CHAPTER NINE

When he arrived back at the cabin, he found his dad and Rick sitting quietly on the porch. Rick had his hand casually touching Senior’s arm, and Wil recognized that Rick was doing a healing session.

Not wanting to disturb them, he said hello quietly and went about unloading the groceries and putting them away. There was still time to break the bad news, thanks to Mr. Maklin’s gift for misdirection.

Wil set about making lunch. He was halfway through cooking when Mandy walked into the cabin.

“I didn’t realize…” she started, then trailed off. Wil looked over at her, catching a bit of dismay on her lovely face before she hid it. “Sorry. I usually come back and make lunch for William,” she said.

“While we’re here, I don’t expect you to have to cook for me and Rick. We’re big boys. We can fend for ourselves,” he teased, hoping to ease her discomfort. “Consider this a little respite from your caretaking. I bet you haven’t had a break from my dad since you came up here.”

“I haven’t, but I don’t mind. Your dad’s a great guy.”

“That he is,” Wil agreed, “but you still don’t have to wait on me or Rick. In fact, I’d prefer to wait on you a little. Consider it a little thank you for everything you’ve done for my dad.” He flipped the burgers on the old iron griddle and smiled at her. “How would you like your burger cooked? You look like a medium-well gal to me.”

“I do, huh?” Mandy grinned at him. “As a matter of fact, make mine extra well done, if you don’t mind.”

Wil feigned surprise. “I can’t believe I got that wrong, but your wish is my command.”

“I’ll set the table,” Mandy volunteered, moving closer to get the plates down from the cupboard next to the stove.

The four of them ate together, and Wil was proud of his dad’s acting ability. He was pretending to be much more fragile than he was feeling. Wil could tell, but he thought Mandy was completely taken in. Rick, on the other hand, was definitely looking tired.

When they were done with the meal, Mandy took off to do her work for the afternoon, and it was finally time for Wil to tell the other men what he’d learned from Maklin. Senior took the news with grim determination and studied the photos Maklin had printed out from his security system.

“We should get copies of these to the Alpha,” Senior muttered as he looked at the images.

“I can text them to Liam,” Rick volunteered, taking the hard copies and whipping out his phone to take digital images of the printed photos. “This won’t be super high quality, but maybe the locals can get originals from the shopkeeper or something, if needed. At least this will give them something to start with.”

“How’s the security set up, Dad?” Wil asked. “Any changes since I was last here?”

“I have sensors around the perimeter, of course,” Senior said. “The ones you installed last time you were here. No updates since then, I’m sorry to say. I have to confess, in the past few months, I haven’t kept up with anything. I figured it was over for me, and I let a lot of things that had mattered before fall by the wayside.”

“Perfectly understandable, sir,” Rick allowed. “Confronting mortality has a way of bringing what matters most into sharper focus.” Rick frowned and looked at Wil. “We’re going to have to move up the timeline for treatment, which means, you’re going to have to help a bit more.”

Wil nodded. He wasn’t too sure about using his abilities in such a fine-tuned way with so little practice, but he wasn’t about to let his insecurities show to his father. As far as Senior was concerned, this was just going to be a walk in the park.

Make that a hike uphill, through three feet of snow, with a ninety-pound rucksack on your back. Piece of cake. Right?

They set to work that afternoon, with Rick guiding Wil’s newest skill while Senior sat quietly, watching the forest. For best results, they were out on the porch, where Wil could see the sky and draw on the electric currents he could feel, now that he’d been changed, coursing on the winds. He drew the clouds closer to the mountain top in order to make his work easier. All that water vapor rubbing around up there in the sky created a tangible current he could use.

It wasn’t the fierce tumult of a lightning storm, but for this fine work, this subtle energy was much better. Wil and Rick had experimented with this kind of thing back on Plum Island, but they’d never put it to work on something like Senior’s tumors. Not to this extent, anyway.

