“I’m not hungry, thank you,” she said. “What happens next?”
He finished chewing his mouthful and took a drink of whatever was in his glass. His expression said he was pleased with himself. “Well, the next agenda item will be rather explosive.”
Francine glanced at the wooden box. He saw her, and a slow, frightening grin shaped his mouth.
“We’re about to have our own big bang. Get it?” He laughed uproariously.
The only thing I get is that you are crazy, Francine thought grimly.
The time it took to reach the cabin strained every fiber of Raphael’s fragile nerves. Diesel sped the whole way to the cabin deep in the woods on a barely passable dirt road through the trees, but it wasn’t fast enough for Raphael.
Who had taken Francine if not Edgar? How many more rare shifters were out there wandering about? For a race that supposedly died out a century ago, he now knew of four: Miss Penny, Indigo Smith, a man discovered in Nocturne Falls who caused some trouble a year ago before being caught and now a mystery shifter who snatched Francine and, as it turned out, wasn’t Randel Edgar.
Diesel hit a pothole going too fast and everyone in the vehicle briefly launched into the air, yanked back by their seat belts to land hard in their seats like a choreographed routine. Raphael didn’t care if bruises covered his entire body. He certainly wasn’t going to tell Diesel to slow down.
No one complained. Diesel kept his SUV flying through the woods. Raphael was grateful.
At long last, Raphael caught a glimpse of a cabin through the trees.
“Is that it?” he asked.
From the back seat, Wyatt answered, “Yes. That’s it.”
Raphael was ready to leap out of his seat, leg muscles tensed, hand on the inner door handle as Diesel somehow pulled more speed from the SUV, slewing wildly on the windy dirt road. They saw more of the cabin during each curve in the road. He wanted to run Ichor-Delta fast, but calmed himself. His friends wanted to help, and Lucy had an equally strong stake in this race.
Diesel slowed through the last curve and stopped inside the tree line just shy of the clearing where the cabin stood. He drove onto the grassy area to one side of the road, facing his truck grill toward the centered front door as if he might drive straight into the cabin.
Raphael silently voted for ramming through the door, but logic changed his mind. He wanted to know exactly where Francine was before taking any aggressive tactical moves.
A narrow window to the right of the door didn’t offer much of a view inside.
“I’m going in,” Lucy said. Raphael heard her seat belt click and she opened her door.
“Wait!” Diesel said.
“For what?” she shot back.
“What’s our plan? What are we doing? Beating the door down with guns blazing or taking the softer, more sensible approach?”
Lucy sighed. Raphael did, too. Diesel was right.
Wyatt suggested, “Why don’t I slip around back inside the edge of the forest here and see what I can see?”
“Great!” Lucy nodded. “I’ll get out, too.”
Raphael unclicked his seat belt and opened his door a crack. “I’m not waiting in the vehicle.”
Diesel leaned forward over the steering wheel and took a good look all around the area. It was quiet.
Raphael heard a gust of wind ripple through the trees and the leaves rustled, making a noise he usually found calming. Not today.
“Fine,” Diesel said, unclicking his own seat belt. “Let’s all go. Wyatt, head around through the woods to the rear of the cabin. Try to keep out of sight. Maybe we can surprise whoever is inside.”
“Got it,” Wyatt said. “I’ll whistle if I see anyone.”
Wyatt was out of the truck and quickly into the thick line of brush and pine trees at the edge of the clearing. Hopefully his exit had been hidden from anyone inside the cabin.
