Buried Heart Page 3

  As an alternative, and to give them all some well needed rest, the doctor prescribed sleeping pills. Her parents agreed even though they weren’t recommended for someone as young as her. The medication and her night terrors kept her from connecting with the world. By the time she entered high school, Drew had her bubble well established. She walked through her days in a fog. She had friends, a motley group of other rejects and dopers who didn’t fit in. They all just went along to get along.

  Drew wiped her face on a clean kitchen towel and pulled her favorite mug out of the cabinet. Wy had chosen it for her the last time they were together. It had been a cold February day, and she had taken her to Genuine Joe’s for a hot chocolate. Wy had seen the mug and insisted Drew buy it. It was the shape of Captain America’s head and held a good 20 ounces of coffee. He was her sister’s favorite comic hero, and the size was right, so she’d bought it.

  She smiled thinking about Wy. When her parents adopted Wynika, Drew had been starting her senior year. Wy was five. She had stolen Drew’s heart the minute they’d met. Her parents had also adopted her brother Javon at the same time. He was ten and had oppositional disorder. They had their hands full with him and left Wy to Drew more often than not. Being responsible for her sister had saved her. She devoted all her free time to Wy. When Drew moved into the dorms at the University of Texas, she made a point to spend weekends home.

  Having responsibility for her sister woke Drew up to the clouded reality of her life. She wanted to stop the sleeping pills right away, but the authorities in charge of her dorm didn’t feel the same. They looked somewhat unfavorably on students waking other students with blood-curdling screams on a nightly basis. So Drew worked as many hours as she could at Pepe’s Wonder Pizza and saved every cent. After six months, she was able to put a deposit on a garage apartment and stop the pills. Her parents also supplemented her earnings by paying her for babysitting Wynika.

  After she earned her degree in environmental science, she got a job with the park service and was able to move to a bigger place. She lucked into it; one of her professors was moving and wanted to rent to someone he trusted. He thought twenty-four-year-old Drew was a good risk. Two years later, she still loved her little bungalow with its low-slung porch. And she had an extra bedroom for Wy when she stayed over.

  Drew poured her coffee, adding a little cream and sugar. As soon as she sat at the table, Kashka jumped into her lap begging for attention. She scratched him under the chin and ran her hand across his silky fur. She sighed. Time to hit the shower. She downed her coffee and headed that way.

  She was all about business when it came to showering, as she was in most areas of her life. Get in, get clean, get out. Her new hairstyle helped. It was close-cropped except for six inches on the right side, which hung to just below her ear. Everyone had complimented the cut but Wy. She said Drew looked like an anime character.

  She toweled off and dressed in her park service uniform. She grabbed her helmet and headed to the garage. She slid into the saddle of her Harley Softail Classic. It had been a graduation present from her parents. Her dad had bought it when he turned forty and kept it in prime condition. He hadn’t ridden it much since Javon and Wy had joined the family. Drew knew it was a big deal for him to let it go, though. The only thing they made her promise was to never ride without a helmet. She could live with that.

  Drew didn’t like riding in wheeled metal boxes like most folks. They were too confining. It was okay when the windows were open and she had the wind in her face, but if it was raining or something and the windows were up, claustrophobia set in and the need to claw her way out surged through her. When she drove the park service trucks alone, she kept a towel under the seat for rain and left the windows down. She didn’t mind being hot or getting a little wet. Much better than the anxiety that gripped her otherwise.

  She pulled into the park a good fifteen minutes before weekly assembly. The work assignments had been posted, and she was happy to see she had no overnights that week. She wanted to see Cicely again. She was also happy she had drawn Barton Wilderness Patrol today. That meant she’d be on an ATV all day.

  Poor Pres hadn’t been so lucky. He had overnight tonight as well as next Friday. Bummer for him. She grabbed a bagel and a juice from the counter and slid into a front row seat for assembly. The other rangers sauntered in in twos and threes until Truman finally walked in, pulling the door closed behind him. Before he’d reached the podium in front, Pres had quietly toed open the door and entered. He had a hard time with punctuality, and unfortunately, Truman used overnight patrol as punishment. He’d probably just guaranteed himself yet another night tour.

