Chapter 13

"Thanks for coming."

Nero smirked at him. "It didn't sound like I really had a choice."

"Don't they say the first forty-eight hours are the most important? We're just about in day three. I want answers."

Forrest led the way inside. He hadn't bothered to straighten up the house. Nero was just going to have to deal with Forrest's bachelor mess. Stacks of unread books next to the couch, several empty coffee cups—he spotted one on the bookshelf in the corner—plants that needed watering. He was better at keeping them alive outside, but Lani was always giving them to him anyway.

"It's the first seventy-two hours and it's only been forty-eight, but I understand what you are saying. I'm pretty sure that Hollywood came up with twenty-four hours to justify their shitty plots."

"Where do you want to set up, the kitchen or my office? The kitchen is probably better. I can sit at the table too."

Nero raised one dark eyebrow. "So you can watch my every move? Make sure I don't take too many coffee breaks? I'll work wherever you want me to, but you can't hang over my shoulder. If you do, I'm packing up and heading back to town."

"I won't hang over your shoulder," Forrest said without meaning it. Nero shot him a glance that told him he wasn't fooled, either.

"Alright, so. This is my living room, obviously." He didn't mention the mess. It wasn't going anywhere. "The kitchen is through there." Forrest pointed the other direction. "Bathroom's that way if you need it."

"So, it's sit my ass down and get to work,Nero time?"

"Duh."

Forrest led the way into the kitchen and pointed at the table. He liked working there as it was near the sliding door and got a lot of natural light.

"If you sit here, the light won't glare off your laptop screen."

Nero huffed and set his backpack on the table.

"Maybe you can get started on the aforementioned coffee? I don't work well without it. And you can tell me about Ned Barker before I get started. What you tell me could help us find a direction. But remember, this could've just been something random, and those are harder to solve. I'll need your Wi-Fi password."

"WinstonSmithLives."

"What? Is that a reference to 1984?" Nero looked impressed.

"Yes. Most people don't get that."

Not that he had guests over all the time who needed his password. Well, and Lani got it just fine. She claimed it was another moment of Forrest being ridiculous.

"Most people aren't me."

No, Forrest had to admit that Nero Vik was one of a kind. As shitty as Forrest had been since he'd come to town—and after Forrest had left abruptly Thursday night—Nero was here, in Forrest's house, ignoring how much of an asshole Forrest could be.

The other man set up his laptop on the table and turned it on, then fished a notebook and a pen out of his bag to put next to the computer while it powered up. He watched Nero's fingers fly over the keys as he typed in the password.

Forrest returned to the subject of Ned's killer. "If this were Seattle or someplace big, I'd consider that maybe some random person is responsible for Ned's death. But Cooper Springs is a small community. And maybe I'd feel different if it was July or August, when people start coming around for vacation, but there aren't many strangers here at this time of year."

"Except for me," Nero pointed out.

"Lani told me they cleared you." Nick had also, but Forrest wasn't going to throw him under the bus. Lani could take care of herself.

"I didn't kill your friend." Nero sounded a tad pissed off that Forrest had even hinted at the possibility.

"I know that now," Forrest huffed back. "Look, I'm not the most trusting person in the world. And you put me off-balance."

There. That was the most he was going to admit about how Nero Vik had sent his insides reeling since the moment he'd turned up in Cooper Springs. How close he was to violating his own rules about men.

Nero paused his typing and assessed Forrest from over the laptop screen. Forrest felt the slightest bit uncomfortable but also as if maybe he'd passed a test of some kind.

"Coffee?" Nero finally asked. "Seriously, I'm not typing another letter without a huge cup of hot, steaming coffee within my reach."

"One huge, steaming cup of coffee coming right up." Forrest turned his attention to the assigned task, thankful the moment had broken. "Do you want anything else?"

* * *

Forrest set the Believe—CSBFScoffee mug where Nero could reach it and took the chair next to him. His cup matched Nero's, both decorated with a silhouette of a Sasquatch set against a simple map of the region with red map pins where there'd been supposed sightings.

Nero stared at the cup, his lips moving as he silently figured out what the letters stood for.

"Ah, yes, Cooper Springs Bigfoot Society. But Bigfoot is one word. Are you a member?" he asked.

"Yeah, but Rufus didn't think BS worked very well for the merch. And of course I am." Forrest scoffed. "Rufus wouldn't let me into the pub if I wasn't a member and in good standing. For most of us, it's a joke, but Rufus is a believer. He doesn't think all the sightings are valid, of course, but he had an experience when he was a boy, and he firmly believes the big guy saved his life."

"That's cool."

"Are you serious?"

