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Joey sighed as she picked up her radio.
“Deputy Hudson reporting in.”
All she wanted was a nice, calm Sunday shift. Who would even cause problems on a Thursday afternoon? It was a too-hot summer day and thankfully, most residents of Hope County had been staying calm indoors. The air was syrupy and hot, keeping the most energetic down and out for the count.
When her radio beeped with a call for a deputy to respond, she had wondered absentmindedly if maybe it was a call that would let her go into a cave. Even her car’s air conditioning was struggling to beat the heat and the natural cool of a cave would be great right now.
“It’s the Whitetails, Joey. Someone, likely Jess Black, has been seen stalking around the woods, scaring the life out of some people who were littering,” Nancy sounded tired as she spoke, her newest grandkid had been keeping her up all night long. “The rangers were wondering if you could go look around and talk to whoever is doing it. They appreciate the help, but right now they’re concerned that there is a lawsuit in the making.”
“I hear you Dispatch, I’ll go up north and see what I can do. Hudson out,” Joey felt a headache building, as she turned her car up north towards the green and grey forests of the Whitetails. She hadn’t yet met the illusive Jess Black yet, she had only heard of her through what Danny had told her. Apparently she was very opinionated on what proper forest management looked like and had a habit of getting rather upset when nature wasn’t being respected. When that opinion is combined with Black’s archery skills, then a very impressive and property damaging combination is born.
Joey sighed as she drove forward, trying to dig up the willingness to care from somewhere deep inside herself. It had been a long week, with Staci out doing his yearly helicopter training and certification out in Missoula, leaving everything to her, Danny, and the Sheriff. They were looking into hiring a new deputy, but with the Project at Eden’s Gate nearby, they were struggling to find someone who could withstand the heat and pressure put onto the small department. Sometimes it was too much for Joey, and she’d been here long enough that with the Sheriff’s retirement coming up in two or three years that she was next up for promotion.
As she drove up the winding trails into the national park, towards the visitor’s center, she mentally worded a get back faster text to Staci. At 24 years old, he had a tendency to linger on his way back to Hope, a tendency to fulfill his desire to see more of the world than just Hope County. And she wasn’t going to get her next day off till he got back, with Danny being out with the flu, so this time, it needed to change. Between Sharky burning down a trash can, Drubman Sr. continuing to be a sexist asshole and picking fights with Eden’s Gate about his senate campaign, and the bar fights that had been happening at the Spread Eagle every night, Joey was feeling run thin.
After finally reaching the visitor’s center, she took a deep breath, enjoying the last of her car doing its best to keep the air cool, before turning it off and trying her best to quickly walk in a calm and composed manner inside the center.
“Hello, Ranger Ashwood, what do you have for me?” Joey raised a hand in greeting to the Forest Ranger currently running the visitor’s center. He nodded back, deep eye bags under his eyes highlighting the struggle of the busy season.
“Deputy Hudson.” His voice was just loud enough to carry over the chatter from the lower levels as a different ranger went over forest safety with a group of ten or so tourists looking to spend some time in the park. “Arrows have been sent flying towards tourists who try to litter, damage local plants or disturb animal habitats. Now I appreciate the fact that whoever is doing this is looking out for the forest, but we don’t need a wrongful injury or death lawsuit on our hands. Jess Black is a proficient archer and has done this before, which is why we think it’s her. Also, the arrows match the type she tends to use. She’s been camping in the little grove that’s near hawkeye tunnel, so you may be able to find her there to start with.” Ashwood’s voice spoke with a tired repetition when explaining Jess Black to Joey.
“Roger that, Ranger Ashwood. I’ll head right to it. Want me to tell Danny you said hi?” She held back a laugh at Ashwood’s enthusiastic nod at her question.
“Tell him I said to get better faster, we’re gonna need him on speed patrol soon,” Ashwood nodded a goodbye at Joey as he turned to deal with a tourist who started walking towards the desk.
Joey returned the nod and headed back to her now too hot car, planning out the best route from the center to the tunnel in her car. It would be easier if she could take a quad, but if she ended up needing to arrest Jess Black, then her patrol car would be necessary.
The drive up through the mountains was just long enough for her car to cool back down to a reasonable temperature. As she pulled up the dirt road to the grove, she pulled off the side of the road, right before it vanished into the mud of the water that slowly seeped up here.