  “Okay, people, listen up. Not much to cover today, but it’s important. There was a little spill over from the SXSW last night. Apparently, some folks didn’t think partying till two was enough. A fair-sized group gathered in the Town Lake Greenspace. Schiller and Ramirez handled it appropriately. They called in APD and broke the group up without too much commotion. Good job.”

  “Tonight we are going to double our overnight patrol, since this is the last Saturday of the event. Everyone look sharp and be respectful. These guys are in our town. That makes it their town, too. They aren’t here for trouble, so let’s help make sure it doesn’t find them.

  “A housekeeping note. Park service bicycles are for authorized use only. It seems someone borrowed a pair yesterday. Don’t let it happen again. Chambliss and Vasquez, the ATVs are all at the mechanic being inspected. Pick yours up there. Now, head out, be safe and careful out there.”

  He dismissed them to their duty assignments. Drew detoured

  to the bathroom while the crowd thinned out. It was nice to have

  the number advantage when it came to the facilities. She liked

  giving the room a chance to clear. The guys jostled her a little too much in a crowd. While she waited she slid her phone out of her pocket. She stared at the number Cicely had left the night before. She clamped down on her self-defeating inner voice and hurriedly shot off a text.

  I really enjoyed last night, and I don’t have to work Friday night, so if the invitation to dinner is still open, I’d love to see you again.

  As she was putting it back in her pants it buzzed in reply.

  Awesome. How about I cook for you?

  Sounds good. What time and where?

  My place, 8:30. She included her address and a note to bring her swimsuit. She had no idea where her swimsuit was, but she’d have to find it later. Now, it was time to head to work.

  She smiled as she pushed the door open.

  “What are you so happy about?” Preston said.

  “Hey, I can’t help it if I’m happy. Sorry you drew the night shift.”

  “Not once, but twice? Come on. Who’s he trying to fool? He’s got it out for me for some reason.”

  “You know the reason. You need to be at work on time, buddy. He won’t let up until you show him you can do it.”

  “It’s not like it’s my fault the roads are full of cars. I can’t change that.”

  “No, but you could leave ten minutes earlier. It’s not so bad. At least you have today and tomorrow off.”

  “Right, but I’m here, so now I get to turn around and fight my way back through traffic.”

  “Bummer. I have to run. Vasquez is probably waiting in the truck for me. I’ll catch you later.”

  He grunted and looked like a sour-faced two-year-old. He had no one to blame but himself. She climbed into the truck, and Vasquez headed to Chuy’s to get the bikes. In no time, they were out at the Wilderness area. Vasquez directed her as she backed the bikes off the trailer. She had more experience with them than he did.

  “You run the perimeter, east to center, making sweeps,” Drew said. “Note any hikers or illegal campers. It’s the time of year for that. Be polite. They don’t usually know they’re breaking the law. I’ll take west to center. Radio in any contact, or if you run into any trouble. If all goes well, I’ll see you bac
k here in about four hours. Take plenty of water.”

  Drew headed out to the far western edge of the park. She loved this land. The prickly pear cactus and scrub oak that defined the hill country. This was where she felt her best. Most at home. She had discovered her love of the outdoors during her first year at UT. Some of her dorm mates had gathered up a crew to go on a school sponsored camping trip near Canyon Lake. Drew had been surprised to be invited, but was happy to go.

  As soon as the bus had driven into the hill country, she’d felt this deep sense of belonging. When they’d unloaded and started setting up camp, the tents confounded her, but picking the best spot to set them up was a no-brainer. She’d impressed the advisors by digging a fire pit and getting a fire going without being directed, and without the Sterno they had brought.

  After that experience, they’d encouraged her to be more active in their group and steered her toward environmental science. It was a natural fit. She’d traveled to many places as an advisor with the Outdoor Recreation Program. Places she never would have discovered on her own. She’d had job offers in Arizona and Montana, but her heart belonged to the hill country, and she made it her goal to work with the park service.

