Warrior (Relentless #4)(150)

“An RV park?”

“Looks like the place has cabins for rent. Maybe they figured no one would look for them there.”

“Okay. We’ll check it out.”

It didn’t take long to find the park. As soon as I saw the middle-aged couple sitting by a fire outside their RV, I knew Sara and her friends must have stashed their phones on the vehicle to throw us off their trail. And we’d fallen for it.

Disappointment and worry gnawed at me. What if they’d dumped the phones in Boise and we’d been on a wild goose chase this whole time? They could be anywhere by now.

“What do you want to do?” Chris asked when I voiced my concerns to him.

I thought for a moment. “It’s late. If they’re here, they’ve likely found a hotel room for the night. I’m going to drive past every hotel in the city and see if I can sense her.”

“Try the cheaper places first,” he suggested. “I doubt they’ll stay at one of the bigger hotels.”

The airport wasn’t far from us and there were a number of hotels in that area, so we headed there first. We circled half a dozen hotels with no luck. I knew it was a long shot, but I didn’t know what else to do.

My Mori quivered.

I inhaled sharply. She’s here.

The sensation faded. Heart pounding, I found the closest intersection and pulled a U-turn, my tires leaving marks on the asphalt as I raced back the way I’d come.

Find her, I begged my Mori.

I felt it again, stronger this time. Up ahead on the left I could see a sign for a Motel 6. That had to be it. The closer I got to it, the stronger her presence was.

Horns blared as I cut across several lanes of traffic to get to the hotel. I pulled into the parking lot, and suddenly her presence began to fade again.

I peeled out of the lot and back onto the street, but I couldn’t tell what direction she’d gone. I couldn’t lose her. I might never find her again.

I drove without direction, changing course only when I sensed her again. It happened three times, and then she was gone.

For the next two hours, I searched in an ever-widening circle, but I didn’t sense her. My mind and body felt weighed down when I finally admitted to myself that I’d lost her again.

Chris and I stayed at the safe house that night. I would have driven around all night if he hadn’t pointed out that I’d drop from exhaustion in a few days if I didn’t slow down. He was right. I would have driven myself into the ground if I’d been left alone. I wouldn’t help Sara that way.

I didn’t get much sleep ether way. I lay in bed wondering what had brought Sara to Salt Lake City. Did she think her mother was here? I hadn’t seen Madeline in over fifty years, so I had no idea what she could be up to or why she’d be here. Madeline had never cared for Idaho or the mountains, always saying she wished we lived somewhere sunnier. I could see her living in a place like California, but not Utah.

I was still mulling it over the next morning as I resumed my slow search of the city. Short of sensing Sara nearby, there was little to go on. One of the local warriors knew a warlock in the city who might be able to do a locator spell if she was still here, and I had an appointment with him that afternoon.

When my phone rang midmorning, my pulse jumped when I saw Tristan’s name, and I prayed he had good news.

“Tristan, tell me you have her.”

“No, but she’s okay. She just called a few minutes ago.”

Relief filled me. “What did she say?”

“She wanted us to know that she was with Jordan, Roland, and Peter, and the four of them were on their way to see Madeline.” Tristan let out a slow breath. “She said Madeline was a few hundred miles from her. Could she really know where her mother is?”

“She seems to think she does. What else did she say?”

“She said as soon as she talks to Madeline, she’ll call us to come get her and Jordan.”

I stared at the mountains rising up behind the city. If Sara thought she was a few hundred miles from Madeline, then Madeline couldn’t be in Salt Lake City. What was a few hundred miles from here?

“I asked her if she wanted to talk to you, and she said she knew you weren’t here.”

“She knew I’d come after her,” I said. “Did you trace the call?”

“I tried, but she blocked me somehow,” he said in frustration. “She left her phone and laptop here, so someone must have helped her, someone who knows how to hide from us. She planned this well. She said she’d call back in a few days and hung up.”

“She was here in Salt Lake last night. I sensed her, but she disappeared before I could find her.” I rubbed at the dull ache that had started in my chest after I’d come so close to Sara and lost her. Was it possible she could sense me the way I sensed her? That would explain how she had evaded me last night.

“Then she could still be there,” Tristan said hopefully. “I’m going to send back the unit that came from there. They know the city, and they’ll be able to help you search. We’ll find her, Nikolas.”

“I know,” I said fiercely.

The question was, would we find her before she found trouble?





*


“I can’t believe it. Someone finally took that bastard down.”