Ghost Canyon (The John Decker Supernatural Thriller Series Book 7) Anthony Strong (popular romance novels .TXT) 📖

me,” Fowler said, glancing at his watch. He picked up the iPad and closed the cover. “We must leave for a couple of hours. The specialist’s flight will be landing soon, and we should be there to meet him.”

Chapter Nineteen

Darwin Andoe finished loading the camping gear into the back of his Jeep Cherokee and leaned against it, waiting for his girlfriend, Tiffany Kent, to make an appearance. He was looking forward to the three-night camping expedition into the wilderness south of Las Vegas. He’d been planning it for a month, despite Tiffany’s objections. If it were up to her, they would head out to Boulder City or even Reno and spend their time gambling, downing free drinks, eating too much shrimp at the buffet, and enjoying a high-priced hotel room. But this trip was a delayed birthday present for Darwin, who turned twenty-six a couple of weeks previously, and he wanted to sleep under the stars and watch the Milky Way spiral above them. As far as Darwin was concerned, there was nothing better than a dose of solitude and a roaring campfire.

“Hurry it up in there,” he yelled in the general direction of the two-bedroom block house they’d rented after moving out to Nevada from Colorado two years before so Tiffany could complete her graduate studies at the University of Nevada. “I want to leave before it gets too late.”

“All right, already.” Tiffany emerged from the house and pulled the front door closed. “What’s the big hurry. We’re driving out to the desert. Check-in time is, like, whenever we get there.”

“You won’t be so blasé if we have to pitch our tent in the dark,” Darwin retorted. Tiffany was struggling toward the car carrying a pair of large duffel bags. He took and heaved them into the Jeep, grunting at their unexpected weight. “What the hell did you pack in these, your entire closet?”

“Just the necessities,” Tiffany replied. “I can’t wear the same clothes for three days.”

“I don’t see why not,” Darwin said. “It’s not like we have dinner reservations. We’ll be the only ones out there. You can sit around the campfire in your undies for all I care.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Tiffany grinned despite herself.

“Maybe.” Darwin went to close the trunk, then remembered something. “Wait there, I’ll be right back.”

He sprinted toward the open garage door, ducked inside, and returned with a shovel.

“Almost forgot this,” he said, throwing it atop Tiffany’s ridiculously over-packed duffels.

“Dare I ask why we need a shovel?”

“So that we can dig a hole to poop in.”

“You can’t be serious.” Tiffany looked aghast.

“How else do you think we’re going to handle bathroom breaks?” Darwin asked. “You want to drive back to Vegas every time nature calls?”

“But it’s so… gross. Plus, you’ll be able to see me.” Tiffany folded her arms, pouting. “I can’t do it. Why don’t we just go to a hotel instead?”

“This is supposed to be my birthday trip. I get to choose. When it’s your birthday, we can go to some swanky spa and let them put mud on our faces.”

“Oh, that’s happening, have no fear.”

“Not until you come camping with me, it isn’t.” Darwin flipped up the box on the garage door keypad and punched the number in to close the door. When it started trundling down, he walked back to the Jeep, slammed the trunk, and climbed in. “Are you coming, or not?”

“Guess I don’t have much choice,” Tiffany grumbled, climbing into the passenger seat next to him. “Just so we’re clear though, the first scorpion I see, we are out of there.”

“Have no fear, I’ll protect you from whatever nasty creatures we encounter,” Darwin laughed.

“Ooh, my hero.” Tiffany glanced toward him and batted her eyelids. “Which is why I had to get rid of that spider in the bathtub last week.”

“Hey, I was going to take care of it.”

“When? After you stopped screeching like a baby?”

“It caught me by surprise, is all.”

“Whatever you say.” Tiffany smirked. “Did you pack the coolers containing the food?”

“You think I’d forget something like that?”

“I wouldn’t put it past you,” Tiffany replied. “You probably want to catch our food.”

“Now, there’s a good idea. Maybe I should take the coolers back inside the house.”

“Don’t you dare!” Tiffany shot Darwin a withering look. “Unless you want me to go back inside along with them.”

“I guess we’ll just have to eat store-bought provisions then,” Darwin replied. “Even though it won’t be as authentic.”

“Plus, we won’t starve. Don’t get me wrong, but I don’t put much stock in your foraging abilities.”

“Hey, I’ve been going camping since I was a kid. My dad used to take us all the time.”

“Okay, Mister Wilderness. I stand corrected.” Tiffany settled back into the seat and fiddled with the AC until it was blowing a steady stream of frigid air upon her. “Are we just going to sit in this car all day, or are you actually thinking about going somewhere?”

“Now who’s suddenly keen to get out into the wilds?” Darwin put the Jeep in gear and pulled away. “Nature, here we come.”

“Yay. I can hardly wait.” Tiffany sighed and rooted in her purse, taking out a lipstick and applying it. She flipped the visor down and checked her makeup in the vanity mirror. “Three days with no phone or internet.”

“I know, right?” Darwin grinned. “It’s going to be great.”

“For you, maybe.” Tiffany pushed the visor back in place and returned the lipstick to her purse. “But some of us actually have a life.”

“Stop complaining. You can live without constantly texting your girlfriends for a few days.”

“And apparently I can also take a crap out in the open, but it doesn’t mean I want to,” Tiffany said with the barest hint of sarcasm. “How long will it take us to reach the camping site, anyway?”

“Forty-five minutes. Maybe more if there’s traffic on the interstate.”

“Awesome.” Tiffany removed her phone from her purse along with a pair of Bluetooth earbuds. She pushed them into her ears and closed her eyes. “Let me