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“Very sure.”
Ransom backed out of the storage room, and I followed him. The lobby was full of people and the sun was shining through the large stained-glass window over the doors. The noises of life—children’s laughter and chatter and the happy barks of a scruffy dog on a leash.
It all sounded so far away. Now that I didn’t have to pretend for my aunt, the shakes started.
Another package that shouldn’t be here. How could this person even know about the lodge?
How much more did he know about me and my family? Did he know my sister was getting married?
Sucking in air, I quickened my step to keep up with Ransom. He pulled down the truck bed door and lightly set down the box. I stepped around him and he blocked me, pushing me behind him.
I couldn’t keep letting him shelter me. Not when I was beginning to wonder what—and who—I’d unintentionally brought home to my family’s doorstep.
“I need to see.”
He squeezed my hand. “I don’t know what’s in there.”
I pointed to the other two boxes. “That’s three in the space of two days.”’And for the first time, I noticed only one was RID. So, this was the second one without a recognizable label.
Pissed, I sliced through the tape with my fingernail.
“Dammit, Chaos.”
He nudged me back before I could open the cardboard flaps. But we didn’t need to worry about that. The moment one was pried free, a machine lifted out.
Ransom shoved me back as a wide drone rose out of the box. The huge, eight-legged spider-like device hovered just above us for a moment. As it whirred, I froze in place.
What the hell was happening?
He dragged me behind him and stared down the drone. Then I realized the whir was a camera lens. The drone lifted over the parking lot and people began to notice, pointing and asking questions.
This was no tiny personal toy. The drone was professional grade and someone was behind the controls. All of a sudden, it went up even higher and the legs opened.
“What’s it doing?”
“I don’t know.”
Slowly, the drone floated over the area and my heart stalled. “Is it taking video? I saw a camera.”
Just as quickly, it shot upward over the trees in the distance and was gone.
Ransom pulled me in front of him and wrapped his arms around me. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay.” I gripped his shoulder. “There are so many people here. What if it hadn’t been just a camera? What if it was a weapon?” I pressed my cheek against his chest. “Why is he doing this?”
“I don’t know.”
I could tell admitting that killed him. I wasn’t the only one out of my element here, and he’d seen so much more than I had.
Which scared the shit out of me. Just what were we dealing with here? And what if it touched my family?
Gently, he eased me back. “Let’s get out of here. There are way too many people looking at us.”
They weren’t just looking. People were holding up their phones to take video of the drone. To them, it was probably a novelty. Something funny. A prank even.
They had no idea I was quietly freaking out. And I really wanted to keep it that way.
“What about the other boxes?”
