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    Bear Stalker: Gabriel Hawke Novel, #10
    Bear Stalker: Gabriel Hawke Novel, #10
    Bear Stalker: Gabriel Hawke Novel, #10
    Ebook288 pages3 hours

    Bear Stalker: Gabriel Hawke Novel, #10

    By Paty Jager

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    About this ebook

    Greed, misdirection, and murder has Hawke rushing to track his sister in the Montana wilderness before she becomes the next victim. Bear Stalker is book 10 in the highly acclaimed Gabriel Hawke Game Warden mystery series.

     

    Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke's sister, Marion, is on a corporate retreat in Montana when she becomes a murder suspect. Running for her life from the real killer, she contacts Hawke for help.  

    Hawke heads to Montana to find his sister and prove she isn't a murderer. He hasn't seen Marion in over twenty years but he knows she wouldn't kill the man she was about to marry.

    As they dig into possible embezzlement, two more murders, and find themselves trying to outsmart a wilderness-wise kidnapper, Hawke realizes his sister needs to return home and immerse herself in their heritage. Grief is a journey that must be traveled and knowing her fiancé had wanted Marion to dance again, Hawke believes their culture would help her heal.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWindtree Press
    Release dateJan 31, 2023
    ISBN9781957638638
    Bear Stalker: Gabriel Hawke Novel, #10
    Author

    Paty Jager

    Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 51 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

    Read more from Paty Jager

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      Book preview

      Bear Stalker - Paty Jager

      Prologue

      Her mind whirled and her heart thudded with excitement. She stared into Adrian’s smiling face and knew her answer. Yes, I’ll marry you. 

      Adrian pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Her heart nearly burst thinking she had finally found the right man to take home to her mom and brother. They made love on the small island not far from the resort where their company was holding a week-long corporate retreat.

      They lay in one another’s arms enjoying the warmth of the sunshine, the birds calling to one another, and the rustling of leaves in the trees. We need to get back before they realize we both snuck away and didn’t attend the Opening Dinner. She grabbed her shorts and shirt and stood. I’m going for a dip in the water. I’ll be right back.

      Don’t be gone long. I want to spend as much time as we can alone together. Even if it’s just planning our future. Adrian’s smile faded. Or how to figure out what to do about the discrepancy I told you about the other night.

      She stared down at the man she’d just promised to marry. Don’t worry about it. Once we get back, I’ll look into things.

      He stood. I think they know I found out. He reached out and grasped her hand. We have to be careful. I don’t want anything to happen to you.

      She smiled. I know how to be discreet in my inquiries. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. When he started to pull her tighter, she eased out of the hold. I’m going to clean up, and we’ll get back before anyone realizes we’re gone.

      Adrian nodded and she hurried through the brush toward the west shore of the small island. She dropped her clothes on the sandy beach and walked into the cold water. Goose bumps popped out on her arms and her legs stung from the cold, but she continued until the water was up to her waist, and then she swam around before exiting the water and walking back to her clothes.

      Her mind sifted through all the ways she and Adrian could get a vacation at the same time to visit her family and his to tell them about their engagement. She strolled back to Adrian, humming.

      She stopped. Something was wrong. The world felt cold and off. As if someone had thrown dark netting over the small island. She listened beyond the silence.

      A man’s gruff voice asked, Where is she?

      Creeping toward the spot where she’d left Adrian, she didn’t hear a reply. Cautiously, she peered through the bushes. A man had her bra wrapped around Adrian’s neck. She pushed the bushes apart to go to Adrian’s aid.

      The man with her bra fisted in his hands, spun her way. The coldness in his eyes sent a chill through her.

      He threw the bra still wrapped around Adrian’s neck away from him. Her fiancé fell hard to the ground; his eyes open and his lips purplish-blue.

      The man with cold eyes started in her direction.

      Asking her lean legs to run, she sprinted back the way she’d come, running into the water and swimming for the far shore. She thanked the Creator for the mornings she spent swimming at the local YMCA. It had been her favorite sport growing up and she’d continued it as an adult to keep in shape.

      As she pumped her legs and kept a fast steady pace with her arms, all she could think was to get as far from the man who’d killed Adrian and find help. Because it wasn’t just the man, but the police, and ultimately the company she worked for that would be looking for her. They had to know she and Adrian had been dating and he told her about their illegal actions. That had to be why the man had strangled Adrian with her bra. She swallowed the wail that clawed its way up her throat. She wanted to mourn the man who had asked to marry her, but first, she had to stay alive.

