Mountain of Lies

Chapter 3

"Oh god." Mia's knuckles were white where she clutched the doorframe of the SUV as she stepped out onto the pavement. She'd insisted on driving after they left the rest stop and had made several attempts to drop him off, but Hudson had held firm, insisting he see her safely home. He still needed time to convince her to help him find the helicopter, and he figured a full belly, hot shower, and good night's sleep in a real bed might ease the distaste she had for law enforcement and help her see things his way.

It had been a tense ride with the storm slowing them to a crawl. Traffic collisions dotted the roads around town and they'd had to reroute several times. Lightning strikes had taken out multiple power grids and it turned out the four-way stop procedure was far too complicated for the town of Middleworth to handle. It was the weather and the No Vacancy signs at each of the motels they passed that finally seemed to convince Mia she wasn't going to be rid of him tonight.

Between the long hours in the vehicle, the hike before, and being bounced down the mountainside before that, Hudson felt like his muscles had been replaced with concrete. Mia had survived an extra ordeal before he even came on the scene, so he was impressed she'd even managed to extract herself from the driver's seat.

"Holy crap," she said, and staggered back to the passenger door. She leaned in, then rocked herself back upright. "I can't reach. Can you undo Neville?"

He nodded, then opened the door on his side and unthreaded the seat belt from the dog's harness. He got a full face lick in thanks, and then the dog was bounding toward the small plot of weeds that was pretending to be a lawn in front of the ramshackle house Mia had said was home. Hudson managed not to swear as he reached over the back seat to grab Neville's panniers and Mia's pack, but nearly knocked himself to the ground when he tried to swing them over his shoulder. He let one hang from each hand instead as he followed Mia's stiff-legged walk to the front door.

"So wildlife biology doesn't pay well?" he asked

"Huh? Oh, the house." She aimed the key at the lock and had to use her other hand to support her wrist. "I move for every job and it's hard to find places that will accept dogs. Especially once they see Neville. So I end up staying mostly in places like this. It's fine. The neighbourhood is safe...ish."

"And if you don't have a vehicle that looks like it's worth stealing." He was starting to appreciate her logic. He moved through the door and bent just enough to let the backpacks sink to the worn kitchen linoleum beneath his feet. "Or anything else for that matter. Were you robbed?"

"Robbed? No, why?"

He gestured at the nearly empty space, and she shrugged. "No point in accumulating a lot of crap to haul from one place to the next." Neville bounded up to the front door and carefully dragged each paw against the coarse mat placed against the doorsill. "Good boy, Nev. Let's get you some dinner." The dog walked over to a stand with two metal dishes and glanced back and forth between the empty dishes and Mia like there was an invisible tennis match in play.

"I got it." A groan nearly escaped as he bent down to retrieve one of the bowls, and he pressed his lips tight. Got to keep that manly image in place. She smiled as she took it from him and filled it with dry kibble. That was, what, three smiles now?

She managed to put the dish on the stand without dropping it or falling over. Drool started to collect in a pool between Neville's feet, but he waited until Mia gave him the go ahead and then inhaled the dish's contents in about thirty seconds. He nosed the dish, then looked at Mia, but she shook her head. "I'm out of the wet, buddy. I'll get you some tomorrow, I promise." The dog padded quietly out of the room.