Chapter Sixteen
Laurel’s Run
The abandoned orange grove
After listening in on multiple recorded conversations between Slater and Julie, Laurel made a few notes and decided she’d be safe until evening. During her late morning runs, she preferred running with headphones and traditional running garb. Ty often teased her about having too many humans in her ancestral tree, but she didn’t care. The western wolves were a mixed lot anyway.
Beyond the town limits, uninhibited in the abandoned flats, she sang “Runnin’ Down A Dream” from Full Moon Fever along with Tom Petty until the feint whiff of several unfamiliar wolves caught her attention. She slowed down and stopped singing. Jogging slowly, Laurel sniffed. The distinct male odor wafted intermittently in the air coming from the far end of the inactive grove. At first, she thought to ignore it. The scent was old. But within a few steps, more familiar trace elements jarred her senses. She immediately identified the fresh scent of male wolves. One was Slater’s, and the other was the one who’d dragged her and restrained her last night.
She touched the trunk of a nearby tree with her bare hand, and images immediately swam through her mind. Slater Hall. They’d been by there. With others. Grace! But her scent was older. Laurel opened to the elements and inspected the tree more carefully, absorbing more information about those who had passed. She closed her eyes and allowed the story to unfold. The older scents were from when they’d brought Grace out here. The fresher scents indicated they’d returned.
In human form, her elemental abilities weren’t as acute as they were in wolf form. But Laurel tracked their scent to a path covered in underbrush, and intuitively marked it in case it rained and washed away the evidence before she returned.
The first thing she did was check for cell phone coverage. One lousy bar faded in and out. It sucked at this end of the grove, but she tried calling Derek anyway. When she got no response, she decided to return to Moonlight. She picked up her pace and kept trying to contact anyone on the way back to town.
No one answered at the office, either, so she tried several of her team’s cell phone numbers again. They all went to voice mail. What the hell was going on? Finally, after leaving several messages before giving up, she headed straight to the office. The place was deserted.
Her concern grew. She typed in a message to Alexa and asked if the team had reported in.
To Laurel’s relief, Alexa’s return message popped up quickly:
Alexa: Team received a lead on Grace. Tried to reach you. No signal. Team is investigating Slater Hall Bio-Tech in Fort Myers. Derek wants you to man the office until he can send someone back for you. They went in dark, and it’s beyond the sheriff’s jurisdiction.
Damn, Laurel hadn’t considered that. She rapidly hit the keyboard.
Laurel: Have info on Grace. Not in Fort Myers. Being held northeast of Belleglade. Still on Moonlight property. Get message to team immediately.
Brilliant in one way. Who’d look in their own backyard?
Laurel couldn’t wait for a response. Her impression of Grace’s condition frightened her. The powerful wolf was horribly weak. What were they doing to her? She keyed in the rest of her message.
Laurel: I’m going in.
Then she pressed Send.
Her phone vibrated, and when she answered, Alexa shouted through the speaker, “Do not go out there alone.”
“She’s in trouble. I need to locate where they’re keeping her. I’ll give you the last coordinates and when the team turns on their power, you can tell them where I am.” She sent the coordinates. “Besides, Lucas can find me if he’s anywhere in my vicinity.”
“What? O-oh, so it’s like that, is it? Okay, I’ll let them know, but you watch your back.”
“Don’t worry about me. Grace’s essence is in bad shape. Look, I’ve got to go. Give Derek the message and make sure Lucas is with them.”
Once in her cabin on the edge of town, she quickly dressed for trouble, stuffing a knife in a concealed case strapped on to the inside of her ankle. Her vest and lightweight, cargo pants concealed her weapons well. Properly armed with both of her guns, tranquilizers, silver, and lead bullets, she patted herself down to see what would be detectable if she got caught. Good, the second concealed knife and the lock pick were imperceptible in her bra. If they discovered the rest, it would create a false sense of security.
She checked the time and the weather then picked up her knapsack in case she was forced to shift. She needed speed. Her Harley Softail Deluxe could get her close faster before she had to leave it and go the rest of the way on foot. After a quick check, she mounted the low rider and returned to the section of the grove where she’d first picked up Grace’s scent.
About twenty miles farther down the road, beyond where she’d caught the wolves’ scents, Laurel came to a stop. This was as far as she’d risk taking the motorcycle. She parked it conspicuously by the marker she left for Lucas, pointing it in the direction she was going to take.
Because of her new connection with him, even though she couldn’t mentally speak with him and warn him about the rogues, she could leave images in objects along the way. If Lucas touched them, maybe he could interpret her warnings and prepare for danger.
She’d have plenty of time to consider a plan while she made her way on foot. There was a lot of open land east and south of Moonlight before Fort Myers. She’d never explored that far out. There was a good chance the rogues settled away from other packs because of their physical weaknesses. That area would be desolate and closer to the swamp, filled with plenty of key deer and small prey, too. Lots of predators would prefer the area for the food sources.
With the aid of their connection, Laurel was certain Lucas would find her. Damn! Was it too much to hope for? Had she stumbled over Slater’s secret location? Was he holding any other pack members out here? Like CiCi? Her scent would be too old to discern. Ty? Laurel hadn’t picked up her partner’s scent. So if not, before Lucas arrived, she had to find out where they were holding Ty and CiCi.
As she tracked Grace’s weak scent, Laurel left behind broken branches, rocks she picked up and dropped in the path, anything elemental. Lucas would pick up on her feelings. According to him, if they were close enough, and she focused, he could see what she saw. Well, this would be the ultimate mind test. She hoped he wasn’t wrong.
