“It was raining and we were being shot at,” Cam said from across the room.
“And you stood out there like a human shield.” Hope stopped whispering and went back to her normal voice. “All I’m saying is if someone wanted to kill you, someone with the level of skill to balance in a tree with a gun and then sneak away unseen by two covert agents, he would have killed you.”
Charlie stopped running the towel over his wet hair. “What are you guys talking about?”
Hope ignored the older man and talked to Joel. “All the advantage goes to the person in that position. If that were you, you’d hit the target without trouble.”
“So would you.” Joel knew that was true because she was the most competent woman he’d ever met.
“Where does that leave us?” Cam asked.
Joel fought the temptation to handle the issue now. He just needed the weather to give him a five-minute shot at testing her theory. “With lots of questions and something to do as soon as the storm breaks.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Which is?”
“Go out there and look around.”
* * *
TWO HOURS LATER the rain had morphed into a steady fall, but the dark sky gave way to white and the wind died down. While Charlie watched from the porch with a gun in his hand, Hope ventured outside with Cam and Joel.
They fought to have her stay behind, but she refused. Because she threatened to follow them the minute they stepped outside, they gave in and brought her along.
They trudged along on either side of her until they walked a few feet into the wooded area and well within shouting distance of the cabins. Both men had guns and she carried the binoculars but had a gun and her knife within grabbing range.
Cam shifted into the lead as they got close to the tree they’d staked out as the best contender for climbing. “Remind me again why we’re doing this?”
“A hunch.” That’s all she had, but she’d calculated all the angles and run through all the alternatives, and this was the only one that made sense.
“Seems like a dangerous hunch.”
“Not if Hope is right.” They stopped at the tree and Joel tapped his palm against the bark.
“Which is why I get to be out here, too.” No matter what they thought, she didn’t plan to stand around and watch. “I’ll climb.”
Joel snorted. “No way.”
“You two are better to guard and I can—”
Joel broke her concentration when he snatched the binoculars and flung them around his neck. Next came the standing jump where he grabbed the lowest branch, which wasn’t all that low. The move stretched him out and had his T-shirt riding up and showing off his flat stomach. With an impressive pull-up, he was up and gone in a matter of seconds, leaving her sputtering.
Cam laughed. “He’s fast when he wants to be. He’s also smart enough to know you’re likely better at that than he is and he had to beat you to the punch.”
Joel’s voice reached them from above. “Maybe less talking since we could be wrong about this and have a guy stalking us even now.”
That reality check had her back teeth knocking together. She’d pushed the fear out, insisting she could handle this...somehow.
With that warning, Cam backed her up against the tree and put his body in front of hers until no part of her was exposed. The bulletproof vest Joel made her wear before he opened the cabin door gave her added protection.
If someone came shooting, Cam would go down and she’d have a shot. The mere idea of that had her stomach flipping around.
She cleared her voice and looked up. Beads of rain fell, hitting her face and running under her hood and into her hair. “See anything?”
From this position she spied a flash of blue jeans and the bottom of Joel’s hiking boots. His voice sounded distant and the rain muffled every sound.
“It would help if it stopped pouring.” That grumble came through loud and clear.
Cam kept watch as his back pressed into her chest. “Take that up with another department.”
Joel shifted and she could make him out as he balanced on a branch. He faced deeper into the woods.
She pushed the panic out of her mind. Others might wobble or slide off. Not Joel. He could probably live up there if he had to.
His arms went up and she knew he was taking a look around. “I want a pair of those binoculars.”
“We’ll get you a pair,” Cam said.
“Hold on,” Joel called out.
“What?” She looked up and Cam joined her.
“There’s something in the trees about thirty feet out.”
Hope’s body threatened to break into a full shake. She clenched her hands into fists to keep from fidgeting and shifting around. “A person?”