Hunted – 48

“It’s ready,” Skye said as she joined them a few minutes later. She looked down at Logan with a shake of her head. “Are you planning on remaining on your ass all night?”

“Not if it has anything to say about it,” he replied with a laugh. He stood and rubbed his butt ruefully. “Brice, you need to carpet the hall.”

Brice snorted. “I happen to like hardwood floors. I wasn’t planning on anyone sitting on them.”

Faolán, they realized then, seemed to have disappeared.

“Now where did he go?” Brice asked. He sniffed the air before turning to go back to the closet and the panic room. He could tell Faolán was there somewhere, but couldn’t pinpoint his location.

Logan joined him, standing in the doorway to the panic room. He sniffed as well then shifted into his wolf form and tried again. This time he found Faolán, who was lying flat out on the top of the highest shelf along one wall.

Faolán slid to the edge and jumped down. “It’s a good enough hiding place except for one thing, Brice will never be able to get from there to the keypad in time to lock Maximus into the room.”

Logan shifted back and as soon as he was clothed he studied the situation. “Can the door be left partially open or does it have to be one or the other?”

Brice stepped into the panic room. “It’s supposed to be open or shut, no in between, but what if we put something here,” he pointed to the door’s track when the others joined him, “to keep it from opening all the way.”

“What are you thinking, Logan?” Faolán asked.

“If it can be rigged to open just enough for a man to get through and no more, and if it can be made to close automatically once someone is inside, then we may have a solution.”

“I should have remembered, damn it. It will close on its own if I set it up for that,” Brice told them. “It’s a fail-safe in case there’s a home invasion and someone’s after me.”

“Which is exactly what’s going to be happening, if everything works the way we’re planning,” Logan pointed out. “So you could hide where Faolán was and just wait it out. How does it work? An electric eye?”

“Yes. Going in breaks the connection, from the way it was explained to me and that causes it to close.”

“All right. Then we’re good and can set this up as soon as Morgan gets the room painted.”

Faolán nodded. “Let’s pray there’s enough silver in the nitrate that he won’t be able to teleport out in either form without seriously damaging himself.”

“You could always test it for us,” Brice said with a smirk.

Faolán glared at him then chuckled. “Thanks. I think I’ll pass on being a test dummy.”

Skye looked at Faolán in question then. “Can I ask what you did with the body, or do I even want to know?”

“You probably don’t, but I’ll tell you anyway. It’s at the bottom of Lake Michigan, where hopefully it’ll stay long enough for the fish to do their job on it. Not the best of burials but safer for us.”

Skye shuddered as she glanced at the floor where it had been found, then frowned. “No blood.”

“Because he’d been dead a while I suspect,” Faolán replied tightly. “Maximus wouldn’t have taken the chance of killing him here. Especially since he probably had his own kind of fun with him first.”

“Right now, I’m beginning to wonder if I really want to move in here after all,” Brice said morosely.

Faolán glanced at him in commiseration. “I can’t say I blame you. But once this is over you might change your mind. It really is a pretty fantastic house, all told.”

“We’ll see. For now I’m ready to get out of here.”

Logan nodded. “Unless you need us for something more I’ll take Skye home.”

“Go ahead. I’ll call you when I know Morgan’s finished painting.”

Logan slipped an arm around Skye’s waist and they vanished.

“I’m presuming you can make your way back to my place on your own,” Brice said to Faolán.

“I can. I think I’ll go for a run first though. I need it.”

“There’s a good place for that…well…you probably have somewhere in mind so…” Brice shrugged. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Actually.” Faolán ran a hand through his hair. “I was just going to see if I could find a near-by park that was large enough.”

“The zoo’s close by, but somehow, well if it were me I’m not sure I’d want to run there. At least not in wolf form. I do know a good place that Logan and I use sometimes, if you’re interested.”

“I’m interested.”