If she couldn’t find a house, her daughter would be living in a shack her mother built with sticks. She didn’t even have a saw to cut thick branches. Her knife wouldn’t last forever if she attempted to use it that way, not without a means to sharpen it. Megan began chastising herself. What had she been thinking?
Caitlin’s eyes popped open and she sat up. They quickly ate the leftover cornbread Megan had pilfered and drank some of the water. She wanted to conserve the water in case they didn’t find any today. She did her best to fold the blanket, but it turned into a crinkly mess with a bunch of tiny tears all over. It didn’t matter, it was all she had and it would have to do, in case she needed it for tonight.
They started walking higher up the mountain and into the forest. Megan wanted to stick to the forest in the hopes of finding an old abandoned hunting cabin. She knew there had to be plenty up here; if only she could find one. Of course, it wouldn’t be quite as stocked as Wyatt’s and it wouldn’t offer the same good company, but it was a roof over their heads, and she was confident she could build from there.
As they were walking, Caitlin started talking about Kyle’s attack. She of course wanted to know why he wanted to hurt them. When Megan told her she didn’t know, Caitlin was quiet for a few minutes. Then she started talking again.
She told Megan she knew the bad man.
“How? How do you know him?” Megan asked, assuming her daughter was confused or maybe knew his voice because he spent so much time in the room with her while she was sick.
Caitlin stopped walking. “I saw him hurt another man.”
“What?”
“He hurt another man at our other camp. Before I got sick. He hurt him, but he was nice.”
Megan was confused. “Kyle, the bad man who stabbed mommy, hurt another man?”
Caitlin nodded.
“You saw him hurt another man?”
She nodded again.
“Where, honey? At the big house with Ryland and Duke? With Wyatt?” Even saying his name made Megan’s heart ache.
“No, at our other place where we were camping.” She was growing frustrated by Megan’s inability to understand what she was saying.
Megan’s mind whirred as she processed what Caitlin was saying. A few days before Caitlin had gotten sick, they’d come across some campers who’d spread out in smaller encampments. There’d been some children there, so Megan decided to stop and rest for the night and give Caitlin a chance to play with some kids her own age. None of the adults had bothered to come introduce themselves, which was fine with her as she didn’t have plans to stay long.
“Caitlin, did Kyle see you? Talk to you when you saw him hurt the man?”
She nodded. “Yes. He said the man was trying to hurt him so he made him go to sleep for a little bit.” She looked down at the ground. “He had a small gun and it made a loud pop, but he said it was a toy gun and it didn’t really hurt the man.”
Caitlin didn’t seem upset by what she’d witnessed. “He was very nice, mom. We had a little picnic lunch. I was really hungry so he shared his lunch with me.”
“What did you eat for lunch with Kyle?” Megan asked. She had a feeling she already knew the answer.
“Some blueberries. But not the kind you put in my pancakes.”
Megan was furious. Now she wished she’d been able to kill him. He’d tried to kill her daughter!
The magnitude of the situation almost made her fall to her knees. Kyle had nearly killed Caitlin because she was a witness to murder. She was having difficulty wrapping her mind around it.
It was then she realized, she had been the one to bring Kyle to the group. Megan had put Wyatt and the others in jeopardy. Kyle was after Caitlin. She thought back to that feeling of being watched while she was taking a bath in the stream. The man must have followed them.
He could’ve killed them all. He almost killed her, Duke and her baby. They had to get away from the others. If Kyle was still out there, he’d be hunting them. She couldn’t go back to Wyatt and his family now, knowing she’d bring danger.
“Thank you for telling me, sweetie. Now, we need to get going.”
They walked in silence for about thirty minutes. It was a slow pace with Caitlin, but she was doing her best.
Deep voices made her freeze. She clapped her hand over Caitlin’s mouth and pushed her into an area where the trees were thicker. The voices grew closer. Caitlin started to squirm under Megan’s hand. She pulled it away, quietly telling her daughter not to move or talk. The little girl’s blue eyes were wide with fear, but she obeyed.
