Chapter 4

We crossed the bridge over the channel connecting Lake Couchiching with Lake Simcoe and headed north before we headed east. Our thoughts were kept to ourselves while we thought of our escape but my mind kept going back to the ambulance.

When we turned west onto regional road 45 we felt a sudden increase in the feeling that had been with us for the last few days. I searched for the source and now for the first time I found two sources. They were close. It was as if they had to abandon their stealth to locate and overtake us.

The feeling slowly lessened but it was probably more the speed that Jess was driving. Trees rushed by and the roads were seldom straight for long. An hour later, we knew that we were still being followed somehow.

We would never get home if we didn't do something. Jess was all for taking the people on and settling this now. I tended to agree. We came on a turn through a swamp filled with dead trees then the road immediately climbed through a rock cut. A small road with a chain across it headed off.

"Jess! Stop here. This is it."

I hid my thoughts and said, "Back up."

"You want to do it here?"

"Yes."

Jess stopped the car and reversed. We hadn't seen too many cars on the road but some passed us every few minutes. I had time to find a jacket even though it was hot. I took my pistol and more than my share of the ammunition. There were only four grenades and I took them all.

We all wanted to communicate by thought but had to use our voice instead. I said, "Make a loop and come back this way in an hour or two. I'll head east on foot. I won't be on the road if I can help it."

It would be good to have the two dogs with me even if they would leave tracks. I bailed out of the van with the dogs. I felt the human emotions even through their closed shields. Kim gave me a wave as if to say she would never see me again but I would be back.

The chain was no barrier to somebody on foot and I just stepped over it. I ran up far enough to be level with the top of the rock cut. The dogs stayed on the stone. If there was an investigation, people would remember that there were two terriers with us. I left the roadway mindful of my own tracks. I had only setup one previous ambush and that had ended with one dead man. It was either him or us and that is the way I felt now. The dogs were still on the road but wanted to be with me.

A small car came racing after our van but I felt nothing from the vehicle and let it pass. One more vehicle came by from the other direction.

I pulled my shield as tight as possible and only opened it a fraction when I heard a motor. The feeling we had in Orillia got stronger. I had a chance to see a small red sports car approach the curve as I sighted on the driver's side front tire. My finger worked furiously. I heard the noise of brakes and the car left the road and went through the barrier and into the swamp.

My suspicions were confirmed because whoever was in the car dropped their shield completely as they tried to control the vehicle. A large spray of white showed how the car hit into the dark tannin laced water of the swamp.

I opened my mind momentarily but the feeling was still present. I peered into the mind of the driver. Surprisingly it was a male. I was able to recognise that Knox behind this. I also got a glimpse of a small town where Knox was conducting her experiments away from the house. The test subjects were all adults and half were males. I didn't like any of them. It was as if Knox was looking for people like herself.

Another car was coming with more of the feeling but it stopped out of my vision. I couldn't detect anybody now. They had their shields up. I did the same. I stood and picked up my shell casings and scuffed where I had stood against a tree to hold my gun stable.

It was time to go. The roadway was inviting. I pulled out one of the phones we bought in Orillia and tried to call Kim. Reception was nonexistent here. The dogs and I walked east and soon came to a derelict building. With a quick peek I knew that nobody was here.

The house was resistant to thieves. All I wanted was a topo map. The dogs and I bypassed the house and ran across the rock still heading east. Every once in a while I tried to find a cell site so I could call out.

The dogs and I flushed game as we ran. I could almost believe we were home and I was running for fun. There was a lot of open spaces so running was not difficult. At the top of a hill about four kilometres from the ambush site I was able to pick up a signal. Now it was their turn to be out of range and I just called again until I reached them.

Kim immediately said, "What happened?"

It was not likely that somebody would intercept my call but I was naturally cautions now. "She sent them. Two cars, one's in the swamp with a man in it. She's using adults now and half of them are male. One car was warned so I never got to see it."

"Where can we pick you up?"

"I'm travelling the way I said. In an hour I may make it to the road. They can detect us better than we can them."

"We can feel them."

"I'll hurry."