"Well, yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

"A lot of people make fun of the Bigfoot Society and Rufus."

"In case you hadn't noticed, I am not like a lot of other people."

"Oliver Cox is also a member, and Ned was too. My grandpa gave them all endless amounts of shit about it, and they kept trying to convert him."

"So Rufus and Ned were good friends? Maybe I should talk to Rufus about him. I was going to talk to him anyway."

"Sure." Forrest shrugged. "Might be a good idea."

Nero turned in his seat. "So, tell me about the Ned Barker you knew." He picked up the pen, turned to a fresh page in the spiral notebook, and waited for Forrest to begin.

Where did he want to start? It was hard to talk about Ned without bringing in his own early childhood, but maybe Nero had heard something already. Maybe that was why he'd wanted an interview? That seemed far-fetched even for Forrest and his tendency toward conspiracy-theory thinking.

Nero raised his eyebrows when Forrest didn't start speaking right away.

"I'm sorry. I know this is hard for you. You said he was a friend of yours. How about you start with how you met and go from there?"

"It's complicated."

"Most things are."

"I first met Ned—and Rufus—when I was seven. Which was also the first time I met my grandfather."

"Keep talking…"

"There's a lot I don't know because Grandpa never talked about what happened up there. I think he wanted Lani and me to grow up as normal as possible for the most part and thought leaving the past behind was the best way to do that."

If Forrest's nightmares were any indication, Grandpa had been right.

"What I do know, from things he said and what Rufus has told me since he died, is that our dad got involved in a survivalist movement way back when. An end-of-the-world sort of homesteading pioneer movement. His wife—girlfriend, whatever she ended up being—Dina Paulson was a big part of it too. Dina may have been a leader. They left town and moved into the woods. These days we'd call it living off the grid."

Forrest's memory was sketchy, but he remembered practicing his reading before bed so they must have had some kind of power for light, possibly a generator or a camp light. It could even have been solar power. Expensive, but maybe Dina'd had money.

"I know this doesn't seem to have much to do with Ned, but this is how I know him. He, Rufus, and Oliver Cox were Grandpa's best friends. When I wasn't raising hell in school, I hung out here with them, listening to their stories about, well, Bigfoot and anything else they came up with. Ned was the one that remembered we were kids. He convinced Grandpa that a Happy Meal wouldn't kill us. And he got me my first Halloween costume. It was a clown mask."

Nero shook his head. "How did that go over?"

"That's a story for another time. When Grandpa, uh, died"—Forrest guessed the jury was clearly out now on whether it had really been an accident—"Rufus and Ned stepped in to help us. I was an adult, of course, but they kept me from going completely off the rails. Xavier's mom, Wanda, stepped up too. She invited Lani to live with her. Lani was a senior in high school, so living with me was torture anyway."

"Was Ned married?"

"He was once. They split up a while back, but it was friendly. I know, everyone says that and then it's not. But it was. They kept in touch, and both doted on their grandkids. Ned always said they were better friends than lovers. I imagine Kit—she's Oliver's sister—will help Oliver arrange the funeral or celebration of life."

"So, he was happily divorced, had grandkids, was healthy, had a good job. No enemies that you are aware of?"

Forrest thought. "Not really. He started working the mail route when Oliver's back got fucked up and he couldn't deal with big packages and stuff anymore. Ned would complain about people leaving their dogs out or having attack geese. Stuff like that. People thought he was odd—like they think I'm odd—but no enemies that I know of."

"Would Rufus know more?" Nero asked.

"Probably."

"So, after you and Lani—er, after your grandfather—how did he come to have custody of you anyway? I mean, did he know where his son and grandchildren were living the whole time?"

Forrest blew a puff of air out. He'd never really learned this part of the story.

"You don't have to talk about it. It probably doesn't matter. I just don't like coincidences. I've done a little research and found some information about your grandfather already, but I'd like to hear it from you."

"Yeah, alright." Forrest stood up and ran a hand through his already unruly hair.

"You were the one who found your grandfather, right?"

"I did. Worst fucking day of my life. I'd gone to visit Xav where he'd ended up moving after high school. I can't even remember what we were doing anymore, probably been entirely too stupid. Street racing or sneaking into abandoned buildings somewhere. Being assholes for sure. Neither of us were in good head spaces. Anyway, I dragged my ass home around four in the morning and found him outside."

Forrest remembered it like it had been only yesterday. Parking his car and walking toward the house, confused at first by the odd shape in the semidarkness. When he'd realized it was his grandpa, he'd collapsed to his knees in the gravel, thinking Ernst had fallen, but when Forrest had touched his skin, it had been cold. Too cold.

