“He sounds pretty bad.”
“He was awful. Corrupt in other ways, too. The city was always underfunded, but the books said that we had money to spare. It turned out that he was using city funds to pay for his lavish lifestyle. With the power he had, he was able to keep his own property taxes very low, then turn around and charge high leases to businesses that rented from him. It was a big mess.”
“And Archer wanted to fix that?”
“He wanted to fix that and so much more. He got into politics because he wanted to make a difference. He saw that the people weren’t being served by the corrupt Mayor, and he wanted to be a hero.”
“You believed in his message?”
“I still do. Archer is a wonderful man with a heart of gold. Everything he does, he does for the least of the citizens in the country. People rake him over the coals for every little thing, even things that aren’t his fault. And yet he always responds with class and dignity. He is a good man, and the people who don’t see him for what a gem he is are going to realize it when he’s out of office and back living his life. The next guy isn’t going to be like Archer.”
“So, what happened?”
“I’m sorry, I got off track.”
“It’s alright. You’re passionate about Archer’s message. It’s understandable. He brought the country together in ways that no other man has in decades.”
“Exactly. Anyway, we were campaigning for the Mayoral seat, and we had to campaign hard. It was exhausting, and we were out constantly meeting with the people, making sure that his message got out to counteract the slander campaign that Mayor Grant was running. We were at a community park that Archer had funded in a low-income neighborhood that was struggling due to Mayor Grant’s corrupt practices. Archer bought a small plot of land that had been vacant and was right in the middle of this one neighborhood that really struggled. We were planting vegetables with school kids, and out of nowhere, this guy comes at Archer, spouting off about how Archer was messing with the way things had always been and a bunch of paranoid nonsense. Archer was on his knees beside a young boy, helping him plant, when the guy came up to him. The only way for Archer to protect himself would put the child in danger. He was trapped, basically. The man had a trowel, and he was about to swing it at Archer. I just jumped up, took him down with a few well-placed kicks, and held him until the police got there. It turned out that Mayor Grant had paid him to scare Archer, but the man was unstable and was going to murder him.”
“That is insane.”
“The entire thing was insane. The paper reported it, and people were furious. People that hadn’t voted in years came out to the polls, and Archer won in a landslide. After that, I took a few Krav Maga classes and fire arms classes, and I doubled as his campaign manager and his security guard.”
“He didn’t hire other guards?”
“He did, but I was the one that was with him everywhere. And then, when he got married, Elaine took over as campaign manager, and I continued as security. It’s worked for us for a long time.”
“It seems to have. I’m sure there’s more to it, but we are getting off the freeway here.”
He pointed to the exit ahead, which was small and unlit, without a single business listed on the sign where there would normally be a plethora of gas stations and hotels.
“Where is this going to take us?”
“Nowhere special, and we are not staying.”
“That doesn’t really answer my question.”
“Turn here,” he said, ignoring her protests.
“So, you’re not going to tell me?”
“No.”
“Perfect.”
CHAPTER SIX
“Turn down this road, but be careful—the pavement ends about a mile in, and the road is a little rough.”
She groaned, slowing way down and turning on the bright lights so she could see better.
“At least it’s not your car,” he said. “But you do look good in it.”
“Stop trying to butter me up,” she quipped, steering the car expertly around the potholes and dips.
“Is it working?”
“Not one bit.”
“Good to know. Take the first right you see. I’ll tell you when we are close because it’s easy to miss.”
She nodded, still watching the road carefully in the darkness. The sky was getting brighter to her right, but the sky to the west, on her left, was still a deep black. There wasn’t enough light to see yet, and the complete lack of street lights since they had left the highway wasn’t helping her. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, and every few minutes, something scraped the bottom of the car with a loud, metallic scratch that made her teeth clench.
“You should probably accept that Davis is never going to forgive you. This is more of a pickup truck road.”
She ignored his teasing.
“There’s the turn right there,” he said after a few minutes of silence.
“That looks like a foot trail,” she said.
“It’s wide enough for a car,” he insisted.
She sighed, turning down the trail and gritting her teeth as the branches on either side of the trail scraped down the side of the vehicle.
“I’m just going to have to tell him the car blew up,” she said when they went over the root of a tree that was growing across the trail, hanging the car up for a moment before she was able to ease it over the exposed root.
“We are almost there.”
“Great.”
“Take the trail to the left up there, and you’re going to have to gun it because it goes straight up for a few hundred yards.”
She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, then turned, jamming down the accelerator and wishing that Davis had given her something a little less pricey to destroy.
When the trail leveled out, Maci let out a sigh of relief. She saw a barn in the distance in the growing light.
