MISSING!

MISSING!

Joe Clement drove down the winding road to the ranger station, feeling at peace with the world here in the forest that had become his home. It looked like an uneventful day, which suited him just fine. Joe had been a park ranger for thirty years and was looking forward to retirement within the next few months.

His eyes narrowed as he approached the main building. Their was a dark blue pickup truck parked in front, with the motor running. As he approached, a slender blond woman jumped out of the truck and ran toward him. He stopped and got out, thinking that it was unusual for a woman to be in this area alone. It was then that he noticed she was crying. "What's wrong?" Joe asked. He was unprepared for her sobbing reply.

"My husband, Jeff, went into the woods hunting about two hours ago. He hasn't come back yet!" "Well, m'am, that's not an unusually long time for someone who's out hunting" Joe attempted to calm the woman.

"I just know something is wrong! I heard gunshots, and then..." she was sure that he had either had an accident or was injured somewhere in the woods.

Joe walked back to the truck with her, and told her to shut it off. No sense wasting gas, it was too far to go to get any, and expensive, as well.
She reached in and shut off the ignition. Joe looked in the truck as she fumbled for the key. It appeared that the missing hunter had forgotten his rifle! "M'am, I need you to come into the office and give me a description of your husband." "Of course!" she said, as she followed him inside.

In answer to his questions, she told him that her husband was an avid hunter, and even though he was in poor health now, he insisted on hunting. It was his heart, she said. He had just recently gotten out of the hospital. "I need your name, and your husband's, and tell me what he was wearing." Joe tried to bring her back to the essential information he needed. She cleared her throat and told him.

"His name is Jeff Santor, I'm his wife Mary" she stated. "We're from Osack Springs, about 50 miles from here. Let's see, he was wearing blue jeans, a red flannel shirt, a hunting jacket - oh, can't you call for help so we can go and find him?"

Joe reached for the radio and flipped on the mike. "Rescue 1, report to the ranger station. We have an emergency. Hunter missing." Mary listened and began sobbing again. Joe noticed that her eyes were not red from crying any length of time, in fact, she seemed to be putting on a pretty good act. "While we wait for the Rescue Squad to get here, I'll alert the campers who are still here. They may be able to help search." It was Fall, and there were only two campsites taken by campers. There were no other hunters in the area, as far as he knew. Joe told her to make herself comfortable in the office while he went to alert the campers.

He walked to the nearest campsite, and found the couple packing to leave. The children were already in the car. "Any chance that you folks heard anything in the last hour or so?" Joe said to Matt Cleary. Matt shook his head. "Nope, not a thing. It's been quiet, beautiful, and I wish we didn't have to go back so soon!" He looked at Joe's grim face, and asked "Anything wrong?"

Joe told Matt about the missing hunter. "Funny" Matt replied "I didn't see anyone when I went to the office to use the phone." Joe absorbed this information, and then went on to the next campsite. It was already empty. There were signs of a hasty departure, the campfire still smoked, and Joe stopped long enough to make sure it was out. "Not too intelligent to leave a smoking fire" he muttered to himself. He remembered the man who had camped here. A loner, he thought at the time, but a nice enough chap. Steve Watson was going to get a letter from him about fire safety as soon as he could get to it. It had been a dry season, and he didn't need a forest fire on his hands!

Joe walked back to the office, noting that the blue pickup truck was still parked outside. He walked in, and saw that Mary had been at the radio. "Anyone try to reach me?" he asked. "no, I just tried to call them again to see if they were on their way" Mary responded. Joe went to the radio, and saw that one of the wires had dropped off the back. There was no way that she could have used it. He wasn't sure why she was lying, but he felt uneasy. He turned to face her. She looked away, knowing she'd been caught in a lie.

The Rescue truck pulled into the space beside Mary's truck. Four men jumped out, ready to start the search. "We've notified the State Police, and they are sending in more searchers" one of the men told Joe. He nodded.

"At this point, it appears that we have a missing hunter, and his wife tells me she heard shots. He hasn't been gone that long, but he does have a heart problem, so we better get started. Leave one of the men here to get the other searchers started, and we'll head out." Joe looked back as Mary stepped outside. "Mind telling me which direction he was heading in?" Joe asked her.

Mary pointed to the large pines to the east of the office. "You'd better wait here, too" Joe said. Mary went to her truck and got in. "I'll feel better waiting in here" she said. She picked up a coffee mug and took a drink, then lit a cigarette and watched as the men started out.

Matt's camper went by, tooting the horn, and waving. Joe waved back. "I saw no need to keep them here" Joe told the other men. "They didn't hear anything, which makes me wonder about that woman's story. I'm not sure what we'll find, but I don't think it's going to be pretty!"

Joe's instincts were right. They had not gone more than a few yards into the woods when they came across a man's body, lying face down in the brush. The clothes he was wearing fit the description Mary had given him. Kneeling beside the man, he felt for a pulse. There was none, and rigor mortis had set in. He had been dead for awhile.

There was a bullet wound in his chest. One shot, no more. The blood was dried around the wound. There were no powder burns, so he was not shot at close range. There was no gun in sight. "I'll leave two of you here with the body and go radio for a medical examiner."

Joe and the remaining searcher returned to the office where Joe radioed for assistance. He turned to the doorway and saw that the two searchers were talking quietly, then turned and were looking at the truck where Mary sat waiting. It was strange that she didn't come out and ask what they had found. He walked out to the truck and asked Mary to come inside the office again. She got out, cigarettes in hand. Anyone could tell that she was a nervous wreck. Still, she asked no questions, as if she knew what they had found.

No one had noticed the steel gray jeep parked in the shade of the evergreens to the left of the ranger station. Steve Watson had been a sniper in the Army, and he knew all the tricks of the trade. He and Jeff had been Army buddies, but when he met Mary, all reason was gone. Mary wasn't happy, she wanted a divorce that Jeff refused to give her. He'd told her they would work things out. When Mary told Jeff she was in love with Steve, he insisted on driving up to the campsite where Steve had gone for the weekend. He was going to have it out with him. Mary had told Steve when he called her last night.

Steve stepped out from a corner of the room. The silencer on the gun worked well. He shot Joe as he sat at the desk, willing the radio to work. "Steve!" Mary cried out, and he motioned her to silence.

"We don't have much time, Mary" Steve said. "The State Police will be here any minute. "You better stay here while I take care of these two" he said, nodding in the direction of the two men outside.

With rapid fire, both men were down. Steve turned to Mary. Her face was ashen, and she backed away from him. He went to her, grabbed her arm and pulled her outside and into the truck.

It was a shame that he had to kill these men, he thought to himself as he put the truck in reverse and headed out. He hadn't planned on that or having to get rid of the ranger.

Sirens blared as the State Police sped toward the ranger station. It was not working out the way Steve had planned. He stepped on the gas. He had loved Mary for so long. Now she was losing control, and acted afraid of him! As his thoughts wandered, Mary opened the passenger side door, and jumped out. He swerved to a stop, just as the cruiser rounded the corner, running over Mary's unconscious body.

Steve took the rifle from the rack. It had gone all wrong! A shot rang out, and Steve crumpled across the steering wheel, all hope and all life gone.