In Quaking Hills by Kate MacLeod

Author:Kate MacLeod [MacLeod, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-946552-52-5
Publisher: Kate MacLeod

14

The roar of engines made speech impossible until Ken and Bente had unyoked their bikes and parked them on the other side of the rover. Tucker tugged Scout’s sleeve, wanting her to follow him as he went to take a closer look at the town car. Scout dug her hands deep into her pockets but stayed where she was near the door to the equipment room. Then someone jostled her. The sound of their approaching footsteps had been drowned out by the still-droning engines and Scout quickly stumbled out of the way.

If Malcolm noticed that he had bowled her over coming out of the equipment room, he didn’t react or even look back to see what he had collided with. Scout stepped back out of the doorway in case others would be following in his wake, slumping against the wall and trying not to be noticed.

Then the two bikes shut off, one after the other. The drone of the morning insects could just be heard in the distance. There was no grass growing in the little nook behind the gate so they had no home here.

“Perfect,” Malcolm said, clapping his hands as he approached the dusty town car. Ken and Bente emerged from behind the rover, goggles dangling around their necks as they threw back the hoods of their dusters and pulled off their cap-like helmets.

“It was just where you said it was,” Ken said. “Jacked up on a rock, but Bente got it moved all right. We searched the area in case anything had been dropped nearby but there wasn’t anything.”

“No, I didn’t expect that there would be,” Malcolm said. “There were only two or three footprints between the town car and the rover tracks. She was definitely picked up and transported.”

“Rescued or kidnapped?” Ken wondered. “If she had been chased and run off the road onto the rock—”

“There would have been more tracks in the road,” Malcolm cut him off. “It’s not a road that sees a lot of traffic. But there were just the town car tracks and then the rover.”

“So it was a rescue. But did she know her rescuers or not?” Ken said.

“That’s exactly the question,” Malcolm said. “If they were friends, she would probably have taken what she had with her. She would feel safe. But if they were strangers, if she thought they might be a threat, she might have hidden what she had in the town car so it wouldn’t fall into their hands. That’s why you are going to strip this thing down to the bones. We need to be sure.”

“These newer models have a much more complex design than the older ones,” Ken said. “More places to stash things. It could take all day.”

“Luckily, you have nowhere else to go,” Malcolm said, clapping him on the shoulder.

A flicker of motion caught the corner of Scout’s eye and she turned her head to see Arvid tossing canvas bags out the door, making a rough sort of pile outside the equipment room. The bags fell heavily, the pieces inside clanging against each other.

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