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When I woke up the next morning, I heard Chance's voice. I couldn't tell if he was downstairs or in the office down the hall. I found a note stuck to my phone on the night stand. "When you're awake, yell and I'll bring your tea."
I took my time getting out of bed, I thought about getting dressed, but I felt so warm and comfortable I didn't want to change until there was a reason. I brushed by teeth, washed by face, and combed my hair before going in search of Chance. He wasn't in the office, so I continued down the stairs and into the kitchen where I was greeted by Chance, Tom, and Jim. They were sitting around the kitchen table drinking coffee. Chance reached for me and pulled me into his lap. "Did you sleep OK?"
"Yeah. Good morning, y'all."
"I'll get your tea," Jim said, getting up and fixing me a cup of Earl Grey. "Chance played the tape of your story and filled in the details about the lab and Trevor. I'm going to see if I can find anything out about a Trevor that works for BITES. It's a pretty small agency, so it might not be too difficult."
"Sounds like a plan," I said. "Have you heard from Roy? Did they find the snowmobile and the shovel?"
I saw a look pass between the three of them. "What's going on?"
"Roy called a little while ago. They found the snowmobile on the forest service road. They found the shovel too."
"Good, then that should corroborate my story as far as he's concerned.”
"Yeah. He said that too." Again, the look passed between them.
"Guys, I get the feeling y'all have something to tell me that you think I won't like. If you need to tell me, just do it."
"They didn't find the guy you hit with the shovel," Chance said.
I took a drink of my tea and didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. "I didn't expect they would. I suspect you're all wondering if I can handle knowing that I might have killed that man. The answer is yes. I thought about it before I hit him. I knew there was a chance I might kill him even if I was only trying to knock him out so I could escape. I made the conscious decision to take his clothes, so I could survive. I knew he might not survive without them. I felt bad about it, but then I remembered that he kidnapped me, drugged me, and probably intended to kill me once they got the information they needed. I did what I had to do to survive. We need to figure out how to put a stop to this. I'm tired of being a target."
"That's why we're here, Em," Jim said. "I'll see what I can find out about Trevor. We're trying to figure out what else we can do."
"I have an idea about that. I checked on line. BITES headquarters is in Montana. I think a road trip is in order. I think Chance and I have to go. It would probably be good to have a lawyer along if you can come Jim. Tom, you're welcome but I don't think you have to go, though you're probably in danger if you're here alone."
No one said anything for a bit. "What do we do when we get there, ask them to stop trying to kill us?" Chance asked.
"Sort of. It just makes sense to meet them head on," I said. "I came up with two possibilities—either the whole BITES organization has a much different purview than just hunting cryptids, or some of their employees have personal agendas that the organization isn't aware of."
"Honey, I like the idea of facing them and being direct, but we have to figure out how to protect ourselves. If we go to their headquarters, they could just kill us all and be done with it," Chance said.
"True. We need a plan, but I think we have to talk to the BITES director. Jim, why don't you see what you can learn about that person. Chance and I will see if we can track down Helen. I'll read back through her letter and see if there's any information about the organization."
We all had our assignments, and I had a date to get ready for. Being shot at and kidnapped had given me a new resolve to live my life to the fullest every day. I wasn't going to hide my feelings or shy away from a challenge. We agreed to meet at Hairy's for lunch the next day.