Megan and Caitlin stayed absolutely still as they watched five men break through the trees. It was Kyle! They were talking but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Every one of the men was carrying what looked like semiautomatic rifles, AR-15s if she remembered her guns right.
Kyle had a holster on with a gun on each hip. Her heart raced as she realized they were heading back to the lodge. They were going to kill Wyatt and his entire family. The men were armed to the teeth and prepared for a war. Wyatt’s family would be slaughtered!
They were twenty feet away when Kyle stopped walking, held a finger to his lips and looked around. He drew one of the guns from his hip and held it out. Megan didn’t breathe. She silently commanded Caitlin not to move a muscle.
If these men saw them, there would be no fight. They’d kill them, and then kill Wyatt and his family all because of what one little girl witnessed.
After a very long thirty seconds, Kyle holstered his weapon.
“I want him to pay for what he did to me,” he announced. “Look at this,” he held his arm out. The same arm Duke had bit into. “That guy tortured me. He let his dog chew on me for days. We have to make him pay. We can’t let groups like this live in our area. We have to make this place safe for our families and that means getting rid of the snakes that threaten them.”
Megan wanted to scream. He was the monster! He was the one who was a snake. The men all promised to avenge him. Megan used her eyes to tell Caitlin not to move, even when the men had walked away. She wanted to make sure they were far enough away that they wouldn’t hear the rustling of the dried leaves. She couldn’t risk them seeing her or her daughter.
The realization that she really couldn’t do this alone hit her like a ton of bricks. Wyatt, Chase, Jack and even Albert were a small but mighty army. They would of course protect her. Even the dog had put his life on the line for her.
Their small army may not be enough to take on Kyle and his men with all their firepower, but Megan knew Wyatt and his friends were well trained. They’d planned for this moment and would be far more capable of winning this war if they knew it was coming.
She’d grown very fond of them during her time with them and even had the passing thought that they were starting to feel like family. Living in this bleak, dark world without them wasn’t something she liked. Especially Wyatt. She had to warn them. She had to protect them from the trouble she brought into their lives. They did nothing but offer her kindness and were so generous with their supplies. She repaid them by dumping a murderer on their doorstep and fleeing in the middle of the night like a coward.
How could she be so selfish?
Each of them had worked tirelessly to help Caitlin. They were willing to trust her and Megan broke that trust. The shame weighed heavily on her as she thought about what to do. She had to help them. This was her fault and she had to make it right.
It would be impossible for her to get back to the lodge with Caitlin in tow before Kyle and his men wreaked havoc on the unsuspecting group. She did know of a shortcut, but it meant crossing a rather slippery fallen log to get across the stream.
Kyle and his group would likely go around and approach the lodge from the opposite direction. Since Kyle had been privy to where all the alarms were and the various booby traps, he’d know how to avoid them. He’d know where Albert’s little bird nest was positioned and how to avoid being seen by coming up the backsid
e of the mountain.
If she didn’t do something fast, they could all be slaughtered!
The plan formed in her mind. It was risky and it terrified her, but it was the only way to save the others. They’d put their lives on the line and now it was her turn to repay their kindness.
Her plan hinged on the group realizing she was gone and going to look for her. She’d left a note, but deep down she knew Wyatt wouldn’t simply accept her departure. He’d look for her and ask her to come back. At least she hoped he would, if not, her plan could get her and her daughter killed and the men would still kill the group. It had to work. It had to.
27
Wyatt headed to the kitchen, started coffee and waited for Megan to join him. Every morning she rose with the sun. His mom had already been down and was now back upstairs working on her puzzle. Maybe Megan was exhausted and decided to sleep in.
He watched as Duke scratched at the door to get in the room. He’d gone back to sleeping with Ryland, but liked to lay with Caitlin in bed while Megan enjoyed her coffee with Wyatt.
