Chapter 924 Chapter 924
Webb glanced at Rhogue in the mirror. She looked scared and worried. Blaise was beside him, gun in hand, watching in every direction. He gripped the wheel tighter, wanting to be prepared for anything. It had taken Kobie and Calum an hour to track down the boy. He must be really good at not being found for it to take them that long. He was just glad that the boy was found.
He looked at her again. He couldn't help it ever since she'd been at that table and talked about what had happened. His mind wouldn't stop. Why had she had to hit Kiloh with a pan? What was happening when she had to hit him? He knew there was something she was leaving out, and he didn't know how he was going to find out. She said a few had been hurt, but then only said the one man’s name. Who else was injured? Webb’s bear was anxious, and he knew he had to talk to her, but he didn’t want to. He was afraid to hear what he suspected had happened. Somehow, he needed to find out what that was, and then he was going to have to figure out what to do with it.
Blaise made a soft growl and startled him. He glanced at her.
She turned in her seat and looked at Rhogue. “Everyone's moving to the factory. Your entire group is moving to the factory. Until this is over, we can't have children out there in danger. The men are trying to patrol the area and keep an eye out for these guys, and the kids are just left unprotected. I know their mothers would protect them, but if what you told everyone is true, and what Deacon and this Grifter said is true, we can't leave you at the house. Everyone's coming to the factory.” She nodded once and then typed quickly on her phone.
Webb looked at Rhogue; he could see the relief on her face. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught something moving. “There's Kobie.” Sitting at the side of the road was a black tiger. Her coloring was amazing. He’d never seen a black tiger before—in pictures, sure, but not up close and real.
“She's so pretty.” Rhogue leaned forward, closer to the seats. “I mean, she's just so pretty.” When Calum jumped down and onto the road, she sucked in a breath. Blaise turned around and looked at her.
“It's Calum.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry, it's just Kiloh—Kiloh is a jaguar.”
Webb watched the black jaguar. “You don’t need to worry about anything with Cal around.” Webb stopped. He got out, and he looked behind the vehicle. He looked all around them. Not that he should be worried with Calum Dante here, but his animal was. When he turned back, a little boy came out of the trees. He was covered with mud from his hair all the way to his boots. Webb had no idea how he'd gotten as far as he had.
Rhogue got out and ran toward him. “Sagan, you scared me half to death. Why did you do that?”
He held up something dripping with mud. “It ripped. It won't stay on my face.”
“Oh,” she hugged him and then picked him up and started back towards the vehicle.
Webb’s animal wanted him to move. Standing on a secluded road in the middle of nowhere was not a good plan. He turned, and he looked at Calum. The cat just cocked his head to the one side and then turned and ran back into the trees. Kobie didn't pause very long before she followed him.
“Let's go.” Blaise had her gun raised and was looking all around them.
Webb got back in and closed the door. He looked at the edge of the road and knew it was going to take some maneuvering to get turned around. He didn’t care if he had to do a fifty-point turn to get them back to the factory, he just knew they shouldn’t lurk too long out here.
He watched Rhogue hug the boy, mud and all. She’d make a good mom, he thought, jerking his head back. He could picture her holding a baby, and images like that didn’t need to be in his mind. Men didn’t have internal clocks telling them to have babies. His animal was suddenly quiet, and he wasn’t sure why.
“Webb?”
He blinked and looked at Blaise.
“Were you going to drive?”
He cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. Just plotting how to go about it without sliding us into the ditch.” He watched her look out the window at the ditch on her side. The water was rushing along it.
“Take your time.”
It only took him eight times back and forth to get them turned and facing the other way on the road.
“The lady tiger gave me a ride,” Sagan said.
“Aren’t you lucky,” Rhogue said.
“I knew they weren’t bad.” The boy said with a note of certainty in his voice.
“You were right. That was Kobie and Calum.” Blaise picked up the walkie. “We have Sagan. On the way back now.”
A few replies stating ‘copy’ were the only responses.
“Cassius, how are you with moving your people?”
There was a pause. “Cassius is escorting us in animal form.” A woman replied.
“That’s Louann,” Rhogue said softly.
Blaise nodded and lifted the walkie to her mouth again. “We’ll put a camera at each house and monitor them.” She looked back at Rhogue. “That way, we can keep patrols closer to the factory.”
Webb glanced in the mirror to see Rhogue nod and continue to hold Sagan.
“I’m hungry.”
Webb grinned and reached for the bag that always sat between the seats. “Got that covered, little man.” He held up the bag. It was taken out of his hand.
He wanted to look back at her, but he kept his eyes on the road. The thaw had left some pretty serious divots in it, and he didn’t want to land them in the ditch. It was a rough ride already. He didn’t look forward to trying to slow to get down the hill to the bridge by the factory.
He managed to get them back without breaking anything on the vehicle.
Blaise was out of it before he could put it in park. She stood there and scanned the fence line. She was good at her job. he wondered if she missed going on ops. He grinned as he got out. Running this place and security was one big op lately, he doubted she had time to miss long trips.
He watched Rhogue rush Sagan inside. If he were a betting man, he’d say the first thing she was going to do was toss him in the shower to wash some of the mud off.
Images of her with a baby popped back into his head. Growling, he looked at the fence. The first chance he got, he was going out for a run, possibly a full run, and not his usual. He had to before his own mind drove him crazy.