Somewhere in Wisconsin 

Sam

I'm spinning out as I pace the small bedroom in the trailer.

I believe Dylan's story and want to believe that he's genuine. His intentions make sense to me, and I am sure that the emotion on his face when he talks about his dad is real.

But he thinks Jax is somehow the key to the truth?

Why would he think this? He didn't say much more after that, which was my fault. I got sick from the pizza, Coke, or both. All I know is it was rough. I shouldn't have gorged like I did, but it tasted so good. Luckily, a little water and bread settled my stomach before I got ready for bed.

Now I'm wide awake and turning everything over in my mind, over and over again.

Is there more to the story of what happened in Vegas?

Of course, there is. There's always more to the story, I say silently.

When Jax told me about the awful day he lost his family, I was so touched he opened up to me. All I thought about at that moment was comforting him. I didn't analyze his story— there was no reason to. It was traumatic enough without me asking him a bunch of questions.

However, now I find myself frowning as I recall what he told me. Something isn't right about it, but I can't figure out what it is. He only told me the story once, and then we went through an entire winter after that.

Not just any winter, it was a harsh winter where we both nearly starved to death and came face to face with wolves more than once, and I will never forget the night I had to drag a hypothermic Jax back to our cabin. I thought I was going to lose him that night– I quickly swallow the lump forming.

It's hard to remember details of conversations with so much having happened to us out there.

"But something is not right... something doesn't fit. What is it?" I whisper the question and am annoyed when the answer doesn't come.

I let out a sigh and open my backpack to survey what I have. I packed light as I only planned to be across the creek for one day. There's only one change of clothes, a gun, a handful of berries that are all smashed up now, the handgun, and that videotape I found under Carl's bed. I pick it up and look at the code RIOLEH051388 staring back at me.

What could it mean? The numbers... is that a date?

I didn't see a TV in the living room here, and I really need to find a way to play this damn thing. Do I mention it to Dylan?

No, I shake my head, wrap it up in a t-shirt, and shove it back into my bag. Until I know what's on it, I'm keeping it to myself.

With a heavy sigh, I lie down on the bed. It's very comfortable compared to the thirty-some-year-old beds in the cabins.

So comfortable sleep comes fast and easy, for once.

***

"No!" I sit up in a hurry, sweat dripping down my forehead as I clutch my chest.

Blinking, I take in the unfamiliar room as I slowly realize whatever dream I was having is over, and I'm safe. There were flames I was running desperately from only to come face to face with one of the snarling wolves. It was all the more terrifying because he had a gaping hole in the side of his head from where Jax shot it.

I shake off the awful dream as best I can as I slowly exit the bedroom. A glance at the clock shows it's early, just after seven. 

I don't see Dylan, but I notice a note on the table and grab it.

Help yourself to whatever. I had to run an errand. I'll stop and get some groceries too. 

Don't answer the phone. Don't leave.

Please. 

Dylan

I'm surprised he trusted me enough to leave. The gun he gave me yesterday is gone. I left it on the table when I went to bed, my way of showing Dylan I trust him enough to let it go. Well, that and if whoever started that fire did find us, I didn't want the cop to be unarmed.

Maybe that show of faith made him feel secure enough to leave me here this morning. Or maybe he knows I'm not an idiot. I don't know where I am or where to go, and I'm too weak to get far anyway. 

My gaze finds the phone Dylan told me not to answer, as if I would. I stand up, walk over to it  and uncradle it from it's receiver—so easy. It would be so easy to just call...

"Belinda," I say and just like that my eyes fill with tears. I miss my best friend so much. One call to let her know I'm okay, that I'm not dead, she would promise not to tell anyone if I told her too...

It is so tempting that I start dialing, but before I hit the last number, I quickly hang the phone back up as if it burned me.

I can't drag her into this and endanger her life, too. What is wrong with me?

I do my best to put her out of my head. I am not about to break down today. I head to the kitchen, grab a few handfuls of ham, and eat them straight from the fridge.

After that, I decide to take full advantage of the shower again, and it feels so amazing to have hot water cascading down my back. I stay in until the water runs cold, enjoying every moment.

When I step back out of the bathroom, Dylan is returning with several bags from a convenience store.

"I grabbed as much as I could. They also had some t-shirts and sweatpants, so I got you a handful of each."

Clothes that might actually fit? Amazing.

"Thank you," I say as he tosses the bag towards me. I open it and find the shirts have a Fish Creek, Wisconsin logo. At least I know what town I'm close to now. The sweatpants are a weird rusty red color, but I'll take what I can get at this point. "You're back early... afraid I'd leave?"

He smirks slightly. "Actually, I left at like four AM. I couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd look at the woods and see if I could get any clues about that fire."

"You went back to the woods? That's crazy! Whoever started it could still be around!"

"I know, but the longer I wait, the less chance of finding anything," he says with a slight sigh.

"Did you find anything? Are the woods totally destroyed?"

The bears—oh gosh, my bears! Mama bear is still recovering from her leg injury, and baby Pooh (yes, I named him) is so little still. What if they didn't make it?

"It's not destroyed, but there's a lot of damage. It's a good thing we got so much rain last night."

I was in such a deep sleep that I didn't even realize we did.

"The cabin near the creek was ransacked. There was stuff thrown around everywhere like someone was angry," Dylan says.

"Someone was inside?" I shudder. What if I hadn't gone across the creek to clean those cabins? Whoever was looking for me would have found me.

"Yes. Both cabins on the south side of the creek were left wide open."

"You looked at the east cabin, too? Were the woods over there burnt?" I ask anxiously.

