Chapter One-Hundred and Sixty-Two

Levi clicked through the school camera system, pausing when he saw something odd in the school's playground. "Is that Penny?" He asked, pointing to a little girl on the edge of the playground.

"That's her!" Governor Wilson announced, happy to see the face of his daughter.

John placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't get excited just yet." He stated. "Ben could be anywhere around there." He suppressed a shiver as he thought back to what Ben had done to him as a teenager.


"So, it looks like they're heading north." Joey tapped a pencil on his chin, wincing as the eraser hit against a small cut he had from training with John a few days before. "You think they could be heading toward The Redwoods?"

John shrugged and looked over toward the highway maps on the wall. "I've got an idea of where they might be going… lets go home tonight and pack some shit. I want us on the road by tomorrow morning."

Markus scoffed. "You don't even know where they are for sure."

"Can it." Bobby snapped. "And only pack necessities this time. No air beds or shit like that."


John tossed a few t-shirts and pairs of jeans into his duffle-bag, wincing as he dropped his cell phone on the hardwood floor. "Fuck…"

"You're leaving?" Claire asked, her dark eyes landing on the duffle-bag and his clothing inside.

He shook his head, placing his toothbrush and a few other small items into the bag. "Just for a while. I've got a case out of town."

"Just tell me the truth." Claire growled, her eyes landing on the stained t-shirt he was wearing. "You're leaving because I'm not good enough."

He pressed his hand onto the dresser. "Claire, I'm leaving to go on a case. I'll be back as soon as possible."

Claire rolled back over so that her back was facing John. "Whatever…"


Bobby tossed his bags into the back of John's pickup and climbed into the cab. "Henry said we can use his horses on the way in, he's meeting us at Joey's with the trailer."

"Good." John glared out the windshield, Claire's words still echoing in his head with every inch of highway that passed under the tires. "We can use them."