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“Okay, I need to hop on the CB and relay a message to the tower so they can get it to my people,” Wild said.
“Right over here,” Rusty said, directing him to CB, which was set up on a small, single-drawer wooden desk in the corner of the kitchen pantry.
“Thanks,” Wild remarked as he got up from the table.
Rusty wasn’t at all surprised when Wild took his cup of tea with him either, with how frigid it had been out there.
“Wow, that was not what I expected, though I should have,” Logan admitted. “Between vehicle troubles and meeting you guys, I forgot about everything else.”
“In all fairness, it’s been a lot to deal with in a short amount of time,” Rusty said. “And with the storm fucking up the cell tower, you wouldn’t have been able to contact them even if you thought about it.”
“Shit. Valid point. Talk about a clusterfuck.”
“Brooks made them the same offer he made me,” Logan explained. “They said they’d take it once they’d delivered a pair of frightened swans to a safe bevy. We touch base every Tuesday and Friday night. I’ve never missed a check-in before.”
“Which explains why they are frantic to find you,” Rusty said, kneading Logan’s shoulders until the last of the tension eased.
“Yeah, they, um, if anything ever happened to me, they’d promised to care for Wren and make sure the pup had the life I wanted for them,” Logan admitted. “They’re going to give me hell for freaking them out.”
“Maybe, but from the way you talk about them, it sounds to me like their biggest reaction is going to be relief when they find out you guys are safe.”
“True,” Logan replied before slowly sipping his tea. “But I still feel like shit for sending them into frenzy mode.”
Rusty patted his shoulder before moving away. The breakfast menu said brown sugar oatmeal, bacon, toast and fruit salad, so Rusty began assembling the ingredients on the counter. By the time he’d broken out the cutting board to start slicing the bacon, Wild stepped back into the room.
“I was able to reach the relay station, and they got my message through to my parliament, which is where Ridge and his companions are currently holed up, since this storm is slated to head that way next. I’m supposed to give this to you.”
When Wild placed the yellow sticky note on the table in front of Logan, Rusty didn’t expect him to laugh and immediately wad it up.
“Yeah, I had that coming,” Logan declared.
“Do I even want to know?” Rusty asked.
“It was a drawing of a middle finger,” Logan explained, shaking his head.
“The message was to tell you that he was flipping you the bird, even if you couldn’t see it,” Wild said, shrugging as he tugged the blanket back around him before resuming his seat at the table. “I just made it so you could see it.”
“I appreciate you,” Logan said. “Seriously, you didn’t have to put your life on the line to get here, but I’m glad you did. Those three aren’t above driving through a storm if it means they get there in time to save someone.”
“Then it’s a good thing they won’t have to,” Rusty said. “Now they can take their time to get here safely.”
“My first thought was that you were being tailed, and not by folks who wanted to help you with anything,” Wild explained. “When Brooks briefed the intelligence department about your arrival, he asked us to keep an ear out if we heard any mention of you or a certain distinct vehicle currently in pieces up at the shop. Sweet ride, by the way. I haven’t seen Brooks this giddy since his grandpups were born.”
“Brooks? Giddy? What, about my car being a hot mess or me finally deciding to get off the road?” Logan asked.
“A little of both, I think,” Wild admitted. “He’s been helping Cage sort out what’s wrong and couldn’t be happier getting his hands dirty.”
“Oh, I bet,” Rusty said, chuckling. “Even after scaling back his office hours, he still cusses up a storm every time someone mentions paperwork.”
“I’m sure I’ve caused him more than a fair share over the years with some of the things I’ve exposed,” Logan admitted.
“That’s the kind of paperwork he doesn’t mind,” Rusty explained as he continued to dice the potatoes. “It’s the petty crap that drives him bonkers.”
“Sure he didn’t conjure this mess?” Logan asked, gesturing to the storm still dumping snow all over the house.
“You never know.”
“Need a hand with anything?” Logan asked.
