Chapter 19
Chapter
Nineteen
Nell was at Hartwell & Moss when Ryder returned to watch Cascadia.
In the late afternoon, he parked on the side street beyond the freight gate, with a row of contractor vans between the Suburban and the office.
Ryder launched the drone and brought it above the surrounding roofs.
The camera gave him views of the office lot, the loading yard, and both gates.
He watched for almost an hour. Delivery trucks entered, workers crossed between the trailers, and a plumbing van left through the freight gate.
Then a dark sport-utility vehicle came around the warehouse and crossed the open yard.
The camera caught its rear plate as it turned into the office lot.
Ryder enlarged the image, then opened the photograph Nell had taken the day before. The plates matched.
The SUV turned away from the office and started toward the freight gate.
He wanted to follow it like it had followed him.
Ryder brought the drone back to the Suburban.
As soon as the rotors stopped, he set it and the controller on the passenger seat and climbed behind the wheel.
The SUV turned onto the street. Ryder let another vehicle pull out ahead of him, then followed.
The route carried them through the industrial district. Ryder kept the dark vehicle ahead through each turn, closing only when traffic threatened to cut it from view. Warehouses gave way to smaller commercial buildings, then wider roads and longer gaps between vehicles.
The SUV turned onto a narrower public road bordered by trees and brush.
Ryder followed far enough back that the bend hid him at intervals without breaking sight for more than a moment.
Ahead, the SUV slowed and turned onto a gravel lane.
Dense vegetation screened the lane almost immediately, and the vehicle vanished around a bend. Ryder continued past it.
A pull-off lay beyond the outer bend. He turned in and positioned the Suburban where the road and brush hid it from the lane.
He carried the drone and controller back along the road, then followed the low berm through the vegetation without crossing the property’s fence.
From the ground, he could see only brief sections of fence and the upper edge of a building.
Near the final bend, the berm gave him enough cover and a clear path for the signal. Ryder set the drone on a bare patch of ground and launched. The camera rose above the vegetation, and the property filled the controller screen.
A perimeter fence enclosed a main building, rows of shipping containers, parked work trucks, and two vehicle gates.
The gravel lane entered through the nearer gate and divided around the building.
Beyond it, a second gate opened toward another road.
The dark SUV crossed the yard and stopped beside a covered loading area on the north side.
Two men came out of the main building. One opened the back of the SUV while the other moved a wheeled cart beneath the loading cover. Ryder could see the men enter and leave the blocked area. He couldn’t see what they handled there.
A dark sedan entered through the gate and parked beside the main building. A woman got out and crossed the exposed yard. When she turned toward one of the men, the camera caught her face. Ryder recognized her right away. It was Marla Pike, owner of Cascadia. She was also on the board of Northline.
A man beside the SUV stopped and looked up. He pointed at the drone. Another man ran toward a parked truck. Ryder hit return and the drone turned toward him while he moved back along the berm. On the screen, the truck accelerated toward the main gate. A second vehicle moved toward the far exit.
Ryder ran. Branches dragged across his legs.
The controller showed the drone returning over the container rows, still too far away to reach him before the first truck cleared the gate.
An engine surged along the gravel lane. Ryder left the easiest path and cut through thicker brush on the outside of the berm. The Suburban lay beyond the next bend.
The truck braked on the gravel lane below him.
Both doors opened, and two men jumped out.
One started up the berm while the other ran toward the bend.
A second vehicle stopped on the public road ahead.
A door slammed. A man pushed through the trees between Ryder and the Suburban with a metal bar in his hand.
Ryder changed direction, but the man from the lane reached the top of the berm.
The man with the bar swung. Ryder raised the controller, and the blow struck its edge hard enough to tear it from his hands.
Pain burst through his forearm. He drove his shoulder into the man and knocked him back.
The other man caught Ryder across the ribs with the metal bar from behind.
A third set of footsteps broke through the brush.
Panic hit before the decision had words. The shift tore through him. Fabric split across his back and legs. His boots trapped him for one wrenching instant, then his changing body ripped free. The controller disappeared beneath leaves and broken cloth.
The men shouted. One struck his shoulder as the wolf came down on all four legs. Ryder ran. The tawny gray wolf cleared the edge of the berm and plunged through the vegetation. Pain burned along his shoulder and ribs.
He cut around the outside of the bend instead of following the gravel lane. Brush caught at his coat. A man crashed behind him, close enough that Ryder smelled sweat and metal. He lengthened his stride through the clearer strip beside the public road.
The pull-off opened ahead. Ryder reached the Suburban and shifted. Luckily, he’d left his keys and phone inside the car. He grabbed the door handle and pulled himself inside. Naked and bleeding, he started the engine.
A truck appeared at the bend as Ryder backed onto the public road. He shifted into drive and accelerated. The truck came after him, but it had to complete the turn before it could gain speed. Ryder used the open road and the first stream of traffic to put other vehicles between them.
The truck remained in his mirror through another turn. Then a delivery vehicle crossed behind him, and the truck disappeared. His left forearm began to swell. Blood ran from a cut on his shoulder, and each deep breath ached where he’d been hit beneath his ribs.
At Nell’s building, Ryder pulled into the rear parking area and stopped.
He spotted her car and was instantly relieved she was already at home.
He dragged a pair of spare shorts on and got out.
He took the stairs to Nell’s apartment, knocked on her door, and she opened it.
Her gaze went from his face to the blood on his shoulder and the dirt streaked across his legs.
“What happened?”
“I got beat up.” He tried to laugh, but it made his ribs hurt.
“Get in here.” She stepped aside and locked the door after him.
Ryder sat at the dining table while Nell brought the first-aid kit from the bathroom. She pulled out some hydrogen peroxide and cleaned the cut on his shoulder.
“Ryder, tell me what happened.”
“I went back to Cascadia. I spotted the SUV that followed us yesterday. It led me to another location. I actually saw Marla Pike there. But they spotted my drone, found me, and boxed me in. I had to shift to escape.”
When the bandage was secure and a cold pack rested against his forearm, Ryder took his phone from his shorts and opened the storage link for his drone recordings. The first exterior shot appeared, followed by the SUV beneath the loading cover and Marla crossing the yard.
“I need to call Dom.”
Dom answered on the second ring. “Ryder.”
“I went back to Cascadia today and followed the same SUV that followed us yesterday to a second property. Marla Pike was there. The workers spotted the drone and sent several men out looking for me. They found me before I reached the Suburban. They beat me up, and I had to shift to get away. I lost the drone and controller, but some of the imagery transmitted.”
Dom was silent for a moment. “Send everything you have to Axel. I’ll bring in the rest of the team. And from now on, nobody follows another Northline or Cascadia lead alone. Anything comes up, you call us first.”