Page 68 of Toxic Things I Love About You

“So while I was freaking out about Emilee, you were placing online orders?”

“Not everything was closed and luckily someone knew someone who knew someone else that was able to get us a few essentials and a car. I can’t just call Hertz. This is far from the city, thankfully.”

If anything came out of this, at least I was actually starting to like Parks.

“Fair. Glad you're the cousin she was stuck with. She could have had my brother. She’d be dead by now.”

I didn’t really miss my brother, and it was bad that I felt lighter knowing I wouldn’t be coming home to him.

Parks grunted as he came around the car.

“Well, let’s not live in the what ifs. The guard said it was a metal grate. Who the hell knows where that actually is? I have a thermal imaging drone that can see where the ground is colder, and that might be the only way we will find this.”

Sure enough, Parks held out a remote control and placed it on the hood.

“You ready?”

This was above my pay grade.

“Being that I hadn’t planned for a hike, sure. Thanks for getting shoes and some basic supplies. When do you think the others will show up?”

He pulled on the straps of one of the packs.

“Getting one car was hard enough. They should be here soon enough, and they can track our location. Well, mine can. Will your guy follow mine?”

I nodded. At this point, several hours on a helicopter and a plane had created one giant happy family. Or at least a team hellbent on ensuring one more asshole was dead. I didn’t know how Parks had more trusted people than me at this point. But he did. There was a touch of envy. Loyalty was one of the few things in this life that was more like currency, and he somehow had it.

The small blinking lights of the drone were easy to see in the pitch black of the mountain sky. I watched as they moved, but I couldn’t tell much else.

The screen on the remote he had lit up. The drone had night vision. That was helpful.

“Do this often?”

He grunted.

“Your business runs a little different from ours. We have a lot of trust issues and a lot of enemies. Although you have picked up quite a few yourself. Anyway, I had to do some work to figure out a problem for my uncle. The house in question sat on a fucking cliff side. One way in and one way out. I got creative. Let’s head this way.”

He walked toward a break in the trees. The lights of the drone were ahead of us, but we were heading in its direction. We walked at a brisk pace for what Parks could manage with the drone and not tripping.

My eyes adjusted the further we got, and I almost didn’t hate this place. Almost. I missed the sirens and the sounds of cars. I missed the screams and even an occasional gunshot. This place even smelled different. Fresh. Alright. That I could get used to.

“I haven’t detected any large animals in the area, but maybe get the gun out,” Parks asked a few more feet in.“I’m not just talking about wild animals either. Let’s stay here. The drone can cover more space, and we can conserve our energy.”

So we stood there.

The house wasn’t far, but there was no easy way to see it. It wasn’t like there was a streetlight or beacon out here. Stars? Even through the trees, I could see millions of stars. I wondered if Emilee was able to see them? Or if she was just causing holy hell and too busy to notice.

The silence was broken by the sound of an alarm.

“Guess we know where the house is,” I told Parks.

He didn’t bother looking at me, but I noticed something on the screen change in shading.

“The house is there, and something is out here.”

He walked away, and I followed. He was onto something promising.

“How good are you with explosives?” he asked as his steps crunched on the dead and dried up forest floor.

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