When she looked up, Dani was still watching, but now her gaze alternated between her and Dean.
Dani met and held her gaze for a second before she turned and disappeared into the shadows of the workshop.
With a pang of unease, Lynn returned her gaze to the two men embracing on the floor, one stoic and supportive, the other small and broken.
There was no need to get Richard’s body. None at all. But the threat of it loomed over her now. It might have been Dean’s idea, but it was one of those ideas that could—would—spread until they all became convinced their loved one needed to be with them. She’d seen it before, this mob mentality. Another chill went down her spine. Her imprisonment and the subsequent punishment for the crime of being at the wrong place at the wrong time were solidifying, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Kate made her first appearance of the night once dinner was served around the fireplace. A young carbon copy of his brother clung to her hand. Dean didn’t come up to the roof with them, and neither did Skeever. The quiet conversation between the members of the group—which had not involved Lynn in any way, shape, or form pretty much since the confrontation with Dean—died down as Kate and the boy came to a halt beside the benches.
Lynn tensed and surreptitiously glanced up from her food.
Kate looked like shit, pale and numb. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face void of expression. The hairdo that not even killing an elephant had managed to dishevel had largely escaped from the bun on the back of her head.
This can’t be good. Lynn looked away. Perhaps avoiding eye contact could delay the inevitable. Not keeping an eye on Kate made her uncomfortable, so she glanced back as she took another bite.
“Would you like some elephant stew, Katherine?” Cody asked.
Kate shook her head.
The young boy Lynn presumed to be Toby clung to her leg. When Kate tried to pass him off to Ren, he started crying and pressed his face more tightly against her.
Kate sighed and—with the dignity of a woman too proud to collapse in front of others—laid her hand on the boy’s head and kept him close.
Another candid glance told Lynn that everyone but Cody studied their food with acute attention. The atmosphere was charged.
Lynn took another spoonful of meat, potato, and vegetable pulp. She was quite content staying out of this mess. Her thoughts had turned inward the more the group had ignored her as the night went on. They had watched her, but without chores to dole out—ones they trusted her with, anyway—they had let her be as long as she stayed seated. The food had made her sleepy, and it had become impossible to remain on guard at all times. None of them had moved from their chosen seat since they’d sat and had left Lynn alone to valiantly struggle for wakefulness. Well, Kate’s appearance had woken her up just fine.
“Lynn, could I talk to you a minute?”
Lynn jumped despite anticipating Kate’s question. Deep breath. “I guess.” She put the bowl down reluctantly and stepped out of the square of benches.
After barely sparing her a glance for most of the evening, everyone now stared at her.
“Ren, take him, please?” Kate tried to pry Toby off her again, but every time she’d loosened one hand, Toby’s other had taken a renewed hold.
Toby whimpered and pressed his face more tightly against her leg.
“Sure.” Ren got up and lifted the boy.
The second she did, Toby started crying. “Mommy, no!” He took a big gulp of air and released a cry so high and sharp it was physically uncomfortable.
Lynn turned her head to the side to angle her ear away from the source of the sound.
“It’s okay, baby. I’ll be right back.” Kate reached out to stroke his hair but retracted her hand quickly when Toby tried to grab at it.
“I’ve got him.” Ren lifted Toby into her arms and rocked him to calm him down.
He kicked at her, pushed, and clawed until she was forced to sit down quickly and take hold of his hands.
The anguish on Kate’s face made Lynn uncomfortable, but not as much as the sheer volume of Toby’s shrieks did. She fingered the strap that usually held her tomahawk in an almost subconscious effort to regain her composure. She hated noise. The warmed metal of the knife in her boot reminded her that, while vulnerable and alone, she was not defenseless. Still, no one had taken it from her. Lynn suspected that they might have actually forgotten this time.
Kate guided her wordlessly away from the fire and into the shadows. Once she stopped, Lynn halted at a safe distance and eyed her.
“Let’s make this brief.” Kate had to raise her voice to be heard over her son’s cries. “My husband was an honorable man. He did what he had to do for his family.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
“We want to bring him home.”
It was strangely anti-climactic to hear the actual words. “Why can’t he stay buried where he is?” She didn’t even try to take the edge out of her voice.
Kate regarded her. “I don’t trust you. You say he was killed by a snake, but for all we know you killed him and took his stuff.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know you didn’t take anything. We went through your backpack, but that doesn’t prove you didn’t kill him. You did take Skeever.”
Lynn’s anger rose. “You did what?” She took a step closer.
Kate’s gaze hardened. Her hand slid down to the hilt of her machete. “Careful, Lynn.”
“Or what?” Her whole body tensed as she prepared to grab her knife, consequences be damned.
“Or we’ll be a lot less friendly to you from here on out.”
Lynn set her jaw but forced her body to relax. “I’m not doing it.”
Emotions and schemes played in the cold gray of Kate’s eyes. “I don’t think you have a choice.”
“Oh, I have plenty of choices.”
Kate smirked. “Really? Like what? I know you still have that knife in your boot—and you’ll be handing that over—but even with that knife, we’ll kill you before you can do any real damage to us.”
The telltale sounds of the group behind her rising as one and Dani’s spear extending sent a shiver down Lynn’s spine. Her heart thumped in her chest. “You will never know where Richard’s body is if you kill me.”
“True, but I think you value your life too much to risk dying right here, right now.”
Dammit! Everything in Lynn screamed to turn around so she could see the Homesteaders coming, but she fought the urge. “I’ll draw you a damn map, and you can get him yourself.” Even agreeing to that felt like admitting defeat.
Kate shook her head instantly. “I’m not that stupid, Lynn. Who says it’s accurate? Who says you’d not be leading us into a trap? No, you’re coming with us.”
Lynn swallowed as reality hit. There was no way around this; she could put up a good fight, but at the end of the day, Kate had the power. She could make Lynn go back under armed escort if that was what it took. Cody, Flint, and Dani together would be able to control and guard her around the clock, even out there, where she was much better equipped for survival. No, she couldn’t fight this, but she could try to survive it. “I have demands.”
Kate frowned. “Demands?”
The ruckus behind Lynn continued.
“Yes.” She needed to make sure she would be in control at all times out there, which meant she needed to avoid an armed escort—or at least one she couldn’t take in a direct fight. “I’ll do it if Dani comes with me. Just Dani—and Skeever.”
Kate’s gaze darted to the group, lingered, then returned. “Why would I agree to something as ludicrous as that? You’ll take off the first chance you get.”