Black’s camp was off to the far side of the grove, set back on the solid ground, but near the mountain in a position she could easily keep clean and dry. Black herself was practicing against a makeshift target near her camp. She let her final arrow fly before she glanced over to the car that loudly approached.
“Can I help you, Deputy?” Jess called out, lowering the bow a little and turning to face Joey.
“Jess Black?” At her nod, Joey continued, “I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about a series of,” they had slowly walked closer to each other, making their way along the least muddy land to meet up in the middle, where they finally met each other's eyes.
The first thing Joey noticed was her eyes, her teal blue eyes. A color Joey had never seen before. Next was the brightness of everything else. The whole rainbow of colors filling in what just a couple of seconds ago was mostly gray. “Holy shit,” The curse escaped Joey's mouth before she knew what she was saying.
“That better be a good holy shit, soulmate,” Jess had notes of wonder in her voice as she looked at Joey and all around Joey. “And to think, you were right here, all of this time.”
“It’s definitely a good holy shit. Maybe I should have stopped pawning off whitetail calls on Danny earlier.” Joey couldn’t take her eyes off of Jess, looking at her eyes, at the brown of her hair, at how lively her skin looked. It was an unusual look on people that Joey couldn’t wait to get used to.
“Oh, definitely.” Jess said. “So what made you change your mind this time? A desire for a change of pace?
“Staci’s out on training, Danny’s sick, as much as I don’t want to come hiking through the woods on such as hot day, at least it’s funner than talking to Drubman Sr. again,” Joey felt an odd pull to Jess, as if something inside her was saying to touch Jess as much as possible. Their hands had slowly come up to touch each other and had dragged up each other’s shoulders where they rested now.
“Well now, we can have a lot of fun. We could have been having a lot of fun.,” Jess’s tone switched to something more seductive.
“Oh? Fun like how?” Joey felt her face heat up as Jess slowly dragged her hands down the side of Joey’s shirt, and tugged lightly at where they were tucked into her pants.
“Oh, I think you know what I mean, dep-u-ty,” Jess drew out the last word like it was something more than just a title to Joey. Her tugging grew a little bit harder as she successfully removed Joey’s shirt from her pants. “I mean, it’s so hot out, we’d just be cooling off, right?”
“I’d never say no to something like that,” Joey gently tugged Jess’s quiver back and off of her shoulder, gently setting it on top of a nearby tree stump.
The quiver was quickly joined by Jess’s bow, and Joey’s radio and belt with her service firearm on it. They stripped down each layer off each other, carefully, but in a rush, until they were naked from top to bottom.
Jess grabbed Joey’s hand and dragged her into the knee high water, leading her to the where the stream entered the grove area and dragged her onto the banks nearby it.
“Really quick, just to double check, you’re clean, right?” Joey managed to get the question out as Jess began to lightly trace over her curves, feeling where hard muscle met softer areas.
“Yeah, I got tested after my fling ended, and I was clean, same as you, right?” Jess smiled at Joey’s nod, pulling her in for a lingering kiss as they set forward exploring each other's bodies.
Under the hot sun, they explored each other’s body with a growing sense of vigor and urgency, as they learned what each other liked and disliked. They learned what each other sounded like when different areas were touched, who was ticklish where and who was more sensitive in different places. Clouds moved overhead and the stream trickled onwards until they were both sleepy and dirty and ready to check in and get Joey off the clock, and on break for a quick nap.
Jess woke up with a start. With whatever was happening with Joey was going on, her dreams had been filled with Joey’s memories. But normally they weren’t so vivid except for when she had been hit by the bliss.
“Well now, look what the cat dragged in,” An amused voice came from in front of her. Jess looked up fast to the mocking face of Jacob Seed. As she tried to move her hands, her feet, something to get this man, she realized her hands and feet had been tied together, her mouth taped shut and her weapons stripped from her person.
Jacob laughed as he took in her struggle to get away from him. “Now, now, little huntress, you should be happy. Your little soulmate has been causing some problems for my baby brother and it’s time for me to step in a little. Offer him a little helping hand, if you will.” Jacob’s smile turned vicious, “And it removes you as a problem for me. Little Peaches has been concerned for your safety since you are his best friend’s soulmate.”
Jess felt a bolt of terror surge through her at Jacob’s words. For both Joey and Staci, whatever the cult was doing to them was bad, and what was in store for her with them was up for debate. But before she could do anything, Jacob motioned to someone out of her line of sight, and a bag was thrown over head right before she was thrown into a truck.