      Chapter One

      The sound of his phone ringing woke Gabriel Hawke. He didn’t have to worry about the sound waking his girlfriend, Dani Singer, she was up in the Wallowa Mountains running her lodge.

      He glanced at his watch. Two a.m. He didn’t recognize the number.

      Hello?

      "Pyáp, I need help." A woman’s voice sounded out of breath.

      Only one person ever called him Pyáp, older brother. Marion?

      They killed Adrian. She choked back a sob. They’re after me. She sucked in air. Hurry!

      The line went silent.

      Marion? He tried to call the number back but no one picked up. Damn!

      Dog had appeared at the bed when Hawke answered the phone. He ruffled the hair on the animal’s neck.

      Two a.m. wasn’t a good time to call his mother and ask questions about Marion. However, he’d heard the desperation in his sister’s voice. It had been nearly two decades since he’d actually set eyes on her. Once she became a corporate lawyer, she’d disappeared back East and rarely came home. Her calling him Pyáp, the name she called him until she started school, told him she was asking as a sister for his help. She needed him to shelter her as he had when her father, his stepfather, drank and raged through the house throwing punches at anyone in his way. His protective instincts kicked in. He would find Kskɨ́s Yáka, Small Bear, and bring her home.

      Sliding his legs over the edge of the bed, he sat up, rubbed a hand over his face, and tried to remember where he’d put that box of personal papers and things when he and Dani moved into this house six months ago.

      Hawke was pretty sure that somewhere there was a business card Marion had sent to him when she’d landed her job. If he couldn’t find that, he’d call their mother. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to wake her.

      Hawke walked through the house in his boxer shorts. It was early June. The nights still held a nip in the air, but the last few years Wallowa County, Oregon had started heating up by the end of June and staying hotter than usual through July.

      He opened the door to the bedroom they’d made into an office and walked over to the closet. Pulling the doors open, he stared at Dani’s side of the closet. All the boxes were neatly labeled. His side of the closet...he wasn’t sure what was in any of the boxes.

      Dog whined.

      Yeah, you and me both. I’ll let you out and make a pot of coffee. This could take a while. Even as he walked to the back door and let Dog out, his head told him there wasn’t time to mess around digging through boxes. He needed to call his mom and find out all she knew about Marion. Their mom would forgive him when he brought Marion home.

      The coffeemaker was gurgling and emitting the strong aroma of the coffee he and Dani preferred as he dialed his mom’s phone number.

      H-hello? Mimi Shumack answered in a sleepy voice.

      I’m sorry to wake you, Mom, but I think Marion is in trouble. I need to know everything you know. He walked over to pour a cup of coffee. The notepad and pen by the fridge caught his attention. He tossed it onto the table before pouring the coffee.

      Marion? What kind of trouble? Mom’s voice warbled. She wasn’t completely awake.

      I don’t know. She said something about Adrian. Do you know who Adrian is? Hawke settled at the table, giving his mom time to wake up and think.

      I believe it is a man she’s been seeing for a while. Why? He heard her shuffling down the hallway. Most likely to make herself a cup of coffee.

      I need to know who she works for and her phone number and address.

      I have her business card on the side of the fridge. Hold on. There was a pause and Mom said, Pannell Financial Services in Dallas, Texas. She read off the phone number and address.

      He heard the flipping of pages and she read off Marion’s address and phone number. Don’t you have your sister’s phone number? Mom asked in an accusing tone.

      I had one some years ago but she must have gotten a new phone number because the last time I tried calling, it said the number had been disconnected.

      That would have been five years ago. Why didn’t you ask me for her new number?

      Hawke shrugged. His sister never called him. Not even for his birthday. He’d stopped trying to call her on hers after getting the disconnected notification. He figured she didn’t want him to know her number.

      Thank you. I’m sorry I had to wake you. I’ll try this number and see if I can find out where she is and what has happened.

      When you learn something let me know, Mom insisted.

      I will. Try to go back to sleep. Hawke ended the call and glanced at the clock. Dallas was two hours ahead of the Pacific Standard Time in Oregon. It was 4:30 AM in Dallas. A financial service would have people working around the clock, wouldn’t they?

      He dialed the number his mom had read off the business card. Two rings and a woman answered. Pannell Financial Services. How may I direct your call?

      I’d like to find out if Marion Shumack is in the office, Hawke said.

      She works eight to five, Monday through Friday, the woman replied.

      And she will be in at eight, then?

      The woman clicked some keys. No, she and a group from the offices are at a corporate retreat.

      Can you tell me where the retreat is located? Hawke wasn’t sure what kind of trouble she was in but he didn’t want to use his State Trooper badge to discover information until he knew what he was up against.

