Chapter 2

Two days later...

Tim stood with the large crowds, waiting. He was surprised at how many people could fill in all the spaces where there had been almost no one just 20 minutes ago. Granted, it was pretty early in the morning, but still, Tim couldn't believe how many crowded in to see this.

Just like me, he thought wryly to himself.

The first signs of the eruption began; so Tim got on his phone and called.

"Hey, Delilah," he said.

"Tim! You're there?"

"You want to see?"

She laughed. "Absolutely."

Tim raised his phone over his head and pointed it over the crowd. Then, he pulled it back down.

"Could you see anything?"

"How much should I be seeing?"

"Not much, yet. It was just starting."

"Okay, then, I wasn't seeing much."

"How are things over in your neck of the woods?"

"Same old, same old. Clearly, you've done something different since you're watching Old Faithful."

Suddenly, the water started going up higher and higher.

"Oh, wait, Delilah." He turned his phone around and pointed it at the geyser right as it erupted high into the air. "Wow."

He just watched for a few moments, forgetting about everything but the water shooting up nearly a hundred feet over his head.

"Wow."

Then, he remembered that he'd been talking to his girlfriend. He pulled his phone back down.

"Did you see it?"

"Not much. I'm sure it's much more impressive in person."

"Sorry."

Delilah laughed. "Don't worry about it, Tim. Worth seeing?"

"Absolutely. I don't care if I'm here already, seeing it. When you get a chance to come over here, we're coming again. You have got to see this. Now, I know why so many people are crowded around here watching it. That's amazing."

"Okay, Tim. Next vacation, we're going back to Yellowstone. Now, go and have more fun and make me jealous."

"I will. Love you."

"I love you, too. Bye."

Tim hung up and waited until the geyser was completely finished. Most of the other tourists began to drift away after it was clear that there were no other big eruptions coming. He stayed on a bench and just watched. Then, he sat there and thought about it. This was the first thing he'd seen in Yellowstone. He'd got his room in the Old Faithful Inn changed, freeing up an accessible room and he took the much more basic room that was a lot cheaper. He was lucky that it wasn't the height of the tourist season and there were empty rooms. They had been surprisingly willing to work with him and the fee he'd been charged to change the room had been nominal.

During the rest of the day, Tim went around the various parts of the main loop, checking out the accessible areas. He went to Norris and over to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. He also went up to Mammoth. It was a very long day for him with a lot of driving on twisty, turning roads, stuck behind tourists who ignored the injunction not to stop in the roadway when looking at animals. He was pleasantly surprised to find that there were more accessible areas of Yellowstone than he had expected. A lot of the overlooks would easily accommodate Delilah's wheelchair and while there were a few of the geysers that were completely inaccessible, she would still be able to see some of them. By the time he dragged himself into his room at the inn, he was exhausted but pretty satisfied that Delilah could enjoy herself here. He sat down and wrote a long email to her, detailing all the parts of Yellowstone that she'd be able to see when they came back. Not if. When.

All in all, he could grudgingly admit that he was having fun.

But he'd only admit it to himself. He was going to be stubborn about it because he still resented Gibbs forcing him to come on this vacation when Delilah couldn't be here. He knew he was being a little childish, but he was going to wait until he got back to say that he had a good time. So there.

He laughed a little at his attitude and pulled out his map of the park and made some little notes. Now that he'd done what he had set out to do, he figured he might as well look at doing something just for himself. Since Delilah couldn't be here, he could do something that she wouldn't be able to do. There were a lot of hikes near Yellowstone Lake. He hadn't been over there, yet, but quite a few of the hikes looked easy enough, meaning that a relatively inexperienced hiker, like himself, could manage them without difficulty. He'd make sure he had some water with him.

No problem.

It had been a long day and he was tired. He fell asleep quickly.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Delilah smiled when she saw the long email from Tim, especially since he'd likely had to type it out on his phone. She knew he was trying hard to make sure that she could do as much as possible, but there were times when she was afraid that he was staying with her simply because he couldn't fathom breaking up with a woman in a wheelchair. Then, she remembered Tim's face when he had given her a key to his apartment. That had been one of the first times he had looked at her the same way he had before her paralysis. She really had been looking forward to this vacation. Not only did she agree that Tim was still really tense and needed the time off, she had been wanting to spend some of that time with him. It was more disappointing than she could say that she'd been forced to cancel.

"Wow. Who's the epic from?"

Delilah looked up at her partner.

"My boyfriend. He's found a whole bunch of things for us to do in Yellowstone when I go."

"That sucks that you had to stay here instead. Did you tell him about the security issues we've been having here?"

