Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
9
It was a mistake to send anyone to hunt him in his own territory. Every commander should know that. Whitney occasionally sent his supersoldiers against a GhostWalker unit to test them. It never ended well for the soldiers. There were times when Diego speculated that Whitney wanted to rid himself of a group of troublesome soldiers, so he sent them against the GhostWalkers.
But the commander of the soldiers sanctioned by the government? He would know better than to send someone out once Diego had identified himself as a GhostWalker. Even if the commander didn’t recognize his name, the fact that Diego was in the GhostWalker program should have been enough to deter him. If he wanted Leila back, he could apply through proper channels, although she was Diego’s woman. He would never stop fighting for her, and neither would his fellow GhostWalkers. That was their code.
Sending anyone after her, knowing they were entering Diego’s home turf, was just plain stupid. Diego was aware that Luther could arrive any minute if he hadn’t succeeded in stopping the soldiers from taking Bridget. Rubin would be on his way as well. Diego didn’t need them, but he did worry they would walk into a trap. He would have to leave signs to warn them.
Rubin would know the long vertical bear rubs on three trees in a row were made by Diego as a danger sign. It was possible Luther might see them and know that Diego, not a black bear, had created the bear rubs. He marked several trees on and off trails as he hurried down the mountain in the direction the owl indicated she had spotted intruders.
Rubin knew to be cautious in his approach to the cabin. They were always careful when they returned. The cabin was unoccupied for months on end. It was known throughout their part of the mountains that the land was owned by Rubin and Diego. They paid two neighbors to watch over their property in their absence. If an occasional hiker went off course and found the cabin, the two men took care of it immediately, escorting the intruders away.
The GhostWalker commanders had the information on the location of the cabin available to them. Being the commander of an experimental program most likely gave Leila’s commander a very high security clearance. Diego was positive, depending on that clearance, that the commander could access the information.
Diego crouched low to the ground as he neared the location where the owl had spotted intruders. He laid both palms on the forest floor, going very still, allowing his enhanced senses to the forefront. At once, he connected with the underground network created by the forest of mushrooms. The network connected all the trees and even some of the larger shrubs and brush, creating a vast communications center.
He could hear the heartbeat of the earth. The rustle of lizards, mice, voles and a multitude of other creatures rushing through the vegetation on the forest floor. Insects buzzed around the mushrooms, ferns and other flowering plants seeking nectar and pollen. Diego was patient, allowing the natural flow of the forest to sink into him, to become part of him.
A fox den off to his right still had two kits in it. A quarter of a mile away, a bobcat lay curled up in a hollow tree, but it was alert. The cat was a male and had claimed a fairly large territory that intersected with two females’ territory. The bobcat was aware of intruders. Diego had the impression of the cat grimacing, pulling back lips to silently show teeth. Several deer dipped velvety noses close to the water pooling at the bottom of a thin ribbon of water that was flowing out of the mountainside to collect in the rocks below.
He felt the shiver of a tree, one of the taller oaks, as something heavy moved along its branches. On the ground below the tree, he felt the tread of boots. Something large stretched out on the ground and wrapped itself around the large fern covering the roots of a red spruce tree.
Diego had the location now. He’d identified at least three intruders. In one spot, very close to the oak tree where he was certain a soldier rested in the branches, the ground was extremely hot. Too hot, as if a fire raged beneath the ground, disturbing the mycelium network. He concentrated, getting a feeling for that site. The size and shape of what was putting off that much heat. A fourth soldier? Would a soldier generate that high of a temperature? He knew one of the GhostWalkers from Team One was married to a woman who could use fire as a weapon. Was he dealing with someone similar?
He called to the female great gray owl. He needed eyes in the sky. The soldiers were still a distance from him. He pulled his hands from the ground and stood facing the interior. The men were just off the main trail. They were using the trail as a guide to make their way up the mountain, even as they hid their presence in the dense trees and brush.