Page 70 of Hummingbird and Kraken

Ro prowled around, sniffing at things, then headed back up the path. Declan trailed behind, adding Ro’s clothes to the pile of Geir’s stuff that he was already carrying.

At the top, they made a quick circuit of the cabin and then came back to where Tier was waiting on the porch. Declan left Ro’s clothes around the corner for him, and he stepped out a minute later.

The Chief looked exhausted, but a bit more open. It was almost like he was seeing Declan for the first time. “I’m sorry that we can’t find Geir. I can tell you though that no one else has been on the property. And the only vehicle that’s been here in the last few days is my truck and the one Ro was driving yesterday.”

“So, should I just, like, wait?”

The Chief looked pained. “I think that’s all we can do right now.”

“But you’ll help if he’s in trouble, right?”

The Chief nodded slowly. “We have an agreement.”

That was good to hear. Kind of. “Guys, is something wrong? Like, is this actually an emergency or something?”

Declan’s mind spun out to a million possibilities, each one wilder than the next. Assassins, international espionage, super soldiers, a paranormal kidnapping ring, or maybe secret labs… But for once he managed to keep his mouth shut.

“We have a… concern,” Tier finally answered. “Probably nothing for you to worry about.”

“But do you think something happened to him? Like, he could just be swimming right?” He hugged the clothes to his chest.

Ro finally looked at him. “He could just be swimming. Sometimes he swims for weeks at a time.”

“Weeks?” Declan screeched. “He would have told me if he was going to leave for weeks. He caught the trout for dinner last night!” He clung to this, like it was some sort of proof.

He squeezed Geir’s bunched clothing to his chest, looking out over the unbroken surface of the water as it glinted through the trees. Nothing.

“You guys are really freaking me out, you know? I mean, he swims all the time. He’s probably going to wonder who stole his pants.” Declan laughed, but nobody laughed with him.

“It’s probably nothing to worry about,” Tier repeated.

It was the probably that had him worried, though. And maybe the total lack of information?

“So,” he finally said. “If something happened to Geir, and I’m not saying something did, will you all help me?”

Tier nodded curtly. “We’ve agreed to help him.”

Helping Geir, he noticed, wasn’t quite the same as helping Declan. Surely he couldn’t think Declan was part of whatever was going on?

It would help if he had just a little bit more information. “Am I in danger now?” he finally asked.

The two of them looked at each other. Ro looked back before he could see the soft look in Tier’s eyes.

“You shouldn’t be.” The Chief tilted his head, like he was considering options.

“I mean, you heard about those guys at the grocery store? And the lady in the car?”

“I gave Kayla the pictures,” Ro interjected smoothly. It sounded like maybe Tier hadn’t seen them, but maybe that wasn’t his job. He seemed to have a lot going on.

Tier thought for a moment. “Rohahen, can you stay here today?”

Ro nodded. “Sure. Maybe I’ll get May and come back. We can hang out.”

Tier looked relieved. Declan wasn’t quite sure who was supposed to be keeping who safe, and who was under surveillance.

“If anything happens, you can alert me,” Tier added. But it sounded like he was more concerned with having Ro somewhere secure. “Ro, do you have any questions? Need anything?”

“No, Chief.” Ro met his eyes, his answer just a tad wistful.