Wolves' Bane (The Order of the Wolf, #3)(27)

I glanced at the TV, tempted to flick through the channels and see if there was anything worth watching. But then, I’d done a lot of movie watching over the past few weeks while trying to bury my misery over Jimmy’s betrayal. What I really needed was one big emotional release and I knew exactly what, or who, would give me the most bang for my buck. Cal.

At least he’s being honest with me right up front. No strings attached.

I swiped my cell phone off the night table and noticed that I’d missed several calls from Rachel, and a zillion text messages. I scrolled through the string of them, feeling guiltier and guiltier as Rachel’s texts grew anxious to the point of desperation. She was worried about me, and here I was mooning over Cal.

I hit the callback button then frowned as my phone beeped with a weak signal. “Shit.”

I looked down at the phone, the signal bars were fading in and out. Of course, no reliable service in the middle of nowhere. With a glance at the landline that lay on the table, I shook my head. For all I knew the Order could be listening in on my phone conversations. I moved to the window, opened it and stuck my phone out. The bars instantly returned. Full service outside. Wonderful.

It was still light out, the sun just setting below the tree line, giving off a warm glow that bathed the surrounding forest in beautiful yellow and orange. No harm in going outside to make a call. I exited my room and quickly found my way through the maze of the mansion to a back screen door where I stepped out into the cool twilight air.

Ah, freedom.

I took in a deep breath and reveled in the clean scent of the freshly cut grass that stretched out before me, buffeted on all sides by the thick foliage of the surrounding forest.

I hit redial and winced when Rachel answered after the first ring.

“Morgan? Where the f*ck are you?” Her voice was near hysterical. “Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”

“Rach, I’m okay.”

“You fall off the face of the planet for almost two days and all you can say is you’re okay? All I’ve been going on is that vague message that you left about being okay. And then you don’t answer any of my texts or calls since. Where the hell are you?”

I sighed as I looked over my shoulder at the house. “Well…” I shifted my gaze to the forest around me. “I’m in the country.” Admitting that I wasn’t exactly sure where I was at the moment didn’t seem wise. It had never occurred to me to ask Cal, or anyone else for that matter, where the mansion was located. I’d been in such a daze when we travelled here that I hadn’t paid attention to where we were going. For all I knew, we could be in an entirely different state. “But I am safe,” I reassured Rachel.

“Is this some kind of joke? Are you telling me what you think I want to hear because you’ve got a gun to your head?”

“Seriously, Rach, I’m fine.” I started walking in a wide circle, happy to have a chance to stretch my legs while I was outside. “I met this guy.”

“You met a guy?” Rachel sounded like she had just choked on something. “And what, ran away with him? Now I know something is up. You’d never do something so reckless.”

My mind raced through a series of possible lies. Rachel was right to be suspicious—I would never do something as foolish as take off with a complete stranger to the middle of nowhere. But here I was, so somewhere along the way I had forgotten that.

“Rach, I’m seriously okay. This guy, someone I knew from back home, came by and I decided to take a little trip with him. You know, to get away from all the craziness there.” I bit my lip, wondering if she would buy the story.

A moment of silence stretched out and I started questioning if Rachel was processing it or calling the cops on her landline.

“So, you’ve reconnected with an old fling and taken off for a mini-vacation?”

I smiled. “Yep.”

“And what about your job? Did you think to call work and let them know you’re going to be away for a few days?”

I grimaced. I hadn’t given much thought to work since I’d left. Too much had been going on for me to even remember that I had a job, much less that I’d missed two shifts already. “Um, no actually, I kind of dropped the ball on that one.”

Rachel clicked her tongue. “I went to your work looking for you today and they told me that no one could get a hold of you, that they were starting to get worried. You’ve never missed a shift.” There was a hard edge to her voice, worry now replaced by anger.

Shit, another major personality switch. “Listen, Rach, I’m sorry I’ve worried everyone. I just got swept up in this whole thing and wanted some time to forget about my life for a little while. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

There was another heavy moment of silence until finally Rachel sighed. “It’s okay, hon. I was worried, you’ve never just taken off before. And when I couldn’t reach Jimmy…well…”

I sucked in a breath. Of course, people would be looking for Jimmy as well. “Jimmy’s missing?” I croaked, the lie tasting bitter on my tongue.

“Yeah, no one has seen him for a couple of days. I called him that night that we went to the carnival to go and check up on you. I was desperate to know you were okay, and he was the only one who answered his phone. Did you see him?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “No.” Since when do I lie to my best friend?