Trail Stalker

By M. Ann Dubois

Mount Hood, Oregon, is a beautiful, peaceful destination located about forty minutes outside Portland. It stands like a sentinel, looking over its kingdom below. In the warm months, as the sun sets, there is an alpine glow, which makes the mountain appear pink. Skiing is almost 365 days a year. That is, until a murder so appalling is discovered by a hiker and a Forest Service employee. This was not the first murder of its kind, and it wont be the last.
Across the mountain, a web of murder and mystery is woven that entangles all that get too close to the . . .



Trail Stalker

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514451878

M. Ann Dubois

I have been writing and been published off and on since I was eleven. I lived in a cabin on Mount Hood Oregon for several years and during this time I hiked many trails but never alone. I love Oregon and hope to return soon with my husband George and five beautiful, sweet dogs to the mountain. I do want to thank Stephen K. Yes, it did take three months.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

When she finally awoke, she could smell the stench of death and decay enveloping her. If this was a nightmare, she could not remember ever having one where she could feel such bone-crushing pain and the stink of putrid meat. She remembered when the electricity went out at home and the stink of rotten meat and maggots that filled their freezer while she and her parents were on vacation. How long had she been here in this cold, wet putrid mess? Christie remembered she was taking the garbage through the back door to the Dumpster before she closed up. As she was putting the trash out, she saw what seemed like a huge shadow emerge from the side of the Dumpster facing the forest instead of the parking lot. When she awakened, her surroundings were dark at first. Though she felt chilled to the bone, she was in extreme pain, and the darkness escalated her fear as she shivered uncontrollably. She felt sticky and wet, her eyes were swollen shut, and her mouth was full of blood, with pieces of teeth and bone broken out of her mouth each time she had to gag or spit. She must have screamed when he abducted her. As she slowly moved her tongue around her lips and mouth, she found her teeth had been broken out but couldn’t explain the bone splinters until she tried to move her mouth. That explained the severe pain she was experiencing in her mouth and jaw. Had she been hit by a car? She felt like she’d been run over and left on the road to die. Maybe that was what happened? She could feel ferns and moss beneath her, and little bug-like things creeping on her skin as she moved her hands around her body.

It felt like hours before she could open her eyes, propping them open with the help of her fingers. It didn’t help much as she couldn’t make any sense of her surroundings anyway, as her vision was extremely blurry. It was what she could smell and feel that scared her. Coldness permeated her entire body, and she was in extreme pain. She also knew she was not in the same clothes she wore to work that morning. As a matter of fact, she didn’t think she was wearing any clothes whatsoever but was covered in moss and leaves.

Christie wasn’t even supposed to be at work today. She had plans to go visit some friends in town, and she only worked for Marilyn because she begged Christie to take her place with the excuse that she had a dental appointment and couldn’t make it in time for the evening shift. Christie changed her plans to help her friend. It could have been Marilyn here instead of her. She decided that she would never work for another person again ever!

Christie’s face was horribly swollen and was covered in a salty, sticky mess that also covered her hair, neck, throat, and other parts of her body. Christie felt like she was dying. She was praying for relief, be it a bad dream or death. If she were dying, she prayed that it would be quick.

Moans began to assault her ears, and she could hear some weak crying from a few feet away and then nothing but the crackle of a fire. She felt as if she were left to die like the roadkill she passed every day on her way to work.

The stench of death was coming from someplace close, making Christie gag and vomit over and over again. She felt the vomit stick to her face and her hair, which added to the bloody mess she was wearing instead of clothing. Now she knew she was going to die, but why? What happened? Why her? She tried again to prop her swollen eyes open so she could see something, but all she thought she could see were a bunch of rags or clothes being thrown into a fire. Surely, someone would see the smoke and report it to the fire department. After all, this was the forest, and burning wasn’t allowed here. No one would see it now because it was dark. A man stood there, laughingly dousing everything with kerosene before laying a burning branch on top to ignite the lot of it.

There was someone standing close to the fire, admiring the pyre and laughing hysterically. It was a man who then turned his attention to Christie as she tried to move away. His face distorted with rage, and his eyes looked like those of a cat. Maybe it was because of the shadows produced by the trees in the firelight, or maybe he did look like that. Either way, the man and his eyes looked as evil as the devil himself.

