The Cacheland Conspiracy: The Geocaching Mystery Series, #1

By Dan DeKoning

It's all fun and games until someone gets maimed.

 

Drake Decker, an ex-cop. Allie Ashe, a Navy veteran. The friends are avid geocachers. They are thrilled when they get chosen to take part in an invitation-only competition that takes place in an old-west town in the Arizona desert. A town dedicated exclusively to geocaching. A grand prize of fifty thousand dollars. A one-in-ten chance of winning it all.

 

The pair soon discover that another team will do anything to win the ultimate prize, regardless of who gets hurt. Drake and Allie will need to combine their skills to determine who is an ally and who is an enemy. All while keeping their eyes on the mission: to finish at the top.      

 

The Cacheland Conspiracy is the first book in The Geocaching Mystery series.  

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dan DeKoning
• Release date: Mar 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224989935

Book preview

The Cacheland Conspiracy

The Geocaching Mystery Series, Volume 1

Dan DeKoning

Published by Dan DeKoning, 2024.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

THE CACHELAND CONSPIRACY

First edition. March 17, 2024.

Copyright © 2024 Dan DeKoning.

Written by Dan DeKoning.

The Cacheland Conspiracy

Dan DeKoning

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2024 by Dan DeKoning

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

Cover Design by GetCovers

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the Geocaching community.

To hiders, finders, and those behind the scenes.

See you on the trail!

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter One

DRAKE DECKER STEPPED back from the pine tree, took off his baseball cap, and scratched his head.

You find the cache? Are you sure it’s here?

Allie Ashe took three steps to her right and peered into the tree. The secret to finding pine tree geocaches is to stay on the perimeter of the tree and use your eyes to scan the branches. Keep stepping around the tree until you find it.

Drake rolled his eyes. Yeah, you’ve told me that like a million times before.

Allie laughed and moved another two steps to her right. Hey, at least it’s not a palm tree, or a holly bush, or a rock pile.

Well, I’ll give you that one.

Excuse me. What are you doing? Is something wrong with that tree?

Drake turned around. Behind him was a short and skinny lady who looked to be in her upper eighties. She had a white terrier on a leash, and when the dog tugged at the leash, the woman barely had the strength to hold back the canine. Drake noticed the dog’s fur and the woman’s hair were the same color, and she could have worn the dog as a wig, and no one would be the wiser.

No, ma’am, nothing wrong with the tree. We’re geocaching. It’s a game, like a scavenger hunt, Drake said.

The dog pulled again at the woman’s arm, so she picked up the beast, grunting as she did. What are you looking for?

Don’t know yet. We haven’t found it. A geocache has a container of some sort, with a piece of paper inside we have to sign.

She looked at Drake with a skeptic’s eyes, a look he had seen before when encountered by muggles, who were people who didn’t know about geocaching. 

Are you sure you can do that?

Yes, ma’am. We’re in a public park, and the city approved this geocache’s placement. So we have permission to be here.

Drake returned to his search. The woman watched for another minute, grew bored, then put her dog back on the ground and walked away.

She seemed like a pleasant lady, Allie said.

Yeah. She didn’t have her dog chase us off. You spot it yet?

Nope. Oh, wait. Marco!

Yelling out Marco was Allie’s way of proclaiming she found the treasure, a play on the children’s game, Marco Polo.

Where is it? Drake asked.

Okay, move about four steps to your right. And...stop. Touch the branch above your right shoulder.

Drake reached up and took the branch. This one?

No. Other shoulder.

Drake switched arms and grabbed the greenery.

That’s the one. Follow that branch in about three feet. Got it?

Drake stayed where he was and stared down the length of the bough, looking for something that didn’t belong. At first his eyes failed him, but at last he spotted the container.  I see it. Tricky.

Can you reach it? Allie asked.

Drake got his bearings, figured out the best approach, and slid in between the branches. Yeah, I got it. Come over here. I don’t want to lose the spot.

Drake stayed where he was and kept his eye on the geocache as Allie circled the tree to where he entered. He picked the geocache container from the tree and handed it to her. The matchstick holder was the type a camper would use, but the geocache owner covered it with camouflage tape to hide the bright orange color. Once it emulated the color of the tree limbs, the owner added a hook to secure it to a branch.

Allie opened the container and removed a small plastic bag, in which was a piece of paper. She unfurled the piece of paper and signed her geocaching nickname, a play on her own name, then passed the paper and her pen to Drake, who added his nickname to the paper. Drake handed it back to Allie, who folded the paper to the correct size, returned the paper to the bag, and returned the bag to the container. She closed the container, handed the geocache to Drake, and he placed it back on the branch where he found it.

I saw it before you, Drake teased as he made his way out of the confines of the branches. I wanted to see if you could find it.

Right. Sure, you did. Had I not been here, you would’ve given up on it thirty seconds after you got here. You ready for the next one?

Where is it?

Allie pulled her phone from her back pocket, opened the app, and checked her options. There’s two more in this park. One is off in that direction, kind of near where that playground is, and one is off to your left along the nature trail.