"Stupid me, thinking he'd live forever. That someday he'd have time to tell me all the stories I wanted to hear. But you asked about custody. To be honest, I don't know if he officially had it. You don't know what a pain it was to just get birth certificates. But Grandpa was a Cooper, so no one in town questioned him. And no one in town liked Dina. What I remember is that—look, this is a crazy-ass story."

"I need to hear everything," Nero said, his eyes practically boring into Forrest.

"Okay. So we lived up there with some other people. Maybe six or seven adults besides Dina and Witt? Honestly, I don't know. Deep Dwellers, that's what Rufus always called them anyway. My folks were self-sufficient and lived off the land. Like I said, survivalists."

"Were you both born up there?"

Forrest nodded. "As far as I know."

"Jesus. I mean, I know women have been giving birth for millions of years, but modern medical care is pretty cool."

They were both quiet for a moment, imagining what it was like to give birth in the middle of the woods.

"I think I was around five when Lani was born," Forrest continued. "My memories are fractured, but I do remember that night. Talk about terrifying. Learned some new curse words too." He smiled. "Don't ever tell her or she'll get a big head, but I loved Lani from the minute I got to hold her. Which is funny because kids really aren't my thing. I don't think they were Dina's either," he added thoughtfully.

"It wasn't like we starved, or that she actually hit us. There were threats though. The first time I met Wanda Stone, I didn't know how to react to a woman who wanted to actually hug me. My dad hugged us all the time, wrestled with me, carried Lani around. But Dina." He twitched.

Talking about Dina made Forrest anxious.

"I wonder why she had kids, then?" Nero asked. "Not that I'm sad you're here."

"No, I've wondered that myself. Maybe it was Witt who wanted kids? Maybe it was a lack of birth control? Although she was rumored to be a witch, but not the nice kind. I've heard that people used to go to her mother and her for potions and shit like that. I'd be surprised if Dina hadn't known about some natural herb to remedy an accidental pregnancy."

"That's not creepy at all." Forrest caught the slight shiver that went through Nero. "I'm assuming you don't mean love potions?"

"Nope. Anyway, I think the homestead must have been falling apart? Like I said, I was around seven when we came to live with Grandpa. I remember a lot of fighting, loud voices. On one particularly bad night, Witt took us for a walk. We went to a special place, a cave, and he told me it was my job to keep Lani safe. If I heard anything, I was to stay put and keep quiet, that someone was going to come for us. He kissed me on the forehead and that was the last time I remember seeing him."

"And your grandpa came."

Forrest nodded.

"So just to be clear—no sign of your parents since then? Or anyone else from up there?"

"Not that I know of. Look, I've never told anyone this before but—" Forrest paused, not sure what words to use that wouldn't make it sound like he'd completely lost touch with reality. "Sometimes I dream they're still alive, living up there in The Deep. Which can't be true. What I think, for real, is that something very bad happened back then."

"Do you know how Ernst found you? I know there are hundreds of square miles of forest that've basically never been touched."

"Some lost hikers is what I've been told. They had to have veered way off course, but I remember strange voices that I'd never heard before. Like I said, everything is scrambled. I don't even know if I'm remembering stuff in the right order."

"Okay." Nero nodded. "So, Ned Barker. Was he a good enough friend that he might have helped your grandpa find you?"

"Maybe? He had to at least have been aware of any hikers reporting children living in the woods like Hansel and Gretel or something. Only creepier."

Nero picked up the pen again and jotted down what Forrest had told him. Forrest supposed that's what he was doing anyway; his handwriting was a messy scrawl that easily could have been a code.

"I wouldn't consider linking Ned's death with your grandfather's except that everything I've read makes it impossible to ignore."

"But it's been twenty years," Forrest protested. "And almost thirty-five since Lani and I came to live with him."

"Bear with me while I think here."

Forrest watched Nero make his list. Ned Barker, Ernst Cooper, Witt and Dina, Morgan Blass, Kaylee Fernsby, Sarah Turner.

"What about Blair Cruz? Or Lizzy Harlow?" he asked.

Nero added the two names to the bottom of his list, then looked at Forrest with a thoughtful expression.

"Say you were around seven. Your dad was what?"

"Early thirties by then. Dina same, I think."

"Your grandpa was likely in his fifties when he, uh"—Nero was obviously trying to come up with the right word—"brought you here. We can use public records to figure that out. So, maybe midsixties when he died. I know Ned was seventy, not much younger. Twenty years ago he was maybe around fifty, so when you came, he was fortyish?"

"I think Rufus and Ned are close to the same age. Were close."

