The sample of her handwriting had probably been her original note to Jake. The Hunters had gotten hold of it somehow. Then she had a horrible thought, the worst one yet.
Had Jake known about this plan? No, surely not. She couldn’t believe that he would have agreed to it. If he’d betrayed her so completely, then . . . He wouldn’t have. She refused to think he was capable of such treachery.
And if he hadn’t known about this, then it was time she told him. Naturally the werewolves had taken away her cell phone, but she had a secret weapon, one they wouldn’t even know she was using.
• • •
“You might think I’ve gone off the deep end,” Jake said to Lionel. “But I’m going to—”
“Listen, if you have to take your clothes off for this, then okay, but I’ll have to leave while you do that.”
“No, I’m not planning to get naked.”
“Good.” Lionel pushed his hair off his forehead. “That’s a relief, Mr. Hunter.”
“I’m going into the cabin to get that wolf carving off her mantel.”
“Oh, yeah.” Lionel followed him out of the workshop. “You mean the carving you ditched. I thought that was the craziest move I’d ever heard of. Do you know what that thing is probably worth?”
“If touching it focuses my thoughts on her and we can connect easier, then it’s priceless.”
“You have a point there.”
Jake took the steps to her deck two at a time. Ever since deciding to connect with her, he’d been trying to get the same sense he’d had earlier this morning, when they’d sent their thoughts to each other with such perfect clarity. He was relieved that something seemed to be happening now. When he thought of her, he didn’t get the feeling of dead air between them, thank God. But he was picking up a lot of static.
Thinking the piece of wood might make a difference was possibly both corny and wrong, but he felt the urge to do it, and under the circumstances, he was going with his gut. The carving had been their first link. Maybe it would come through for him now and cut through that static.
Inside the cabin, he made himself ignore all the things that threatened to get him choked up, like the untidy kitchen, which he could see by looking through the pocket door. He’d been an ass this morning, raving on about werewolf superiority, but he couldn’t let himself be swamped with regret right now.
He had a job to do. Taking the carving from the mantel, he sat down on her sofa and put it in his lap. Instantly he felt closer to her, as he had all those times when he’d stood beside his own mantel and gazed at her work.
“She’s a great artist.” Lionel settled himself in an easy chair next to the sofa. “Nobody carves wolves the way she does.”
“She has a gift, all right.” Jake looked over at him. “I don’t know how long this will take. You don’t have to sit here unless you—”
“I’ll sit here.” Lionel’s dark gaze was troubled. “The minute you figure out where she is, we’re leaving.”
“That’s if I find out.”
“You will. You have to.”
Jake looked at the kid, whose every muscle was tense with worry. “I know.” Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and spread his hands over the remembered grooves of the wolf carving. Rachel, where are you?
At first he got nothing except a fuzzy transmission that could have been his own thoughts ricocheting around in his brain. He was easily as tense as Lionel. He forced himself to relax and try again. Rachel, where are you?
Jake! I’m in an SUV.
He sucked in a breath. Where?
Alaskan Highway going south.
The bastards had taken her! He gripped the wood. How long?
About fifty minutes.
Color?
Black.
Hang on, Rachel. We’re coming. Watch for my truck.
Hurry, Jake.
I damn well will. Opening his eyes, he stood and carefully laid the carving on the sofa. “Let’s roll.”
“Where is she?”
Jake filled him in as he headed for the front door.
“Should I bring my gun, then?” Lionel followed close behind. “It’s in my truck. I have ammunition.”
Jake debated for a second. He wasn’t a fan of guns, especially the exact rifle that had wounded him a short time ago. He would never shoot any creature. But tires . . . that was a different matter. “Yeah,” he said. “Bring your gun.” He walked out the front door with Lionel right behind him.
“How about my red emergency light?”
“Your what?” Jake had no idea what the kid was talking about, so he continued out the door and down the path to the parking area, moving fast.
“Just an old one, the bubblegum kind.”
“Why do you have it in the first place?”
“Oh, you know. Something I picked up for fun, to scare my friends.” Lionel hurried to keep up. “You can stick it on the top of your vehicle, and when you turn it on, at first glance you look like a cop.”
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“Well, yeah, but you can get away with stuff like that out here. Not too many cops to catch you doing it. Me and my friends, we play tricks on each other all the time.”
“Okay. That might come in handy.” They reached the parking area and Jake started toward his truck.
“I have a siren, too.”
Jake looked at him and shrugged. “What the hell? Bring everything.” He didn’t know how this would all shake out, but he’d use whatever tools presented themselves. An emergency light and a siren might be just what he needed as a distraction.
Moments later, they were heading toward the highway, going way over the speed limit.
Lionel glanced over at the speedometer. “See, here’s my thought. If we put the bubble light on top, we can fool anybody on the road into thinking we have a right to speed.”
“Except a cop.”
“Which is why I brought my fuzz buster.” Lionel stuck it on the dash. “And my converter plug so we can run everything.”
“Good Lord.” Jake kept his eyes on the road because he really was going way too fast, but with all of Lionel’s paraphernalia, they might get away with racing along like maniacs.
Fortunately, the SUV they were pursuing would be driving at a very sedate pace. Whoever was in the car with Rachel wouldn’t want to be pulled over with a kidnap victim on board. But by the time Jake finished with them, they might wish it had been the real cops who pulled them over.
As they raced along, Jake tried not to worry about Lionel hanging out the window while he used his long arms to slap the bubble light on the roof of the cab. “Don’t fall out, okay?”
“Hey, this is nothing! You should see me doing it while I’m driving!”
“No, thanks!” That was the moment Jake realized he would have to work hard not to be an overprotective father when the time came. Maybe Rachel could help him with that and remind him that all kids, werewolf and human alike, needed space to grow.
Lionel got the light working, and Jake took full advantage of the fact that cars pulled over to let him by. The emergency light was a brilliant concept. They were making excellent time.
“Want me to crank up the siren, Mr. Hunter?”
Jake glanced over at him and recognized the light of battle in the kid’s eyes. “Sure. Let’s give ’em all we’ve got.”
“Awesome.” Lionel added the siren to the mix, and cars pulled over even quicker.
Jake slammed the pedal down and turned the big V8 loose. The truck screamed down the highway. Apparently luck was smiling on them, because they didn’t pass a single cop car as they hurtled along. Jake factored in the speed of the SUV compared with his speed, and when he thought they might be getting close, he told Lionel to keep an eye out for a black SUV.