Which one’s closer?

Playground.

Let’s do that one first.

Allie selected the cache in her app and started walking toward the general area of the playground. As she walked, she checked the app’s compass and distance to confirm they traveled in the correct direction.

When they got to within fifty yards of the playground, Allie stopped, and Drake halted a second later.

There are people there, Drake said.

Yes, I noticed. If I had to guess, the cache is on the slide, or on that bench. Either way, we’ll have to come back to it when they leave the area. Let’s go do the other one.

Agreed.

Allie selected the other cache in the park and wandered off to the north, with Drake by her side. They weren’t in any hurry, so they kept a leisurely pace as they hiked over toward the woods.

You get any word back from the Cacheland promotion? Allie asked.

Drake shook his head. No. Have you? 

No. The winners are supposed to be notified today. I hope one of us gets lucky. Watch out for that gopher hole.

Drake looked in the direction Allie alluded to and adjusted his gait to step over the potential ankle-breaker. It’s early yet. There’s still plenty of time to hear from them.

Can you imagine winning? Going on a trip to an old west town dedicated to the sole purpose of geocaching?

Drake thought about the prospect for half a second. Personally, I think that would be super cool.

I read there’s a competition for a cash prize of a thousand bucks. Break right here. Notice that little path?

Drake saw where Allie was pointing and did a course correction to a deer path that led into the woods. He stepped in line behind her since she had the app and knew where they were headed. How far?

Two hundred feet straight ahead.

Drake looked ahead and took a visual inventory of what he saw. There were a lot of trees in the area, which meant plenty of places to hide a geocache. The most likely spots in the woods were usually old stumps or fallen trees, things that would provide natural cover to hide a geocache under. He spotted a stump off in the distance and headed for it.

I think you misread the announcement. I’m pretty sure it was a fifty-thousand-dollar prize, he said as he avoided a large branch.

Oh, wow. Now I really hope one of us gets selected.

Drake stopped at the stump and scrutinized it, looking for a container under the piles of loose bark surrounding the dead tree. Is there any hint?

Allie looked it up. Stick your hand in there.

While Drake checked out the stump, Allie followed the coordinates on her phone another twenty feet away. She stepped behind a large tree, then held out a plastic container before her. Marco.

Again? Drake stood and went to her. You’re on a roll today.

Yeah, well, it helps that while you guess the location, I rely on the actual coordinates.

Hey, that’s why we make a good team. Where was this?

There’s a hole in this tree.

Drake moved around Allie and looked. Sure enough, there was a hollow in the tree’s center.

Allie handed him the log and container. Here. Sign the log and put it back.

Drake did as he was told, and the pair backtracked toward the park and over to the playground. The playground contained a swing set with three swings, two regular sized and one made to accommodate a toddler. Next to the swings stood a fortress with a rope ladder and steps to get to the top. The structure held enough room for a couple of kids, and there were two slides to get back to the ground. Rubber mulch covered the entire playground area, and rubber bumpers contained the mulch to prevent the spread into the grass. Around the play area were three benches, and Drake and Allie sat on one of them.

Allie checked her phone, did a quick calculation in her head, then nodded toward the bench farthest from them. I think it’s over there.

I guessed that before we got here, Drake said.

How?

Because there’s someone sitting there, of course. With my luck, there’s always a muggle exactly where I need to be. Let’s wait a few minutes and see if they leave.

Allie looked over and spotted the mom. She was sitting on the bench, looking at her phone while she moved a stroller back and forth with her foot. Now and then, the toddler playing on the fort would demand attention, so the mom would glance up for a moment, then turn her attention back to her phone.

While Allie sent a mental command for the mom to take her kids and leave the park, Drake pulled his phone from his pocket and checked his email.

Holy cow! Here’s the notification! Congratulations! You and a guest have won an all-expenses paid trip to Cacheland U.S.A.! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore a town set up as a premier geocaching location! You will also take part in a team challenge where the winning team will walk away with the Golden Horseshoe and fifty thousand dollars! Please note that all participants must be twenty-five years or older. Drake closed the email and looked up from his phone. Well, I’ve got that beat. Are you over twenty-five?

Allie shoved him in the shoulder and almost knocked him from the bench. You know I am! I’m just a year behind you, you idiot.

Drake laughed, then righted himself on the bench.

The exchange had gotten the mom’s attention. She looked over at the duo, determined they weren’t really a threat, took a quick glance at her toddler, then returned to her phone.

Are they paying our way out to Arizona? What are the dates again? Allie asked.

Drake reopened the email and read through all the fine print. Yes. They’ll fly us into Phoenix and provide ground transportation to Cacheland. And the dates are October first through the eighth.

Southern Arizona in early October? That shouldn’t be too bad.

Certainly much better than the first week of July or August. Drake stretched out his legs, dug the heels of his hiking boots into the ground, and clenched his leg muscles. I hope they leave soon. I’m getting bored.

Allie frowned. Gee, thanks. You’re sitting on a bench with your best friend having a pleasant conversation, and you’re bored? You’re a jerk, that’s what you are.

