Kristine ignored her brother's raised eyebrows the next morning as she shut her bedroom door and slipped into the bathroom.

"I already caught up your stock," he said when she emerged.

"You didn't have to do that," Kristine poured herself some coffee and popped some bread in the toaster.

"Might as well cook for the two of you."

She whipped around.

"You pee a lot during the night, but not twice in a row."

She couldn't help the smile that crept to her lips.

"Better wipe that look off your face. Sol and Brian have some huge spot leaving out of here. I'm aiming to get out of here before they can rope me into helping."

"Thanks for the heads-up."

Kristine popped in two more pieces of toast and poured a second cup of coffee, carrying it back to the bedroom. Shutting the door behind her, she set the mug down on the old rope spool that served as her bedside table and buried her face above Gloria's shoulder to kiss the naked skin. Gloria shifted in the covers and the smell of their combined s.e.x wafted out. Kristine felt a surge of wet between her legs and fought the urge to crawl back in next to Gloria.

"I have coffee here and toast coming up. You want it back here or by the table? Gabe's already up."

Gloria shot to a seated position, her hair adorably mussed from s.e.x and sleep. "I forgot about your brother. I'd hide out here, but I already have to pee so bad."

"Forget about trying to hide. He's already read my rubber legs and deduced what we've been up to." Kristine leaned over to kiss her. "Good morning, by the way."

"Good morning." Gloria smiled into the kiss.

"What?" Kristine asked.

"You smell like me."

Kristine moaned into the extended kiss Gloria delivered. "Don't tempt me. If I don't haul a.s.s, I'm going to be stuck in the yard forever."

"So the quicker I let you go, the shorter your day is?"

"Exactly."

Gloria frowned with disappointment. "Then you'll have to make it up to me."

"That's an easy promise to make," Kristine said. She handed Gloria a pair of sweats to throw on and left before she lost her resolve.

Gabe didn't comment when Gloria emerged, disappeared into the bathroom and then joined them, her face washed and hair pulled back. Kristine pointed to a plate of toast and eggs on the breakfast table in front of an empty chair.

"Thanks for the offer," she said, setting her coffee cup on the counter. "But I'd better get out of your hair. Sounds like you have a busy morning."

"Sit," Gabe said. "Everyone's having breakfast over at the Lodge. You've got time to eat and then sneak off."

Gloria looked guilty.

"C'mon. Eat. I'm sure you worked up just as much of an appet.i.te as Kristine."

He ducked away from Kristine's crushing look. "Sorry," she said, waving a half-eaten piece of toast. "I was famished. Sit. He's right. You have time for breakfast before the truck gets here."

They ate in silence, stealing glances and smiling after Gabe ducked out. Kristine finished quickly, dropped her plate in the sink and splashed water over her face.

"You don't have to sneak off. Stay for a shower if you want. I'm sorry I've got to get my stock ready."

Gloria stood and slipped into Kristine's arms. "Meet you back here?"

"Not soon enough." Kristine kissed her with the promise of another wonderful night and then reluctantly slipped into a thick flannel overshirt and nestled her hat onto her head, joining her brother in the yard to get ready for their day. The sky brightened clear of any clouds, the sun quickly taking the edge off the brisk morning air. She aimed for nonchalant when Gloria discreetly slipped out of the house and headed down the road.

"So you finally smartened up?" Gabe asked, grabbing his saddle from the shed.

Busy saddling her own mount, Kristine jabbed a finger in his direction to silence him. "Not a word."

He settled the saddle onto his horse and held up his hands in defense. Kristine tried to concentrate on her own task without giving in to the smile that threatened to take over her face. The crew from the Lodge was soon with them, as were their guests, piling load after load of boxes from their SUV to the pack dock.

"See why I suggested we get out of here?" Gabe asked, fetching his mount.

"I've never seen such a ridiculous amount of gear on a dock before."

"Don't I know it." He swung aboard and held his mount for a moment, pulling on his bottom lip like he had something to say. "My advice is to get out of here before they spoil that grin you've been trying to hide all morning."

With that, he spurred his horse up the trail, his stock falling in line behind him. For his being the younger of the two, his protectiveness touched her deeply. She took his advice, wanting to hold onto the first equilibrium she'd felt in a long time.

Chapter Twenty.

Back in her camper, Gloria attempted to work, but her mind kept slipping back to the breathtaking night she'd spent with Kristine. She wished she could have pulled her back into the warmth of the bed to continue her research of Kristine's body and what her touch did to her. The two-way radio Scott had given her when she'd checked in with the local Forest Service at the beginning of the summer crackled to life, interrupting her review of all the night's lovely details.

"Gloria, you within range?"

