Page 8 of Junkyard Dog

Recon work, a hoagie, and a grilled cheese sandwich with double cheese, fries, and seven packets of vinegar.

He turned off the highway onto the narrow road of the park and slowed his speed.

Four nights.

He’d even taken an extra shift for Thomas on his Wednesday off in case Charlotte decided to make good on his suggestion.

Yeah. Recon.

His headlights illuminated the road, providing just enough light to avoid veering off into the soft sand. For a brief moment, he contemplated covering the remaining ground on foot.

Cholla in the underbelly.

Scratching at his stomach, he tossed the idea out of his head. The hassle of stripping down, packing, transforming, and going through it all in reverse while staying out of sight of Miss Charlotte and her binoculars wasn’t worth the ten minutes he’d save.

Besides, his ribs were still hurting like a bitch.

The lights of the national park ranger truck blared across his retinas as he rounded a bend in the road. Pulling off to the side, he slid the carefully packed meals into his backpack and got out.

“My savior!” Max yelled out to him, jumping out of the passenger side and breaking into a jog. “She tried to feed me knockoff peanut butter on stale bread again.” He began rifling through Alex’s bag, pulling out two large trays. “I’ll eat these on the way. Duty calls.”

As Max ran off toward a truck in the distance, he made his way over to the white truck and rapped his knuckles on the passenger window. “Delivery for Miss Charlotte,” he called, opening the door and setting his bag on the seat. “Thomas sent extra vinegar and…and…”

And…

He could feel the precise moment his brain short-circuited.

It was the moment the scrutinizing dark eyes lit up at the wordsextra vinegar.

He cleared his throat. “Extra vinegar and napkins.”

Charlotte’s cheeks flushed as she pulled the Styrofoam tray onto her lap. “You really didn’t have to do this,” she said, reaching into the back seat. “But thank you.”

Gripping the roof of the truck, he leaned in and looked around. “Anytime. Mind if I get in or is there some park ranger law I don’t know about?”

“Probably,” she muttered. “Yeah, you can get in. I’m due to be written up soon anyway.” She opened her wallet and began pulling bills out.

“Put that away,” he barked, reaching under his seat to adjust the leg room. “My treat for our local heroes in, what is that, gray and khaki?”

With her eyes still frustratingly averted, she scrunched her nose. “Not my best colors, but yeah. Brown hikers, too.” She lifted her foot to reveal the practical, unappealing footwear.

“But you have a badge and that’s pretty cool,” he pointed out. “So what’s on the docket for tonight? High-speed desert chases? Tracking poachers?”

She swallowed and laughed, her eyes meeting his for a millisecond before they dropped again. “I’m pretty much doing it right now. Once I finish eating, I’ll drive the main pathways, check on the campers in the west grounds, and then loop back to the station in time to clock out.”

Remembering his internal rationale for contacting the woman again, he looked out into the blackened desert. “What about animals? Any of those out here?”

With her attention on carefully opening the small packet of vinegar, her dark brows knotted. “Other than the coyotes and jackrabbits, we have a good amount of bighorns around here. The odd cougar.” She glanced out the window. “A stray dog here and there.”

Stray.

Whatthefuckever.

Ignoring the unintentional slight to his ego, he pressed for more. “Bet you get a few owners out here up in arms about their missing poodles and cockapoos.”

“Hmm.” She hummed, drenching one fry in vinegar at a time before lifting it to her mouth. “I’m heading up the search for one out there right now. Big guy. Probably a Great Dane or a mastiff, though we’ve had no reports of missing pets,” she mused, licking her lips and testing his resolve to remain on total recon when the simple movement amped his heart rate. “A tourist clipped the poor thing with his car last week, so who knows where the pup holed up.”

On my lumpy mattress with a bottle of Tylenol and a World War II documentary.

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