Part 15 (1/2)

”It gave up its spirit to you,” Denny put in. ”That was your sign of what you were to do.”

”I got back home that summer and started to study everything I could get my hands on about bears. By the time school started, I was hooked. I decided then I was going to do what I could to find out more about bears, to help keep them from being wiped out. I was determined to face my fear.” His gaze slid to Haley. ”When fear rules us, we are nothing more than a slave to it. It keeps us from making good decisions. I decided I wasn't going to let fear run my life-or anyone else's.”

She knew what he was saying, and she bristled. ”I do exactly what I want with my life,” she said. ”Just because I prefer the city doesn't mean I'm letting fear rule me.”

”If you say so.”

He said the words so softly only she caught them. She looked away. There was no sense in talking to him about it. He thought there was no place like Alaska. She thought Phoenix ruled the world. They'd never see eye to eye on that.

Tank rose with Brooke in one arm and shouldered his pack on the other. ”We'd better get going again. I'd like time to get our camp set up before dinner.”

Kipp bounded to his feet and helped Erika up. ”Will we see any bears today?” he asked.

”Probably. We should get to our site before they come down to feed at the river.” Tank began to walk briskly through the brush.

By the time Haley donned her pack and picked up her walking stick, the rest of the group had disappeared. Panicked, she hurried after them. She tripped on a tree limb hidden by a fall of spruce needles and went sprawling. Her camera bag had opened, and all her film and lenses lay among the moss. ”Wait,” she called out, scrambling to pick up her belongings. Her voice didn't seem to carry farther than the berry bushes in front of her. She staggered to her feet and hurried in the direction she thought they'd gone. How could she be so stupid as to get left behind? Hadn't anyone missed her?

Erika had been chattering to Libby, but surely one of them should have noticed Haley wasn't with them. If they discovered her missing, could they even find her? She picked up her pace and strained her ears to hear the sound of voices, but the only noise the wind carried back to her was that of rus.h.i.+ng water. Maybe they were following the river. She turned in that direction.

As she stepped over some low-lying branches, something yanked on her backpack. She went sprawling again, her face buried in a three-foot-high bank of cotton-gra.s.s. She heard a low grunt as someone struggled to get her backpack off her. She gripped both shoulder straps and hung on.

She had no weapon, no way to defend herself. Her left shoulder socket popped, and a wave of agony spread down her arm as the attacker tried to wrench the pack off her shoulders. She cried out, but spruce needles p.r.i.c.ked her lips and m.u.f.fled her scream. Her vision wavered, but she hung on with grim determination. The scuffle seemed to last for hours, but it could only have been a few seconds before she heard the sound of voices calling her name. The tugging on her back ceased, and she heard thras.h.i.+ng through the underbrush. She rolled over but caught only a glimpse of a dark shape melting into the forest.

Sixteen.

Tank wished someone else could do this. He didn't want to inflict the pain he knew he had to. ”This is going to hurt.” Tank's gripped Haley's forearm and popped her shoulder back into place.

She let out a shriek, and beads of perspiration popped out on her forehead. She sagged against his chest, and he eased her back onto the ground. Her closed eyes fluttered, and then she opened them and stared up at him. Her jaw was set, and she swallowed.

”You okay?”

She nodded weakly. ”Thanks. The pain is easing now.”

”I'd better do something about those scratches too.” He pulled out iodine and dabbed it on her face.

”Ouch! Do you enjoy inflicting pain?”

”Blow on it, Daddy,” Brooke instructed.

Tank grinned. He doubted Haley would appreciate it, but he blew gently on the injury. ”Better?”

Haley glanced at Brooke and bit her lip. Tank could tell that only his daughter's presence spared him from the tongue-las.h.i.+ng she wanted to deliver. His grin widened, and Haley's eyes narrowed. ”I think you'll live,” he said, putting his first-aid pack away.

Kipp paced around the clearing. ”You never saw your attacker? Are you sure there was an attacker? These things keep happening to you, and no one else sees anything. I'm beginning to wonder if you're trying to sabotage the shoot. Were you hired by a rival network?” He put his hands on his hips and glared at Haley.

”Don't be such a jerk,” Erika said. ”She's hurt, and you're acting like she's some kind of axe murderer. You're being melodramatic.”

Tank raised his eyebrows at Erika's staunch defense. Haley inspired loyalty in everyone. He shouldn't be surprised his sister and daughter were on her side too.

The angry glare Kipp shot toward Erika should have sizzled the hair on her head. He turned and stomped off toward the river. ”Call me when we're ready to get back to work.” He said the last word with pointed emphasis as if to remind Haley she was his employee.

Her lips tightened, and her brows drew together. She blinked rapidly, and Tank knew she wasn't as immune to Kipp's barbed words as she'd like everyone to believe. He held out his hand, and she grasped it.

Once she was on her feet, she brushed at the mud on her jeans. ”I'm fine. Let's get going.”

”Not so fast. Is there anything you can remember about the man? What he looked like, what he was wearing, anything?”

Haley hesitated. ”I saw a bit of his sleeve. It looked like a khaki s.h.i.+rt.”

Tank looked at Denny. ”You've got on a khaki s.h.i.+rt, Denny.”

Denny held up his hands. ”Whoa, I wouldn't hurt Haley. What reason would I have?”

Tank shrugged and turned back to Haley. ”Could you tell what he wanted?”

”He was trying to get my pack off.”

”To steal it? Or . . .” He hesitated and looked at his daughter.

Libby took the hint. ”Brooke, I'll read you a story before you nap. Come with me.” She led the little girl off toward the tent.

Haley flushed. ”It didn't feel like a s.e.xual attack. I think he wanted my pack for some reason. But that makes no sense. The camera equipment isn't valuable enough that someone would keep trying to get it.”

”May I?” Tank held out his hand for her pack. She nodded, and he took it and unzipped it. He knelt beside her and began to pull out the contents. Several books on living in the wilderness, clothing, toiletries, camera equipment-nothing that surprised him.

”See? I don't get it.” Haley began to repack everything.

”Did you turn over all your film to Chet? Maybe it has to do with the pictures you took of Joe Wooten's body. What else have you shot?”

She shrugged. ”Just the bears, some scenery. Nothing that would warrant an attack on my person.” She fiddled with her hair, twirling a curl around her finger. ”I gave Chet the film of Joe's body.”

He opened her camera bag and rooted through it. ”Looks like you have about twenty rolls of film here. Maybe we should get it all developed and see what it shows.”

”Where?”

”We'll go back to town in a few days. We can drop it off at the general store. They'll send it out to Anchorage, and it will be back in about a week.”

”A week!” Erika shook her head as if that was not an option. ”She's been attacked several times. We need to find out what is going on before she's seriously hurt.” Erika dug in her pack and pulled out a wide-toothed comb. ”Let's get the dirt and spruce needles out of your hair.”

”Thanks, Erika.” Haley looked up at Tank. ”I'll be back in Phoenix soon, and this will all be a bad dream.”

The pang Tank felt when he heard her eagerness to get back to the city surprised him. He needed to remember she was as much out of her element here as a salmon atop Mount McKinley.