Fuck.
Their thief was a female.
He loosened his grip, but that was a huge mistake. Because the moment he did, she jerked away from him so hard he almost fell backward.
And then she ran.
“Wait!”
Eagan scrambled to catch her, but she was through the swinging door before he could grab her again. He pushed through, looking left and then right. There was no sign of her. But she must’ve made a run for the outdoors. She wouldn’t stay inside where she could be captured.
He rushed through the lobby and out the front, stopping on the front deck to scan the area. But there was no sign of his thief.
“Shit.”
He breathed deeply, trying to find her scent. But he only smelled the normal scents of the lodge. The werecats, the human, the forest. The deer.
He ran into the clearing where cars were parked, ducking and searching under each one. But there was no thief.
He walked the perimeter of the main building, sniffing for any change that could indicate the female. But there was nothing.
Eagan stared out into the forest. He could track her if only he had a scent. Without it, in the dark… he had nothing to go on. She was a ghost.
“Shit.”
His eyes caught on one of the new cameras Gash had installed, and a smile crept up his lips. He’d go now, and find her with the cameras. What were the chances she’d escaped them all?
Running for the front door, he bounded into the lobby and stopped short.
There, on the polished wood floor, was an old notebook with a pen sticking out of the spine. Eagan bent to examine it. It was small, about the size of a 5x7 picture, and the edges of the cover were worn and dirty and curling from use.
It hadn’t been there when he’d run through minutes ago.
He picked it up, bringing it to his nose and breathing in deep. Ah, yes. A smile curved his lips. This belonged to her. And damn, was his thief smart.
He shook his head in disbelief.
Not only had she anticipated he’d run outside first, she’d found an ingenious way to mask her scent so she couldn’t be tracked.
He stared at the notebook, turning it in his fingers. His only clue. This, however, was an accident. This would get her caught.
Eagan stood, and when he did, Destiny’s words came back to him.
Fucking hell.
When you find the book that isn’t yours… read it.
Oh, he’d read it alright. He was going to find his thief before she could do anymore damage.
Chapter Four
She shouldn’t have gone near the onions. But they were the red kind, and it’d been so long since she’d smelled fresh chopped onions. Who knew she’d miss that.
Damn it.
Now she was stuck here indoors. Inside the lodge. Where she could be caught. And this time, if she was arrested she’d actually be charged for the crime.
Dread slammed her hard. She squeezed her eyes closed in fear.
Stealing. That’s what she’d really been doing all this time. Taking what wasn’t hers in order to survive. Because she couldn’t bear the thought of being part of the real world.
She was a thief. And no matter how much she liked to think of herself as Robin Hood, she wasn’t.
Her only saving grace was that she intended on paying it back. Someday. When she was ready to emerge from the woods and face reality. If she was ever ready. She kept meticulous records. Every last thing she’d ever taken was written down.
She pushed her guilt to the back of her mind. Right now she had to focus on getting out of this place. She’d noticed the tightened security. Noticed the new cameras. They’d prevented her from going to the guest rooms. And she’d had to find a new way into the lodge. Which hadn’t been hard. She wondered if they knew their alarm system was down.
Whatever. She wasn’t going to be the one to tell them.
Slipping past the lobby was easy. There was only one camera in the far corner by the door. From there, she found another short hallway that seemed to be clear of any recording devices. She avoided the door marked office and kept going. If she could find an open room with a window… on this side of the building, she could just climb out and slip into the trees.
She tried the next door, and it was locked. One that looked like a storage closet, and it was locked too. Finally she came to a set of double doors. The frosted glass and etched lettering that read SPA seemed too modern for the wood on wood country feel of the lodge. Testing the handle, it opened.
She frowned, surprised. Why was this door the only unlocked one in the hall?
Clara stepped back. What if someone was in there. What if she was trapping herself inside. What if—
The sound of a door slamming and footsteps made the decision for her. She cranked the handle and stepped inside hoping against hope that she’d find herself alone in the spa.