Hunted

HUNTED Chapter 25

Mitchell Inlet, Moresby Island, Canada

They left with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. Their move to Mitchell Inlet on the Large North Western Island of British Columbia had come so sudden, but Stephen and Thea had been prepared. They knew this day would come. Not that they'd wished for danger, but with their history, it was inevitable.

However, neither of them anticipated the events that had occurred thus far—Stephen being shot with a poisoned bullet and Alice being snatched by a desperate fellow agent. In all their case scenarios, they'd never prepared themselves for the possibility that Stephen wouldn't be up to protecting his family and flying their sea plane to their hidden destination in pure wilderness.

Mitchell Inlet was the second of four inlets on the west coast towards the top section of Moresby Island. The Pacific Ocean flows into the inlets bringing pods of dolphins, orcas, humpbacks and sea lions into the myriad of coves and smaller inlets, hedged in by cedar and maple forests. Sandy, muddy and pebble beaches spread around the mirror like waters that are protected by an island to the north.

Stephen and Thea took in a deep breath of the clean air—their piece of paradise. Snow laced rocky mountains were becoming more barren as summer arrived. An eagle soared overhead, other than a far away squawk, there was pure silence.

Alice and Tristan looked around them in awe, like they did each time they arrived in this hidden out of the way place. They'd not seen much of their world, but who would want to, when you had this breathtaking sequence of panoramas on your doorstep? Alice's hazel and Tristan blue eyes were wide with wonder. Their mouths slightly agape at its beauty.

Water rippled, a rushing sounded, and a whoosh of water spurted into the air.

"Look Daddy!" Alice pointed in utter amazement at the orca that surfaced, with a calf at its side. Her face glowed with excitement, Tristan's eyes sparkled as he watched in awe.

"Yes, Alice. Do you know what it is?" Stephen watched his children with joy, all the stresses of Lanz Island ironed away once they arrived at one of the southern Islands of the Archipelago.

"Orca. It's a mommy, just like our mommy. She has a baby with her."

Stephen wrapped his uninjured arm around her small body and lowered himself to her height. "That's right. And what kind of sea creature is the orca?"

"A whale." Her cheeks were rosy, all fear from an hour earlier had dissipated. Stephen hoped being here would keep the nightmare away.

Alice turned and looked at her daddy's piercing blue eyes. "Who's Callen?" Her hazel eyes had flecks of gold glow in the daylight. She studied him and traced her fingers over his face.

Stephen's gut clenched tight. He'd hoped that they could hide their secret from their children, but Alice continued to be as inquisitive as her mother was at that age.

"Callen is a family name. Like ours is Campbell."

"But that man, he said you were Callen." Her brow furrowed and she licked her lips, the question burned in her brain and she would not let it lie.

Stephen looked over at Thea and saw her nod. Perhaps now that danger had caught up with them, that it was time to sit down with Alice and explain a few things to her. At four, she really was too young to delve into too much, but the situation demanded her to inquire. Tristan really wasn't ready or bothered as his eyes remained focussed on their ocean visitors.

"How about we go and sit on that rock over there." Stephen pointed to the large flat rock that sat beside the jetty on the water's edge. His body should have been tired after the events back on Lanz Island, but now the adrenalin kicked in and he was feeling stronger than he should.