Page 11 of Shadow of Hope
He shoved the phone back into his backpack down at the bottom so no one would notice it and complain that he had a phone. And by no one, he meant Jamal.
He dug out his emergency fishing kit and headed for the river. It was up to him to find a spot where the fish were biting and haul a few in to ensure they would have a fresh-caught dinner if the others failed. It didn’t happen often, but it did happen.
He knelt by a small tree, cut a branch, then notched the end of it. From his kit, he took out a fishing line with a hook already tied at the end. He didn’t feel like digging for worms, so he went to a rotting tree stump and poked around with his knife until he located a few grubs and baited one on his hook. A quick toss into the gently moving water, and he plopped down to enjoy one of the few free moments he would have this week.
He loved his job, but he also loved his solitude, which he didn’t get enough of these days. Not with the way the business was booming. But he was glad to help the Maddox brothers build it up. The Maddox family’s success was good for everyone on the team.
He heard a rustling behind and turned to see Kari emerge from the brush. She lifted her hand. “Got the branch and the worms. Now what?”
“Sit,” he said and stuck his pole in the ground to free up his hands if needed. “Start by stripping the bark from half that branch.”
She sat, putting her pack behind her. She applied her knife to the branch and took nice, even slices as if she’d done this before. Her tongue peeked out the corner of her mouth, and her eyes narrowed in concentration. She used a small-bladed pocket knife with a pink handle, fitting with her feminine style.
“I was surprised about your number one survival rule,” he said.
She glanced up, but only for a moment. “Keep my things with me? Why? It makes sense, right? You’ll never be caught empty-handed.”
“True that, but it sounded more like you spoke from experience. Like you’d learned the hard way to do that.”
“Did I?” She shrugged and raised her branch for inspection. “Stripped.”
Subject averted. Was she really trying to hide something from him? It wouldn’t work. He would figure it out. Not if he put her on guard. Better to leave it alone for now. “Go ahead and shave a fine point on the end.”
She set to work, that tongue came out again, and she looked adorable. Like her child might look someday.
She raced through her work and held it up. “Done!”
“Now cut that section off to about a third the length of your pinkie, sharpen it too, and notch all the way around the end you didn’t sharpen.” He continued to watch her, appreciating not having the guys back yet. Odd that not one of them had gotten here, and he should probably be wondering where they were, but he’d give them a few more minutes before investigating.
She held out the stick. “Ready.”
“The next step is to affix the fishing line. In an emergency situation, I would tell you to take the hem out of your clothing or unravel your clothing and weave thread into a strong line. This isn’t something I feel you need to practice, so I’ll give you a length of fishing line that you need to tie in the notch you made.”
He got the spool out of the pack and handed it to her. “Wrap it around the notches, then tie it vertically in place. That way when the fish swallows the bait, the gorge becomes horizontally lodged in his throat, and he can’t spit it out.”
She made quick work of the task and looked up with a gleam in her eye. Before he could give additional directions, she dug in her sweatshirt pocket and produced a handful of wiggling worms.
“Worm goes here. Choose a big one. Will fit better.” He pointed at the end of the hook she should bait.
She didn’t hesitate but selected a fat worm and shoved the others back into her pocket. Maybe he’d misjudged her, and she wasn’t as much of a girly girl as he’d thought.
She dropped her line into the water and wrapped it around her leg. She made a sour face and grabbed some leaves to clean her hands, then reached for her pack. “I have sanitizer in my pack. No way I’ll leave this goo on my hands.”
She opened the outer pocket and squeezed a generous dollop of sanitizer onto her hands. Dropping the small bottle back into the bag, she tilted her head. “What in the world?”
Instantly alert at her tone, he sat forward. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone put a piece of paper in here.” She glanced at him. “Did you?”
“No.”
She reached inside the pocket to pull out a folded sheet of paper. She pressed it open on her knee. Lines of large typed text with music notes above each line filled the page.
She dropped the paper and gasped. She shot a look around, fear lodged in her beautiful eyes.
“What is it?” He picked up the paper. Read.
Ode to Death
