“Haven’t heard any complaints.”
“Good. Good.” Thomas cocked his head to the side. “Hey, why don’t the two of you join me and Sam for dinner? It would be real great to catch up.”
Raven’s skin blanched. Obviously, she didn’t like the idea.
“Thanks, Thomas. We have to get back. Maybe some other time.” He grabbed a parka off the rack that was his size and looked at Raven. “Ready?”
She nodded.
“Well, let’s get you two checked out then.” Thomas stomped to the desk. A man that big didn’t merely walk.
He rang them up. Aidan grabbed the gloves and put them on his ticket.
“Hey,” Raven tried to object.
“You drove me here, it’s the least I can do.” He could tell she wanted to argue but she kept her mouth shut in front of Thomas.
“Seriously, man, it was great to see you.” Thomas handed Aidan a bag with the items. “You staying long?”
Aidan glanced at Raven and then back to Thomas. “Not sure yet, but I’ll stop in before I leave and catch up.”
“You do that.” Thomas winked at them. “You two take care, now.”
Raven turned and beat a trail out of Big Ray’s. Aidan hobbled behind her as fast as he could. His leg pulsed with pain as he reached the Suburban, Raven behind the wheel with the engine already running. He got in and before he had his seatbelt clicked, she was in reverse and backing out of the parking lot.
“What’s up?” he asked, as she cut through town toward the Steese.
“Nothing.”
“Want to elaborate?”
“No.”
This wasn’t getting them anywhere. He decided not to push. He’d already done enough pushing today, and it was tiring. His head pounded in time to the pulsing in his leg. He needed to elevate it. Take it easy. The doc had been impressed with Eva’s skills. The x-rays had shown a hair-line fracture. And due to the type of wounds the teeth of the trap had made, a cast was out of the question. A boot was the next best option. And since it was only a stress fracture, the doctor had agreed to allow him to walk on it, but made Aidan promise to listen to the pain. If it got too bad, he should use the crutches. If that didn’t help, he was supposed to return. Right now, Aidan wanted to lay his seat back and elevate his leg on the dash. One of the pain pills the doc had given him wouldn’t be out of order either. But instead he sat there in a silent car, with a fuming woman, and a long drive over nasty roads. Once that was over, he got to look forward to moving into Earl’s. He couldn’t put out Fiona and Raven any longer.
He must have dozed, because the next thing he knew, Raven was shaking him awake. He sat up in his seat and looked around. They were right outside the lodge.
“Sorry.” He rubbed his face.
“Where do you want me to take you? Earl’s? Or do you want to stay at the lodge tonight?” Raven didn’t seem as angry with him now as she had before.
“Earl’s, if you don’t mind.”
“You sure?”
What was this? Just a little while ago she’d wanted to see the last of him. “The faster I get done what I came here to do the better for everyone.”
“Okay.” She turned right and headed toward Earl’s. Chatanika wasn’t a big town, and it didn’t take her long to pull behind the SUV he’d rented. She parked and turned off the engine and pocketed her keys.
He raised a brow.
“What? You think I was going to just drop you off without seeing if this place is even liveable?” She scoffed. “I’m not that heartless, and I don’t want to come out here in a few days and find you dead.”
There were worse things than being dead. He kept his mouth shut and climbed out of the rig. Grabbing the parka, he left the bag with the gloves for Fox in the car. “I’ll need the crutches,” he said.
Raven went around the back and retrieved them. “Probably a good idea. You aren’t walking too steady.”
And here he thought he was doing really well. He took one of the crutches from her and used them more as a cane than crutch. They walked through the gate, to the side of the house, and Aidan stopped. “We’re going to need Fox. The snow covered up the path he had made to the back door. I don’t know where the booby traps are.”
“Fox actually knew how to get to Earl’s back door?”
“Yeah. Walked in like he’d done it many times before.”
Furrows appeared on her brow. “I need to have a talk with him. We could use the crutches as walking sticks. Set off any traps before we step.”
He rolled his lips and shook his head. “Nope. I don’t want to take any chance that you might get caught in a trap.” He swore. “I will personally get rid of any booby traps Earl set. The bastard.”