"I'm here, Scott. What's up?"

"Just got a call from Leo. Seems there's been an incident down at Fish Creek with a horse of his. He was calling to let us know he's got a carca.s.s he's got to haul out of camp."

Gloria hesitated, wondering how the horse involved her. "Okay...?" she said, prompting him to continue.

"Normally, I'd just let Leo deal with moving the animal as far away from the camp as possible, but he said something about a bear attacking the animal, so I thought you'd better have a look before they quarter the carca.s.s and drag it off. Leo's sending someone down from the Lodge this morning to clean up the camp. I've notified Juanita since this is her area, and she is on her way to a.s.sess the scene."

"I haven't seen anything in Juanita's reports about him being a problem. I'd like a chance to check the scene, too."

"Of course. That's why I'm calling. You'll need to get down there today. Leo agreed to let you ride in with the packer if you can get down there within the hour."

"Done."

Thinking about the bear, Gloria threw together a pack. This late in the season, he would be moving beyond grazing the gra.s.s, looking for game, but he was much more likely to fish than take on a horse. She couldn't imagine the scenario, especially picturing the scrawny excuse for a bear she'd been de-conditioning at the beginning of the season. She felt sick. Was this horse's death the result of her leaving the valley too soon? Had she misread the animal's potential for danger?

She swung back by Kristine and Gabe's place to leave a note explaining why she'd had to head down to the Lodge. She included what little she knew and how she hoped she wouldn't be gone long. She paused before signing the note, opting for a simple "see you soon" instead of anything more explicit. She had no idea who might return to the outpost first, and she knew what kind of fun Gabe would have if he found it first.

Down at the Lodge, Frank, the packer a.s.signed to clean up the camp, grabbed her pack and pointed her toward a dude horse. A full goatee hid the tall cowboy's mouth, but she could still see that his lips were pursed tight in annoyance. She hoped it wasn't from having to take her along. Gloria could ride well enough, and although Kristine had shown her how to work the cinch in reverse to remove the saddle, she allowed one of the day-ride girls to tighten the latigo on the horse and help her aboard. Frank ambled off, his striped shirt taut between his broad shoulders. He made quick work of securing her pack on the smallest of his three mules, acknowledged her with a nod and swung aboard his own mount. Gloria's mount fell in line on autopilot down the trail, and they spent the hours it took to get to Fish Creek riding in silence.

From Scott's briefing, the campsite was how she'd expected: all of the food opened and scattered everywhere, the tent ripped to shreds and clothing unstuffed from the duffels like a disemboweled...horse. She wondered if Kristine had known the animal that now lay at the base of the tree.

"f.u.c.k me," Frank said, a look of disgust on his face. Obviously, he hadn't been prepared for what he saw. He offered Gloria an apologetic look. "Sorry about that. I thought I was just moving a carca.s.s and picking up their stuff. They didn't say anything about the mess. This is easily five mule loads of stuff."

"How many people were here?"

"Three. A fifty-year-old woman, her dad and a friend. Nard dropped them off yesterday, and they were supposed to camp here two nights."

"And they had this much food?"

Frank shrugged. "Like I said. I didn't pack them in. And now I'm stuck packing all this c.r.a.p out."

He hiked back to fetch the tools he'd brought to tackle the cleanup. Sensing trouble, the stock had refused to move any closer to the camp. Gloria studied the mess, noting how thoroughly the bear had gone through all the campers' things. But it was odd. It had ripped open cans of beans, yet had left their contents untouched. She moved to the horse carca.s.s. As terrible as the gaping wounds were where the bear had gnawed, it had not made a significant meal of the animal. It was not a hungry bear.

"Frank?"

"Yup?" he said, joining her and setting down his tools.

"This horse doesn't seem to have been attacked. All of this looks like a scavenger taking advantage of an easy meal."

Frank ran his hand affectionately along the dead horse's neck, shaking his head. "Yeah...this horse hung himself. See here? He got his foreleg hooked over the lead. I don't know who tied this knot, but whoever it was killed 'im. Suffocated when he couldn't get his head up. It's why we usually have the animals tied to the picket." He motioned to the line tied above them between the two trees.

The breeze shifted, and Gloria covered her mouth.

"Do you know why they kept the horse unattended down here?"

"The woman who booked the trip was worried about her father. Wanted to be able to get him out quickly if he had problems with his health."

"And after the horse died?"

"He hiked out on his own, no problem."

Gloria bowed her head, fuming inside.

"You seen enough? Can I haul him off now?" Frank asked.