It won’t do you any good to scream so pathetically out here, little missy. No one will hear you but me, and I’m not going to help you. The people that you heard beside you tried to do the same, but then I got tired of their whining, so I gave them a fitting punishment. You’re next! I hate whiners. They’re so pathetic. I was hoping that you weren’t going to be one too. Well, I said I hate whiners, so I’m going to show you just how much, so quit yer whining!

With that said, he walked up to Christie and began to trace her naked body with his fingers as he pulled her roughly from a lean to. She began to gag from the stench of him and her surroundings. She found him revolting in every sense of the word as he began to drag her out by the hair. She wanted to scream from the pain in her broken body, scratch his eyes out, anything to have him leave her alone. But she couldn’t move a muscle. Like a broken doll, everything was broken, even her spirit to fight.

You have beautiful hair, he whispered in her ear. I love long hair on a woman. He began to run his hands through her long red hair and wrap it around his filthy fingers. It’s too bad you puked in it. It spoils the effect and the beauty it had when I first saw you. Now it stinks of vomit, and it’s matted with blood.

Christie remembered that she had an appointment to get her hair cut short next week. Maybe if she had already gotten it done, he wouldn’t have been interested in her. He yanked her again by the hair and dragged her farther from the lean-to where he kept everyone—for a while. If she had any thoughts that she might escape, those thoughts were gone.

He muttered So beautiful as if he were talking to Christie. He began to whisper to himself as he looked at the fire. He grabbed her hair up in a huge ponytail, yanking her head backward. The last thing she would see was the moon staring through the trees with a lopsided grin. As he removed his hunting knife from his boot, he told her to smile for the camera as he pulled her around, placing his hunting knife fast and deep across her throat. Too bad I have to kill you, gal. We could have had some good times. Blood splattered his face, his clothes, and the ground below Christie.

After the first slice, he licked the knife clean and laughed to himself. Too bad you walked out that door when I walked by. I was going to get a sandwich next door to your little shop but got you instead. I guess I was the lucky one. You were the unlucky one. He began to feel a throbbing in his groin and erection that was so hard it actually hurt.

Grabbing his rope, he began to work. He got ready to hang her from a tree that he had selected earlier and was pretty close. Throwing one end of the rope with a weight tied to one end over a high branch, he tied the other around her ankles. Pulling her high off the ground so that some passing animal couldn’t reach his prize for a while, he began the slow process of gutting Christie from throat to crotch to bleed her out. He then proceeded to gut her like some animal before yanking on the rope. This was going to be his best job to date. Christie’s eyes, now dull with death, were staring at her own blood pooling into a bowl below her body. The bowl also contained her organs that he ripped from within her body.

At this point, he laughingly gave her body a little push and threw his hat on the ground, before he went home for a ladder as he had more work to do.

PART 1

It seemed to Kate that she was always running late. After finding her shoes, she grabbed her keys, purse and locked her door, but then her phone started to ring. For a second, she thought about answering, but she was running too late and drove to town. This was a special day for Kate, as she was finally going to meet in person the man whom she had been visiting with online. They had talked over the phone, and she loved his laugh and found that they had a lot in common. This was the first time she had tried meeting someone online, and she wasn’t sure it was safe. They decided to meet in front of the convention center, which should be fairly crowded (and safe). There was always something going on there. The problem was, she forgot about the Rose Festival Parade and that almost every Rose Festival invites raincoats and umbrellas for all. Unfortunately, she forgot hers.

Right now, she felt very cold and had rain dripping off her hat with some cold water going down her back.

Kate! I haven’t seen you in a long time. What are you doing down off the mountain? I thought you never went to town!

Of all the people to run into, it had to be Lynn, her ex-neighbor, whom she saw rarely. Lynn worked in town, and Kate worked for the forest service on Mount Hood.

Actually, I took your advice and got on one of those singles sites to see if there was anyone who sounded interesting, so I’m here to meet that special guy.

You couldn’t have picked a more crowded spot to meet, declared Lynn. This is great! I need to get my kids together, but call me. I want to know details—all of them.

The parade route was so crowded that Kate decided she would stand close to the building, as there were so many strollers, kids running around, balloons, and people, it made walking and checking every red baseball cap out difficult.

It was hard to walk around without bumping into everyone. She was looking for a man who was six feet three inches tall, had brown hair, and wore blue jeans, a red flannel shirt under a jean jacket, walking shoes, and a well-worn red baseball cap. This described at least a third of all the men there. The only thing she really knew was that his name was Brad.

