Rory's cheeks were bright red as he tried to ignore us, leaning forward to examine the photo as if he were seeing it for the first time. Patrick was oblivious to the whole thing but still jumped right onto the whole metaphor and idiom train. "Sucking farts back in. Funny, but if you're talking about pretending something didn't happen then I think you need to go with something classic like closing the barn doors after the horses got out."
I nodded and decided to tease Rory a little. Not just because I wanted to get any kind of reaction from him I could. He also looked adorable when he blushed. "Classic is good, I like it. How about this one. It's like closing the bottle after you've already poured a shot of Jameson."
Patrick screwed up his face, looking at me like I'd grown a second head. "Who puts the cap on the whiskey bottle after only one shot?"
"Good point." Smirking, I leaned closer to Patrick. "Try this one instead. Blocking a scent once it's been smelled is like pouring a full glass of whiskey back into the bottle."
Patrick gasped in horror. "Shut your mouth. Who would do something so atrocious? Just try and touch my glass after it's been filled, fucker. Do it and you'll lose a hand. Believe that."
The O'Malleys started elbowing each other and coming up with their own suggestions, but Liam, the younger one who’d helped us with our moose problem recently, nipped everything in the bud by putting two fingers to his mouth for an ear-piercing whistle. "Sorry to stop your fun, boys. But I think I just found our clue."
Rory perked up with a relieved look on his face. I felt like a turd for making him uncomfortable, even if he had started it by taking stupid scent blockers. "Show me, Liam. What do you see?"
"It's the plant under his head. See how it's spreading over the ground? That's the Chamaesyce polygonifolia—or as it’s more commonly known, the Seaside Spurge." Liam looked excited as he warmed up to his favorite subject.
Patrick held a hand over his head, waving it in the air like a grade school kid who was trying to get the teacher's attention. "I'm sorry to interrupt. But, did you seriously just say that Da is lying in something called Seaside Spooge? That's either unfortunate or funny as hell, depending on how Da is when we find him."
Liam rolled his eyes, wrinkling his nose with distaste. "I said spurge and you know it. Now hush and let the grown-ups talk, perv. This is serious."
Rory tapped the photo. "Ignore Pattywhack, Liam. You were saying?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was about to bore you with the details about the individual, oblong-shaped leaves that are wider on the bottom and the pale red, hairless stems. But that would probably just get our brothers cracking more jokes anyway. I'll be happy to give you all the botanical information later if you're interested, but let me cut to the chase. Not only is it a rare plant, it's so rare that it’s only found around here in the Indiana Dunes National Park."
"And you're sure about this?" When Liam nodded, Rory snapped his fingers. "You heard him. Let's head out." He took a step toward the door then stopped and shook his head. "Wait. We can't all go." He hesitated for a second as his shoulders slumped. "Now that I think about, I don't think any of us should go."
The O’Malleys all started talking at once, shouting over each other to be heard. Vasily made a cutting motion across his neck and the room remarkably fell silent. He walked around to face Rory. "Tell me what you're thinking. Maybe my brother and I can help."
Rory's eyes widened as if he'd forgotten about me for a second. Or even Vas for that matter. "Someone should be here if Da randomly shows up or we get a ransom call. But also, if they have eyes on the area—or if Da is still there—seeing an O'Malley show up would tip their hand and let them know that we’re on their trail. I can't risk it, especially not in the daylight."
Vasily was already reaching for his phone. "Good call, Rory. Give me a second to get in touch with my mate. He works with STAHP's best trackers and they’re always willing to help out. If it's okay with you, my brother and I will head out and meet with them at the national park. We need to get going though because we’re already burning daylight since the sun will be setting soon. We'll get in there and see what we can find before it gets dark. After that, the trackers can shift and hopefully lead us to your father."
"Yes, I like that plan. If you can make it happen, I'll be in your debt." He nodded decisively then shot me a wistful smile before darting out of the room. What was that about? Hopefully it was a sign of good things to come. But first, I would earn his trust by doing what I'd come here to do.
It was a big park, and we had maybe twenty minutes of daylight left when we arrived. Fortunately, Liam had been able to narrow down the only three spots in the park where the spooge plant grew that might be a match, which was a relief. Traipsing up and down the sand dunes in the dark would have inevitably ended up with one of us pitching off the side of one and landing in a lake. At least we didn’t have to deal with snow, though the freezing wind was like sandpaper on my cheeks.
Naturally, River’s eagle eye was the one to find the right one, nestled at the base of a tall dune. With barely any time to spare. It was already dark enough that our enhanced vision came in handy. The green and red plant sprawled spottily over the sand. It grew in patches, mats of green speckled between wide swathes of tan, and in person I could tell that the leaves were browning as winter crept near. "Over here. This is definitely the spot where they took the picture. The plants are all kinds of fucked up from being walked on, not to mention having a body laid out on them."
Nacho and Dante—the twin trackers who had already helped us in the past—circled the area, muttering in Spanish and nodding that River had it right. Without further discussion, they started stripping right there and shifted into their jaguar forms. While River matter-of-factly gathered their clothes and shoved them into an empty bag he'd brought with him, the two big cats put their noses to work. Within seconds, they were off and running.
"Shit. We have to go after them. They get on a trail and forget that people need to follow." River slid the bag over his shoulder and took off in a run. Vasily and I looked at each other and shrugged then followed. We also ran… at a slightly slower pace.
Luckily, we didn't need to go far because the scent trail ended abruptly at the top of the dune. By the time Vasily and I came out of the trees and walked out into the open, the twins were already getting dressed. Vas went straight to River's side. "What did we miss?"
River shook his head. "Nothing. I mean, unless you wanted to see their junk again." He giggled when Vas growled. "Dante said we would wait for you, so chill the hell out."
Nacho shrugged. "Esta verdad, Dante didn't even tell me what he picked up. Me? I have nada. About the scent, I mean." He grinned and grabbed his crotch after he'd zipped his pants. "I will be happy to show you my junk again if you missed it. Your call, amigo."
I coughed to cover a laugh while Vas glowered. "Not necessary, but thanks."
"Yeah... thanks bunches." My brother was still sounding growly. He ignored Nacho and turned to his brother. "Now that we are all here, tell me you have something, Dante. I really don't want to go back to the O'Malleys with a fat ball of nothing."