Page 56 of The Scenic Route
Her groan turned into laughter, and she poked him in the side. Playful Bennett, she was finding, was a lot of fun.
“Think we’re okay to use that same lookout?” she asked.
While Bennett thought, she marveled at how nice it was to have someone to bounce ideas off of and double-check things with. Charlie, as much as Felicity loved her, was too much of a wild child to be of much use in that regard. Her sister was more likely to jump in with both feet without a plan, surviving just on pure guts and her ability to think under pressure.
Plus Bennett had never stolen Felicity’s phone charger.
“Think it’s our best option,” Bennett finally answered,pulling her out of her thoughts. “Not many places that give us a view of the place, and no sense in breaking into the compound and trying to fight the lot of them.”
It was like he could see into her brain. “What if wesnuckinside the compound, nabbed Dino, and slipped back out without anyone else knowing?”
“Without schematics?” He sounded skeptical, which was fair. It wasn’t one of her best ideas, but she was getting impatient. Another full day of surveillance did not appeal.
Felicity caught herself. This was how she’d gotten them into trouble two nights ago. Her impatience and boredom had led to her making a dumb decision, and she needed to learn from that and make better choices in the future.
Wondering when her inner practical voice had turned into Molly, she shook her head. “No, you’re right. Let’s go to the lookout.” She tried to dredge up some enthusiasm. “It’ll be fun. We’ll run all the faces through the system, see how many felons are hanging out in the compound.”
***
Her resolve to be more mature and less impatient lasted for two and three-quarter hours. This trip was a revelation for her. Felicity had always thought of herself as the practical one—not as practical as Molly, of course, but she figured she was at least on the sensible side of the spectrum. Now that she didn’t have Charlie in tow, however, her impulsiveness was coming to the forefront.
“Sooo…” she began, carefully not looking at Bennett.Instead, she peered through her binoculars at the compound driveway, where there hadn’t been any movement since they’d gotten there. Apparently, the militia slept in.
His answering grunt was slightly suspicious.
“I know we’re not going to invade the actual compound, but what if we explored just a teensy, tiny bit?” Holding her forefinger and thumb just a fraction of an inch apart, she turned to give Bennett her best puppy-dog eyes.
In return, he offered a crooked smile. “You know it’s not up to me, right?”
“I know.” Tucking her binoculars under the seat, she grinned impishly at him. “I’m just getting you to give final approval so that I can blame you when things go badly.”
“Good to know.” His voice was dry, but his eyes still danced with humor. “We can look around, but remember it wasyouridea.”
“Fine,” she mock pouted. Easing her car door open, she carefully placed her feet in a way that didn’t rustle the light layer of leaves that were just beginning to drop off the trees. Although they were far enough away from the compound that no one should be able to hear, she knew that sound carried differently out here.
There wasn’t any noise from Bennett’s side of the car, but suddenly he was there next to her. She gave him an admiring look, thinking that she needed to get some stealth tips from him once all this Dino and Jane stuff was over.
She paused, caught on that last thought. Would they even be together after Dino and especially Jane were behind barsagain? Sure, they were married, but it wasn’t real, no matter how many honeymoon suites they stayed in.
That depressed her for some reason, so she concentrated on where she was placing her feet. The flat hilltop area in the copse where they’d parked dropped on all sides, gradually first and then more dramatically. There were barely there trails—either from wildlife or occasional hikers—that wove between rocks twice as tall as Bennett. She followed one of the trails down to a small flat section that looked over the valley below. Bennett stepped up behind her, so close she could almost imagine those metaphorical sparks jumping between them.
This spot provided a better view of the compound, but everything looked just as quiet as it’d seemed from inside the car. She examined what layout she could see of the main structure and smaller outbuildings, counting doors and noting the location of windows. There weren’t any guards outside that she could see, although she was careful to stay out of the tower’s view, so she wasn’t sure if someone lurked in the old fire lookout.
Felicity let her gaze wander from the compound to the area around it. The view—despite all the razor wire and utilitarian buildings—was still beautiful, rocks and cliffs shimmering red and gold in the noon sun. Unable to resist, she let herself lean back against Bennett. He instantly welcomed her in, standing strong so she could take a break, his arms wrapping tightly around her upper chest to keep her secure.
Glancing at the path that made its twisty way down to the flattest part of the plain, Felicity saw an off-white gleam that didn’t seem to fit with the colors of the rocks and tough,semiarid vegetation. Curious, she stepped away from Bennett—who tightened his grip a half second longer before letting her go. Turning back to the path, she followed the twisty narrow trail until she reached the area where she’d spotted the anomaly in the landscape.
A gully cut between their rocky hill and the next, narrowing until it divided the two rises by only a few feet. Felicity headed for the wider part of the division. Although Bennett shot her a questioning look, he didn’t protest or speak, just following her instead.
The small rocks under her feet shifted and slid, bringing her attention back to her footing. Leaving the trail, she cut across the rocky ledge and half climbed, half slid into the gully. Bennett followed much more gracefully, and Felicity promised herself she’d drag her sisters to the actual mountains for training. If they could take down a skip on a rocky, steep trail next to a cliff, they could do it anywhere. Chasing someone across the rooftops of Langston’s industrial district would feel easy in comparison.
As she made her way to the lowest part of the gully, Bennett leaned close and whispered in her ear, “What did you see?”
“Not sure.” Her answer was barely audible. “Probably a rock or something.”
From the way he carefully scanned the area around them, she was pretty sure he didn’t believe it was nothing. Either that or he was just watching out for stray militia members.
There!The splash of light brownish white caught her eye again, and she moved over to where she’d spotted it. Recent rain had washed out the dirt and debris from under a protrudingpart of the rock surface, leaving a hollow beneath. Crouching, Felicity crawled under the overhang, feeling a bit like she was entering a cave. Although she was a little unnerved by that, Bennett was muttering what sounded like prayers or curses under his breath.
