The Hunter

Closed Ranks

Finn hung the phone up as Gloria stepped into the kitchen. Finn smiled at Gloria and sat down so the younger woman could sort out her breakfast. She sipped her coffee and then started catching Gloria up on what was going on. It had been three days since they went to the library, every note Gloria had found had helped Finn to focus her search more until she knew exactly which town, and which particular group, and which days of the week would be necessary to infiltrating the cult. It was time to move.

"I booked us a room at the Country Inn."

"What for? We have the house." Gloria was a bit of a grump first thing in the morning.

"Small towns will notice if we move the house there. A hotel room will still give us a point to get to and from the house through so it works." Finn watched Gloria make herself a bowl of cereal and a cup of water. "Have you ever lived in a small town?"

Gloria grunted and swallowed. "Sorry. My home town is pretty small, a few thousand people."

"I'm talking a few hundred people." Finn said and chuckled at Gloria's flabbergasted expression. "I'll take that as a no then. Everyone there will know everybody else's business. They do have a few tourist things close to town, but nothing actually happening in town so we're just going where the hotel is cheap and the drive isn't too horrid to go to the other places."

"What's there?" Gloria asked and shoveled more cereal into her mouth.

"There's a fish derby about an hour's drive north, a local artisan craft sale two hours south, a local author has a book signing, and -"

"Or." Gloria interrupted with a hand in the air. "Hear me out, or we are looking to move someplace quiet because you're an eccentric, but wealthy, woman and I'm your personal assistant."

"Eccentric?"

"Crazy."

"I know what you meant, I'm just wondering if you think that."

"I think you'd be able to pull it off easy enough." Gloria leaned back in her chair and sipped at her water and made calm eye contact with Finn.

"I suppose we could look at some real estate while we're there." Finn mused.

"It would make for less running around out of town and pretending." Gloria added.

Finn nodded. "That works. Means I can ask questions without having to be as careful in how I word things."

"When do we go?" Gloria asked.

"As soon as you're done eating. We have a car rental waiting for us."

"I uh, don't have my driver's license yet." Gloria sputtered.

"I wasn't going to let you drive anyways." Finn smiled as she said it so Gloria wouldn't take it personal.

Gloria shook her head and washed her dishes quickly and grabbed her back pack from her room which was a lovely lavender colour today. Finn was waiting at the door to the house and they walked from the house into a car rental agency. The clerk at the desk was efficient and within minutes they were pulling a dark SUV out of the parking lot.

The drive was uneventful, although there was a bit of a disagreement on the choice of music. In the end Finn pointed out that the car was hers until they returned it, so the music was hers as well. Gloria didn't argue, she just shrugged and pulled a worn book out of her back pack. When they got to the hotel the front desk attendant - Louise - checked them in with brusque efficiency. The hotel was old enough that it apparently didn't have key cards, and the small metal key was on a large ring with the Hotel's logo.

Finn opened the door and tossed the key onto the shelf in the closet. "Won't really need that."

"Why are we actually in the room?" Gloria asked and Finn chuckled.

"Spoiled by the house that's just always there already?" She opened the blinds and looked out at a forest of fall trees across a short, well-kept lawn. "I assume the hotel has housekeeping. We will need to make the room lived in, and in case anyone decides to check in on us, we will actually need to spend a fair bit of time in here."

"Oh." Gloria sat down with a sigh on the bed. "I would have packed more if I'd known that."

"Don't worry, you know how to make the house the other side of any door now so you can always go get something you need. For now, I'll let you choose. We can either go train or we can go start asking around town." Finn leaned back and watched Gloria frown.

"We should go look around town." Gloria decided. "If we were actually looking for a place to live we'd want to get in whatever time there is left of business hours here."

Finn nodded and stood, leading the way to the front desk where Louise still sat.

"How would I get to your local real estate office from here?" Finn asked.

"Nothing available." Louise answered and Gloria blinked.

"Excuse me, but my employer isn't looking for a rental. She is looking to move here permanently. She wants to live a bit more out of the way of her business, I'm sure you understand." Gloria smiled conspiratorially.

"Of course I understand, I'm not stupid." Louise stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "That doesn't change the fact that nothing's for sale here." She sniffed as though that would end the conversation.

Finn cleared her throat and wrapped magic strands around Louise. The spell was meant to make her feel that she couldn't avoid this conversation without pushing it to someone else. "Answer my question, or I'll take a full refund. I don't pay other people to waste my time."

Louise rolled her eyes the way only an experienced parent can roll eyes and planted her hands on her hips. "Two blocks left when you leave here. Watch for the blue house and turn right. Can't miss the office after that."

Finn and Gloria left, driving the short distance. The real estate agent confirmed that no residential buildings were for sale at this time and Finn frowned. "Where are the Local Government District offices? If the price is right I could be convinced to develop my own area."

"They're closed this week. Vacations in a small town, I'm sure you understand." The agent said.

Finn turned to Gloria. "Extend the stay at the hotel then, we can make sure this place is as out of the way as I want it to be in the mean time." She led the way out of the office and drove around the small community a few minutes. People stopped conversations to stare at them as they passed.

"Won't this give Louise more time to find a way not to extend our stay?"

"Doesn't matter, I'm sure the whole town is aware we're here and what we're looking for now. Nothing will be accommodating now."

Gloria pursed her lips. "What is your last name? I can't keep calling you my employer."

"Conner." Finn answered. "Ready for some training?"

Gloria sighed in response.