Page 10 of Hollow Moon

“No. The signal was only for a short time.”

“And it was specifically to Jonah?”

“He wasn’t sure.”

Cole considered the three known facts. His cousin was missing. Somebody had sent out a telepathic distress call. And Knox knew about Jonah’s telepathic abilities.

“Knox is new on the team. He wouldn’t do something to get us worried—unless he was really in trouble.”

“I hear a bit of reservation in your voice,” Frank said.

Cole dragged in a breath and let it out. “Okay, Knox has been wanting a solo assignment. What if he stumbled into something hinky up there and wanted to handle it on his own?”

Frank cursed under his breath. “I thought I was bringing him along at the right speed.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Cole said quickly. “But I think our next step is to go to his last known location and see if we can find out what happened to him.”

“How many men do you want to send up there?”

“Three,” Cole answered. “Me, Brand and Zack.”

“You’re only taking werewolves?”

“You think I should bring Jonah?”

“Since he may already be involved—yes. Also, his talents are extraordinary.”

Cole nodded.

“How soon can you leave?”

“I hope within the hour.”

“Okay. Keep me posted. And good luck.”

“Thanks.”

CHAPTER 5

Maggie had intended to go hiking after breakfast. That was out of the question under the circumstances. If she’d been by herself, she might have crawled back into the tent and tried to relax. Not now.

She looked around the camp. Too bad she couldn’t keep busy straightening it up. But she was too much of a neat freak to have let it get messy in the first place.

Unable to just sit still, she grabbed a towel plus the small plastic box that held a bar of soap. Down at the stream, she looked around to make sure she was alone, then took off her shirt and bra and washed the top half of her body. When she’d dried off, she did the same with the bottom half.

Feeling better, she returned to the campsite and laid the damp towel on top of the tent, then checked on the man inside.

When she saw he was still sleeping, she started walking through the woods, picking up small fallen branches and breaking them into lengths that would work in the fire pit she’d built. She never ventured far from the tent, looking back frequently to make sure her guest had not come out.

After bringing back more wood than she could use in a week, she made a fire. When it was burning nicely, she rummaged through her supplies and found a packet of the dehydrated soup she’d brought. Putting it into her cook pan, she added some of the purified water from the creek and set it on a flat stone that she’d put into the middle of the fire pit to use in place of a cooking rack.

When it started to boil, she breathed in the aroma. Not bad, considering it came out of a package. It had been boiling for a few minutes when a noise from the tent made her jump. Quickly she took the pot off the center rock, set it to the side of the fire pit, and hurried toward the tent.

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Knox pushed himself up, wondering where the hell he was and prepared to fight his way out.

As footsteps approached, he tensed. When a blond woman poked her head inside, he relaxed.

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