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"What do you think of the BITES people?" I asked when Chance and I were snuggled up in bed.
"They all seem nice. Mr. Meecham is kind of stuffy, but Jared says he's a nice guy. It seems like all of them, including Greg, have been through some pretty tough situations together. It's difficult for me to see how someone like this Trevor guy even got through their interviews.”
"I know they're the professionals, but is there anything we need to do, just you and I?"
"Yes, and it has nothing to do with cryptids," Chance said.
XXX
"Chance, are you sure about this? I'd rather you were with me." I said as the men were loading their bags for the flight to Spokane.
"I'd rather be with you too, but I want you to be safe. I’m a good shot, but Cassie's better."
"How do you know that?"
"I'll tell you when this is all over. Stay safe. It'll all be over soon." His kiss left me standing, staring into space. I'm not sure how long I stood there before Cassie touched my arm.
"You OK, Everly?" she asked. "I know you have no reason to believe me, but my team is the best. They'll keep him safe."
"Thanks. Chance can take care of himself. I just hate that there are so many pieces of this, and we won't know what's going on with the others until it’s over."
"Let's hit the road. We'll have lots of windshield time to get acquainted."
We threw our bags in the back of a black SUV and headed to Wilkin's Gap. Cassie was acting as my body guard. I was convinced I wouldn't be in any danger until the exchange, but I was overruled.
The plan was complicated, and that worried me. Greg and Mr. Meecham were going to the lab for a surprise inspection. Their plan was to stay overnight at the lab and keep Trevor Wilhelm tied up in meetings until after my scheduled meeting with whoever was holding Gracie Layne.
Cassie would spend the night with me at Hairy's. My job was to be visible. We wanted people to know I was back in town.
We stopped for lunch at the Pioneer where Chance and I had eaten on our way to the bigfoot conference. I realized that was only a few months ago. It was shocking to think of how much my life had changed since then.
"Chance and I are trying to figure out how to make our relationship work with him traveling so much. I assumed I'd be back in Wilkins' Gap taking care of the cafe and working on the museum, but now he wants me with him on his hunts. How do you guys handle traveling so much for your jobs?" Cassie and I had a lot of time to talk during the drive. I was hoping she might have some useful insights, since she and Jared were frequently traveling for hunts for BITES.
"If you travel with Chance, it would be a lot like what Jared and I do," Cassie said. "I don't know how you feel about being away from your home or the cafe. We're lucky that we have family on the ranch to look after our place when we're gone. We talked about it before we got married. We plan to have a family at some point. When that happens, things will have to change. We agreed on that, but I don't think we've figured out what our life will look like at that point."
"That's good," I said
"Why is it good that I can't tell you anything helpful?" she asked, smiling.
"Because I was beginning to think you guys had everything figured out. It's good to know you're stumbling along figuring things out just like we are."
"Misery loves company, I guess."
I pulled in and parked behind Hairy's. We carried our gear upstairs. "You can have the bedroom," I said. "I'll sleep on the sofa."
"I'll be fine on the sofa."
"If you're my protection tomorrow, I want you to have a good night's sleep." I unpacked and started a load of laundry. I was trying to be as normal as possible and do routine things, but it wasn't easy.
"Jared sent a message that they were headed into the woods," Cassie said, walking out of the bedroom.
"I had a similar message from Chance. What time will you head out in the morning?"
"I'd like to leave here before it gets light. I'm hoping the people we're after are too lazy to get up before daylight."
"I'm going to go down and check in at the cafe. Come on down when you're ready for dinner."
Sally greeted me warmly and handed me a large glass of sweet tea across the counter. I greeted some of the regulars and headed into the kitchen. Rick assured me everything was under control with Hairy's, and I went into the office to see if there was any mail that needed my attention. I thought through the plan for the following day and enjoyed my sweet tea. Sally knocked on the door frame.
"Your friend Cassie is out front asking for you."
I followed her out to where Cassie was looking at the displays. "Hi. I realized you might like to see Harry's cryptid lab. Come on."
I took Cassie out to the Quonset and opened the door to the lab. "Sorry it's such a mess. We were trying to go through everything in detail, but we didn't get finished before we had to head out to spend Christmas with my mom."
Cassie walked around reverently. She picked up folders and flipped through them. "This is amazing," she said. "Is this what gave you guys the idea to start the museum?"
"Yeah. We're still not sure what all is here, but we're hoping to find enough to make some interesting displays."
She pointed to a cast of a bigfoot print. "It looks like you've got a great start."