  She eased back on the throttle and let the bike slow to a stop. She looked down into what she playfully called Preston’s Canyon. It was a small ravine, no more than twenty-five feet deep, full of cactus and boulders. When she had gone out with Pres on his first wilderness patrol, he had reached this ravine and radioed. What should he do? Technically the end of the ravine, some thirty feet west, wasn’t on park land. Should he take the bike onto private property? Or follow the thing to its easterly end?

  She had agreed with him that it was against regulations to take the bike off land, but it was his call. She didn’t tell him it would add an hour or more to his trip if he went back. Seasoned rangers knew it was no big deal to take the fifteen feet, but they always waited to see what newbies would do. As she suspected, he had dutifully run the length of the ravine to its end at a wash and picnic area, before crossing and running back out to the western perimeter. Drew had waited a full two hours at the truck before he made it back. She didn’t say anything to him, but at the next assembly, she gave him an award for thoroughness in patrol to the guffaws of the rest of the crew. Pres had turned bright red, but handled it with his customary poise. It was an initiation of sorts, and they’d all had their turn.

  She gunned the engine and scooted west around the ravine. Back to work. Her headset went off as she turned for her first full sweep.

  “Chambliss, I have a situation here. Need your assistance. Copy.”

  “What’s your twenty?”

  “I’m at Sculpture Falls. I have what appears to be an abandoned car in the water. Repeat, vehicle in water.”

  “On my way.”

  Shit. This happened periodically. It usually turned out to be one of two things. A drunk who got a wild idea about driving the creek at night, or kids who’d ripped off a car and dumped it where they expected it would never be found. Both wrong. You don’t drive Barton Creek. It’s rocky, it’s steep in places, and it’s protected, for fuck’s sake. And if you want a hot car found within the first twelve hours, dump it on park land. Anywhere on park land. Drew knew a hundred places you could leave a car and it wouldn’t be questioned for months. But park land wasn’t one of them. The city of Austin treasured its natural resources, and sweeps of city parks happened every day, without fail.

  She took the quickest route to Sculpture Falls and soon joined Vasquez, who stood ogling the predicament they were going to have to deal with. What the heck? How in the world had they gotten that car out to the center of the falls? It didn’t look like a 4x4. Those limestone knobs would tear out the undercarriage of nearly any car. But there it was. A relatively new looking VW Beetle, jammed out in the center above the waterfall.

  “I already called base for the wrecker. Truman said it should be about half an hour,” Vasquez said.

  “Did you walk out there?” she said.

  “You kidding? That water’s damn cold and I don’t have my waders.”

  “Wimp. Here, hold my radio.”

  She handed him her phone as well, and stuck her helmet on her ATV. She shimmied out of her boots and socks and rolled her pants as high as she could. She stepped into the cold, fast-moving water, mindful of her footing. Most accidents around the creek happened when folks underestimated the strength of the current or the slipperiness of the limestone. The grooves that gave Sculpture Falls its name only increased the danger.

  It took her about five minutes to reach the car. The windows were cracked and she immediately noticed the figured slumped over in the driver’s seat.

  “We’ve got a victim out here, Vasquez. Radio for paramedics, and let Truman know.”

  She started walking around to the driver’s side of the car, the current pushing her into its bumper. It rocked and bobbled. She worried it would slip farther down the falls. It wasn’t that the falls were steep. They weren’t. It was the deep pool that gathered at their base. No way would she be able to get to the driver before the car filled with water if it reached the pool. For a minute, she froze, praying the thing would settle. And then, with grating vibrations she felt through her feet, it hung up on the limestone again.

  Relief washed through her and she started moving again. When she reached the driver’s door, she was able to snake her hand through the window and lower it farther. She slipped the top half of her body into the car and assessed the woman behind the wheel. She was unconscious, but had no visible injury. Drew figured the best thing to do was to tie off the car to prevent slippage and wait for trained medical personnel.

