Page 108 of Escape Velocity

With the four men trailing behind, they crossed the clearing and headed into the group of huts.

Paulette led them to one of the structures, then stood back. Gatroux, Max and one of the guardsmen climbed the ladder.

Moments later, Max called down. “It looks like he took some of his stuff and cleared out.”

Amber turned to the man standing beside her. “Are you finally convinced?”

“What stuff?” the swamp rat shot back.

“A spear. A knife.”

“He would need that for guard duty.”

“Would he also need shirts and pants?”

“No,” the man conceded.

Amber wanted to say, “And while you’re arguing, you’re giving him a nice head start.” But she kept the bitter observation locked behind her lips. What good would it do to point out the obvious?

“How are we going to find him?” Max asked.

“He has a favorite dog,” Paulette said. “I think he will try to find LaTour if we ask him.”

Amber remembered the dogs that had greeted them that first day at the camp. Probably the animals had been the ones to find them on the night of their escape, not the men.

Paulette ran off and came back with a hound following closely behind. “This is Bernard,” she said. “He’s a good boy. Good Bernard.”

Amber saw the dog was pleased with the attention. He wagged his tail, then licked her hand.

One of the guardsmen climbed back into the hut and came out with a shirt.

“Not yet,” Gatroux ordered. “We must have more men.”

Amber waited impatiently while three more Inheritors joined the party.

“Will LaTour be armed?” Max asked.

The head man looked uncertain. “We know he has his spear. And I gave out our arsenal of beamers before we left for Tudor’s. I don’t know if he has one.”

“Great,” Max muttered, then looked at Amber. “I want you to stay here.”

“No.”

“Please,” he said, his voice thick. “I can’t risk having something happen to you now.”

The look in his eyes tore at her, but before she could speak, Paulette came up beside her. “I think you’ve done your part. Let him take care of it.”

The tone of the woman’s voice clued Amber into the urgency of her request. And the intensity of her expression reinforced the conviction.

“All right,” she murmured.

“Thank you,” Max said, then turned to the group of men. “We’d better go.”

The man with the shirt held it out to the dog—who sniffed. “Find LaTour,” he said to the dog.

The animal barked, then started off for the gate.

Amber’s stomach clenched as she watched them go.

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