"No, are you kidding?" Delilah asked. "Tim would be way too worried. He's on vacation because his boss decided he's too tense. If he knew about this...no way. I'm going to let him enjoy his vacation. He's said that he'll call me or email me every night. There isn't a lot of Internet access out there, apparently, but he has a sat phone and he said he'd be able to get stuff to me. I might tell him...later."

"So you're not worried?"

Delilah took a breath. "I'll always worry a little, but I decided I wasn't going to let it ruin my life or take over my life. That includes not letting a security threat make me afraid. I can be cautious without being scared. ...and besides, too many things are going right to focus on what might go wrong."

"Good for you. Now, let's take the bad guys down."

She held out her hand and Delilah gave her a high five. Then, they got to work.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim enjoyed the views from the trails around Yellowstone Lake. This was a part of Yellowstone that didn't get nearly as much press as Old Faithful or the other geysers, but Tim appreciated how different it was from the more seismically-active parts of the park.

The trail went back into the trees. Tim smiled with satisfaction. Today was turning out just as good as he'd hoped. He figured that he could go on back, take a break and then go on another short hike in the same area. It was perfect.

Suddenly, he heard voices. He had seen almost no one on these trails, today. It was a little cloudy. It could rain later on...with the cooler temperatures up here, it could even snow, he supposed. It made him wonder who else was hiking in the off-season, away from the more popular places.

"Look, I'm not fooling around here. You pay me what you owe me or you'll be the next tragic victim to die in the park. We'll just throw your body in a geyser."

Tim's eyes widened. These were not hikers.

"I told you! I have it!"

"Then, hand it over."

"Not here."

"Why not here? You knew when the meeting was. You're running out of time. We had a deal. I give you the supply, you give me the money. I don't get my money and I take it out of your hide."

Tim knew that he was in no position to confront these people. He needed to find a ranger or some law enforcement. He also knew that it would be hard to move quietly with all the sticks and rocks on the uneven trail.

I have to try. I can't just sit here and wait and hope they don't see me...or wait for them to commit murder.

He took a step and then another. So far, so good. He just needed to get far enough away that he could start running. If he could do that, they'd be hard-pressed to catch up.

A few more steps and he chanced a look back.

Big mistake. He should have known not to look back. Nothing good ever came from looking back.

He turned just in time to see the fist coming at him.

Stars exploded in his vision and things went black.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

There were three men in the clearing when the fourth dragged Tim over. He wasn't quite unconscious, but he was clearly out of it.

"Who is this?"

"He was out on the trail."

"What?"

"It wasn't me! I didn't tell anyone!"

"He could just be a hiker."

"Find out."

The one who'd caught him knelt down and searched through his pockets. He pulled out his phone and his wallet.

"Fancy phone. Timothy McGee. From DC." He looked up. "He's a cop. A Navy cop."

"What's a Navy cop doing in the middle of Yellowstone?"

"I don't know. You wanna ask him?" He pulled out a gun.

"We can't just kill a cop! That's asking for way more trouble than I want."

"Then, what are we going to do? We can't just leave him here! He must have heard us. He was sneaking around. Maybe he saw us, too!"

The three of them looked at each other. Then...

"Bring him around. We'll take him with us and decide what to do when we figure everything else out. Worse comes to worst, we'll kill him and dump his body someplace where no one will find him."

He knelt down and splashed water on Tim's face. Tim choked and sputtered and then, his eyes opened. He clearly knew he was in trouble as soon as his mind re-engaged.

"So...fed. What were you doing listening in?"

"I...I'm on vacation."

"Right. Well, I hope you're ready for a long hike."

"Why?"

"Because either you come with us or we kill you now. What's your choice?"

Tim looked around, knew he was outnumbered.

"I guess...I'll come with you."

"Get up."

Tim struggled to his feet. He was clearly a little off balance, but there was something a slightly impressive in the way he refused to cower in the face of his situation.

"Hands over your head."

He followed instructions.

"Search him."

The search was very thorough, and nothing came out of it. It seemed as though he might be exactly what he'd said: a man on a vacation. They weren't taking any chances, though. He looked at Tim's phone, checking previous calls, noting that none had been made recently.

"I hope you're not too attached to your phone."

Tim said nothing...not even when he took it and smashed it to bits.

"Good. Let's go."

He gestured and the guns came out. Tim looked at them.

"You know...firearms aren't allowed in Yellowstone. It's against federal law."

One of the others jabbed him in the back.

"Stop being smart. Start walking."

Reluctantly, Tim started walking. The only one in as bad a situation was the buyer who had no money. They'd get down to why he didn't have the money with him right now...and he didn't take risks that didn't pan out.

All in all, this wasn't going as well as he'd hoped, and if it got any worse, he'd make sure those two fared worse then he did.