Drake put a hand to his mouth to hide his laugh, but he failed. Come on, you know what I mean. I’d sit and talk to you all day, but I really want to get that cache.

What’s the big deal? This park is only thirty minutes from home. We can come back anytime.

Drake rolled his eyes. Oh, come on, Allie, you know how I am. I mean, I can’t be sitting twenty feet from a geocache and not search for it.

Why not? You were three feet away from that pine tree one and you wanted to give up.

That was different. Besides, if we find that one over at the playground, we’ll have cleared out the park. As Drake spoke, he pointed at the bench.

The woman on the bench looked up just in time to see Drake gesturing in her direction. Drake noticed her looking at him, pointing at her, so he changed his aggressive point to a friendly wave.

Hello. Good afternoon, Drake said, loud enough for her to hear.

Allie watched the entire exchange and broke out in laughter, which made Drake laugh as well.

The woman dropped her phone into the stroller and went to the end of the slide. Come on down here, angel. It’s time to leave.

Allie leaned over and whispered into Drake’s ear. Look what you did. You chased them off.

I should have thought of that sooner, Drake whispered back.

The woman picked up her toddler, passed a dirty look to Allie and Drake, and left with the stroller.

Have a nice day, ma’am, Drake called after her.

The woman responded with a one-finger salute without looking back.

Hey, that wasn’t nice. You didn’t have to be so mean to her.

What? I wasn’t mean. It was a simple misunderstanding.

Come on, Duck-man.

Drake and Allie got up from their bench, walked over to where the woman was sitting, and began their search.

The bench was a type they’d seen in plenty of parks before. It was six feet long with a red seat and backrest, and a black frame and legs. A plastic coating covered the seat and back, and both had a hole-punch design, which allowed them to see through both the seat and back to an extent.

Drake started his search by looking through the holes in the seat, especially those near the corners, hoping to find the obvious spot. I like these types of benches. Really limits the places a cache can hide. 

Then why haven’t you found it yet? Allie asked.

I will, I will. Are you going to help?

Sure, I’ll come in and save the day after you give up.

Off in the distance, thunder rumbled. The skies had been cloudy all day, with a threat of rain. The precipitation percentage was low, so neither Drake nor Allie thought twice about going out geocaching all day.

Drake looked at the sky, then at Allie. Maybe you should help me now. I want to grab this one before we get poured on.

Allie nodded. I’ll take this half.

While Drake continued his search from above, Allie got on her knees and bent over so she could examine the bench from below.

You know what this thing is supposed to be? Drake asked.

No. The description didn’t say, but it has to be magnetic, right? Most bench caches are.

The sky darkened, and the thunder rumbled again, this time much closer.

We need to finish this up. I just got pelted in the head by a raindrop, Drake said.

At least it hit you where it would do the least amount of damage. Just give me a minute. There’s only so many places it can be, right?

Drake looked up at the sky where he tracked a large black cloud headed in their direction.

Got it! Allie yelled. She got off her knees and sat on the bench. In her hand was a pocket cache, which was a small plastic baggie surrounded by black duct tape and pressed flat to conform to the shape of the bench frame. That was a tough one. The black tape matched the frame color perfectly. Quick, sign this.

Drake and Allie signed the log. Allie returned the cache to its hiding spot, and the pair started jogging toward Drake’s truck. As they moved, a bolt of horizontal lightning traced across the sky, followed by a peal of thunder that echoed along the ground beneath their feet.

With fifty feet to go to reach safety, the skies opened up and heavy rain fell, drenching the friends in the downpour.

Allie got to the truck first. Open the door!

Drake thrust his hand into his pocket, pulled out his keys, and dropped them on the ground. It took him a couple of seconds to retrieve them, hit the fob, and unlock the door. Allie and Drake slid into the front seats and watched the deluge through the windshield.

Allie took off her Boston Red Sox baseball cap and set it on the dashboard, then ran her fingers through her long red hair. Can you turn on the heat? I got a chill from the rain.

In response, Drake started the engine and turned on the heat. Better?

I will be in a bit, thanks.

Drake felt a drop of water hit his nose. He looked in the rear-view mirror and saw the source. A wisp of his blond hair had fallen over his forehead and acted as a funnel point for the extra water in his wet hair. He noticed another drop accumulating, so he wiped it away with his hand. He leaned into the backseat of his truck, found a sweatshirt, and used it to towel his hair dry.

When he finished, he held the damp shirt out to Allie. Want to use this?

Allie took the sweatshirt and blotted the rain from her face with a dry sleeve. When she finished, she handed the sweatshirt back to Drake, and he tossed it back where he’d gotten it from.

What do you think Cacheland is like? she asked.

Drake shrugged. "I don’t know for sure. From what I heard, some rich guy bought up an old ghost town, spent some money fixing it up, and hid a bunch of geocaches there. I picture it like an old western movie set, but I have seen no photos or anything. All I can find on the Internet is a paragraph about the old town’s history, which wasn’t much, and a general idea of where it is on