Please, please let those bears be okay, I pray silently.

"Yeah, the fire didn't go that far," he confirms to my relief. "But the weird thing is every cabin across the creek was untouched. Why didn't they cross the creek if they were looking for you? Logically, that's where you'd be."

"So, the east cabin wasn't ransacked, just searched?" I ask.

"I assume they went there first, then when they didn't find you in the next cabin–"

"They got frustrated," I finish for him. "But you're right they had to assume I was across the creek. How would starting the woods on fire get me back over? I wouldn't have run towards the flames."

"I was thinking the same thing, and from what I can tell, the fire started outside that creek cabin."

"Could they have accidentally started the fire... freaked out, and then ran?" I ask, and Dylan starts nodding.

"Which means they'll be back to look for you, probably soon."

"You took a huge risk going there, Dylan," I scold him again. If he was caught, they'd have shot him, no questions asked.

"I needed to know more, and now we do." He shrugs. "My job comes with risks. It is what it is."

I tilt my head curiously. "That tunnel your dad dug out, does it still work?"

"I doubt it. It's got to be all caved in by now. Why?"

"I was just wondering if you'd ever been on the land before," I say.

"No, I always flew overhead," he says. "The helicopter and airfield were left to me in my dad's will, but I didn't accept them right away. I was angry for a while. It wasn't until the next summer after he died that I finally went to see it. My first flight was when I saw Jax out there all alone, and I've been obsessing over the case ever since."

This means Dylan doesn't know about Jax's first horrifying winter or that he didn't arrive alone. Jax suffered the loss of his cousin Carl and Carl's girlfriend Angie in the most traumatizing way possible.

Wolves got into their cabin while Jax and Carl were out hunting. Carl's tragic last moments was when he found his girlfriend Angie after it was too late, and then they got him. Jax witnessed enough of it to haunt him for years.

Not long after that, one of the wolves almost killed him, too, and he narrowly escaped it. It's a miracle that he did. His back is full of horrifying scars.

That's not why I asked that question, though. "Did you ever go into the woods after I got there?"

"No, never. Why?" Dylan asks as he crinkles his brows.

"Because there was a soup can," I sit at the table, frowning as I recall this. It's always bugged me. "My first night, I ate a can of soup and granola bar in that three-walled hut close to the entrance of the woods. Later, when I went back there, the granola wrapper was there. The can was not. Jax assumed an animal dragged it away, but now..."

"You think someone was there, watching you two?"

"I don't think the soup can up and walked away. I've been all over the woods, hunting and gathering stuff. Why has it never turned up?"

"It would've," Dylan agrees. "Even if an animal dragged it off, you'd have found it at some point."

"Fuck, thank you," I say with a sigh of relief.

"For what?"

"Validating my paranoia and overthinking," I say with a short laugh.

"Two things that make someone a great cop. Maybe you should consider that as a career path."

I laugh, but his face remains serious.

"I'm not joking--the way you analyze things. You'd be good at it."

"I was supposed to be getting a scholarship into college," I say as a sense of loss washes over me. "I was at the top of our class. Now I'll have to get my GED."

"That sucks, Sammy. I'm sorry."

"I haven't even had time to get mad about it. Too busy staying alive." I let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "...but I owe you a real thank you for saving my life."

I was a brat yesterday, but in the light of day, I appreciate what he did for me.

"Don't thank me. Leaving you there was selfish. Hell, leaving Jackson out there was selfish. What kind of cop lets people suffer like that? He was a teenager when I first started watching him."

He's right in a way... had he pulled Jackson out of there, he would've been able to heal somewhere safe. Maybe, or maybe he would've gone after Vinny when he was still an angry teen who wanted revenge. That wouldn't have worked out well for him at all.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You're getting justice for your dad and not only him. So many others lost people that day," I say to Dylan. 

Seeing the turmoil in his eyes over this does strengthen that bridge of trust we're building. It's nice to know he views Jackson as a human, not just a piece of the puzzle he's trying to solve.

"Yeah, but sometimes I wonder what the cost is. The lines I cross, does it make me any better than the bad guys I'm chasing?" Dylan asks with a tilt of the head.

"Yes. It does. Don't ever compare yourself to men like Vinny. He's evil. There's no comparison."

"Is he, though?"

"Of course he is. He runs the mafia. He kills people!"

"But he's also a husband and a dad. Is he evil or a guy born into a family that makes him do evil things?"

The question is rhetorical, so I don't answer it. I get his point, but — as far as I see it, if Vinny is the bastard who shot up that wedding, he's evil. I don't care what he was born into. You can't do something like that and still have a heart. You just can't!

Dylan gets up and heads into the kitchen to put the food away.

"I'm going to have to head back to Chicago tonight. I can only be MIA so long without raising eyebrows," Dylan says as he fills the freezer.

My heart picks up. Is this my chance to get closer to Jax?

"Okay. Where are we staying?"

"Not we, Sammy. I can't bring you there. I don't have a safe house for you and if I ask for one they'll know something is up."

"You want me to stay here alone!?"

"It's safer than the woods, and I'll be back as soon as I can. A few days tops."

"What if someone finds me here?"

"We weren't followed, and I wasn't followed today. You'll be safe here as long as you don't go out exploring or something. I have an extra gun I'll leave here for you and a deadbolt for the door."

Damn it... a little longer, Jax, but I will get to you, I promise him silently.

Dylan's gaze meets mine, holding me in place under its intensity. "Can I trust you to stay here?"

"Yes," I agree.

For now.