Page 102 of Shadow Sabotage
“Exactly,” Claire said.
King threw his arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick kiss on the head. “Be careful out there.”
“You too.”
Oh, yes. That was definite jealousy I felt—even if I didn’t have the right to.
The guys headed out.
Claire turned to Hank. “We may be out of comms in some low spots.”
“Yeah, I expect you will be,” he said, giving her a stern look. “You know, you don’t always have to take the worst assignment. You could have given yourself an easier one—especially since you’ve got a civilian with you.”
Civilian?I winced.
Claire grinned. “Where’s the fun in that?”
Hank laughed, shaking his head.
When Claire turned to me, all the humor was gone from her face. “If you see anything—a broken twig, a candy bar wrapper, a sock,anything—don’t touch it. Call it out and let me handle it.”
“Iama detective, you know,” I said drily.
“Yes. But you’re not a SAR operator. Out here, I’m in charge. Got it?”
“Fair enough,” I conceded. It was fascinating to see Claire like this. In this world, she was the expert, and she took charge in a way I’d never seen her do. She was bossy, fierce, and confident.
I loved it.
She put her hands on her hips. “Stay ten feet behind me.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s close enough to talk without having to shout, but far enough that we can see clues between us.”
“Alright.” I held up the black backpack. “What do you want me to do with this?”
Her eyebrow shot up. “Carryit. It has some extra supplies in there. There’s bottled water—you need to stay hydrated. Also has some snacks and emergency supplies.” She grabbed an extra radio off the table. “Clip this to your belt. There’s bear spray in the bag. You might want to clip that to your belt too. And there’s an extra flashlight and red flagging tape in the side pocket. We flag anything we see. You ready?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
“Then let’s go.”
She turned on her heel and headed toward the trail. Hank came over and clapped my shoulder. “Good luck.”
I eyed him. “Think I’ll need it?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “With that one? Hell yes I do.”
Darkness settledas I followed Claire down the trail. At first, we followed behind the others. But before long, Rhett and Cheyenne were out of sight, moving much faster than us on their horses. Then the three guys turned off the trail into the forested area, leaving just me and Claire. The teams kept in touch on theradios, letting everyone else know their positions. Soon, everyone was in place, working their assigned areas—except for us.
After another half hour, Claire stopped, waiting for me to catch up.
“This is where we leave the trail behind,” she said quietly, shooting her flashlight beam into the dirt beside the path to show me what she’d spotted.
“Are those boot prints?” I asked, squatting to take a closer look.
“Yep. This is close to where I planned on cutting over, and that looks fresh. So we’re going to follow it.”
