Caching Out by Tammy Cheatham Page A

tossed a five dollar bill on the table and slid his hat on.“Tonight
proves that the locals are like a splinter festering under the skin, just
waiting to bust. They’re running scared on this and tonight won’t be the only
call that we have to take where some dumb ass tries to take justice into his
own hands. I really think you should talk to the press, get them on your side
and make a statement to the public. Give it some thought okay?”
    Tate
watched Martin climb into his patrol car . You know he’s right, Echo. You’ve
got to let the town know that you’re on their side before this gets out of
hand.  
    Reaching
for his cap, Tate slipped another five under his cup and left the diner.

 
    CHAPTER 9
     
    Reaching
the trailhead, Gavin picked up his pace and quickly covered the short distance
back to his cabin. Rushing inside, he dropped his backpack then flung his cap
onto the bed. He flipped his laptop open, and slid his finger across the ID
reader. Clicking the remote camera icon, he had a clear view of the happy
family searching for the hidden geocache.
    Gavin
turned up the volume, then swore, “Damn, I should have found a closer place for
the camera so that I could hear them better.” 
    Laughing,
the dark-haired woman stared up at her husband. “That guy scared about ten
years off my life. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be out here. Guess I should
have known that we weren’t the only ones at the lake who’d do some caching this
weekend.” 
     “Yeah,
well, I think we scared him, too.” The man replied. He was in a big hurry to
get back to the campground.”  Glancing at the boys, he shrugged, “Probably had
someone waiting for him.” Both boys studied the GPS that their dad held and
stepped toward the cache site.
    Turning
several rocks over, they soon chimed in unison, “Found it!” 
    Gavin
watched the man pull the plastic container free from its hiding spot then pull the
top off. The wife reached over him, grabbing the log book out of the container.
Dropping to his knees, the man sat the cache down on the ground so the boys
could see the contents.   
    With
his eyes glued to his monitor, Gavin watched the smaller of the two boys pull
the coin out and hold it up for his father to see.
    “Look,
Dad!  Can I take it?” 
    Reaching
out for the coin, the man turned it over in his hand. “Well, it doesn’t appear
to be a travel bug. Very unusual coin though. Sure, I guess you can take it,
just be sure to leave something of yours in return.” 
    Grinning,
the little boy pulled an orange and yellow fishing bobber out of his pocket and
dropped it into the plastic container. The man watched as his younger son
dodged his brother, who had reached out to snatch the coveted prize from him.
    “No
fighting boys,” the woman admonished with a grin. “You can both take one thing
as long as you leave something in return.” She turned to her husband who was
putting the cache back in its hiding spot. “We’d better get a move on if we’re
going to take the boat out before dinner.” Holding hands, the couple moved away
from the clearing, the boys followed.
    Gavin
watched the family leave the clearing and step out of the camera’s range. He
smiled and whispered, “Let the chase begin.” A couple of seconds passed before
a second window popped up on Gavin’s computer screen. This one showed a small
area map with a lighted cursor bobbing along the trail toward the campground. “That
tracking coin is the smartest thing you’ve come up with yet Gav, and this gig
with the State and National Parks system has been the best hunting ground
you’ve ever had.” 
    A
three year contract with the State of South Dakota to install and monitor wi-fi
in all its State and National parks gave him the access he needed to the
cachers he wanted. The game had become so much more interesting.
    Gavin
grabbed a bottled beer from the mini-fridge, and stopped at the mirror. “Gavin
you are one smart son of a bitch. That