As she left the bathroom, she pulled her wet hair into a ponytail. Kellen had stretched out on the bed, dressed except for his shirt which was in his hands, as if he meant to put it on, but something had distracted him. She sure knew what was distracting her at that moment, and she might have done something about it until the drone of the reporter on the television froze her in place.
The latest report we have was that a wolf was caught on the train tracks just outside of Denver. The blockage on the tracks brought the train to a halt until the carcass was removed. The train operator insists that there will be no delay in the schedule and all deliveries will continue..."
Kellen turned off the television. The rest of the report didn't matter. "You were in Denver?"
She nodded, reaching for the backpack, keeping her towel wrapped around her. "Yes. Dilworth to Lincoln. Then I switched railcars again, taking Lincoln to Denver. After traveling east, I figured Josiah would think I was heading to Chicago. So, I doubled back and found a route from Denver to Albuquerque. I considered heading east again, aiming for Fort Worth, but my money for supplies was running low and the timing of the trains didn't work. I tried not to stay in one place for longer than a couple of hours."
Kellen nodded, his head tilted to the side indicating he was deep in thought. More than anything she wanted to recapture the sense of pure satisfaction she had when she’d awoke in his arms. She should have known better than to hope for more than a night's rest with someone who cared about her.
Then he swung his long legs off the bed and stood. The frustrated look on his face had her hoping he’d go all he-man and toss her back into bed, but that didn’t happen.
"Get that look off your face. As much as I’d love to, we need to get moving,” he said. "There's hiking clothes and boots in your backpack. Come next door when you're ready."
He slipped his shirt on followed by a fatigue-colored jacket and opened the door just wide enough for him to slip through without exposing her to the outside. Happiness swam inside her knowing last night wasn’t a one-night stand. She was forced to take a couple of deep steadying breaths before digging into the backpack.
The boots Kellen mentioned were at the bottom, so she had to empty everything onto the bed to get to them. The temperature had dipped enough that she would need more than a sweater, at least until she'd hiked half a mile or so. She'd warm up quickly after that, so layers were important. Like Kellen, her pants and jacket were army fatigues. Even though he said he doubted anyone was still at the Riverstone mansion, they were still preparing for anything and everything.
She double-checked the clip to the sheath that held her knife. Despite the wear and tear, it still worked just fine. With Josiah getting closer, she couldn't be too careful.
Once dressed, she grabbed her backpack and went to the guys’ room, only to find the door propped open so she didn't have to knock. The dim light from the dirty lampshades barely lit the room, but there was enough for her to see Leo, Kellen, and Stephen hunched over a laptop on a rickety card table in the far corner. Stephen sat in the chair with something that looked like a large game controller in his hand.
"What are you guys doing?" She walked over to look at the screen, dropping her backpack next to the TV stand. It appeared to be an aerial view of a burned down home. "Is that the Riverstone mansion?"
"Yes." Stephen adjusted the controller, and the angled view changed.
It took her a second to figure out what he was doing. "You have a drone?"
"A small one," Stephen confirmed, adjusting the angle again.
"Even if Josiah isn't around, there are other humans who are going to notice that."
Kellen shook his head. "We modified it to look like a hawk. In this area, anyone hanging around is going to be looking at the damage, not up in the air.”
“Clever, but won’t the shifters hear it?” she asked.
“No,” Kellen said. “We’re flying it high enough to avoid that.”
None of them looked at her, keeping their focus on the mansion, but Leo did tap her on the shoulder, handing her the chocolate bar she’d requested last night. Deciding she'd save it for later, she slipped it into the backpack. At least neither of them acknowledged the fact that Kellen hadn’t slept in their room last night.
"I still don't see anything," Kellen said.
Leo straightened while shaking his head. "Neither do I."
"What were you looking for?" Samara asked, then backed away from the table so Stephen could get out of the chair.
Pointing toward the screen, Leo said, "Any sign that the police and news media have well and truly left. Also, to see if Josiah had left any of the pack behind."
Kellen reached for his jacket from where he had tossed it on the bed. "The media has moved on to the next disaster, and any traps Josiah set up were either destroyed or triggered by the first responders. We just want to avoid any surprises. Stephen, bring it back, and let's get out of here."
It took about twenty minutes for the drone to return. Instead of waiting in the room, she, Kellen, and Leo headed toward the van. Above she heard a small buzzing sound that definitely wasn't a hawk. Stephen wasn't kidding about the drone's size. It was about as long as her forearm, and broad as both her hands put together. The wings were covered in brown feathers that looked like they were made from something synthetic and durable.
The drone landed about ten feet away. Leo picked it up and carefully removed the wings from the body before stowing them. He then placed the body into a long case with a foam interior and tucked that under the wings.
By the time he'd finished, Stephen appeared with a laptop case in hand and his backpack over his shoulders. "Let's go!"
They crossed the tree line together. Stephen kept an old-fashioned compass at the ready. "This way," he said and everyone turned southwest.
Their boots made impressions in the grass and fallen pine needles since there was no path to follow. They wound their way around aspens and birch mixed with pine and spruce. Once, they heard the rustle of leaves before a deer up ahead jumped and ran.
