“What is it?”
“I don’t even want to say it out loud.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Gage said.
Nova already knew about Valene’s relationship with Wyatt. After all, she’d helped Valene send some paperwork to HETA requesting special dispensation to marry Wyatt and move to Nocturne Falls, Georgia. Nova gave her a heated look that possibly meant she didn’t want to say anything in front of Gage.
Valene turned to Gage, but he already had a plan. “Let’s do this. You go upstairs and deal with Daphne Charlene for the time being, do your best to get rid of her and I’ll call Diesel.”
“What are you going to tell him? You don’t know what Daphne Charlene is here to say.”
“I’m going to tell him the good news about the other three prisoners being captured and the bad news about the star package being out for a much longer delivery than we had originally anticipated—”
“Oh, yeah. That,” Valene said under her breath as Gage spoke. A single mention of her nemesis and her brain emptied of everything else.
“—and mention he has a visitor. That’s all.”
“Good plan.”
Valene and Nova headed back upstairs. Before they reached the top step, Valene asked, “What did Wyatt tell Daphne Charlene that I don’t want anyone to hear?”
“I don’t know if I should tell you. Maybe I should just wait for Diesel to come back and talk to her.”
“If it involves Wyatt then it involves me.”
Nova looked stricken with indecision. “I was afraid you’d say that.” She opened her mouth, shut it, opened it again, closed her eyes and shut her mouth a second time.
Valene was getting close to panicked. “What in the world did you see in that woman’s addled brain?”
“Wyatt apparently told her that there are space aliens living in plain sight in Alienn, Arkansas at the Big Bang Truck Stop.”
No!
Chapter Nine
Wyatt led the group through the thickly wooded terrain for nearly seven miles. The scent of skunk wafted nearby when the wind blew. He took care to watch and avoid any possible encounters.
Diesel was right behind him, holding a specially constructed tablet that showed the map of the area and the wispy aura of the escaped prisoner they sought in real time. The signal had been fading since soon after they left the van.
“Start veering to the left in about ten yards,” Diesel said in a low tone. “We’re about a hundred yards away and the signal is practically nonexistent, just flashes every few seconds now. But he’s stopped moving.”
“Okay.” Wyatt moved carefully for several yards before coming to the edge of a large clearing. He signaled for the group to stop and set his back against the trunk of a nearby oak tree just inside the perimeter. He brought his rifle up to look through the scope and search the open area beneath the nearest tree branch, dropping into his sight. On the other side of the clearing, which he realized had an eight-foot-wide stream running through the center, Wyatt spotted his quarry seated on a large rock on the opposite bank.
“Got him,” Wyatt said. The alien had obviously crossed the water and had quite possibly stopped for a nice swim, as his head, furry chest and hairy arms were as sodden as the gray prison pants he wore.
Diesel, binoculars in hand, moved next to Wyatt. He let out a grunt of satisfaction when he saw the escapee.
“Can you make that shot from here?”
Does a bear poop in the woods?The phrase was on the tip of Wyatt’s tongue. He managed not to say it out loud, but only barely.
Instead, he said, “Easy.”
“Do it.”
Wyatt dropped his head, looked through the scope, took aim, squeezed the trigger and hit the hairy alien beast in the chest, dead center. The alien fell backward against the rock, flattening out with arms and legs stretched wide.
