Page 49 of Home Town Knight

“Yes,” I said.

Trace and Aiden exchanged a glance. River hadn’t said a word. But I felt the evaporation of tension.

“Is Genevieve all right?” Aiden asked.

“Her editor screwed her over. The killer knows her name and where she is. So no, I wouldn’t say she’s all right.” I nodded at Trace. “Please tell me you have a lead on the intruder. I need to know if he was coming for Gen.”

It was possible the gunman had been here for unrelated reasons. The Protectors had enemies. They were also protecting Cece and her mom, Diane, from an abusive boyfriend. But the timing was too close to be coincidental in my mind.

Trace took a seat. “One of our perimeter alarms was triggered. That was about half an hour before you and River figured out that Gen’s identity and location had been leaked. Our trap cameras showed an intruder with a large gun strapped to his pack. I wasn’t sure at first if it might be someone who wandered accidentally into the wrong place. So I went out to get a closer look. Turned out it wasn’t just one person. It was two. They were very clearly heading for Last Refuge.”

Trace explained that he’d disarmed one of them, and the other had fired on him. He’d taken cover, and both had fled.

“Did you bring back the weapon you took?” I asked.

He pointed at a bundle on the corner of the desk. “A Beretta with a suppressor.”

I cursed. Definitely not an innocent hunter.

“I didn’t go after them because they had me outnumbered, and it was night. I chose to come back and take up a defensive position here.”

And by then, Aiden had evacuated the cabins. Everyone here at Last Refuge had been safe the entire time. The intruders hadn’t come anywhere close to harming Genevieve or the other guests.

But it was still unnerving.

“Can I see the camera footage?” I asked.

River pulled it up in the database. We watched the clip from the trap cam, which was perched in a tree with an overhead view. It showed two figures dressed in dark winter clothing, hoods up, faces covered. One had a large frame, the other smaller. I couldn’t tell if the second individual was male or female.

ThatDenver Dailyarticle hadn’t posted long before these two must’ve set out for Last Refuge. Had they just been lucky to see the article right away? Or had someone else tipped them off about Gen’s whereabouts?

And it had been two. Not just the single shooter Gen had seen kill Ace Tucker.

“Do you want to bring your people out here to run forensics?” Trace asked.

“You’d let me?” In the past, we’d agreed that Last Refuge would manage itself, and I would try to keep my department out of it.

“If it will help catch these guys, then yes. I know you like to keep your investigations as clean as possible.”

I nodded. “It’s a tough call.” My conversation with District Attorney Grissom nagged me. He’d made it clear he would be looking over my shoulder. I didn’t want to draw undue attention to Last Refuge if I could help it. It had been an inherent risk of bringing Gen here, but that had beenbefore I’d known Grissom was so interested in my investigation.

Aiden was rubbing his jaw. “I have another idea. I have an Army buddy, Lynx. Met him during one of my deployments, and we’re still close. He was a Ranger. These days he lives in Mexico, hunting down sex offenders who flee the United States.”

“A bounty hunter?” I asked.

He nodded. “A tracker. If Lynx can get here fast enough, and if the weather holds, he could track those two to wherever they came from, plus wherever they went after. He’s the real deal. Assuming he hasn’t lost his touch, but I doubt it.”

“Call him,” I said. “See if he can come.”

Trace nodded his assent.

My preference was to keep this as quiet as possible. Just like anything else related to the Protectors. But if I had to, I could make this official with the department. Hire Aiden’s buddy as a private contractor. Not that my department had money to throw around, but I could worry about that later.

“I’ll start with a text.” Aiden took out his phone. “Lynx keeps odd hours. Kind of like the rest of us.”

Trace asked, “What about Genevieve? Not to sound callous, but what do we do with her? The whole internet knows she’s here.”

“I’ll sort it out.”

---