by Jade White
Laskin smiled warmly as the last man left the cabin, shaking his hand and pumping it with obnoxious enthusiasm.
“I just want to say that it has been a pleasure fighting the good fight with you, Brother.”
Laskin smiled and nodded. I hope you’re the first to die, he thought. I hope you all die.
**
Olivia and Egan sat at the table in the busy diner, eating quickly so they could get on the road once more. Egan wore a ball cap pulled low over his eyes, careful to avoid eye contact with the waitress and the other patrons. In between bites, he looked at Olivia, who didn’t look a thing like the Olivia he knew and loved. Gone were the flaming locks of auburn hair, and her emerald green eyes were unnoticeable under the brown contact lenses. She’d covered her light splash of freckles with heavy foundation, and just like that, Olivia had disappeared before his very eyes.
She turned her attention to the television over the bar, closed captions running across the silent screen.
“In other news, social media is abuzz with news of Olivia Turner’s kidnapping as authorities search for her and her two traveling companions. Brothers Egan and Sable are shifters who have impregnated Ms. Turner against her will, kidnapping her when she refused to marry them and help rebuild the dwindling shifter population. Both men are considered armed and dangerous, and we urge you to contact the local authorities if you see them. Or, post on the social media page bringoliviahome.hum. There is a large reward for information leading to the whereabouts of the three.”
Olivia scanned the other patrons nervously, hoping that none of them had seen the newscast. At the bar, an unkempt man in a dirty hat stared at her. Olivia was in a panic when the man winked at her, licking his lips suggestively. Sighing inwardly, she was relieved that his attention seemed to have nothing to do with the newscast.
She threw a twenty dollar bill on the table and nudged Egan under the table.
“We need to leave.”
Egan nodded, standing slowly and walking out behind her, with his hand on her back. The man at the bar whistled softly under his breath.
“When you get done with her, Tiger, I’d love to give her a whirl.”
Egan’s blood boiled beneath his skin, but he ignored the man. He could smell the alcohol from ten feet away. The man was drunk and lonely, honing in on Olivia because she was the only woman in the joint under fifty that wasn’t a waitress.
They hurried out the door and into their car, Egan forcing himself to drive carefully to avoid making a scene.
“Olivia, what was that all about?”
“The man was nothing, just a drunk man with too much confidence. But our pictures were on the television. And there’s a bounty on our heads.” She stopped for a second. “Well, not my head. The news is saying that you and Sable kidnapped me to bear your shifter spawn. The good news is, the report says that we’re traveling together, all three of us.”
“What’s the bad news?”
“I think that man from the diner is following us.”
Egan glanced in the review mirror, spotting the late model pickup two cars back. Olivia was right, the man was the same man from the diner, and he was on his cell phone. Egan pushed down the accelerator and the car jumped forward. Egan merged right at the last second, entering the highway going back the way they’d come. The pickup nearly missed the entrance, skidding dramatically as the driver fought to make the tight turn.
Egan accelerated even more, the speedometer inching closer to seventy miles per hour as he moved up the ramp. Only one car separated them from the truck, though Egan was about to change that. He watched the side-view mirror, adjusting his speed to fit in a tight spot between two fast-moving vehicles.
He slid between them with ease, immediately changing lanes twice more to get into the fast lane. Olivia turned and watched the pickup, which had stopped to wait for traffic to lighten. The large vehicle lurched as the driver finally saw an opening and floored it. Already at the next exit, Olivia watched the pickup fade in the distance as the driver attempted to weave the behemoth truck in and out of traffic with little success.
On their left, a high occupancy lane opened up, with the sign warning that it was five miles before the next available exit. Egan merged into the single HOV lane and slowed the car to go with the flow of traffic.
“Egan, what are you doing? With the median there, if he gets in the lane we’ll be trapped.”
“With the median there, it will be easy to see if he saw us and is still after us. We’re a good mile ahead of him, at least. There are already six cars behind us. He can’t get to us in here and I can make certain that he didn’t see which way we went before I start heading back towards Washington.”
“We’re going to Washington?”
“Yes. It’s where my family took their last vacation together. Sable and I found an abandoned cabin in the woods, deep in the woods. We can hide there until we figure out what to do.”
“Is he going to meet us there?”
“I’m sure he’s already on his way.”
Olivia sat back against the chair and relaxed a little, still glancing at the side mirror now and then to make sure the man from the diner wasn’t after them. When the HOV lane offered a left exit several miles later, Egan took it and turned the car around in a gas station parking lot, stopping in front of a gas pump. From the pumps, he could see the exit clearly.
They sat for a few moments with the car running, watching each vehicle as it exited from the freeway. The right hand exit from the highway eventually merged with the HOV exit, so if the man had made it this far, he would be coming around the corner pretty quickly. The intersection was a busy one, and even if he had seen them take the exit, it was unlikely that he would notice their car tucked back behind the pump.
“Olivia, get into the driver’s seat while I fill the tank. I don’t think he’s followed us, but I want to be sure just in case.”
