“Got it,” Alex said.
He and Grayson shifted into their wolf form and rushed down the hillside, their senses alert for any guards. If they were caught a second time, they might find themselves with a few bullets in their sides, or worse, needing to engage in a fight. Not that they wouldn’t win, but it would alert others to show up, or worse, it would tip off the administration that someone might be monitoring their activities.
The moon was only half full, but it was enough to easily light the way. Fortunately, Rider remembered where he’d hidden his pack. When he found it hooked on a tree limb stub, he shifted back into his human form in order to slip it on. Climbing back up the hill would be slower, but his wolf couldn’t carry such a heavy pack.
Grayson took a little longer to find his gear. When he did, he, too, shifted and came over.
“We don’t seem to have alerted any guards. Want to see where I found the tunnel exit, assuming I can locate it again?”he telepathed.
“Sure, but we need to be fast.”
Grayson turned around to head north, and Rider followed. With each step, he remained alert for the possibility of guards showing up.
Two minutes later, Grayson stopped, took off his pack, and shifted. It made sense that he’d need his extra senses to find the tunnel again. Rider almost laughed thinking about what the guards thought when they’d found the slightly exposed metal plate—if they noticed it at all. Did they think some wolf was just playing? Or did they realize the escape route had been compromised, assuming that was what the metal door led to?
A few minutes later, Grayson stopped.“Found it.”
Rider picked up Grayson’s pack and stepped over to him. Rider knelt down. Needing to see more of it, he cleared off another small section. As he ran his hand over the newly exposed area, Rider’s fingers touched a ring. He tugged on it, but the plate didn’t budge, possibly because most of the lid had a lot of dirt on top.“It could be locked from the inside.”
“Or else you’re a weakling.”Grayson flashed his wolf teeth, which Rider took to mean his friend was grinning.
They didn’t have time to check it out even if they could lift it. As much as Rider would like to do more exploring, he didn’t want to push their luck. The guards could be on a set rotation, even if they didn’t spot anyone.“Time to head back,”Rider telepathed.
Grayson shifted into his human form, tossed on his pack, and followed Rider. As expected, it took a lot longer to go up the hill than it did to go down. Human feet slipped a lot more than wolf paws, but eventually, they made it to the top.
“I don’t want to do that again,” Rider said.
He took off his pack and tossed it into the trunk of his car, and Grayson did the same. Rider then told Liam and Alex about the possible exit tunnel.
“You said you’ve seen these exit tunnels before?” Liam asked.
“Yes, in the warehouse that Harrison Industries bought. We can’t conclude that the purpose of this one is to avoid capture, but it sure looks like it could be for that,” Rider said.
“This owner is a shifter, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then it won’t be hard for him to escape and then hide once he exits,” Liam said.
“It will be if we’re there to greet him.”
Liam smiled.
Grayson walked over to the case of cameras. “Did you figure out where we should put these?”
“Some of them. Since Paris told us that she’d never met anyone up here, I think we’d have better luck in the morning.”
It was late. Rider had wanted to come at night mostly to retrieve their backpacks. The men had checked out the area without any notice, so they’d accomplished that goal.
“That works. When we get back to the motel, maybe Grayson can give us a quick tutorial on how the camera battery relay system works.”
“Be happy to,” he said.
Rider did a final scan of the area. Just as he was about to leave, headlights lit up in the back of the factory. “Hey, guys, check it out.” The men joined him. “I’m thinking it might be delivery time.”
Rider wanted to see how many trucks the company sent out at night. Most likely these were delivering legitimate drugs, but who would be receiving them at this hour? Local pharmacies? That was doubtful—unless the trucks went across the country.
“If you like, either Liam or I can follow one of trucks to see where they are going.”