Chapter 19
Cade
Both dogs were backwithin fifteen minutes, snarling and wrestling playfully with what turned out to be a frayed length of flannel.
Turning to head inside, I was tackled by Aspen, who came barreling through the front door and into my arms.
“Ren. Drop,” I commanded. Molly continued to try and shred the material to pieces. “I’m okay, Pen.” I ran my fingers through her disheveled hair, trying to calm her body’s shaking.
“Did you see who it was?” she asked, as I dropped her on to her feet.
I shook my head, then turned toward Molly. “No. Molly, girl. Drop it.” She kept it up. It would have been cute had it not possibly belonged to our mystery intruder. Seeing as the dogs got close enough to snag him, I was hoping it might contain some DNA or something substantive to tell us more about what we were looking at. Then again, that would only work if our perp was in the system at all.
“Molly. Leave. It. Now,” Aspen commanded, and she finally did as asked.
Shaking my head, I crouched down to grab what was left of the material. On close inspection, I discovered I may have lucked out. “Gonna have that brought to Johnny in Raleigh and see if he can get one of his lab guys to run some tests for us. There’s a little blood on it.” I brought it up to show Aspen. “Got a Ziploc or a sandwich bag you haven’t used and some tape to seal it?”
She nodded. “Shouldn’t we go out there and look, though?” she asked.
“It can wait until morning,” I told her, reaching for her hand and pulling her back toward the cottage. “First, I want to take care of this evidence. I’ll have to take a sample of the dogs’ fur to exclude those possible pieces of evidence too.”
“But what if Molly and Renegade hurt them?”
I gave her a perplexed look. “Leave it to you to be the one wronged and still care about a person’s well-being.”
“It’s not that.” She sighed. “They might be slowed down by injuries,” she explained, as we crossed the threshold. “If we went after them now, then we have a better chance of catching up, no? If we wait until morning, they’ll most definitely be long gone.”
“Babe.” I smirked, pausing us by the couch. “I get what you’re saying, but the worst thing to do right now is to go out there. It’s got nothing to do with you and keeping you safe, sweetheart, trust me. In this case, I’d still advise the most well-trained person to stay put. Me included. The forest is dense around here, and in the pitch-black, even with a flashlight and a compass or GPS, it’s quite easy to get turned around.”
She groaned at that, then plopped onto the couch. “I know this area like the back of my hand.”
“You might, but tell me this…” I paused, then crouched down so our faces were level before continuing. “This person has to be living remotely, just like you. That being said, have you ever spotted any shacks or other cabins in the area?” She shook her head to indicate the negative. Her nose scrunched up at that absolute fact, an indicator she disliked that I was right. “See? The area you know is nothing but a drop in a large bucket of trees and brush. Tomorrow, I’ll call in a favor with the guys and see who we can rally up. We’ll leave Molly at home so Renegade can do what he does best.”
At that, Aspen perked up. “You mean I’ll get to see him work?”
I laughed at her excitement and nodded. “Maybe. Now, I want you to go to bed. I’m going to secure this stuff, get the dogs in here, then check the kitchen window, and see what I can do to secure it. Now that they know we’re here, not to mention the fact they might be injured, I doubt they’ll be back to try anything tonight.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
Leaning forward, I gave her lips a chaste kiss and straightened up.
“If you need tools or extra wood…” She jumped up to her feet and headed for the kitchen, pulling out a drawer. She grabbed something from it, then came back to me. “It’s all in the shed. Sandwich bags are in the cabinet under the sink.” She dropped the keys she’d fetched in my waiting hand.
Aspen
Before long, morning broke and my little cottage was teeming with testosterone. And I was pissed. Instead of being of use, Cade was sending me off on a beggar’s errand with Devolin, once he’d called in a favor with one of his buddies at North Carolina’s State Crime Labs in Raleigh.
“Don’t you think I could be of more help here?” I asked, my hands on my hips. This was my place. My sanctuary was broken into, my privacy invaded, and I was going to fight to reclaim what was rightfully mine.
Cade looked over to Dalton, Brycen, and Rex in that universal manly language that begged for them to give him a minute. Pulling me to the side, he grabbed my upper arms and squeezed lightly. “Sweetheart, I need you to do this for us. I know you’d rather be here, but I can’t tell you what we’re going into or what we’ll find…if we’ll find anything out there. I want you clear of this if things go south. That means I need you to bring those bags to Johnny.”
A short laugh, lacking any humor escaped me. “Cade?—”
“Someone needs to get that piece of evidence to him.” His eyes implored me to understand, and I did. I just didn’t want to go, nor did I like it. With a sympathetic smile and a nod toward Devolin, who stood by Dalton’s black Dodge Ram, he turned his eyes back to me. “Just think, you’ll have a grand total of four hours of driving to talk Devolin’s ear off about that hacking character you’re wanting to write about.”
That had me giggling, forgetting about my troubles for a few seconds as I reveled in the excitement of finally being able to have Devolin to myself to quiz her on the ins and outs of what she did best, but I knew what he was up to. “Sneaky bastard, you are, but true.” I bit my lip lightly as the wheels in my head started to spin. “Can I ask you one thing though?”
Cade leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “Anything,” he breathed his relief that I wasn’t being more difficult.
“Will you call me if anything comes up? I don’t care if you find anything or not, I just want to know you’re all safe,” I told him.
“Promise.” His hand reached up to clasp the back of my neck. “Now kiss me, then get that sexy ass of yours gone so we can do our thing, and you can do what you do best, which is write that next best?—”
I shut him up by smashing my lips to his. Pulling away, I pecked his scruffy chin. “See you soon.” I backed away and turned, headed for Devolin and our ride.
“You seriously hacked into the government’s satellites and pulled up those images to help the guys out?” My mouth dropped open as soon as Devolin nodded, sporting a wide grin on her face.
“Yup!”
What a crazy story she’d regaled me over the last forty-five minutes—the one where she initially met Dalton. To say I was feeling compelled to work a little of Devolin into one of my future characters was a gross understatement. She was definitely inspiration personified—and whether she agreed or not, she was going to be the lead in a new series that was beginning to take shape in my head—forget a simple singular character in only one book. This chick deserved an entire series featuring equally kick-ass women.
After a moment of silence, Devolin spoke up. “I have to say, you have me on pins and needles, with whatever it is you’re planning, if you’re asking me about what I do.”
My laugh came easily, and I shrugged my shoulder in a noncommittal way. “So what other things have you done?” I deflected.