Kate and Effie had linked their arms through Jeff’s like they were accompanying him into some grand ball room. They released him and came to join Miller and I as we searched for a suitable hiding spot.
“Dang, they don’t make cliff tops like they used to,” Kate joked. “Where’s the big fire hydrant, or a random redwood tree for me to stand behind.”
“What about a random tent?” Effie said, gesturing over to the questionable camping location set up by a group of ambitious hikers. “Excuse me, can we lurk behind your tent for fifteen minutes?” she asked the two strangers sitting out front with a portable gas stove.
“Sure, man,” the guy grinned, throwing a huge thumbs-up our way. Okay, well we had a place to hide. Now for the hard part.
18
I was sitting cross legged on the grass behind the camper’s tent. It wasn’t the best position if my intention was to leap out and catch a bad guy, but crouching had caused my feet to cramp up and I was almost crippled with the lingering ache as it was.
Miller’s hard expression had softened dramatically since we reached the cliff top. I felt as though he suspected that there was something to my encounter with Ryder that I was keeping from him. Every big Hollywood movie I’d ever watched had led me to believe that incredible good-looking men are relatively straight-forward; Miller was more complicated than anyone I knew. I suppose that’s what happens when the werewolf life is thrust upon you though.
“How much longer do we have to wait?” Kate grunted.
“As soon as Jeff get’s back off the ledge, you two take him back to Brielle,” Miller said. “She said she needed twenty-four hours of observations, didn’t she?”
“Yeah,” Effie nodded. “She didn’t mention any gravity-defying crimes as part of his treatment plan though.” She stuck her tongue out at Miller who rolled his eyes at her and returned his gaze to the narrow path at the edge of the cliff.
After a gut-wrenchingly long five minutes, Jeff re-appeared.
“Come on, old-timer,” Kate said, linking her arm with his again. “We’ve gotta get you back to the smart one in the family.”
“But you’re already right here,” Jeff grinned.
“Stop flirting with my sister!” Effie laughed. The three of them disappeared back down the slope toward town and Miller and I remained hidden behind the tent; alone.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” Miller mumbled.
“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” I teased.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated, louder. “I seem to have this weird feeling every time I see Ryder that I can’t explain. I haven’t experienced it before but it’s making me act like someone I’m not.”
“Wait, do you have a crush on Ryder? This is quite the plot twist,” I smiled.
“No, I’m not talking about anything like that,” Miller said, shaking his head with a grin. “I haven’t been jealous before, of anyone. The thought of him trying to—” he cut himself off. “I am trying to be someone that you want to spend time with, I don’t want to frighten you off. Or at least not yet,” he chuckled.
“Miller, I have locked you in a cage in your house to prevent your werewolf form from bursting loose and attacking the whole island. I can handle whatever you throw at me,” I replied.
“What?” the male camper yelled, standing up from his portable stove and peering at us both over the roof of the tent. “Are you a werewolf? Not cool, man!”
“Oh, pipe down!” I dismissed. “This is a private conversation, Jeez.”
Something about my response to the nosey camper sent Miller into a giggle fit, but it came to an abrupt end when we saw a hooded figure shuffling down to the jagged ledge that led to the drop off point Jeff had described.
“Wait, what’s our next move?” I asked.
“There’s one way in, one way out,” Miller replied. “We follow them and make a confrontation.”
“Oh, I was hoping that we had a different plan, one that didn’t involve anything to do with climbing or shuffling or balancing eight thousand feet above the pointy rocks below,” I groaned.
“Eight thousand feet? Your ability to judge height is alarmingly bad,” he said.
“Sorry I’m not a pilot,” I grunted. “Or… or someone else that has to deal with altitude a lot. Shut up,” I said, playfully punching his arm. Miller stood up first and I followed him, somewhat reluctantly, to the edge of the cliff. Okay, it was obviously not eight thousand feet high, but it was high enough that we wouldn’t survive falling off it.
The ledge curved round the cliff meaning that we couldn’t see the entrance to the little cave Jeff had described. It wasn’t as narrow as it had first seemed, but still was hardly a walk in the park to traverse. Miller was almost brazen in his strides while I made anxious side-shuffle movements, facing out towards the ocean with my hands gripping onto any bit of rock that I could find behind me.
Couldn’t they have been exchanging envelopes of cash by a park bench or something? Why go to all this effort? Miller was the first to reach the cave entrance and I could hear a familiar voice from inside.
“You haven’t done anything stupid, have you Jeff?” the voice called out. They didn’t know it was me and Miller. “If you’ve told that stupid police officer and his annoying accomplice what we’ve been doing here then you’re in for it. This time I won’t stop until the job’s done.”
The threat seemed to suggest that this was the person that had attacked Jeff in his home.
“It’s over. Put your hands up where I can see them,” Miller commanded. I was still trying to shimmy along the ledge but was reluctant to move any faster out of fear of falling.
“Oh, it’s you,” the voice replied. “It seems our beloved mailman