"Yeah. I've seen enough." She left him to his grisly task and set to finding some good paw prints to cast. Though she was fairly certain it was the yearling she'd worked with, she wanted to gather what she could. She would also search the trees for claw marks or hair he'd lost brushing against the trees, so she could compare it to what she'd gathered during her first trip down in the valley to verify that it was the same young black one she'd done her best to scare away from humans.

The longer she worked, the angrier she became. Everything about the situation felt like such a waste to her: the loot that would potentially turn a habituated bear into a food-conditioned bear and the dead animal. She couldn't believe that Leo would be foolish enough to leave one of his animals in the care of such inexperienced campers. By the time Juanita reached the camp, she was about to come unglued.

"Leo has got to be held accountable for this," she barked, gesturing at the mess Frank had barely made a dent in despite the hours he had worked. "This is simply unacceptable. Talk about managing human stupidity. I said at the beginning of the season that this animal would be okay if the hikers in the area could keep food away from him. And here someone's set up a bear buffet. Look at this!"

"Leo is being held accountable," Juanita said in an infuriatingly reasonable voice. "He's aware that he has to clean up this mess which is why he sent in the packer. It's unfortunate that the bear got into so much of the human food, and we'll have to keep an eye on him."

"The horse is dead," Gloria said.

"I thought you were concerned about the bear," Juanita said. This was the quality Gloria had a.s.sessed from the beginning of the season when she'd first met Juanita. All efficiency, an emotional appeal would have no effect on her. She looked at Frank and then back at Gloria. "He understands that accidents happen in the backcountry. Stock is lost, and we do our best to remove the carca.s.s from areas hikers or campers would stumble upon it. This is not an isolated incident."

"This is not an accident. This is stupidity," Gloria seethed. "Leo killed this horse by leaving stupid people alone in the backcountry with a horse and no employee. This is the Las Vegas strip of stupid right here, and my bear will take the rap."

"We'll do our best to warn campers to use another campsite until the scavengers have taken care of the carca.s.s."

"You obviously can't be out here every day, or you would have advised this party on how to store their food. When you have such a large area to patrol, you can't possibly ensure that this bear will have some breathing room, and you and I both know that the more contact he has with people, the more likely it is that he'll end up being destroyed."

"I do my best," Juanita said, her tone more clipped.

"How come the locations Leo uses frequently for spot trips don't include a bear box? They're often packing in more inexperienced people and should take responsibility for maintaining a habitat that encourages distance between human and wildlife by making sure food is stored in a bear-proof container. Clearly it is not enough to rely on people to tie their food out of reach, especially when they're bringing in food in this quant.i.ty. At the very least, the amount of food packed in should be regulated," Gloria emphasized.

Juanita shrugged. "You'd have to talk to Leo about those ideas. We've made our own suggestions, but he's under no obligation to comply. And you know as well as anyone that even when the state installs bear boxes, there is no guarantee that people are going to use them correctly or use them at all."

Gloria wanted to hit her. The more calmly she spoke, the more irritated Gloria became. Ignorant people she dealt with every day. But these particular guests had been brought in by professionals. She'd come into this project to ensure that the overnight packers were diligent in keeping their food away from bears. Her anger, she realized had built because she was at fault for not seeing such a huge hole in the spot trips the Lodge did on a daily basis.

"They should be responsible for the people that they escort out into the backcountry. They bring in all this food. They should incur penalties when a situation like this occurs."

"Why don't you start with your girlfriend, see if she agrees," Juanita answered, unfazed by Gloria's tirade.

Gloria blinked, confused. She had to mean Kristine, but who would know they were more than friends? She, herself, didn't call Kristine her girlfriend. Mitch.e.l.l, she supposed. Juanita moved on, unaware of Gloria's musings.

"I'll let Scott know I don't see a problem with bear aggression here."

"Thanks." Gloria watched Juanita and Frank unemotionally discuss the details of removing the carca.s.s. They did their job of monitoring people and livestock well, concentrating only on the immediate task. Gloria, on the other hand, worried about the growing number of reported contacts between bear and human. Her bears kept coming last, and she felt like she was their only advocate.

Knowing Frank would remove all of the human food and that the bear would naturally scavenge on the horse carca.s.s once it had been hauled away from the campsite, she resigned herself to a long hike home with a heavy pack. Her anger made it feel like a daypack as she charged up the trail, working out what she wanted to say to Leo.

Chapter Twenty-One.

After reading Gloria's note about the problem with the Fish Creek bear, Kristine seized the opportunity to take some pictures of Sol when he returned from the huge trip he'd helped pack in. Hearing hoofbeats on the road, she stood poised to capture him.

"Put that G.o.dd.a.m.n camera down and make yourself useful," Sol spat at Kristine as he rode into the yard. It was close to dinnertime, hours after the packers normally returned.