“Whose barn is that?”
“No one’s. The property was abandoned years ago, and no one claimed it. The banks don’t have any records of it, so it’s just sitting here.”
“How did you find it?”
“I’ve lived in this area most of my life, since before my kind were allowed to run freely among humans.”
“That is a long time.”
“I am thirty-five, and it’s only been a few years since the mass hysteria over werewolves died down and people realized that we were no different than them.”
“But you still have to register.”
He shrugged.
“A mark on my driver’s license doesn’t really faze me. It’s not a reflection of who I am as much as it’s about the unfounded fears of the ignorant.”
“I would have a hard time being so gracious about it,” Maci said as she pulled to a stop in front of the barn.
“There are worse things to be upset about, and most of us don’t register. I only registered to get the job with SSE so I could pass the background check.”
“Your friend helped you, I guess.”
“Basically. Let me get out and get that door. We need to get going before the sun rises.”
“Get going?” she asked, but he was already out of the car and going to the barn to open the large, sliding door.
She drove the car into the barn, parking it in the back among the dilapidated tractors that were parked way in the back. She got out, handing him the bag he’d brought and grabbing her bag and laptop.
Logan covered the car with a canvas tarp that was thick with the dirt that clung to the air even now, years after the last person had entered the structure. His backpack was slung over his shoulder, the muscles in his forearms taut as he worked. She watched him move around, covering their tracks expertly, then coming to join her as she hurriedly stuffed her laptop in her own backpack and put it over her shoulders.
“We need to hurry,” he said, closing the large barn door and looking to the east, which was now a light shade of gray. “The sun is about
to rise, and we need to be well away from here before then.”
“Why? What are you worried about?”
“Choppers. It’s one thing to try spotting us on the highway, but out here, we are sitting ducks.”
“Where is here?”
“Shenandoah National Park.”
“The park is over two hundred thousand acres. Can you be more specific?”
He started walking toward the tree line, and she followed him, keeping up easily.
“We are going to the part that is designated as wilderness, so, off the beaten path.”
“That is still about forty percent of the park. We could be going anywhere.”
“Exactly. But they’re not going to look for us here anyway.”
“Why not?”
“Would you?”
“I guess not.”
“Plus, that truck was going back to DC.”
“How do you know?”
“The driver was having a very loud conversation with his wife on the phone in the cab.”
“Fighting?”
“I don’t think so,” he said, casting her a sidelong glance.
“Oh,” she said.
“He promised her he would be home tonight sometime, and she would get the ‘real thing’ then.”
“No wonder you got back to the car so quick,” she said, laughing.
“It wasn’t quick enough,” he teased.
They walked in easy silence for a while, and Logan visibly relaxed when they finally made it into the trees and out of sight of any choppers that might be in the area looking for them. Maci doubted that would happen, but she had also never considered that Archer would be replaced by a clone, either.
“I wish I could read your mind sometimes,” Logan said.
“I thought werewolves could.”
“Word of our mindreading ability has been grossly exaggerated,” he laughed. “We’ve never been able to read minds. It’s just one of the things people were told about us to keep the fear going.”
“That is infuriating.”
“I know,” he said. “And here I am, risking my life to save the leader of the free world, and all the while, most people think I should still be confined to the wilderness.”
“Maybe when this is over, we can talk to Archer about changing some of that. I mean, the real Archer.”
“I don’t think it would change much.”
“Don’t underestimate how much Archer wants to help the disenfranchised. And with you saving his life, he’ll go to great lengths to make sure that you’re treated well and that your people are, too.”
“I haven’t saved him yet.”
“You will,” she said, smiling at him as they walked side by side on the wide trail.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For what?”
“For believing in me, and for believing me. I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t gotten you out of that house in time.”
“I would be in jail, but it would get figured out.”
He shook his head.
“They had a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ order coming straight from the top. It appears the Director of the FBI has been replaced as well.”
“Wow. You showed up in the nick of time.”
“I had help.”
“I know. Your guy on the inside. I’ll have to thank him when this is all over.”
The trail was still dark, but the first rays of pink and orange sunlight were streaming in behind them. The soft glow lit the leaves and wildflowers, casting a golden light on the entire trail. Maci took a second to absorb the beauty, even though they weren’t there under the best of circumstances.
“When this is all over, I think I’ll have to come back here when my life isn’t in danger and just enjoy the scenery.”
“We are in the clear right now, at least at the moment.”
“That doesn’t sound too certain. We are either safe or we are not, right?”
“We are most likely safe, but I think you should assume that we are not, so we can be ready for anything.”
She nodded.