  She waded halfway back to Vasquez and had him toss her a line. He secured the other end to a nearby oak. She soon had the car anchored on one side and had him meet her to hand off a second line. She tied that one to a tree on the opposite bank. The car wasn’t going anywhere now. She sent Vasquez to the nearest parking area to wait for the ambulance. She headed back to the car in case the woman went into distress or woke.

  She was still out cold. Drew wondered why, but kept monitoring her breathing. It was hard to do nothing, but she knew from experience it was for the best. The EMTs would have to hump into the park from the nearest entrance. It would take them a while to get here. The park wrecker was really just a Yamaha Rhino Side-by-Side with a powerful wench.

  She heard the returning ATV and knew help had arrived. Vasquez dropped the first paramedic and headed back for another. Soon she heard the Rhino engine, and knew the wrecker had arrived. Joe Stovall was driving, and he had an APD officer as a passenger.

  Drew was relieved when the paramedic took over. She didn’t like how still the woman was. Other rangers and police arrived via ATVs and mountain bikes. She sure hoped someone was handling access at the highway. This amount of activity was going to bring looky-loos from all directions. She moved to the bank of the creek and waited. When they had the woman secured to a backboard, the paramedics signaled, and she and everyone else took positions in the creek and along the bank. They handed the woman down the line in a human chain. Unreasoning panic filled her as the board touched her hands and she passed it on to the guy next to her.

  Why does it feel like I’m in danger? Nothing here is going to hurt me. Shake it off.

  She tried to push the panic down, but it stayed with her. When the woman reached the bank, they carefully carried her to a flat surface where a waiting paramedic assessed her more completely. They decided she was stable enough to move further and loaded her on the Rhino. Drew and three other rangers were asked to walk beside the vehicle to help steady her journey.

  Drew couldn’t make herself walk over to the woman and help.

  “Chambliss? What gives? You get a chill from that water?” Truman said.

  Drew knew it wasn’t the water, but she didn’t have an explanation, so she nodded, allowing him to believe she needed a break.

  “Okay, get back to
headquarters and get warmed up. Vasquez, you take Chambliss’s position.”

  Thankful for the reprieve, Drew climbed onto her ATV and headed back to the locker room. What the heck was that about? What’s wrong with me? Humiliated by her weird reaction to the accident, she changed uniforms and headed back to where she’d left Vasquez’s ATV to wait for him. They still had to sweep the rest of the park.

  By the time her shift was over, she was sore and tired. Going anywhere but home and to bed was less than appealing. She gave some consideration to canceling, but her mom was counting on her, and it’d be nice to see her dad and the kids.

  On the drive to her parents’ house, Cicely’s smile filled her imagination. The sway of her hips as she danced, the feeling that being beside her gave Drew, were what she focused on. She did her best to push aside the memory of panic she’d felt at the crash site. Her nights were hard enough; she didn’t need to add panic during the day to the mix.

  By the time she was headed home late that evening, she felt miles better. Dinner with her family had been just what she’d needed. Good food, lots of laughter, and hugs from her parents made all the stress of the day melt away. She fell asleep thinking about Cicely’s lips, and wondering if this was how it felt to be reasonably normal.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The workweek had been grueling, and Drew was more than ready when her day ended. She fought traffic to get home and went straight to the shower. When she was drying off, she heard her text alert going off. Probably Wy. She had texted her earlier about going to see a movie tomorrow. Drew grabbed her phone off the bedside table and looked at the message. It was an unrecognized number. Must be an ad. Those guys never gave up texting random numbers.

  She opened the message to be certain and frowned.

  I’ve been looking for you, and now I’ve found you. You’ll be back with me very soon.

  No name, just that bizarre statement. She deleted it and blocked the number. Must be some kid playing a prank. She shook it off and dressed for her date with Cicely. She debated wearing jeans or slacks, but knowing she was going on her bike, the denim made much more sense. She chose a chestnut brown western shirt. It had flourishes embroidered on the front and cuffs as well as a six-inch sugar skull on the back. She pulled on her engineer boots to finish the look. Nice.