made up the sightings to boost their social media hits, which could happen, it makes me wonder what people saw that they could have possibly mistaken.”

“Yeah, I wondered that myself,” Bob said. “I can see someone being freaked out by a moose shedding its antlers or a mutant bear or something like that, but no one is going to confuse those with a dragon.”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Quinn said. “Keeps life interesting.”

Bob sobered. “Whatever it is, do you think it has anything to do with the missing people?”

Quinn had hoped to avoid that question, since he didn’t have a good answer. “I don’t know, but I’m going to do my best to find out. The other rangers are keeping an eye out as well. I’m hoping that the dragon is an urban myth and the hikers show up safe and sound.”

“That would be good.” Bob ruffled the papers Quinn had given him. “I’ll get these up in all the usual places and make sure everyone gets my free safety lecture with every purchase,” he added with a wink.