Wyatt had grown fond of their time in the morning when it was the two of them chatting quietly. He felt like he’d known her all of his life. She was funny, beautiful, and Wyatt was convinced she’d been put on this earth for him.
He waited a few more minutes. Something wasn’t right. Megan would have heard Duke scratching. She wouldn’t leave the dog outside the door. They’d bonded after Duke saved her life. Alarm and fear had him moving to his old bedroom door.
Tapping quietly on the door. “Megan? Megan are you guys okay?”
Kyle couldn’t have gotten into the house and hurt them, not with the new security measures in place but something wasn’t right. He turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. The bed was empty.
She’d left him; running away in the middle of the night. He was mad and hurt at the same time. It was devastating. He’d grown to care for her and she hadn’t even said goodbye. Wyatt knew she’d been struggling since the attack. His mom cautioned against pushing her too hard so he’d given her space. Megan was a loner and pushing her to stick around would only drive her away. Apparently, it had.
Finding the note she left on the dresser, he stared at it.
Wyatt,
I can’t thank you enough for the kindness you’ve shown both me and Caitlin. Please tell the others thank you and I’m sorry.
Megan
Nope. He wasn’t going to accept some stupid apology written in a Dear John note. She was going to have to face him and tell him she was leaving.
“I’m going out,” Wyatt told his brother who was now sitting at the bar in the kitchen.
“Uh, okay. Any place in particular or to stretch your legs?” the question was sarcastic. Typical teasing between brothers.
Wyatt glared at him. “I need a little fresh air.”
He wasn’t sure where he was going. He walked outside and looked around, trying to think where she would go. He didn’t think she’d go into town. She knew it was best to stay away from the population right now, especially after what happened in the school. Would she go east or west?
Wyatt took a deep breath of the cool mountain air and checked his watch. It was almost eight o’clock already. Hard telling when she left, but he doubted she would make Caitlin walk all night. She couldn’t be more than a couple miles away.
“You have to let her come back on her own, son.”
His mom had come out and was standing next to him.
He didn’t answer her, just stared off into the forest.
“You know that old saying, if you love them, set them free and all that. She’ll realize how much we can offer her and how much safer it is for her and her daughter. Have some faith.” She reached out to touch his arm. “I miss her, too. And I know she was very fond of you, whether she was ready to accept it or not.”
Wyatt looked down at his mom. Her eyes were glistening and he knew she was trying not to cry. Rosie had grown to care for Caitlin and Megan a great deal. She viewed Megan as a daughter and Caitlin as her grandchild.
His mom was right. It was stupid to go out looking for Megan. He didn’t know where she was and even if he did find her, was he going to club her on the head and drag her back? No. She knew how to find them.
When she realized how tough it was out there, she’d be back. Another thought crossed his mind. What if Kyle found them first? What if she ran into him? Wyatt hoped she was smart enough to stop and take the bag he left for her.
He’d have to find a way to stay busy while she found her way, praying it was sooner rather than later. Wyatt knew he’d go out of his mind with worry for her. Thankfully, the weather was mild right now, but it had rained last night making for a cold, miserable night without the proper gear and she didn’t have any.
Megan quietly talked with Caitlin as she led the way through the trees. She was glad Wyatt had taken her into the forest every day. They’d covered a lot of ground and he’d made sure she always knew how to find her way back to the lodge from wherever she was. She was no geography wizard, but she had a good idea where they were.
Her plan hinged on Kyle primarily wanting to kill her and Caitlin. It was a terrible thought, but after his first attempt and what Caitlin had told her, she was convinced that was his goal. She couldn’t let the others die for her.
She had to get Kyle to follow her away from the lodge. She hated the idea of using her daughter as bait, but she was counting on Wyatt, Rosie and the rest of her new friends to take care of Caitlin should the worst happen.
They crossed the stream relatively easily. Now, she needed to climb the hill that would put her above the lodge. Kyle’s men would be coming at an angle that would give them a clear line of sight to her on the hill. Hopefully, they’d come after her and skirt around the perimeter of the lodge.
