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

geologists went missing in the mine,” Decker said. “If they were still alive and in a fit condition to do so, they probably would have found their way back out by now, don’t you agree?”

“I’m thinking so.” Barnes nodded in agreement. “Pretty sure they’re dead, from the eyewitness account and available evidence.”

“Glad we’re on the same page.” Decker strode toward the mine entrance and pulled the metal gates closed, then looped the dangling security chain around them and pulled it tight before slipping the padlock through the chain’s links and snapping it closed. He turned back to Barnes. “No one’s going to be mooching around in there now.”

“And a good job too,” Barnes said. “Or they might end up filleted like Sasha Martin.”

Decker nodded and stepped past the FBI agent back onto the trail and started down toward town. He wanted to run that plate as soon as possible and see just who was loitering around the mine entrance. His sense they were up to no good had only intensified, and he always trusted his hunches.

Special Agent Barnes hurried to keep up. Halfway down they reached the battered remains of an old pickup truck that must’ve sat baking in the sun for decades, the harsh ultraviolet radiation doing as good a job of stripping the paint off as any sandblaster.

“Hold up a moment,” Barnes gasped. “My leg’s giving me trouble. I’ve got a cramp.”

“Surely you’re not that out of shape?” Decker said. “How old are you? You don’t look a day over thirty.”

“Thirty-six, if you must know.” Barnes leaned against the truck. He glared at Decker. “And I’m just as fit as you, probably more so.”

“Point taken. Didn’t mean to rankle you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Barnes said. “I’m a bit sensitive, that’s all. I’ve got pins in my leg from an injury I sustained in Afghanistan.”

“You were in the military?”

“Green Beret. Got too close to an IED. Took four of us out, I was the only one that survived.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Decker said.

“Yeah. Me too. Pretty much ended my military career, so here I am.”

“You joined the FBI.”

Barnes nodded. “After I returned to the States. I wasn’t quite ready to give up the excitement, and the Bureau makes it easy for ex-military to join.”

“Especially if they’re Special Forces, no doubt.”

Barnes nodded again. “So, what’s your deal? How did you end up chasing monsters for a living?”

“I’m surprised you don’t already know.” Decker walked to the edge of the trail and peered over. It fell away steeply toward the canyon floor, clogged by a tangle of thick bushes. He wondered if this was where they found the bones that now lay in a display case in the museum room at the Last Chance Hotel and Saloon. “People seem to make a habit of looking me up online whenever I go somewhere.”

“I don’t need to look you up online. I’m an FBI agent. I could just run a background check and find out everything I need to know from your driver’s license number to what size shoes you wear.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No.” Barnes reached down and rubbed his calf. “When DC says they’re sending a specialist like yourself, I find it’s better not to pry. Too much curiosity can be detrimental to career advancement.”

“Ah. Don’t want to ruffle any feathers, huh?”

“Something like that.” Barnes flexed his knee. “Cramps have gone off now. Let’s go back to town and run that plate.”

“Sure thing. I’m curious to see what we find.”

“Me too.” Barnes started back down the trail. “You still haven’t told me how you ended up in your particular line of work.”

“I spent years in law enforcement. First as a homicide cop and then a sheriff in Louisiana. That’s where I ran across something I couldn’t explain,” Decker said. “A killer of supernatural origin. I took care of the situation but lost my job in the process. Then my current employer came calling. As the saying goes, they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“So now you hunt monsters like whatever is lurking inside that mine for a living.”

“Given the choice, I’d rather have my old life back, investigating run-of-the-mill cases involving good old-fashioned human bad guys.”

“Life don’t work like that,” Barnes said, with a hint of regret in his voice. “I’d prefer to be traveling the world with the Green Berets. I loved that job. But here I am, anyway.”

“FBI agent sounds like a pretty good gig to me,” Decker observed.

“Yeah. If you like paperwork. It’s not exactly like you see on the TV shows.”

“You could say that about anything.” They were entering the town now. Decker led Barnes up the steps into the Last Chance.

Tieg bounded around the corner from the direction of the kitchen and ran up to them, wagging his tail furiously. Barnes kneeled and rubbed the top of the dog’s head while the canine tried to lick him.

“I think he likes you,” Decker said.

“He can spot a dog lover when he sees one,” Barnes replied. “I used to have a mutt just like this when I was growing up.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Robyn said, appearing behind the dog. She carried a tea towel in her hand. “He’s not picky. He’ll take the attention of anyone who will give it.”

“Don’t listen to her, boy,” Barnes cooed at the animal. “I know you like me, and that’s all that counts.”

To reply, the dog let out a contented grunt.

“Did you find what you were looking for at the mine?” Robyn asked.

“And a whole lot more,” Barnes said, climbing to his feet.

“We caught a couple of guys mooching around the entrance,” Decker said. “Sent them on their way.”

“You did?” Robyn looked alarmed. “I wonder what they wanted?”

“That’s what we’d like to know, too.” Decker took his phone out. “They claimed to be from Albuquerque. Told us they just came out here for the hiking trails.”

“But we know that wasn’t true because they had Nevada plates on their truck.” Barnes glanced at the phone. “Can you forward me the pics of that truck?”

“You