There had been a half-feral housecat Wil had practiced on, with the owner’s consent. He’d never felt better than he had when he’d saved that stubborn tomcat from the tumors that had been slowly killing it. The cat had belonged to one of the female shifters on the base, and he’d been gratified by the stoic woman’s tears when she realized her beloved animal companion would live a lot longer, healthier life.

Rick coached Wil now, as he had then, talking Wil through the painstaking work of directing that energy he gathered from the atmosphere to where it would do the most good. Rick was able to save his healing energy while Wil did all the work, which meant Senior’s healing was progressing at double time.

Wil finished with a particularly difficult spot and sat back. Rick patted him on the shoulder.

“I can see what you’re doing, and it’s good work. Rest for a minute before we go again,” Rick advised. “How are you feeling, sir?” he asked Senior.

“Feeling good,” came the prompt reply. Senior’s voice was even growing stronger, the more treatment he received. “But I’m concerned about you boys. If the bad guys show up and you’re both down for the count, there’ll be trouble. Especially you, Rick. Shouldn’t you rest while Wil works and vice versa?”

“I’m not actually doing anything, right now,” Rick explained. “The passive scan that’s sort of always on now for me doesn’t really use my internal energy. I just can always tell by touching someone’s hand, what’s going on inside, in minute detail.”

“I don’t claim to understand what happened to you boys out in the desert, but that’s some nifty trick you have there. Must be hard to live with, though,” Senior observed. “After we finish here, I think it’s time we opened up the arsenal. You two didn’t bring much gear with you, but I’ve got you covered for weapons and gadgets. They might be a little older than you’re used to, but they still work.”

Wil perked up. His father seldom allowed anybody else to delve into his private collection of firearms and surveillance gear.

“Why don’t we do that now, before Wil does any more work? I think we’d both feel better armed more fully before we go much further,” Rick said, standing from his seat on the porch. “We can’t be sure how much time we have before trouble catches up to us.”

Senior nodded and rose from his seat as well, leaving Wil to follow. They all went into the cabin and right up to the wall between Senior’s bedroom and the bathroom.

Opening a secret panel that hid a keypad, Senior punched in the code, and a hidden door clicked open. There was just enough room for all three of them to walk into the long hall-like safe room that housed an honest-to-God arsenal on all three walls.

There were multiple handguns in every caliber, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, night vision gear, a plethora of scopes, and all sorts of surveillance gizmos. There was even a grenade launcher, though how Senior had gotten his hands on that, Wil didn’t know. Plus boxes and boxes of ammo of every shape and size to fit all the firearms. It was a doozy of a collection that had grown since the last time Wil had seen it.

“I had it all set to leave you all this in my will,” Senior said, walking on his own with much a much-improved gait. “Mandy would move into the cabin, of course. It’s state land, and I don’t actually own the place, but I’d arranged with her, and the park service, to allow you time to move my stuff out. I’d even made provision if you couldn’t be found within a reasonable timeframe, for all my stuff to be put in storage for you.”

“We’re going to have to make some decisions soon, Dad, about where you go from here. I don’t think a miraculous recovery is going to go down well with everyone who’s seen you over the past few months,” Wil said, broaching the subject that had been on his mind.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about that young Navy guy’s offer to talk to Lester Kinkaid. Maybe I’ll go back with you and see if I can get an appointment with him.” Wil was surprised that Senior would be so willing to leave his mountain, but Wil really liked the idea.

“I think that’s a great idea, Dad,” Wil said, feeling relief flow through his mind.

Wil didn’t want the bad guys to go after Senior as a way to get to Wil. Now that they knew of his existence, Senior wasn’t really safe up here. Not anymore.

“Plenty of room on our transport for one more,” Rick added, smiling at Senior. “This is one hell of a collection, Colonel Owens.”

They talked guns while each man selected their weapons of choice and its associated gear. Wil felt better as he strapped on the shoulder holster that corresponded to the Glock he’d borrowed. While his dad went, predictably, for his favorite sniper rifles, both Wil and Rick opted for smaller assault rifles. If they were attacked here, Rick and Wil would be mobile while Senior would likely be taking stationary shots from a limited number of points.

