On A Night Like This (Callaways #1)

collar as far as she was concerned."
    "And proud of it," she said.
    "You bet."
    "Andrea didn't know what she was missing."
    "I doubt she gave me another thought. But I have to admit her rejection stung."
    He turned off the main highway, driving down a narrow, winding road into the hills.
    "This is a lonely stretch," she commented a few minutes later. "We haven't seen a car in a long time."
    "Summer is a more popular time up here, but I'm glad there's no one around. We'll have the woods all to ourselves." He glanced over at her. "I hope you'll have a good time. I know this isn't your usual thing."
    "I'm looking forward to camping out. I'm beginning to see the depth of the rut I've been treading the last few years. It's amazing the perspective you get when you step away from your life for a while."
    "Sometimes distance adds clarity." He paused. "Have you thought any more about the family secret you stumbled upon?"
    She'd been trying really hard not to think about the secret her parents had kept. "Not really. When I think about all the lies, it makes me a little sick."
    "Maybe when you speak to your father, his explanation will help you make sense of it all."
    "I can't imagine that he'll even give me an explanation. I wish my mom were alive so I could ask her why she never told me about my brother. We were so close, Aiden. I just don't understand how she could keep something so big from me. And she never slipped, not once that I can recall. We had lots of conversations about me being an only child. It was something we had in common, because she was an only child, too. But it was a lie—I wasn't an only child. I had a brother. That feels so weird to say out loud."
    "It's going to take some getting used to."
    "It's unnatural for a family to hide a death like that. I can't imagine the steps they had to take. Now I know why they didn't have any long-time friends. They had to walk away from anyone who knew about Stephen Davidson, Jr." As she thought about their deception, an uneasy feeling crept over her. "You don’t think there was anything sinister about my brother's death, do you?"
    "Like what?"
    "Well, I don't know how my brother died. He was four years old. Was it an illness, an accident? Was someone to blame? Did someone hurt him on purpose? Why was there a need for a cover-up?"
    "All good questions," he said somberly.
    "Too bad I don't have any answers."
    "We seem to be in short supply of those these days."
    She gasped as the truck hit a big bump and reached out a hand to the door to steady herself.
    "Sorry," he said, "The road isn't paved from here on out."
    "How far are we driving in?"
    "Just a mile."
    "I don't suppose there are any bathrooms out here, either."
    "We're roughing it," he said with a grin. "Trust me, you will love it."
    She'd been trusting him a lot lately; she had no reason to stop now.
    The road ran through some thick redwood forest. The branches of the tall trees obliterated the sun in some instances or created eerie rays of light. She felt like they were leaving civilization behind. She was probably being dramatic. After all, there was a road, even if it wasn't paved. But she was a city girl, and she hadn't seen this many trees in a very long time.
    Eventually, Aiden parked the car off the side of the road. "We hike in from here. I'll get the gear."
    Faced with the isolation of their location, Sara felt a little less sure of her decision to agree to camp overnight. They were so isolated, and who knew what kind of animals ran through the woods at night? "
    "Are there any bears out here?" she asked.
    "Oh, yeah, lots of 'em," he said gleefully.
    "Great."
    He smiled. "Don't worry, I can take care of you."
    "You can protect me from a bear?"
    "I have wilderness skills, Sara. When we jump into a fire, we pack for at least thirty-six hours. Sometimes we're out in the forest for a week before we can hike our way out or get close enough to find transportation."
    She shook her head, the reality of what he did amazing her the more she learned about it. "Isn't the forest on fire when you're in it?"
    "We don't jump straight into the fire. We find a nearby location for the drop and then hike in. We try to get in before the fire gets too big to handle, but sometimes that doesn't happen."
    "Are you ever scared?"
    "All the time."
    "But that's part of the fun, isn't it?"
    "It's a rush unlike any other. But aside from all that, we protect land like this, and that's important. The world is getting too