Storm (Linear Tactical #10) - Janie Crouch Page 0,40

a day just to be sure Jared is where he’s supposed to be.”

Bree nodded. “I think we all have. Tanner made sure to bring the emergency radio so the office could reach him if there was any change in Jared’s status. Everybody wants to make sure you’re safe.”

Marilyn looked forward to where Sam was walking between Tanner and Noah, talking more than she’d seen him in… well, ever. Eva was holding hands with Barb, one of the ladies who’d been at New Journeys for a while. Francis, the older, quieter woman was with them.

These people were her friends. They honestly cared about her. She’d never had friends, never realized how important they were. But now she did. She no longer was so isolated that she was easy prey.

Sam’s laughter rang out, followed by Noah’s. God, that was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard.

Bree nudged her. “It’s going to be a good trip.”

Yes, it was.

After a half day of hiking, everyone was sleeping pretty soundly in their tents now that it was dark. Except for Noah.

It certainly hadn’t been a very strenuous day for him. Despite the miles, he regularly expended more calories on the ranch than he had today. But that wasn’t what had him wide awake when he should be resting peacefully under the stars.

He wasn’t exactly sure what had him so on edge. He’d just come back from checking the hand-made security system he’d set up around the camp. Small branches and piles of leaves set up in the places where someone would most likely perch themselves if they wanted to get eyes on what was happening here in camp. No one would notice the carefully made piles since they blended in with nature so well, but Noah would know there was someone around if they were disturbed.

None of them had been disturbed, not in the three times he had checked earlier and not when he checked now. He came back and sat down by the fire.

“What’s going on?” Tanner came over to the fire and sat beside him. They both talked in hushed whispers so no one in the tents would overhear and worry.

Noah gave him a one-shouldered shrug. “Nothing I can put my finger on.”

“But you’re thinking there might be trouble?”

“I don’t have concrete evidence of anything.”

Tanner rolled his eyes. “I’ll take your gut feeling over ninety-nine percent of the population’s concrete evidence any day.”

Normally, Noah would, too. He took his instincts seriously. “I’m not sure I can trust my gut too much either, to be honest.” Not when it came to Marilyn and the kids. He was too invested. “But there’s nobody around us right now, that much I know for sure. I set up a few observation traps that would let me know if anybody had been surveilling us. When I checked them a few minutes ago, there was no evidence of anybody else around.”

“Could be stress wearing on you. That talk with Ellis definitely didn’t put me at ease.”

It had been on Noah’s mind every second since they’d left that piece of shit in Denver. “That’s for damn sure. Bastard was way too confident he wouldn’t be convicted at the trial. Like he knows something we don’t.”

And that wasn’t good.

“Have you been following Ellis again? We don’t want to do anything that gives Stobbart any reason to try to have the case dismissed outright.”

“I’ve got a colleague who’s gone into Denver a couple of times for me with instructions to stay far away from Ellis.”

Zac Mackay had come all the way from Wyoming with the surveillance equipment needed to do the job right. And Zac had been the perfect man for the job. He was former Special Forces also, so he had the know-how to get the job done without being spotted. And Marilyn and Annie were good friends, so Zac was thorough.

The information Zac had reported back had been odd, to say the least.

“I do know they’ve still got those building plans and maps out everywhere. Stobbart has joined them most nights. Another man joined them last night.”

“That’s probably Marius Nixon,” Tanner said. “The guy who provided money for Jared’s bail. He arrived back in the country yesterday.”

Noah rolled his shoulders and looked out at the darkness again. There may not be anyone out there right now, but something wasn’t right. He could taste it. “They’re planning something, Tanner.”

“Do you know that for sure? Has your guy been using the surveillance equipment you talked about?”

Neither of them used names so Tanner