Olivia nodded and slid across the seats into the driver’s seat, the movements not nearly graceful as she worked around her ever-growing belly. Overnight it seemed to have gone from a small bump to a roundness that resembled a swallowed basketball. She fastened her seatbelt and kept her hand near the ignition, ready to turn the key back on if the man suddenly appeared.
Egan filled the tank, his eyes scanning the cars as they piled off the freeway and onto the busy streets fanning out in all different directions. Satisfied that enough time had passed, he topped off the tank and moved to the driver’s side to help Olivia out.
“I have to use the restroom.”
Egan nodded, handing her some cash for snacks for her and an energy drink for him.
“We’re going to drive through the night. That guy was probably just a creep, but we can never be too careful. Once we get out of this area, this is the last big city for hundreds of miles. We can’t afford to stop in the smaller towns now that our picture is plastered all over the news.”
“I understand. I’ll be quick.”
Olivia ran into the store, headed straight for the bathroom. The gas station was a travel center for truckers and road-trippers, and the bathrooms were huge and included showers and a large sitting area. Tucked in the corner, Olivia was surprised to see a bank of pay phones. Looking over her shoulder to make sure she was alone, she hurried to the nearest payphone and fished in her pocket for loose change. She fed several quarters into the machine and dialed Grace’s number.
“Hello?”
“Grace, it’s me. Can you talk for a second? I have less than two minutes.”
“Oh my gosh, Olivia! Where are you? Are you safe? Everyone is looking for you.”
“Grace, hush. Just listen. I’m fine. None of what the news reports are saying is true. No one kidnapped me. We’re going to Washington to hide out until this all blows over and I have the baby. I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay.”
“Oh, Olivia, I’m so glad you called. I love you. Please be careful and call me when you can.”
Olivia sa
id her goodbyes and hung up. She rushed into the bathroom to do her business and then hurried through the store, grabbing snacks and drinks along the way. There were two clerks and four registers. Each clerk bounced between two, ringing up the second customer as the first signed credit card slips or entered their pin number on the key pad. The clerks were friendly and fast, but neither made eye contact with any of the customers. Olivia moved into line, and paid for her things. The clerk set her change on the counter in front of her while Olivia gathered her bags and moved immediately to the other register to ring up the next person. Under different circumstances, Olivia would have been bothered by the service here. But today, the clerk’s refusal to waste any time interacting with customers was perfect.
She carried her heavy bags outside to the waiting car, climbing into the passenger seat and handing Egan his energy drink.
“Sorry, it was busy in there.”
“No worries. Let’s get moving.”
Egan drove out of the lot and headed west, guiding the car smoothly onto the interstate and settling into the flow of traffic. Olivia pushed her seat back and put Egan’s folded jacket against the door before laying her head down.
“I can drive for a bit when I wake up if you want to sleep in shifts.”
“That sounds good. Once we get into Utah, we stay on the 84 for a while. We can switch then.”
Olivia wanted to laugh at Egan, and remind him that she had been driving long before she met him, but she was too tired to argue with the eighteen-year-old. He had probably saved her life, she could let a little misplaced concern over her driving go. She smiled as she drifted off to sleep. Ignoring the fact that they were running for their lives, she was rather enjoying Egan’s company. He would make some girl very happy someday.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Laskin sat in the back of the common room, amused as he watched the elders argue among themselves over Olivia, Egan, and the now missing Sable. Sometime the night before, under Aldrich’s watch, Sable had slipped away and was nowhere to be found. Laskin fought the urge to taunt the old man, who had briefly nodded off in Sable’s library. Within minutes, Aldrich was asleep and Sable had disappeared into the night.
They can’t blame me this time. Laskin sneered as he sat there, trying not to laugh at these fools as they tried to figure out where the trio had gone. Anyone with half a brain could figure out that they’d long since left Florida and would be headed for somewhere to hideout. If they were smart, they would leave the country. Both Canada and Mexico had their own shifter government, and the two rarely backed up the American shifters in matters such as these. Mexico as a whole would not extradite anyone who faced the death penalty, including shifters. No matter which way they went, it was doubtful that either country would turn over a pregnant woman who fled a forced marriage. No, their only hope of catching the trio and bringing them to justice was to find them before they got out of the country.
Laskin’s cellphone vibrated in his pocket. Moving quietly, he left the room and went into the hallway to answer.
“Yes?”
“Laskin, it’s Gary. I think I have some information for you.”
“Let’s hear it then.” Laskin tapped his foot impatiently. Gary had been manning the tip line and had called him several times over the last twenty-four hours, always excited to share nothing of value. Laskin couldn’t wait to eliminate all the foolish humans. Maybe they’ll kill themselves when they discover they’ve been working for a shifter and not against them. Laskin’s face broke into a huge grin, imagining the carnage that would ensue if they suspected there was a shifter among them. He made a mental note to call in an anonymous tip claiming Gary was secretly a shifter as soon as the humans helped him find Olivia and Sable.
“There have been hundreds of calls, but this one sounds pretty promising.”
Gary pushed play and the recording came over the ear piece.
“Yes, hello. I seen the people on the news. But it’s not three, there’s only two and the lady has brown hair now. They was in Colorado Springs this morning, eating at Mama Clair’s Diner. They headed east on seventy and I lost them in traffic.”