      We don’t divulge that information.

      I hate to ask you to go against any kind of protocol but I’m her brother and our mother is deathly ill. Mom asked me to contact Marion. She’s not answering her cell phone. That’s why I called her work number. His mom wouldn’t like knowing he’d said she was in poor health. But to help her daughter, he was pretty sure Mimi Shumack would do anything, short of killing someone, to find the truth.

      Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. They do make the members at the retreat turn off their cell phones. I’ll call the person in charge of the retreat and have them give the message to your sister.

      I don’t think it would be a good idea for someone else to tell Marion that our mom isn’t doing well. She and my mom are very close. Could you just tell me where she’s at and I can go through the proper channels to contact her there? Hawke needed to know where the retreat was. He wanted to be headed in that direction as soon as he’d contacted his ex-landlords, Herb and Darlene Trembley, to take care of his horses while he and Dog searched for Marion.

      The woman sighed. I’m not supposed to give out the information...

      This is a matter of a dying woman’s desire to see her daughter one last time. My mom has been asking for Marion. I can’t tell her Marion can’t be contacted. He put as much whining as he could stomach into his statement.

      You didn’t hear this from me, the woman whispered. They are staying at the Island Resort on Salmon Lake in Montana. She ended the call.

      Hawke smiled at the small victory. He was one step closer to finding his sister.

      Chapter Two

      Driving along the interstate with Dog in the passenger seat, Hawke went over the phone calls he’d made. First, his ex-landlords to watch his animals, then his boss, Sergeant Spruel, of the Oregon State Police, and last his mom.

      Herb and Darlene said they would take care of things while he looked for his sister. Spruel had offered to gather information on the corporation Marion worked for, the person Adrian she’d mentioned, and the Island Resort on Salmon Lake. Also, he offered to find out about the phone number Marion had called from. Hawke was grateful nearly every day for the people in his life that believed in him.

      Mom had been ready to jump in her car and join him. He’d told her to stay home by her phone in case Marion tried to call her. He also gave her Sergeant Spruel’s phone number in case she couldn’t get a hold of him. He’d check in with his boss every day.

      They were halfway to Salmon Lake, nearing Lolo Pass when his phone rang.

      Hawke, he answered without looking at who was calling.

      It’s Dani. Where are you and Dog? She wasn’t upset but sounded concerned.

      Are you at the house?

      Yeah, I flew in to pick up clients tomorrow morning and thought I’d surprise you. She chuckled. The surprise was on me.

      Marion called in the middle of the night.

      Marion? Your sister? I thought you and she—

      She’s in trouble. She didn’t have time to tell me more than she was in trouble, someone was killed, and she needs help. I’m headed to Salmon Lake, Montana. That’s where she is on a corporate retreat.

      Damn! If I’d known this sooner, I could have flown you there.

      It’s okay. I need a vehicle. I’m going to lose you, I’m about to head over Lolo Pass. Can you call mom and talk to her this evening? I had to call her to get information. Guilt had been gnawing at his gut over having to drag their mom into this. He wouldn’t have had to if he’d kept in contact with his sister. But damn, she should be the one who kept in contact with family. She was the one who ran away as soon as she could.

      I’ll call her. Be careful.

      The bars for his phone service disappeared.

      <<>><<>><<>>

      Marion rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She’d taken a long-sleeved shirt, pants, and a pair of athletic shoes from the house she’d broken into to call Gabriel. She’d pulled them on over her shorts and tank top since her underwear were back on the island leaving evidence that she had been with Adrian when... Her chest burned from the sobs she’d held in all night as she first swam, then ran barefoot over the ridge and down the other side. She’d been thankful to focus on remembering Gabriel’s phone number as she searched for an empty house with a phone. She’d passed up nearly a dozen that either had people in them or she didn’t see any electricity or phone lines. Knowing the man who had killed Adrian would be looking for her, she hadn’t wanted anyone to see her. She couldn’t have lived with herself if someone innocent was killed because they had helped her.

      She hadn’t seen phone lines at the cabin she’d broken into but had been lucky to find a working landline. And even luckier Gabriel had answered the call and knew it was her. Before she could calm herself and fill Gabriel in, she’d had to flee. Lights had illuminated the house and she didn’t want to be caught. She’d run out the backdoor and through the trees until she couldn’t breathe. Her stomach rumbled. She wished she’d thought to fill the pockets of the clothing with food. 

      She’d been a child the last time she’d gone hungry for more than an hour. And almost as long since she’d spent time in a forest. If she weren’t running for her life, she could enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells. But fear kept her chest tight and stalled her brain from thinking of anything other than survival.