Forrest pinched the bridge of his nose, hating having to use the past tense.

"My point is that Ned was in great health. He had no issue with his mail route, right? Wasn't going to retire until they forced him out?"

"No matter what Ollie always said, he was never forcing Ned out. Where are you going with this?"

"I don't know, thinking out loud. I just know that Ned Barker didn't kill himself and it wasn't an accident. Let's assume he's a good guy and not connected to the girls' deaths. Ned was also good friends with a man who died years ago in a similar manner, which is weird. He was close to your family. Remains were found up on that mountain that have been identified as young women who went missing during the time a survivalist group was known to be up there. Could be connected. I'd like to find out the other names in the survivalist group, if possible. Have they turned up anywhere else? Are they even still alive? It's a long shot, but what if someone from the group is living in Cooper Springs under an assumed name or something, and Ned recognized them?"

"After all this time? Why? How is this list going to help find who killed Ned? He didn't kill those girls."

"I know it's hard, but we don't know that with certainty. I do tend to think that he didn't."

Forrest released a huff of frustration. "Nothing makes sense." He laughed, adding, "You show up in town and all hell breaks loose."

"Remember the conversation I had with Tim Dennis earlier in the week? Jeez, that seems forever ago. I came to do a story on the remains, on the missing girls of Cooper Springs. I've been here for a while, just kind of settling in and finishing up my most recent podcast. When I finally get around to doing some more in-depth research, there's a fire at Cooper Mansion, which means any records that might have been there are lost now. Any idea yet if it was arson? Maybe you can talk to your sister?"

Forrest nodded.

"Then my place is rifled through, don't know by whom. Ned Barker is found dead—by me. And I have to repeat, I never want to go through something like that again. Oh, and a handmade bracelet thingy that freaks you out shows up on my doorstep."

Forrest groaned; he'd managed to forget about the bracelet.

"I'm not egotistical," Nero continued, "but it feels to me that, due to the timing around my investigation, these incidences are about the remains. We finally learned who they belong to just this morning. Will something else happen? Maybe I'm making connections where there are none, but that's why we want to gather as many facts as possible."

"There's still a chance Ned was killed randomly."

"Do you really believe that?" Nero scoffed. "When his death is so similar to your grandfather's? I don't. If Ned wasn't killed by a stranger, he was killed by someone he knew—duh, I know. Maybe your grandfather was killed by someone he knew, as well? But everyone seems to have liked Ned. Which again leads me to something in the past."

"Yeah, Ned was quirky, but he was kind. He made friends with a raven. Left it treats and sparkly things. The darn bird would wait for him to come around. He told me it would almost be mad at him if he didn't have anything."

"Oh, yeah? That's pretty dang cool. Anyway." Tapping his list, Nero asked, "Are you willing to talk to Ned's ex and ask if he had any enemies?"

"I can do that. I should give her my condolences anyway," Forrest said, even though the last thing he wanted to do was call Kit Blinker nee Barker nee Cox. She lived on Vargas Island in British Columbia, population around thirty unless the uber-exclusive retreat had guests.

"Let's find what she has to say. Maybe we can add to what you know. We should also reach out to Ollie Cox if you think he'll be up for it. It's possible the two groups, dead teens and folks living in the woods, could have nothing to do with each other. But the remains were found fairly far along Crook's Trail. Do you happen to know how close to where you had lived?" He tapped the paper with his pen. "Not that I want to just paint a reclusive group of people with the murder brush."

"I stay the fuck away from those woods if at all possible. But from what Critter and Mags have said, both sets of remains were found off known trails. I don't recall trails other than the ones we made where we lived."

Nero stared at Forrest, but he wasn't seeing him.

"Could any of them still be up there? Or, alternatively, is it possible that one or more of the group returned to town at some point? Would anyone have necessarily recognized them? Logically, they're all dead or have moved out of the area, but maybe not." He shrugged. "If we can cross any of them off the list, it will help. We need to find out all the names of those involved."

Forrest was having trouble breathing. Nero had just jammed his finger into the source of Forrest's greatest fear. Ever since the first remains had been found and Blair Cruz had gone missing, he'd become terrified that Witt and Dina were up there. Still alive. He hated that his memories were incomplete. Worried that the reason he had nightmares was because he'd witnessed something no young boy should.

"How much of all this does your sister know? Does she have similar suspicions?"

"I don't think so," Forrest said after thinking for a second. "She was so small and, surprise to you, I'm sure, I don't like to talk about it."

Nero smirked and rolled his eyes. "You brew us some coffee and call Kit Blinker. I'll get on my murder map."