Home > Eton's Escape (Bullard's Battle #3)(9)

Eton's Escape (Bullard's Battle #3)(9)
Author: Dale Mayer

Only it wasn’t a deer. It was something much more sinister. And that terrified Sammy. As she walked into the den, her dad still slept on the couch. Annie had followed along, then stopped and smiled, a soft look on her face. “I have such good memories of time spent here.”

“Me too,” Sammy said. “The time is going by faster than I’d like.”

“I know,” she said, “and there is no way to stop it.”

“More the reason,” she said, “to make the best of the time we have.” Back in the kitchen, she put on the teakettle and, while they were waiting for it to boil, she went out to the living room and stood close to the curtain, checking to see if she could see anyone. But there was nothing.

Annie joined her and, in a low whisper, said, “You still going to tell me that you thought you saw a deer?”

She looked at her friend, frowned, and said, “You’ve got enough to worry about.”

“True, but I don’t like things being kept from me,” she warned.

“I thought I saw a man in the trees,” Sammy said, “and he went down that direction.”

Annie looked at her in horror and stared outside. “I can’t see anything,” she complained.

“No,” she said, “and neither can I. For all I know, it was just my imagination.”

“But, after the tires, you are not so sure, are you?”

The accusation in her friend’s voice stiffened her back, and Sammy looked at her, smiled, and said, “But even if it was a man,” she said, “that doesn’t mean he is doing anything but walking up and down this road. Don’t forget it connects multiple houses.”

“Well, that’s true,” Annie said, taking another look. “It could be somebody renting or visiting anybody around here. I don’t know why everybody always wears black, when they are outside at night though,” she snapped.

“I know. I feel the same way,” she said.

“I’m surprised. You mentioned you fixed your tire yourself.”

“I did most of it myself, but a guy stopped and helped me tighten up the lug nuts, after I’d gotten the spare tire on.”

“Lucky you,” she said. “With my luck, I would have had a bunch of old grannies stop by to give me a hand, and we’d have been stuck there forever.”

They both laughed at that.

“Oh, this guy was pretty nice,” Sammy admitted. “Not sure what he is doing in the area, but I think he’s in one of the rental places up there,” she said, as she gave an arm motion off toward the corner.

“Maybe that was him in the trees outside,” Annie said. “Maybe he really liked you.”

“Well, that’s not the way to a woman’s heart,” Sammy said quietly. “In fact, it’s the absolute opposite.” And she sure as hell hoped that wasn’t Eton out there. That would give her nightmares now for the rest of the night. She looked at her friend and said, “Thanks for that.”

Annie gave her a clipped nod. “Tit for tat,” she said. “If I won’t sleep, why should you?”

And the two of them both went off to bed, cuddling their hot chocolate, feeling a little jumpy. It would be what it would be, but at least they were together.

*

Eton raced to the vehicle and sped off to the other village. He had his GPS up and running on his phone in the seat beside him, as he tried to get to where the cell phone activity was happening. If they could at least pinpoint it and see what people were there, it would help a lot. He knew that Ice had some satellite work going on here too, but that didn’t mean it was up and running, that it was pointed in the right area, that heavy tree cover could interfere, or that they would find anything. But Eton would work on this end too.

He hit the other village and moved toward the location that Garret had given him. The road had several twists—a left turn, right turn, and then another right turn. Before he knew it, he was up against what looked like a set of townhomes. He swore softly, picked up the phone, and dialed Garret. “It’s a multifamily townhome complex,” he said. “Looks pretty high-end.”

“Which doesn’t mean anything,” Garret said, his voice distracted. “I’m getting the reading from the building, but I can’t lock it down any closer than that. Normally we can’t even get that close. It’s usually within a block or two.”

“Well, in that case, that’s as close as you’ll get because it looks like trees are all around this complex,” Eton said.

“Plus the person we are tracking could be out walking among the trees for that very reason,” Garret said. “Remember that.”

Eton replied, “Yeah, just because we’re here at the townhome complex doesn’t mean he lives here. I’ll get out and walk around.” He parked the vehicle in the guest parking lot and hopped out. “Most of the parking spaces here are empty. Maybe it’s not quite filled up for sales yet?”

Garret replied, “I’m checking to see what the status is of the building. It might be newly completed.”

“I’d say it is still in progress,” Eton said. “Supplies are still stacked off on the side, and a couple big trucks—one flatbed—and lots of pickup trucks are here, as if the work isn’t quite completed.”

“I wonder if anybody is living there,” Garret muttered, as his fingers tapped away on the keys. “It’s possible that it’s someone who bought early,” he said, “but now we’ve opened up possibilities of it being anybody, even a worker there.”

“Or anyone who just knows this building is in progress and could easily be utilizing it too,” he said.

“It’s fairly close to the top of the hill, as far as reception goes.”

“Good point,” Eton said. “I’ll go up to the top and take a look for myself.”

“Are any trails there?” Garret asked.

“None that I see at this point.” Eton dashed through trees and rough underbrush to find an easier way up. “I’m trying to stay in the trees, but there isn’t an easy way through some of them without attracting attention.”

“You could walk along the edge,” Garret suggested.

“I could, but then I’m running the risk of somebody else out here seeing me.”

“It’s a catch-22, isn’t it?”

“Maybe not,” he said. “Looks like I see a trail, not well used, likely an animal trail.”

“Well, go easy, if there is a trail, and if another guy is out there, he’s likely to be on it too.”

“Good,” Eton said. “It would be nice if we could catch a break for once.”

“No kidding, right?”

As Eton headed out on the trail, he listened for any sounds around him. “The night’s really quiet,” he said in a low voice.

“Meaning?”

“Nothing is stirring,” he said. “I would expect animal life of some kind.”

“It’s a bit early though, isn’t it?”

“Birds?”

“A bit late for that,” Garret said. “I’m not too sure about the birds around here though.”

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