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She cried harder, her body trembling with each sob. “What if they didn’t make it?”
I let out a slow breath and kissed the top of her head. “We don’t know that yet. They might be fine. Please, sweetheart, don’t be upset until we know what happened. She hasn’t heard from anyone yet. Someone made it out. It’s the cell service. Just give it a little longer.”
She pulled back and used the edges of her shirt to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “I know. It’s just really hard. I’m so worried after Darrin. I don’t think I can lose anyone else.”
I wiped a few of her tears away. I knew what she meant. Losing my mom and Hannah had been crippling. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if I lost Sawyer or Sloane.
She needed something to do aside from sitting here and worrying. “Let’s get you a hot shower, and then we’ll check back in.”
She drew in a deep, shaky breath, and then let it out, offering me a small smile. “A hot shower sounds really nice.”
Before we could leave, there was another ding on the tablet, signaling a new email. Sloane scrambled away from me so fast, you’d think I’d hit her.
She picked up the tablet and almost dropped it with her excitement. I looked over her shoulder once again as she navigated to the new email. It was from her mom again. Her finger shook so badly that she had to hit the open button several times before the email actually appeared on the screen.
Her mom had just heard from them. They were safe. All but a handful of people had made it out, and they were making quick time back to the pack. Her mom wanted to know where we were.
Sloane laughed melodically and wiped more tears away, and a weight lifted from my chest.
I wrapped my arm around her waist. “See? I told you it would be okay.”
Another message appeared on the tablet. I cocked my head to the side and read it when she clicked it open.
Her mom wanted to know where we were at. This was the second time she’d asked that in a matter of a minute.
My mind raced. The emails had come rather rapidly. It could just be her mom being overly excited to hear from her daughter and wanting to make sure she was safe, or it could be something else. Or rather, someone else.
“How easily accessible is it for people to get to your parents’ email?”
Sloane looked at me with wide eyes. Her bottom lip trembled, and unshed tears shone in her eyes. “You think this could be someone else?”
I pinched my brows together as I thought about it. “I don’t know. I want us to be careful. No one knows where we are. I don’t want the wrong people finding that out.”
Sloane covered her face with her hands and made an anguished sound. “I don’t know how secure it is. Not very, I’d guess. My mom keeps her password on a Post-it note.”
I scrunched up my nose. Gross. A lot of people kept their passwords easily reachable by anybody. If it was on a piece of paper, anyone could have it and be logged in from any device.
“I’d feel better if we could figure out a way to talk to them over the phone.”
Maybe I was being paranoid, but I was a hacker of sorts, and I was my father’s son. I knew what lengths people would go to in order to get the information they needed.
Sloane uncovered her face, and I could see the wariness in her eyes. “You’re probably right. If this isn’t my mom, it could be anybody. We could give Mikey and your dad exactly what they want.”
She trembled and looked away from me as her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
I took the tablet from her and held it under my arm. “Why don’t you take a nice, hot shower? We will assume this is your mom. I want you to think of a couple of questions we can ask, but only she would be able to answer. And no questions that could also be used against you later on.”
Sloane dropped her chin to her chest. “Okay.”
I kept the tablet tucked under my arm and guided her back upstairs to the bathroom in the master suite. The room was massive, with a giant walk-in shower that had been built for two. It had multiple shower heads hanging from the ceiling and jets on both sides of the walls.
She hung back while I reached into the shower and turned on all the shower heads. I made sure to get the water as hot as possible without making it too hot.
“Give it just a second for the water to heat, and it should be ready for you. Do you want me to stay with you, or do you want me to look for something to eat? Maybe I could find some more clothes too.”
She needed pants, and I still didn’t have a shirt. We were safe enough for the moment, but I wanted to make sure we were dressed for the elements in case we had to run again. It was going to be cold tonight.
She blinked up at me for a long moment, like she hadn’t fully processed what I’d said. “Wait, you were in the water just as long as I was. Aren’t you cold?”