      Marion sat on a downed log to rest. The minute her muscles relaxed, they began to burn. And her heart ached, as her last sight of Adrian flashed through her mind.

      She had to find Gabriel. They would make sure Drew Pannell and the man with the cold eyes went to jail for Adrian’s murder.

      <<>><<>><<>>

      Hawke’s stomach was growling as he drove up 83N and spotted law enforcement vehicles clogging the small parking lot alongside the ferry shuttle building on the lake shore. He spotted a dirt road leading up the ridge on the opposite side of the highway from the lake. He drove up the road even though it had a sign: PRIVATE KEEP OUT. He parked, rolled down the window, and used his binoculars to watch the small motorboats hauling law enforcement personnel to the island with the resort and to a smaller island beyond the resort island.

      He spotted State and County police. Someone in a fancy jogging outfit stood on the dock at the resort, greeting the law enforcement who arrived. Hawke wondered if it was the manager of the resort or someone from Pannell Financial.

      His phone rang. A glance at the name and he slid his finger across the screen.

      What have you found out? This resort is crawling with law enforcement, he said, by way of answering the phone.

      Then you made it to Salmon Lake, Spruel said.

      Yeah. Any chance I can flash my badge and get in there? he asked.

      Word is they found Adrian Ulrick strangled with a bra. He was naked. They believe it was an erotic role play that went wrong. Spruel sounded embarrassed. He’d talked about such matters before in cases and never seemed to bat an eye.

      They think Marion did it, don’t they? That would be the only explanation for his boss being embarrassed to say it.

      Yeah.

      Well, she didn’t. She said ‘they killed Adrian.’ Hawke continued to watch the happenings. I think I’ll rent a boat and make my way out to the small island. Do you have any contacts in this area I could work with to learn what they are finding?

      I’ll see if an old friend is willing to help you. And that number your sister called from? It’s from a landline. He rattled off the address. From what I can see on Google Earth, it’s a house south of Placid Lake and west of Salmon Lake.

      Thanks. I’ll head there before I rent a boat. I’ll let you know what I find out. Hawke ended the call, studying the goings on. He spotted a boat carrying a gurney with a body bag. That would be the victim. The man his mom said Marion was involved with.

      Hawke put the address Spruel gave him into his phone’s GPS and backed down the dirt road onto the highway. He followed the directions to the end of Salmon Lake, turned left, and followed the gravel road past vacation homes along the end of the lake.

      He spotted some trees that had been painted with scary faces and continued to a sign that said Placid Lake. He made a left following a dirt road around the end of the lake and along the south side weaving through trees until he came to a small cabin. This must have been the end of the line for power and phone lines.

      Two large dogs ran out of the trees beyond the cabin, barking and baring their teeth.

      A man stepped out onto the porch with his arms crossed. The dogs ran over and sat down on either side of the man.

      Staring at the dogs and man with a face that said, ‘Get off my land,’ Hawke wondered how Marion had managed to get past the dogs and use the phone.

      Dog’s hair rose along his spine.

      Put that down. You aren’t getting out and they aren’t getting in. Hawke ran his hand down his friend’s back, settling the hair in place.

      Hawke eased his door open and stepped out.

      The dogs and man remained on the porch. This is private property. Unless you’re the police, you need to get back in your truck and leave, the man said.

      It appeared the man was either looking for the police or had a good rapport with them. If the man had called the police, Hawke hoped it had to do with Marion. I’m Hawke with the State Police. He pulled his badge out from under his shirt with the chain around his neck but didn’t get close enough for the man to see he wasn’t a Montana trooper.

      The man scowled. Since when do Staters walk around out of uniform?

      On a day when I was called away from R & R to call on you. He flipped open a notepad he’d pulled along with a pen from his breast pocket. Sorry, I didn’t hear your name when they called it in. Barely caught the address.

      Will Rule. What did they tell you about the call? The man was still skeptical.

      Hawke figured someone who lived clear out here with two bristly dogs didn’t want the police poking around. You had a break-in? He made that up, hoping that was how Marion had used the phone. If he’d said, ‘you found a woman,’ that might be more than the man knew.

      Yeah, I came home last night and found my back door open, a pair of fishing pants, shirt, and shoes missing. Rule looked down at the dogs. Me and the boys went to Seeley Lake for dinner.

      What time did you leave and what time did you get back? Hawke scribbled everything the man said in the notebook.

      And you didn’t see anyone when you returned? Hawke asked.

      "Nope. Just the back

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