Page 89 of Havoc's Fox
“I’ll race you!”
“I’ll win!” Analise said, running behind the child, but constantly scanning everywhere, including behind them for any sign of someone in the woods. There was no one, and after a few minutes, the sound that had put Analise on edge seemed to move further away from them.
Fifteen minutes later they came out of the woods behind Havoc’s and Harley’s house.
On seeing that Havoc wasn’t outside working, they went right up onto the back porch via the side steps and knocked on the back French doors.
Havoc heard the rushed knocks and wasted no time getting to the doors and pulling them open. “What’s wrong?” he asked, ushering them inside and taking a step outside to scan the area.
“Nothing! I’m going back to Uncle Kaid’s house later to feed the birds. He says they’ll come out when they see me feeding them!”
“Oh, yeah? Sounds fun. We’ll have to see about getting you some birdhouses around our house, too.”
“I will give them some of my breakfast every day!”
“No, you will give them bird feed,” Havoc said. “Now, go take off your coat and put it where it belongs.”
She ran off to do what Havoc told her to do, and he turned to Analise. “What happened?”
“I thought I heard the car from yesterday and got spooked.”
“Heard the car from yesterday?” he asked.
“Yes, it makes kind of a high-pitched whiny noise, like the engine is stressing trying to keep running. A few cars passed us and everybody waved, then a few minutes later I thought I heard the sound of that whiny engine, it was getting closer. I rushed Harley up to Kaid’s driveway. But almost as soon as we get there, it just stopped. Either the car stopped, or the engine stopped whining, but nothing ever drove past. Then later when we left Kaid’s and came back this way I heard it start up again, so I told her I’d race her home and we ran through the woods.”
“Do you think it’s something to be concerned about?”
“I don’t know. It’s probably just my imagination getting the best of me. Not a single thing has happened and I didn’t even see any car to associate with that noise. It could be anything. It was probably just a coincidence. If it was just me I wouldn’t have thought twice, but because I had Harley I was just being extra careful.”
“If you’re sure.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s all.”
“You want to hang around? I thought we’d just take the day off and watch some TV today. We been going since we got here.”
“Oh, no, but thank you. I have a few calls to make before I come back here to take Harley to feed Kaid’s birds.
“Work?” Havoc asked.
“Yep. The shipment from Malta is starting to arrive, I’m sure. They’ll be looking for me to come help.”
“Thought you had another week or so.”
“I do. They just get nervous. I’ll see you later, though.”
“Why don’t you let me drive you?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll walk.”
“You’re doing a lot of walking lately.”
“She likes to walk,” Analise said with a quick smile.
“She does. I’m driving you home.” He walked away from Analise and shouted up the stairs as he walked by. “Come on! We driving Analise back home!”
“Havoc, you really don’t have to.”
“Yeah, I really do. Let’s go!”