A Justified Kill (18 page)

T
he tent was easy to take down. It only took a short time for everything to be packed up and
stored in the back of the jeep. She was once again on her way.

The clerk at the hotel put her back in the room she’d had before.
He
was
extremely
tal
kative since he didn’t have
many customers coming in
. From what he told her it was
because they were still doing
renovations
. He had smiled as if conspiring, winking at her when he told her
he had put her in the best
and only room they had available.
Amber figured there was not much traffic in the backwoods town
and
it was probabl
y one of the only rooms
in good enough repair to keep a guest in.
Lack of sleep and chatty people didn’t make a good combination for her.
When he handed over the key to the room, she was happy to escape his non-stop chatter.

Settling in didn’t take long sinc
e she didn’t have much to put away
.
Her green backpack
, laptop bag
and her small black pack was all she carried. Lifting the green pack to the bed, she placed her face
against the rough surface and inhaled
. Even after all these years it still contained
Blake’s linger
ing scent. Staring at the pack, she
wanted to kick her own ass
for allowing the memories
of him
to flood her mind
. More than once she had
considered
tossing the backpack
into a fire
and getting a new
pack
all together.
But she knew that wouldn’t happen. Blake had given
it
to her and she
cherished it
. T
he pack
and the stone
were
the only thing
s
she had from her past.
Holding onto the pack
reminded her not to let her guard down and allow anyone close. It had taken her years to get over her heart breaking at just the thought of him.
There were times she wished she had controlled her anger and avoided Tracy’s attack at the shelter. If she had just
stayed away from
the yard instead of meeting her head on, she might have been able to spend more time with him.
Ultimately though, she knew she would have to leave him, but she still missed their time together.

Sitting and talking with him for hours had been the only time she was happy. When she saw him smile at her, her entire
world
lit up. Amber’s fingers lifted to her lips. She could still remember how they had tingled when he had kissed her.
The sensations that had shot through her body and she would have sworn that she felt her wolf stirring then.

Now, s
he couldn’t help but wonder where he was and what he was doing. What would happen if they were to run into one another again, would it be the same?
Would her feelings come flooding back?
Had he found a mate? The last thought made her toss the bag onto the chair in the corner
in irritation
. She didn’t want to think about that.

Picking up the plastic bag, she
ripped open
the packaging for the phone charger
and plugged it into the wall. Lifting the phone, she twisted and turned it in her hand, finally finding where it connected and plugged the phone into the charger. Taking out her computer, she stared at the screen before closing it. She had spent countless hours searching the internet for a way to contact her grandfather and Blake, but never found one.
Only once did she try looking for her mother and
had
found a phone number
. She had called and when the man answered, she had lost her nerve and hung up.
Standing the
re
by payphone she had used, she
remembered jumping
when it rang. But
she refused to answer i
t and had run back to her room, packed up and had fled the area.

Pushing away from the makeshift desk in her room, Amber paced the floor, constantly glancing at the phone and the red light.
It took forever to charge, but finally a green light showed and she hurried over and snatched it up. She flipped it open
and pushed the power button on. It came to life immediately and began pinging with unheard messages and texts. Amber didn’t
bother looking at any of the messages and flipped through the applications until she found the one for contacts. Like
she
had figured, and
most people tend to do, Hanna had listed her parents as Mom and Dad. Amber lay
down
on the bed staring at the lighted screen until it went blank. Sitting up with a sigh, she pushed
the button to make it light up again, then
the contact that w
ould dial Hanna’s mother’s number
. She didn’t have time to hang up when the phone was an
swered before the second ring. She felt a moment of panic because s
he had no clue what she was going to say.
She remember
ed making the one phone call eight
years earlier and
how disappointed she had felt
when her mother didn’t answer
.

“Hanna?”
A
panicked voice came through the phone. “Hanna, are you there? Please baby.”
The woman begged.

“No.” Amber
’s voice sounded hoarse.
She really had no idea what she was going to say
to the woman
, but she had called and
she had to go through with it.
Clearing her throat, she tried to interrupt the woman on the other end of the phone.
“No ma’am, this is not Hanna. I am a…” Amber stopped and thought for a moment. She wasn’t close enough to anyone to really call them a friend, but what else could she say to a worried mother? “I’m Hanna’s friend.” When the woman started asking all kinds of questions Amber held the phone away from her ear and stared at it with a frown. For someone who didn’t want her around, this woman was definitely worried about her daughter. “Mrs. Barton please
, I need for you to be calm and l
et me speak.”
Finally, the woman grew quiet and Amber continued.

“Your daughte
r is in the hospital.” With these words
, the sobbing and questions
started
again
and this time the woman would not stop until Amber raised her voice
. “Would you please just shut up
so I can tell you?” She hated being rude, but she had no choice with the woman being so emotional. Amber quickly told her
the location of
where Hanna had been admitted and hung up before she could question her any furt
her.
Before the phone could ring, she turned it off and tossed it onto the bed beside her.

Falling back on the bed, she bounced
against the hard surface
and winced in pain. She had
temporarily
forgotten her injury. After lying in bed staring at the ceiling
for a few minutes
, Amber got up and went to her laptop
. A quick search of the area code on the phone told her that Hanna was from Los Angeles, somewhere in the Hollywood area. From the clothing Amber had found, she figured a rich part of town, but would never have guessed from there. Glancing at the bedside clock, she
had about five hours before Hanna’s parents would be at the hospital
. This
would give her time to drop her purse and phone off
to her
before they got there. The clothing was ruined and more than likely it would be the smart thing to return them to the woods around the campsite when she went back out.
But first,
she needed a nap, so she crawled
to the middle of the bed
, laid down and
immediate
ly fell
a
sleep.

A strange dream held her captive.
Her wolf was running through a meadow
with tall grass and wildflowers
. The pine trees were different than was in the
California forests
.
They kind of reminded her of the woods surrounding Moonlight Shelter.
In the shadows of
the trees, she could see a
pair of
glowing
eyes, werewolf eyes, staring at her.
Watching her black wolf bound th
rough the grass, the other form
remained in the darkness
, in the shadows of the trees
. I
nside the wolf, Amber knew
she was being
observed
and tried to see who was watching her, but could not urge her wolf to get close
enough to make out who it was.
She could hear the howling of timber wolves
off
in the distance, but the wolf in the shadows remained silent.
It felt like she ran for hours. Every time she looked over, the other wolf was always
right alongside her
, watching her
. H
er wolf ignored whoever was there
and continued running.

Suddenly,
Amber sat straight up in bed
, her breathing labored
. Adrenaline pumped through her veins like
she
had
really
been running
.
The
strange
w
olf in her dreams felt so real.
Chewing her
bottom lip, a frown on her face, she looked
quickly around the room
. Her heart pounded in her chest and she felt like
she was ac
tually being watched
.
The sun was going down, judging by how dark it was in the room, she had slept longer than she’d planned to.
Hopping up out of bed, she cautiously
peered
into the bathroom, then out the window to find nothing
and
no one there.

A quick glance at the clock told her she was going to be late if she didn’t get a move on. H
anna’s parents would be getting to the hospital soon,
if they were not already there, and she needed to get to work.
Grabbing the phone and charger, she jammed them inside Hanna’s purse and rushed for the door. Jumping in her jeep,
she grabbed her side when
the sharp pain hit her and sucked in a deep breath.
The cut was healing faster than it would on a human, but it still hurt and was
definitely a reminder for her to keep her wits about her. Popping the clutch and punching the gas, she
spun
the tires in the gravel and
s
he sped out of the parking lot.