As she advanced on the area, she recognized this as another abandoned grove. It still showed remnants of old buildings, a few rusted pieces of equipment, and a path barely remained between the decaying rows of trees. Crates, stacked high, were the only evidence this had once been a thriving business. The trees’ limbs reminded her of picked over carcasses. The once-sturdy branches had held vibrant fruit nestled amongst vermillion leaves. Now they were rotten and broken like the surrounding land.
Traipsing through the tangled vines made her movements difficult, but, perversely, the thick underbrush offered plenty of cover if she needed to hide…as long as she remained downwind. It was time to stash her bag and prepare to move in. The large live oak she huddled behind had some interesting gnarled roots rising above the ground. She found one space large enough to fit her knapsack in, then she pressed her hand against the tree and left as much of her essence as she could spare without weakening herself. Lucas would know she’d been there.
Laurel continued to track the wolves’ scents about a quarter of a mile farther south. The makeshift camp, a mix of vehicles along with a few broken down trailers on blocks, also housed a couple of RV’s. She recognized Grace’s scent as soon as she stood in the underbrush near the closest RV. The pack of Fort Myers rogues must regularly access the farm roads coming from the south. Open dirt roads still remained in this area, where someone could drive in and never be seen. This territory was an undocumented boundary land between the Moonlight and Fort Myers packs. Unless someone knew where to look, Slater’s pack of misfits never would’ve been found out here. The Moonlight pack didn’t even run this far south because there were no fresh water sources. Only old, corroded irrigation pipes the farmers used to water remained. Unless Slater was concealing the source.
Laurel checked the breeze and remained downwind, hoping to avoid detection and circled behind the rusted, beat-up RV where she suspected they were keeping Grace. She no sooner looked in the rear window than the hair on her nape stood on end. She sensed the presence of two shifters and wrinkled her nose when another awful stench accompanied them. Brimstone.
When she turned slowly, Slater trained the gun he held aimed on her forehead. Sometimes the idea of death was better than the alternatives she’d heard about.
“Laurel, we don’t intend to kill you if you cooperate, but I am sorry you decided to snoop where you don’t belong.” He kept his eyes on her and pushed the gun forward. “This? It’s filled with tranquilizers. With the shortage of females, we can’t afford to damage any, so don’t give me a reason to reconsider.”
Based on the earlier recorded conversation she’d overheard, he intended to take her hostage and use her as bait for Lucas. By now Lucas would have gotten the messages she left for him, and he would come after her. The trail would be easy to track.
Slater smiled smoothly, and her insides churned. Her hidden violent nature wanted to rip out his throat. She hated how he tried to disarm everyone with his phony demeanor. She saw and smelled the evil in his aura, making his attempt to charm her all the more ridiculous.
Something so beautiful shouldn’t reek of evil. But she’d learned that lesson long before now. He was a narcissistic, self-serving sonofabitch. She cringed, thinking about what he was capable of doing to Grace…and what he could do with her.
“Laurel, toss your gun over here. I know you have one. Don’t even think about shifting and running. I’ve got three men behind you, and they all have guns loaded with bullets ready to take you out.” He smiled, and spoke, his tone pleasant, as if he was considering what to order in a fine restaurant.
“What are you doing on Moonlight property, anyway? I was sent out to scout down this way for Derek.” She pulled the gun from her waistband holster and tossed it down. She gave it a gentle kick in Slater’s direction before she questioned him. “What’s going on, Hall? Derek isn’t going to like this,” she warned him, keeping up her façade.
Slater inclined his head at one of the guys. “Shackle her. Take her inside.”
Laura pretended to be annoyed at being interrupted in her work. In fact, she was irritated to have the damn chains wrapped around her entire body also abrading her wrists and ankles.
She questioned Slater, persistently as they pushed her to the front of the RV, where Grace’s scent intensified. “What the hell is going on out here?” She continued to pretend she didn’t understand what they were up to.
Slater had been wise to shackle her because if she ever got her hands on him, she would rip him apart.
“Don’t get your hopes up. The big dire wolf is with the others on a wild goose chase in Fort Myers.” He turned his attention the wolves. “Spread out, check the surrounding areas, and see if anyone else followed her.” Three of the four shifted wolves left the clearing while Slater took the other one aside. They walked toward the trucks at the perimeter of the road and Laurel listened.
“I want Grace’s brother. Get ready to move her and keep Laurel here for bait. We’ll lead Lucas here.”
Slater gave more instructions while he kept his gun trained on her. When they finished discussing their immediate plan, the fourth wolf returned and forced her up the wobbly RV steps, opened the door, and shoved her inside. The lock clicked behind her. Grace’s strong scent in the camper urged her forward.
“Laurel, what are you doing here?” Grace’s familiar voice asked.
“I picked up your scent and followed it here. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay for now, but they captured Ty,” Grace said.
“How do you know?”
“I pretended to be unconscious and overheard them discussing him. The guards said Slater took him to the facility outside Fort Myers. That’s not good.” Grace’s choked over the words. “He is in trouble if they plan to include him in the experiments they’re doing.”
“It’s okay. We suspected they captured him. Your brother sent him a warning last night, but when we didn’t hear back from him, Derek sent part of the Defenders’ team in after him.”
“Is Lucas here? ”
“In the area?” Laurel almost nodded then realized Grace couldn’t see her from where she was. “I suspect he’s coming, but he’s not here yet.”
“When Slater was here earlier, he discussed trapping you tonight and using you for bait. I guess he meant the trap for Lucas.
“I heard about the trap, too. But don’t worry. Lucas has been warned.”
“It’s Ty I’m worried about.”
“Lucas will get us out of here soon. I left him a warning and a trail to follow.”