In the Woods Read Online Free PDF

large, confident. Manly, with just the right amount of dark hair on the back, and sturdy steady fingers. She reached for one. It made her own hand look tiny.
    â€˜Captain Slader should be here any time now.’ Ranger Daniels stepped out of his office, checking his watch. ‘You want some water or soda pop?’
    Hank stood. ‘I’m good. You want anything, Harper?’
    â€˜No thanks.’ She felt awkward, being the only one sitting. She got to her feet even though her left leg hurt from racing there from their campsite.
    The three of them stood, arms crossed, staring at air. Almost two hours had passed since Harper had found the body. In Iraq, flies would have claimed the corpse by now. Here, she pictured crows tearing at its eyes, coyotes at its flesh.
    â€˜You remember, I told you two that you should camp here at the campgrounds. I warned you about hikers getting lost, accidents happening out in the woods.’
    â€˜We didn’t get lost, Ranger Daniels,’ Harper answered. ‘And this man would have been killed regardless of where we’d stayed.’
    Daniels looked into the distance, widened his stance. ‘You know, I probably shouldn’t say this. I don’t want to stir things up. But the thing is I feel responsible for you two. You’re strangers here. You’re not familiar with the area.’
    â€˜That’s right.’ Hank cocked his head.
    â€˜Well, some people live here, year round.’ He said that as if it made sense.
    â€˜Okay.’
    Daniels looked around. ‘Most of those people are fine folks. But some of them have issues – and I won’t say they’re wrong. Their people have been here for a couple of centuries. And they don’t like outsiders.’
    Harper digested that for a moment. ‘Are you saying you think the dead guy was killed by someone local?’
    The ranger looked down at her. He was Hank’s height but he seemed immense. ‘All I’m saying is that some of these people are very protective of the land. They don’t want others messing with it. Not the government with their hunting and mining licenses, or the energy companies with their fracking and pipelines. Not seasonal hunters. Not weekenders like yourselves. It’s best to leave their part of the woods to them—’
    â€˜Wait a second,’ Hank interrupted. ‘You work for the government, don’t you? And this is a state forest. Owned by the government. So you’re aware that, no matter how long their families have lived around here, they don’t own the land. So they have no right—’
    â€˜I don’t believe I said anything about legal rights, Mr Jennings. I’m just being real. These people are a tight community. Some believe that outsiders are taking away their rights and their heritage, and they’re protecting what they see as their birthright.’ He leaned close to Hank, lowered his voice. ‘They’re good people, mind you. But they’re well prepared for catastrophes. Anything from a tornado to an invasion. They have provisions and weapons. And not all of them, but a good number, have lately become convinced that outsiders are conspiring to move in and throw them off the properties they have left.’
    Harper watched Hank’s reaction. He was meeting Ranger Daniels’ eyes, kind of wincing. ‘Are you talking about some kind of militia?’
    â€˜Sounds like survivalists,’ Harper said.
    â€˜And you’re saying they think we’re part of some invasion?’
    â€˜I’m just pretty protective of the area where you say you found the body.’
    â€˜So you think they shot this man.’
    The ranger didn’t answer; just then, a police car pulled into the parking area, splattering through old rain puddles. The captain had arrived.
    Captain Slader was a lithe, thin-lipped man with dark, bushy eyebrows, graying hair and a salt-and-pepper mustache. He