Laskin cringed. The man’s butchering of the English language grated on his nerves. But he was the first to call stating that it was just the two of them. Which meant that this sighting was probably the only valid one.
“Get me his number and I’ll call that man back. They came from the east to get to Colorado, so I doubt they were really heading east when he chased him. I’m sure they made him and went east to throw him off the trail. I need to ask him a few questions, but I think this is a valid sighting. Good work, Gary.”
Laskin hung up, thinking to himself that maybe he’d keep Gary around as a servant and call in the anonymous tip on another member of the brotherhood. Gary had proven himself useful to say the least. Keeping him around might not be a bad idea.
He returned to the meeting and quietly took his seat in the back of the room to take notes. The three councilmen were almost done trying to figure out how to deal with this mess and save their own asses in the process. Aldrich stopped talking and looked at Laskin, his eyes hopeful.
“Anything?”
“No sir.”
Aldrich nodded. Addressing the others he said, “Has anyone checked Olivia’s friend Grace? There’s a chance, however slim, that she can help us locate Olivia.” He turned his attention to Laskin, “Laskin, will you go to her home and find out what she knows?”
“Yes sir.” Laskin groaned inwardly. How hard was it for Aldrich to question the woman himself? Laskin had things to attend to, and that didn’t include chasing down information when he already had what he needed.
“Go now, please. We have no time for dawdling.”
Laskin left quickly, his fists clenched and the anger bubbling beneath the surface. The old fool had let Sable walk in the middle of the night, yet he was still going to treat Laskin like he was an imbecile? Laskin had plans for that old man, once he caught and killed Sable and Olivia, and they weren’t pretty. Aldrich would suffer greatly for every time he humiliated Laskin.
Letting the door slam behind him, he walked briskly to his car and drove to Grace’s house. He doubted she had anything of value to tell him, but he would enjoy roughing her up a little in the process.
**
Olivia stirred in her sleep as the car slowed and then stopped. She blinked several times. Looking around in the dark, she saw precisely nothing; no cars, no houses, no sign of life anywhere.
“Is it my turn to drive again?” Olivia was exhausted. After nearly twenty hours in the car, she didn’t know if she could handle another minute stuck in the car.
“No, we’re here. Well, sort of. We’ve got a ways to go, but this is as far as the car is taking us.”
“Where are we?”
“The Okanagan Forest. We’re close to Canada.”
“Canada? Why are we going to Canada?”
“We’re hoping we don’t have to, but it’s an option if things go badly.”
Olivia didn’t even have to ask. It was only a matter of time before they were found, though they hoped they would have enough time to come up with a plan before they had to face the council.
Egan unloaded the car, packing everything tightly into the large backpack. He placed it on the ground in front of her.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back.”
Before she could answer, he hopped in the car and drove down the narrow drive towards an old abandoned barn in the distance. He opened the large door and drove the car into the dilapidated barn. Closing the door tightly, he stood in the shadows for a moment. Satisfied that there wasn’t anyone lurking in the darkness, he shifted, willing his body to hurry so they could disappear into the dense forest.
On his hands and knees, he watched his hand stretch and curve into a paw, the orange coat beginning to cover his body. He groaned as the pain ripped through him, his muscles protesting after going so long without shifting. He stretched each shifted li
mb as his human body faded away. Finally shifted, he shook his large head and took off at a fast clip toward Olivia.
He stopped just short of her, laying down at her feet as she pulled the heavy pack onto her back and climbed on. She laid down on his back, her swollen belly pushing against his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on.
“I’m ready,” she whispered in his ear.
Egan walked along the dense forest line until he came to a small break in the trees. He shouldered his way through the brush, careful not to rub Olivia off his back. The trail opened up and Egan broke into a smooth lope. Olivia burrowed deeper into Egan’s back as he ran, falling into an easy rhythm with his long strides.
He kept his eyes on the trail, his keen vision revealing everything in the moon-washed night. His breath quickened and his padded feet ate up the distance as he raced towards the abandoned cabin from his childhood.
Olivia turned her head against the wind, holding on to Egan as he ducked and turned down the path. Her grip was tight, her heart in her throat as she struggled to calm her racing heart. The occasional low hanging branch brushed her back, and there were a few times she was pretty sure they were running at full speed down a narrow path with a sheer drop on one side. Her eyes remained tightly shut, even though she was quite sure she couldn’t see much in the dark.
After what seemed like an eternity, Egan finally slowed to a walk, and Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. Her muscles ached from holding on while he ran. She sat up tentatively, fingers maintaining their death grip on his hide.
She peered into the darkness, straining her eyes to make out the shadows cast by the moonlight. Directly in front of them was utter darkness, the shapes indiscernible in the pitch black. Egan walked on, his breath sending up plumes of steam on the crisp night air.
The forest was quiet, eerily so. The wildlife was aware of Egan, seeming to hold its collective breath until he passed. From time to time, Olivia heard a quivering in the trees, as if some hidden animal was trembling in fear as the massive tiger passed frighteningly close to their hiding place.