The parade route was so crowded that she decided to only walk from one end to the other and back to see if she could find the person she was looking for.

In Portland, it rains until about July 5, and today it was a particularly wet and cold day.

Brad described himself to be about six feet three inches tall, wearing jeans, a blue flannel shirt, denim jacket, and a red baseball cap. Kate told him that she would dress similarly, only she would wear a blue baseball cap. She was about five feet five inches tall and would wear her hair in a ponytail.

After walking and waiting about an hour, Kate decided that he wasn’t going to show up. Feeling a bit disappointed, she decided to catch the MAX rapid transit, go to the mall, and do a little shopping, but first, she was going to sit down with a hot cup of coffee and relax at one of the many coffee shops around the mall.

Just as she was getting on the train, she was bumped by a gentleman who was out of breath and getting on the train just before it pulled out.

Kate turned to see who it was and was surprised to see a man that fit Brad’s description, except for the hair color. As she moved up the aisle, the man behind her placed his hand in the small of her back and found her a seat while he stood by.

Excuse me, is your name Brad?

Um, yes, and you must be . . .

Shaken, Kate started to laugh and said, Yes, I’m Kate, Kate Durbin.

Kate couldn’t help but notice he was looking great in his jeans and jacket. He had his hat pushed backward from his face, and when he smiled, his whole face lit up. His eyes were so blue they reminded her of the sky in summer. His hair was more red than brown. He must have changed his mind at the last minute about his shirt color, but everything else was perfect, especially his smile.

As he put his arm around Kate’s shoulders, he asked if she wanted to get out at the mall and get some hot coffee. What do you say? Let’s get out of this crowd and find someplace that’s a bit quieter. Are you up to it?

Am I ever! I was just thinking about doing the same thing and getting away from the crowds for some peace. At least we can talk instead of shouting to one another to be heard. I also wanted to do a little shopping.

While they were riding the MAX, there was just one thing that puzzled Kate. As she was getting on the train, she heard another man call her name. When she turned back to look, she saw a man waving, frantically trying to catch her attention and the train. Brad leaned down to her face and told her that she must be pretty popular, as he also heard the other man calling her name.

No, I don’t know him, and there are probably several women with the name of Kate.

Yet she wondered if she was with the right man, and who was the man trying to catch her attention? Was he calling after her? He looked familiar, but she didn’t get a really good look at him.

"Hey! The mall is pretty quiet compared to the usual hustle. Let’s go inside and see if we can find the perfect place that serves decent coffee, sweet rolls, plus some comfortable chairs to curl up in to relax and chat.

This is perfect, and I feel like I need a good drying off, said Kate. Besides, I love that ‘comfortable chair’ idea.

PART 2

Hey, Jackie, Amy called over the partition between their cubbyholes or cubicles, have you seen Kate today? Usually she’s here before us, making the coffee and working already.

No, come to think of it, I haven’t, and I haven’t heard from her all weekend either. They both looked up at the clock, but it was still early, and they all enjoyed their morning coffee together to jump-start their day, especially on a Monday.

She must have had a great weekend.

I hope all went well for her, or she’ll be . . .

Good morning, everybody. Kate smiled as she walked in the door. Sorry I’m late, but I stopped off for a latte on the way in this morning and grabbed some doughnuts for us and the guys.

Jackie looked at Amy with that What the hell? look Amy knew so well, and they both gave Kate an expectant and curious stare.

Well? What happened, what was he like, was he handsome?

Kate just smiled and figured she would let them guess about her date while she slowly put her things away and sat down at her desk. Taking off her walking shoes and putting on those oh-so-uncomfortable high-heel boots, she turned and gave them a sly smile before she proceeded to check herself in the mirror. Satisfied with what she saw, taking her time and straightening her shirt a little more, she sat down, leaned back in her chair, and smiled at her two friends.

Kate, why do you wear those horrid boots when you hate them so much? Jackie and I just wear our hiking boots to work.

Because I’m so short! I don’t want to look like a kid when I’m working, and I want to feel people will take me seriously. I do get tired of wearing the boots, and sometimes I change back into my shoes, or my hiking boots when necessary, but remember, my job is mostly here in the office and out front.

Sooooooooo, what happened this weekend, and why are you so late this morning?

Both Amy and Jackie sat on the edge of their chairs to hear the exciting saga of Kate’s online date. Kate gave her friends a surprised look. She knew that both of her friends knew about