“You’re right. It’s easy to let the beauty of this place and the quiet lull you into a false sense of security.”
“There’s that and the fact that we are going to be on trails that aren’t maintained soon. You need to be prepared for anything because the area we are going to is wild and untamed.”
“Kind of like you,” she teased.
“Much more savage than I could ever be.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
“And you’re funnier than I thought you would be. I like it when you’re not so serious.”
“Really? Why?”
“Well, for one, you’re not tasing me. I like that.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“You don’t sound sorry.”
“Really, I was just doing my job. You could have done your job differently, and I wouldn’t have had to zap you.”
“What would you suggest? Breaking into your house the night before and convincing you of all this? Do you think that would have worked?”
“Probably not.”
He stopped, looking at her then.
“What?” she said.
“You’re just, I don’t know. You’re just something else.”
“Thank you?”
“It was definitely a compliment.”
“Thank you, then.”
He shook his head, looking around to get his bearings and then holding out his hand.
“The terrain gets a little rough up here. If you want, I can carry your things so you can maneuver a little more easily.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I don’t need help carrying my bag. It doesn’t weigh much; I’ll be fine.”
“Suit yourself. We have a long way to go, so if you change your mind-”
“I can take care of myself,” she insisted.
“Now that, I believe.”
He took a sharp right, going out to the edge of a trail and looking down.
“I hope you like climbing,” he said, looking down over the edge.
“I’ve spent a few hours in the rock climbing gym. It’s a good workout.”
“Good. I hope you like free climbing because there’s no one here to spot you.”
She stood beside him, looking down the almost sheer drop beside a narrow waterfall that trickled over the edge and down the rock face.
She looked back at him, her face a little pinched with worry.
“You’ll be fine,” he said. “I’ll go down first.”
“There has to be another way.”
“There is, and it adds almost five miles to our hike. We can’t afford that extra time wasted.”
“Breaking my legs in a fall would probably slow us down, too.”
“It’s only twenty feet. You can do this. Or you can ride on my back, and I’ll do it for both of us.”
“No way,” she said a little too quickly.
“Then let’s get at it.”
He sat on a large, flat rock on the edge of the cliff after checking to make sure it was secure, then flipped onto his stomach and slid over the side. Maci watched him as he carefully felt around with his foot until he found a toehold, then put his weight on that foot and felt around with his other foot.
“I can’t believe this,” she said under her breath.
“You can still climb on my back,” he offered with a smile.
“I’ve got this; I’ll be fine.”
She waited for him to get down about halfway, then she followed suit, sliding on her belly over the edge and dangling for a moment, looking for somewhere to put her foot.
“You need to go down another six inches,” he called out.
“Damnit,” she said, closing her eyes and pushing back a little at a time, focusing on feeling with her foot.
When she finally found the first foothold, she sighed in relief. Only fifteen more feet to go, she thought s
arcastically, moving down the cliff face one handhold and foothold at a time.
“You’re halfway,” he said from below her. “You’ve almost got it.”
She didn’t answer, just kept moving along, eager to get to the ground but not rushing. He was right, climbing without safety equipment was completely different. She hoped this was a one-time thing.
She put her left foot onto one of the many rocks that jutted out from the wall, putting her weight on the left foot as she felt around with her right. She looked down, trying to see where a foothold could be for her right foot when she felt the rock under her left foot give way.
She held on her with her hands, trying desperately to gain a foothold with either foot. She clung to the wall, her feet kicking as she moved them along the wall, her fingers slipping.
Her heart was pounding in her ears, and she fought the urge to scream as her left hand lost its grip and she was left hanging by just her right hand. She tried to keep calm as she felt along the wall, looking for something, anything, to grab hold of.
When her right hand finally slipped from its hold, she cried out in fear, her stomach dropping as her body fell. She braced for impact, closing her eyes and willing her body to relax to minimize the damage.
When she felt strong arms wrap around her and cradle her, she couldn’t believe it for a moment. Eyes squeezed shut, she took a few deep, trembling breaths, then opened one eye.
“I caught you,” he said simply. “You’re not dead.”
“I thought I was going to be,” she said, her voice shaking along with her hands.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said, setting her on her feet and holding onto her under her arms until he was sure that she was steady.
“Thank you,” she said, looking up at where the rock had slipped from beneath her foot and shuddering.
It was only twelve feet or so, but the ground beneath their feet was hard and rocky, and she likely would have been paralyzed, if not killed, by the fall.
“You saved my life,” she said.
“Don’t be dramatic,” he teased. “Let’s go. We have a lot of ground to cover before nightfall.”
The Wolf In The White House Page 6