Wyatt cocked his head and turned. The wind carried a faint sound that didn’t belong in these woods. A repeated buzzing.
They both jogged back to where they’d just been.
Wyatt shielded his view of Switch with his hand. “It’s even worse when you run.”
Switch shifted to wolf form and sprinted ahead of Wyatt.
Out of breath and his ass throbbing, Wyatt slowed his pace when he caught Switch nosing around where they’d found the hair tie. “I’m fixin’ to take you to the vet and put you in that cone of shame.”
Switch pawed at the leaves.
Wyatt bent down and spotted Niko’s phone. Niko didn’t use the newer models since they would require him to use voice command, which wasn’t allowed for privacy reasons. His was a simple one with push buttons.
The phone vibrated again, and Wyatt cringed when he saw the number on the display.
He pushed Talk and steadied his breath. “Hi, Viktor. Don’t kill me, but we’ve got another problem.”
Chapter 14
Ipeered through the broken shutters—nothing but sunshine and rolling hills as far as the eye could see. We’d finally hit a few small towns, the roads bordered by telephone poles and old homes. “I’ve never seen so many trees in my life.”
Claude looked at me from the adjacent sofa, his arm resting on the back and his face turned my way. “You sound disappointed. Miss the smell of garbage bins and pollution already?”
He rubbed his bright-red nose and zipped his coat all the way up. The window next to him had been smashed during the accident, so outside air was roaring against the shutters and cooling the interior. Shepherd had briefly pulled over to a secluded area so he could give the tires and engine a closer inspection, but Viktor didn’t want to make any more stops until after sunrise, so we pressed on.
We killed time talking about great inventions and history. Blue sat quietly beside me, listening to Christian and Claude reminiscing about the good old days of horse-drawn carriages. Adam and his sister had gone back into the sleeper, and Carol was in the back. The kids needed to rest up as much as possible. I noticed that Claude kept checking on Carol. Maybe he felt sorry for her because she didn’t have anyone, but he periodically walked to the back and sniffed the door. Creepy, but Blue explained that it was Claude’s way of looking out for her. I simply didn’t get Chitahs and all their strange customs.
When the RV slowed down, the chatter stopped and everyone looked out the windows.
Viktor put on his aviator sunglasses and turned his attention to the group. “People in small towns ask questions. We are on a family vacation. I am the grandfather and do not speak since my stroke.”
Claude laughed. “A stroke?”
A comb appeared in Viktor’s hand, and he began styling his hair and beard. “I cannot speak with this accent. It is one that makes me easy to remember, and not one that many people trust. Christian, you should also refrain from speaking.”
Christian made me jump with surprise when he answered in a Southern accent just as sweet as Southern tea. “Don’t you worry, Grandpappy. I fit in just fine with the locals.”
I smiled at him. “That’s a nifty accent you got there, Farmer Poe.”
He pretended to tip an invisible hat on his head. “Comes in handy.”
Blue stood up and stretched. “You almost sound like someone I could like.”
I looked out the window at a few buildings along the two-lane road. A community bank, some houses, a chapel, and a backdrop of rolling hills. “Something tells me they don’t have a Walmart.”
Shepherd pulled the camper into the parking lot of a tiny gas station. It looked like we were on Main Street of a small town.
I quickly hopped out of the trailer and soaked up the morning sun. There was a Dairy Queen down to the right and a McDonald’s to the left. “Food run. Anyone hungry?”
“Me!” Eve shouted as she emerged from the trailer.
Adam followed sluggishly behind her, his complexion as green as his shirt. “Do they have a bathroom?”
“There’s one in the trailer,” I reminded him.
He shook his head. “I need to be alone.”
Shepherd clapped him on the shoulder. “Come with me, kid.”