“I think we have time for one more session with Wil before dinner,” Rick said as they exited the armory and Senior resealed the hidden door. “Then, I’ll do another after dinner and crash. Wil can take first watch, and I should be good to go for second.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Wil agreed.

All went well. Perhaps even better than expected. Rick said the second session had done even more than the first in eradicating most of the larger tumors. The only side effect was that Senior had to make more frequent trips to the bathroom as his body eliminated the dead cells that had caused so much trouble. Rick had instructed Senior to drink a lot of extra water, as well, which contributed to the flush of his system.

Rick and Wil made dinner, and Mandy joined them around the dining table but left soon after dinner was over and the dishes cleared. Wil supposed she was running scared a bit, after what had happened between them last night, but it worked out for the best. She was in her trailer when Rick sat next to Senior in the living room and did another healing session. This was the longest yet, and after it, Senior looked like a totally different man from the one they’d seen when they’d first arrived.

He was progressing by leaps and bounds due to the accelerated healing schedule. Liam stopped by around midnight, padding silently up to the cabin as if he’d just materialized from the forest. Wil saw him and opened the door to the cabin without comment. They both knew that Liam wouldn’t have just sauntered up if he’d sensed any threat out in the forest. Likewise, Liam had to realize that either Wil or Rick would be on watch.

Liam entered the darkened cabin and navigated in the dark as well as if he’d been wearing night vision gear. That must be handy, Wil thought, to have such good natural night vision. Wil might have other tricks up his sleeve now, but the idea of having animal senses was still pretty impressive.

“Foreigners in the area,” Liam commented once he was seated at the dining table where Wil had set up his surveillance post. He had a low-light monitor showing several different infrared camera views of the outside of the cabin and the surrounding forest. “Not tourists, according to the wolves. Acting suspiciously.”

“I heard as much this morning from the old man who runs the general store down the mountain,” Wil confirmed. “He sent them to the other side of the park.” Wil cracked a small smile at what old man Maklin had done.

“How’d you manage that?” Liam asked, looking impressed.

“He did it on his own. Generally, the few locals who live and work around here know my dad and don’t like nosey strangers who obviously aren’t here for the natural wonder of the place.”

“Never realized humans could be so sensitive,” Liam said, tilting his head in a very cat-like way.

“Give us a chance. We might surprise you,” Wil quipped, smiling at his new shifter friend.

“You’re not exactly human anymore, though, are you?” Liam shot back.

“Touché,” Wil agreed, nodding once.

“How’s it going with your dad?” Liam asked quietly, changing the subject slightly.

“Rick says he’s responding really well, and I can easily see the difference in him. I think he’s going to come with us when we bug out of here. There would be way too many questions otherwise regarding his amazing recovery. Can you arrange for him to talk to your father tomorrow sometime, on the sat phone, if we don’t have to leave sooner?”

“Sure. I think we’ll have at least one more day before your hunters catch up with you,” Liam said. “The humans did you a solid today. The wolves will run interference tomorrow. If your hunters are merely human—and even if they’re not—the wolf Pack up here should be able to keep them occupied. I’ll come by around lunch time in the Jeep. Oh, and you’ve got an array of Pack members guarding the perimeter about a hundred yards out in every direction. They really like your old man,” Liam said, shaking his head as a smile touched his lips. “And, of course, I’m on night watch, as well. I know you and Rick are doing guard duty up here, but just know that, if you hear howling, it’s them. You’ll be able to tell if it’s an alarm or just friendly greetings by the frequency and intensity of the calls.” Liam stood.

“Thanks, Kinkaid,” Wil said, rising also. He offered his hand to the lion shifter, and they shook. “I definitely owe you for all your help here. I mean that.”

“Well, if I ever need someone to smite my enemies with lightning, I’ll let you know.” Liam’s chuckle brought an answering grin to Wil’s face. It was good to be able to joke about the incredible power that had changed Wil’s life so much.

“I’m your guy for smiting,” Wil agreed easily as Liam headed out the door, and Wil went back to his post at the table.