The Other Side of Lone Mountain

Chapter Eight

They reached Mandy’s house and Paul parked his Cherokee behind her Suzuki. Once they were inside Mandy headed for the phone to call Lone Wolfe. She called out to Paul, “Help yourself to a drink.”

“Thanks, how about you? Would you like something?”

“Just a little red wine, thanks”, she called back as she picked up the receiver and dialed Lone Wolfe’s number. Lone Wolfe picked up on the fourth ring. “Hi, it’s me. I need to talk to you about something.” She quickly ran the situation down to him and asked if they could stop by. It was settled; they would be there in about an hour after they made a stop at the B & B to drop off Paul’s vehicle.

They arrived at the B & B about 6:30 in the evening. Mandy introduced Paul to her mother. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Blake.”

“Glad to meet you too Mr. Covington. I gather you haven’t found your friend. I’m so sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help.”

“Mom, actually there is something you can help us with. Is Mark’s truck in the back?”

“Why no, he said he was driving up to the mountain. He had a bunch of equipment in the back of the truck.”

“Thanks mom”, said Mandy. “You don’t know how much you have just helped us.”

Sarah beamed. She was so proud of her daughter; therefore, it thrilled her to be able to help Mandy whenever possible.
As Mandy turned to face Paul she remembered about the empty room that Mark had paid for. She turned back to her mother. “Mom, since we haven’t found Mark yet and his room is paid for, would it be okay if Paul stayed in there?”

“Of course sweetie, not a problem. Mr. Scott only stayed in it two nights. I’ll change the linen and it’ll be ready shortly. I even have a spare set of keys” and she left to get it. When she returned she handed Paul the keys and explained which key went to the front door and which to the room. Then she gave her daughter a knowing look.

“Don’t even go there mom” said Mandy. Paul gave Mandy a questioning look, wondering what that was about. She didn’t volunteer an explanation and he didn’t ask.

Sarah Blake never remarried after Mandy’s father died. Although she was still a young beautiful looking woman, she never entertained the idea of another relationship. She went out to dinner sometimes but all her relationships were platonic. She loved Frank and had yet to find anyone that could measure up to him and she refused to settle for second best. She had resolved herself to taking care of what Frank had worked so hard for. If it hadn’t been for the house Frank bought when they were first married, life would have been very difficult for Sarah. Even though Frank’s parents were rich, Frank never asked for or took anything from his parents. He made his own way.

After his death, she turned the house into a Bed and Breakfast, which kept her busy and she got to meet a lot of interesting people. She never felt lonely except at night in bed when memories of her marriage to Frank and how happy they had been would come flooding over her. She didn’t want her daughter to end up the same way. She was much too young and beautiful for a life alone.

She liked Paul immediately. There was something about him that brought about an instant trust and comfort. He seemed to be a very caring and sensitive man. He sort of reminded her of her own husband, rugged yet kind and gentle. She had also noticed that he was not wearing a wedding band and there was no sign that there had ever been one there. She felt that Paul could possibly make her daughter very happy.

After saying goodbye, Paul and Mandy headed for Lone Wolfe’s house. They drove in silence; each lost in their own thoughts. Mandy was thinking about Kenny and how much she missed him. How lonely she’d been since his death. She then began to think about the deaths that had occurred on the mountain. She wondered if maybe Paul was right, the accidents weren’t accidents and that somehow they were connected. Mandy knew that all the deaths had been called accidents. She questioned several of them, especially the accidents that had happened very close to one another and under similar circumstances. She began to feel again that there was something very wrong and that Mark was in grave danger.

Paul on the other hand was thinking about Mark and his family. How devastated Vickie would be if they didn’t find Mark. He made a promise to himself. If indeed something had happened to his best friend, he would make sure that Vickie and the kids would always be cared for. No, I refuse to think that way. We will find Mark and he’ll be just fine. He just got lost up there; after all, he’s never been up there before. Mark is fine and we will find him.

Suddenly Mandy’s voice penetrated his thoughts. “Well, here we are. I see Lone Wolfe left the porch light on for us.” Mandy parked her Suzuki next to Lone Wolfe’s Hummer and they walked up to the house. Lone Wolfe had seen them drive up and was at the door waiting. Mandy introduced Paul. He invited them in and offered them a drink. They each accepted a beer and sat down. Mandy brought Lone Wolfe up to speed on all the information they had. She wanted to make sure they were all on the same page before pulling out the items they found on the mountain. She also told him about their run-in with Gill. Paul then filled Lone Wolfe in on what Mark was doing up on the mountain.
Lone Wolfe listened intently to everything they said. Lone Wolfe never liked or trusted Gill either so he understood Mandy’s hesitation in letting Gill in on what was going on. He always felt that Gill was involved in something not quite on the up and up. When Paul finished,

Lone Wolfe asked, “Do you think that Mark would move locations without notifying you?”

“He’s never done that in the past, but maybe with all the rain he was forced to” replied Paul.

“What about his glasses, does he wear them all time or just for reading?”

“He has to wear them all the time, he’s never without them.”

“Do you know if he has a spare with him?”

Paul thought for a moment before answering. He knew that Mark had a spare but he wasn’t sure if he had it with him. He told Lone Wolfe as much.

Lone Wolfe suggested calling Mark’s wife and checking with her. At that both Paul and Mandy spoke up at the same time, “NO!”

Lone Wolfe was surprised at their reaction. Now he was definitely curious and wanted to know more. “Alright, may I ask why you don’t want to call his wife?”

It was Paul who responded. “I told Vickie that Mark was probably on the mountain and I was going to join him and I would call her when we got back to town. I don’t want her to know that I didn’t find Mark and that he’s missing. I don’t want her worrying unnecessarily.”

“In that case, I’ll go up there tomorrow and start from where you left off and see where it leads me. I’ll check back with you when I return. In the meantime Paul, I’d like you to think of anything Mark might have said the last time you spoke with him that can help us.

Now it was Mandy’s turn to ask, “Lone Wolfe, from what we’ve told you so far, what do you think might have happened?”

He replied, “I don’t want to speculate at this time because there are a lot of unanswered questions right now. I can think of several scenarios, none of them good. Therefore, I prefer to wait until I have more information.

They chatted for a while longer during which time Paul told him about his company and himself. He also told Lone Wolfe a little about his partner. Lone Wolfe was interested in knowing what kind of man Mark was and how resourceful he was. That would give him an idea of Mark’s chances of survival in the wilderness. After about two hours Paul and Mandy said good night and left.