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“You’d think if they’re worth a lot of money, they wouldn’t be involved in an armed robbery,” Kayla said, then realizing right after she said it that it was silly. “Strike that. Rich people can be just as involved in criminal enterprises because they can never have enough money.”
“Exactly.”
She took a deep breath of the fragrance of pine and of the rain coming, centering herself in the woods, wiping these vile people from her thoughts.But the incident still came back to haunt her. She started thinking back to the black pickup that had nearly run into them as they were coming home from the Great Gatsby restaurant. “The black pickup—the one that forced us off the road and might have been involved in the jewelry store robbery in Green Valley—”
“Yeah, Randy’s truck wasn’t the same one that forced us into the curb. His truck is blue. And Nicole and I checked to see what vehicles Phil’s friends were driving, but none were the same one as that one.”
“What if Randy painted his pickup?” she asked.
“It’s still not the right model.”
“Oh, okay. The armed robber’s pickup maybe?”
Nate nodded. “Hmm. Yeah, maybe. If we could just find it. Who knows though? It might have been a stolen truck and not even the armed robber’s.”
“That’s true.” She glanced down at her hiking boots caked in mud. All the rain had turned everything muddy. She had splatters of mud on her legs too. They would have to really wash up when they arrived back at the cabin. “Are you worried Everest and his friends might return to the cabin?”
“Or send someone else. A couple of Peter’s men are watching the road that runs past our place just in case though.”
“I’m so glad we stayed here to enjoy ourselves.”
“Absolutely. We could have gone somewhere else for the rest of our vacation, but—”
“We wouldn’t have been free to hike like this in case I had to shift. And running as wolves might not have been as safe in places that weren’t part of our pack territory.” Though they’d had quite a few trespassers who had caused trouble during their stay. “Did Peter and his men look for the jewelry around the area where Manning died in the event he’d had it with him? Or the waterfall?”
“Yeah. They scoured the whole area. They figure he didn’t have it on him when he swam across the river unless he did and lost it in the river. They searched the river too but couldn’t find anything. Though the current could have swept the jewelry away. And nothing else was in the stream above the waterfall.”
She sighed. “That means his cohorts could still come back to search for the jewelry.”
“Correct. Which is why we have more patrols out watching for trespassers. I’m sure people, other than the ones who were involved in the jewelry heists, will also be looking for the jewelry, though it’s stolen property so anyone caught with it could be in a legal bind if they try to pawn it. However, with the business of the insurance companies offering a reward for the return of the stolen jewelry, that can also be an incentive to come and search for it.” They kept walking, and he leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Hey, how are you feeling?”
“Like it’s going to rain.” But she figured he sensed it too.
“No, I mean about the shifting issue.”
“I’m good so far.”
“Okay, so we keep going then?”
“Yeah, let’s do it.” She was having fun, and she didn’t want to end this too quickly. “Another half mile?”
“Sure.”
She loved how he was always so accommodating. They kept hiking, her boots squishing in the mud. She did think if it started raining, they’d be washed off a bit. If she did shift into her wolf, poor Nate would have to carry her muddy things back to the cabin. But when they reached what she thought would be another half-mile point, she turned. “It’s time to head on back.”
“Are you feeling hot?”
“Oh, yeah, baby.”
He chuckled. “I mean, like you’re going to shift.”
“Nah. I just figured we’d hiked far enough, and when we return, we can watch the sun set off the lake, have some wine, and just enjoy the evening and what follows.”
“That sounds great.” He put his arm around her shoulders, and they walked like that for a while. “But showers first.”
She laughed. “You think?”
The clouds began to roll in and cover the sun.But the sunlight was still shining through the trees as the sun went down, and she figured they’d have a spectacular sunset if the clouds didn’t overtake the sun all the way before they settled down to watch it.