She was relying on Albert being in his perch and seeing the men. He could warn the group about the intruders. Just in case he wasn’t, she had a backup plan.
“Okay, sweetie, remember what to do?” Megan asked Caitlin only slightly out of breath after their mad dash up the hill.
Caitlin nodded. “Yep,” she said with enthusiasm.
Megan hadn’t wanted her daughter to be afraid. So, she’d made it into a game as best she could, while stressing the importance of her following exactly what she was supposed to do.
Now they waited. They stood at the top of the hill. Megan had unfolded the shiny metallic blanket and stretched it between two sticks. Wyatt had told her how to use the Mylar as a signaling device should she get lost and need help. She wasn’t lost, but she wanted to make sure Kyle and his men saw her on the hill.
Megan thought back to when Wyatt had brought her up to see the water cistern. He had such high hopes and big dreams. She prayed Wyatt and his family would live long enough to see them come true.
Lost in thought, Megan jumped when she heard a loud male voice cut through the silence of the forest.
“Up there!”
Megan felt as if she’d been punched. The men had spotted them. That was the plan, but it still scared her.
She casually looked down the hill and could see one of the men standing and pointing to where they stood. They were playing pretend she told Caitlin. They were pretending they were having breakfast on the hill and weren’t afraid at all.
Megan told Caitlin not to look at the men. She didn’t want them to know they knew they were there. Kyle pushed his way to the front. When he saw them up there, there were some hand gestures.
Megan leaned forward. “When I say go, you do only what I said, okay?”
Caitlin nodded. Now she looked a little worried. They stood up. Megan assured her everything would be okay.
Megan turned and saw Kyle racing out in front of the men. The men were clearly going to try to flank the hill. That wasn’t what she wanted. Megan took off running down the hill, into the forest and away from the lodge.
Caitlin was beside her until about halfway down. “Now, Caitlin.
Go!”
Caitlin didn’t hesitate and ran off to the side towards a small trail that Wyatt used to climb the hill. It would lead Caitlin right into the backyard behind the blind while Megan led the men away from the area. She knew someone would be there and they’d take care of Caitlin.
She secretly hoped Chase, Jack or Wyatt would come out to help her, but she assumed they would likely be out hunting, scouting or doing more work on the fence line. She was on her own, how she always wanted to be, but this time, it didn’t feel quite so comforting. Right now, it was terrifying.
Megan once again felt the sting of tree branches cutting across the skin that had finally healed after her last adventure through the forest. Her face was burning as prickly pine needles scratched and poked.
The rough terrain was difficult to navigate. She tripped and fell, banging her knee and scraping her hands, but Megan got up and ran again. While she could hear the men behind her, she didn’t think they could see her but she didn’t risk turning to look behind her. Megan knew where she was going and wasn’t going to stop until she got there.
As she burst through a small clearing, Megan saw the tree where Wyatt and she had sat almost daily. This is where they talked about life, their future and he told her about his time in the service. The place held special meaning, which is why he chose this place to leave the bag. The bag was supposed to have a gun in it, which initially she rejected. Megan was counting on the bag being there now, with the gun.
She looked around and saw nothing. She could hear Kyle shouting for her to stop. Not a chance, buddy!
Her breathing was so fast she thought she’d pass out. Megan needed to get her wits about her. Leaning against the tree, she put her head back and slowed her breathing. She was going to have to fight the guy. How she could possibly win when he had a gun and she didn’t was beyond her, but she wasn’t going down without a fight.
Opening her eyes, she caught a slight movement. There, above her was the bag. He did leave it! She quickly jumped and grabbed the strap of the bag yanking it down. Snapping the bag open, she thrust her hand inside, feeling around for the heavy metallic item she needed. Her fingers wrapped around the grip and she pulled the gun free. She checked the chamber and almost cried when she saw it was empty.
EMP Lodge Series Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 19
