She'd kept her gun next to her, but it couldn't protect her from the nightmares that had filled the night. Glad to be awake, she stretched and looked out over the railing to the view below.Everything was white. A sea of fog covered the forest around her, and the sky was overcast, the clouds pressing down and mixing with the fog. She could only see the tops of the pines nearest the fire lookout, their black branches piercing the thick white veil. From farther down than that, the sound of waves breaking on the cliffs carried through the air in a low murmur. She could not see the coast at all.She rolled the sleeping bag up and left it on the cot. Walking down the trail, she felt acutely uncomfortable, and she kept her gun out and to her side. No way was she letting the shifter blindside her the way Tommy had been blindsided. She passed quickly through places where the trail narrowed. Every rustle in the woods made her jump, and by the time she reached the trailhead she was as awake as she'd ever been.Down at the gas station, she found the teenager slumped over the counter, snoring.
