AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes. I’d like to tag a tree near the exit point so that if we—or rather you—have to return, you can find this tunnel exit quickly. I know I would have liked that when I was waiting for Elkhart to escape.”
“Good idea.” Rider had wondered what was in her case—whether it was a bow or a rifle. Her comment answered it.
Rider faced Paris. “Can you and Mick be our lookouts in case one of your company men decide to send someone up on the ridge?”
“Absolutely. I’ll be sure to talk loud enough so you can hear me.”
“Perfect.” He handed her his keys. “Just in case someone does show up, you and Mick should leave. We don’t want anyone to know we’re down here.”
She pocketed them. “Let’s hope we won’t need to do that.”
“Everyone ready?” Rider asked.
CHAPTERTWENTY
The tripdown the hillside took a bit of time. Had Charley not been with them, and had Connolly not needed to carry the drone case and his tablet, they could have shifted into their wolf form.
Grayson held up a hand halfway down. “This is as far as we should go. I’ll shift into my wolf form and head down to the tunnel entrance. Then you can send down the drone. Maybe we won't have to return here tonight if we learn enough.”
“Sounds good,” Connolly said.
Charley waved her. “I'm ready to mark the tree.”
Grayson nodded to her bow. “Just don’t hit me with that thing. I’m betting it would sting.”
She chuckled. “I’m sure you’re right.”
Grayson shifted and sauntered down the hill, keeping his attention in the direction of where the guards would enter. Even if anyone was looking at a surveillance camera and spotted him, they’d think he was a wolf enjoying a stroll.
Grayson more or less remembered where the opening was located. When he neared, he lowered his nose and sniffed for a metal smell. In the end, it was the disturbed ground that gave away its location. He pawed the ground as if he was getting ready to mark his territory.
Thwack.
Charley didn’t lose any time marking a nearby tree. Grayson turned around and headed up the hill. When he was certain he was out of sight, he shifted back and walked the rest of the way to where the group was sitting.
“Nice shooting,” he said to Charley.
“Thank you.”
“We should keep talking to a minimum,” Rider said.
They nodded. If they only telepathed, Charley would be left out, but she seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation.
Connolly flew the drone down the hill very slowly, doing a fine job avoiding the trees. He did have to raise and lower it a few times when it was impossible to go through the bushes.
When he hovered the infrared camera over the door, everyone huddled close to the tablet to watch the feed. Naturally, there were no thermal signatures since no people were present, but the change in temperature was noted.
“Can you tell how deep the well is?”Rider telepathed.
Connolly shook his head. He seemed to be following the tunnel until the drone was next to the wall.“That’s as far as I can go unless you want me to go over the wall and down again.”
Rider shook his head.“Tonight, maybe we can go to the other side of the hill and use the drone close to where the cars enter. That should tell us more.”
“I’m game.”
Connolly flew the drone back up the hill and stowed it. He then turned off the tablet. Before they had the chance to begin their climb, voices sounded at the top of the hill, and Rider’s senses shot to high alert.Shit. It was Paris, and she didn’t sound happy.
* * *
