Serving Trouble(53)

Now they were walking through the woods between his property and the neighbor’s land.

“We’re losing the light,” Noah said.

“We are,” Josh acknowledged, stopping beside a fir tree. He stared up at it.

Noah turned to Caroline. Her lips were pressed together, her eyes darting to the blackberry vines and briar they’d been picking their way through for the past hour.

“You can admire my trees another time,” Noah said. “But let’s keep moving through this section. I’m pretty damn sure I’m the only one who has been crazy enough to walk through this overgrown area recently.”

“Were you limbing last time you came through?” Josh asked, running his hand up the trunk.

“No, I haven’t had a lot of spare time to remove branches and care for the damn trees. I was doing the same thing we’re doing now only in the dead of night,” he said. “Trust me, it’s easier with the light. So why don’t we keep walking while you lecture me on how to take care of my forest.” He took a step toward Caroline.

“Someone’s been climbing this tree with spiked boots.” Josh continued to run his hand over the bark as he lifted his gaze to the tree’s top. “And if you weren’t limbing . . .”

“Hell.” Noah marched over and stared at the tree trunk. He could see the marks from the spiked boots loggers wore to climb up and cut off the lower branches.

“Wait, he’s been hiding in the trees?” Caroline said, scrambling to join them and turning her gaze skyward.

“He’s not there now,” Noah said. “We’d see him hanging from—­”

Boom!

Noah grabbed Caroline and pulled her to the ground at the base of the tree. And Josh joined them, his movements lacking the all-­hell’s-­breaking-­loose panic Noah and Caroline carried with them like a souvenir of their last deployment.

“Not exactly hunting season right now,” Josh said softly even though Noah had a feeling the shot had been fired from a distance.

“No, but someone’s borrowing my neighbor’s deer stand. The same damn one my dad fell from and broke his leg,” Noah said, sitting up with his back against the tree Dustin had probably climbed at some point in the last few weeks. “I checked it out about a week ago. It was empty then.”

“Not anymore,” Caroline said. But she didn’t appear nearly as shaken by the shot as the pictures. If Noah had to guess, he’d say she felt more comfortable with the certainty. Dustin was out there, in a stand positioned in a tree, and he was shooting at them. And it was a damn good thing the stand was far from their position. Noah only knew one marksman who could make that shot. Lena. But still, he wasn’t willing to stand up.

“If we know where he is, let’s go get him,” Caroline said, pushing off the ground.

Noah pulled her back. “I don’t think we should move closer. Most ­people can’t make a shot at this distance, but Dustin’s stupid enough to try.”

“Or it was a warning,” Caroline said, sinking back to the ground.

“Why would he reveal himself?” Josh asked.

“He wouldn’t,” Noah said flatly. “But if we approach the stand, we’ll be within range. I think he’s hoping we’ll come closer.”

“So what’s the plan?” Josh patted the ground. “Camp here?”

Noah shook his head. “We’ll go back the way we came. After dark.” Because if they went the other way—­toward the man hunting them—­Noah couldn’t guarantee Caroline’s safety.

He stared out into the approaching darkness. For the first time in weeks, he was glad Josie was in Germany. But when she returned, how the hell was he going to keep her away from the insane ex-­marine with the hunting rifle?





Chapter Twenty


“HOW ARE THE kittens?”

Josie had spent the last leg of her journey imagining what she would say when she walked through security at the Portland airport and into Noah’s arms. I’ve missed you. I want you. I think I’m falling in love with you. But she’d taken one look at his tired face, the way he’d crossed his arms in front of his chest, and she’d gone with Plan B—­how are the freaking kittens.

“Getting bigger every day. Caroline has been feeding them,” Noah said, turning away from her and leading the way into the terminal. “Did you check a bag?”

She nodded and followed him onto the escalator leading down to the carousels. “How is Big Buck’s best dishwasher?”

“She’s on edge,” he said flatly. “We had a scare a ­couple of weeks ago. The guy who’s after her made it damn hard to ignore his presence.”