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When Logan arrived just before the sun disappeared behind the mountains, Nora introduced herself and studied his reaction. He didn’t seem to be upset with her being a human. In fact, he’d greeted her with a smile and warm welcome before turning serious with Hudson. Maybe not everyone in the clan hated humans.
As soon as darkness fell, the plan was for the two to shift into polar bear form and be ready to attack or defend if need be. Nora wished she could shapeshift, too, thinking she’d feel safer as a massive polar bear. But no such generic luck.
Nora hung back, but she stayed close by Hudson’s side. She refused to lose sight of him. Hudson had done all he could to encourage her to stay back while they rescued Hannah. But there was no convincing her. Nora was as emotionally invested in Hannah as he was, so the debate didn’t last long.
As the trio waited behind a snow-cloaked hedgerow, doubts crept into her mind. Earlier, they’d watched a guard walk up to the shack door and pull a badge from his pocket to open the door. There was little to no question whether this place was being kept secret, which meant security out of the wazoo. “Look at all those guards. How are we going to get past all that?”
“Watch them. They walk in a definite pattern. See? All we have to do is time our entry when those closest ones reach the other side of the building. And we’ll be in,” Logan whispered.
“But how? We don’t have a digital ID badge.” Nora asked. Logan didn’t have an answer for her.
“Look over there,” Hudson said, nodding toward a thin column of smoke that hadn’t been there before rising from the ground. “What do you think that is?”
“Let’s go see,” Nora replied, leading the way. When she approached the smoke, she realized it wasn’t from a fire but from a grate-covered air vent that came up from the forest floor. And it wasn’t smoke. “It’s warm air coming out of the facility and turning into vapor when it hits the outside air. Like when you can see your breath out in the cold.”
“That’s our way in,” Hudson said as he came up behind her.
She grunted, “You aren’t getting through that. I’m the only one who is going to fit.”
“No,” Hudson growled, his bear coming to the surface. “Too dangerous.”
Nora plopped her hands on her hips. “Like it or not, I’m the smallest of us three. Logan and you have to stay shifted to attack. So, I will have to do it."
“What then?” Hudson asked. “You crawl around for hours, get lost, and we never see you again?”
“Alpha,” Logan said, slinging around his backpack, “I brought earpieces, a mini mic set, and the handheld GPS system, plus other stuff.”
Hudson groaned. “Logan, you’re not helping.”
Nora knelt next to where the beta pulled out the items. “What’s this?” she asked, picking up a plastic back with pea-sized things inside.
“They’re earbuds with a tracking device.” He pulled out a small tablet from his pack. “We can monitor exactly where you are and pinpoint your location.”
Hudson groaned again and started pacing. Yeah, he might be upset about her helping, but he’d get over it once Hannah was safe.
Logan continued with his plan. “You wear it inside while we listen and watch the screen. You find the room where they’re holding Hannah. Then we’ll do a blitzkrieg bear move on the guards. They’ll have zero time to even punch an alarm.”
“Wow. It’s like you’ve done this sort ofspycraftbefore,” she said. “I love it.”
“I hate it,” Hudson grumbled.
“Tough titty said the kitty,” she snarked. “I care for Hannah just as much as you. And if I can help, then I am.” She turned to Logan. “Suit me up, spy boy.”
The trio counted down the minutes, one of them not so happily, until the sunset and the twilight dimmed to a rich indigo hue. They would be able to sneak through the trees and take out the guards better with darkness on their side.
Nora hissed. “Okay, it’s go time. Get me in there.”
Hudson ripped the grate off the vent and looked into it. “It goes too far down. Can’t let you do it.”
Nora stepped up to him and shined a flashlight along the shaft, seeing a bend a few feet down. “Nice try.” She knelt and went in head first, Hudson holding her legs until she touched the bottom. “Got it,” she whispered. “See you shortly.”
Nora kept her breaths shallow, not inhaling fully, so her frame stayed small. She snaked through the facility’s shafts, working her way down the sheet metal vents, elbowing forward, and wiggling her hips left and right.
The nurse-turned-spy stayed silent for the longest time. She assumed Hudson would be shifted by now, snorting up a storm and pounding his paws on the ground, frustrated and beyond worried at not hearing anything from her.
But before Logan parted, he had given Nora a warning. “Don’t talk unless absolutely critical. The less sound, the safer.”
So, as Nora inch-wormed her way through the vast facility, she stayed silent as the grave.