Since I had a rest while waiting for the call I could run downhill fairly quickly. I didn't dare switch to overdrive because of the way it tired me out. Less than an hour later I spotted the van and made a very short call for them to stop. It took a long time to get over the water that ran beside the road.

Once in the van I had to use my verbal skills to tell Jess and Kim what I had done.

Kim was excited but it was Jess that said, "You should have killed the cock sucker."

This was mild compared to what I knew Jess usually thought. "They were only chasing us. If they were more of a threat, I'd have shot through the glass instead. I learned that Knox is behind this. We also know that Colins has not given up and that he still has Carstairs searching for us. I can't see how Knox' people caught on to us unless they're monitoring Carstairs' people."

"Could you tell if they had orders to kill us?"

"I don't think they do. I'm not sure though. I didn't want to leave my mind open to them for too long."

We drove north and then east once more. Jess put her foot to the floor. When we could we headed south and eventually hit the city of Peterborough.

There was a municipal airport. It was only a short time until we found a local flying club.

There were three people in the room. All of them looked at us as we came in. I opened my mind just enough to see that they were only interested in why we were here and how good our bodies looked.

A woman approached us and I didn't have to read her mind on how she thought. She asked Jess seductively, "Hi, Guys. What can I do for you?"

Jess smiled and tried to look embarrassed. "We had a problem and we're going to miss an important engagement. We'd like a ride to Perth as soon as possible. We can pay cash."

"Just you three?"

"Plus two terriers and two suitcases."

"That will cost two fifty plus tax for the plane and fuel. You need another hundred for the pilot. Do you have that much?"

"Yes, and if I can get in the air in ten minutes I'll throw in an extra hundred."

She turned to the other two and said, "A hundred to fly to Perth and another hundred if she lifts off in ten. Any takers?"

The two jumped to their feet but an older man was first. He raced over to us and said, "The name's Charley. I'm your pilot."

Jess smiled and said, "I'm Marty and I'm late."

It took twelve minutes to get into the air but Jess handed over a c note and Charley smiled as he put it in his pocket. Once we no longer felt the presence Jess said over headsets we were wearing to protect our ears from the engine noise, "Charley, we're on the run from my boyfriend. He's rich and wants revenge for my breaking up with him. I want our flight plan to say Perth but I want to fly to Pembroke. It's further and we can pay. You just can't phone back and say where you are really going. Do you have the time to help us?"

Charley thought for a minute and said, "I can call in sick. I'll miss work. This is going to cost me a hundred and fifty bucks plus a hotel room. The plane will have more time on it and fuel isn't cheap. I can do it for five hundred dollars more. I don't fly home until tomorrow morning. After that you're on your own. They'll know I came from Pembroke."

Jess smiled and said, "Thanks, Charley, you're a lifesaver. She turned to us and said in French, "We'll make it home in time."

I had to guess at her reasoning. Pembroke was just across the river from Quebec. Charley's mind would be searched and the reference to Quebec may throw the watchers off. It wasn't a good ploy but it may help.

We landed in Perth and Charley phoned his work to say he was coming down with something and would fly back tomorrow. Within minutes we were in the air again and flying north. This part of the trip was longer and we dozed off because it was relatively safe to do so.

We rented a car and drove to Ottawa where we bought a car rather than a van this time. We started the six hundred kilometre return trip by heading south east instead of west. It felt good to not have that presence near us. We drove to Espanola and south through Manitoulin Island and took the ferry to Tobermory. We were home a little over and hour after we left Tobermory.

It was so good to be home again. I felt safe but I knew that this was just a thin veneer. They were closing in and we had to prepare.

I put my mind to finding another home. I had reasoned that if I ran from Knox that I would run far, especially with the money available. I also figured that she would think the same. Now we had to make tracks.

London looked to be a good choice. It had a large population to hide in but was rural enough to let us find a large wooded area. For some strange reason my mind always wanted to pick Orillia to go to. Kim was the same way and I was worried anew of what we would find there.

I contacted an aggressive real estate agent in London and through text messaging I hired her. This was not the usual arrangement because if she tried to screw us I would sue her. She would still get to keep or share the commission if there was one but she would actually look to find people that did not have a listing yet.