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Dog’s low growl caught Hawke’s attention. He didn’t think he’d dozed off, but the angle of the quarter moon said differently.
He squinted in the inky darkness the crescent moon couldn’t illuminate.
Dog’s growl grew louder. Someone approached the bunkhouse unconcerned the dog was there. Hawke didn’t like that. It meant the person was ready to kill the dog.
He slipped off the porch and crouched by the cabin. The faint moonlight revealed a dark shadow of a person creeping between the last cabin and the bunkhouse. Hawke moved along in front of his cabin and the next one before cutting across as the person reached the bunkhouse porch.
Dog started barking.
The door to the bunkhouse creaked.
“Come!” Hawke called to Dog. The person on the porch started to run.
The bunkhouse door opened and Tuck stepped out.
“Halt!” Hawke shouted running after the person. When he didn’t stop, Hawke gave the command. “Leap!”
Dog flew through the darkness, hitting the person in the back.
Hawke dropped, straddling the person, and grabbing at the arms. He immediately knew it wasn’t the killer. The body was too small.
But whoever it was wasn’t giving up. He raised up smacking Hawke in the face with the back of their stocking clad head.
His nose throbbed and tears welled in his eyes. The sting and surprise had Hawke riding a bucking body as the person used all of their might to try and dislodge him.
“Need help?” Tuck called from not far behind him.
“Get back to the bunkhouse!” Hawke shouted. This wasn’t the killer. Could it have been a distraction for the killer to get to Kitree?
He finally grabbed one wrist. Placed the cuff on and pulled the other arm back and cuffed it. Dragging the person to his feet, Hawke’s shoulder started throbbing. It appeared it was a good thing he was still on medical leave. He bit his bottom lip to stave off the pain and tasted blood. The suspect had split his lip as well as smashed his nose.
Not wanting to bother Dani, he shoved the person to his cabin. Dog followed on their heels. The suspect fought him all the way to the small building.
“Dog, Stay,” he said, opening the cabin door.
Once inside, Hawke grabbed his flashlight sitting on the table by the bed rather than release the suspect to try and light the lantern.
He shown the beam in the suspects face.
Dolan!
“What the hell are you doing trying to sneak into the bunkhouse?” He knew but didn’t want her to know. “All you would have had to say out there was your name and I wouldn’t have treated you like a killer.”
Her eyes had blazed with hatred when the light shone in them. Her eyelids drooped, and she looked at him from under the lashes. She was hiding her true feelings, thinking of a way to make this work to her advantage.
What she didn’t know was he had her number.
“I wanted to get the girl to the FBI. We need to question her about her parents.” She raised her handcuffed hands behind her back. “Now that you know it’s me, how about taking these off?”
He shook his head. “I don’t like your answer.” A soft push and she sat on the bed. “Where is your boss? Did he tell you to do this?”
She dropped her gaze to the floor. “He didn’t say do it, but he didn’t say don’t either.”
“You came up here alone to take the girl?” He shook his head. “I don’t believe that. Someone had to come with you. How were you getting out of here once you had the girl? How did you get here?”
Her head came up. She glared at him. “You don’t think I could have done this alone?”
“If you did, it didn’t work, did it?”
Her lips curled up in a sneer.
Dog started barking.
The real killer this time. He was sure Dolan had been a distraction. Using cording from his saddlebag, he quickly trussed her feet and hands together like a calf and tucked a clean bandana in her mouth.
Slipping out of the cabin, he spotted someone pouring something on the backside of the cabin. They were going to torch the building!
He raised his shotgun, found the man in his sights, and pulled the trigger.
The person screamed, tossed the can in the air, and took off running through the trees. The distance between him and the suspect wouldn’t have made the shot fatal. He would, however, have gotten a good peppering of shot.
Hawke hoped one of the people stationed in the forest caught up to him and took him into custody.
Hawke hurried to the bunkhouse door and knocked. “It’s Hawke. You need to get out of there.”
The door opened. Tuck peered at him. “Was that you who shot?”
“Yeah. There was someone pouring what smells like kerosene on the back of the bunkhouse. He took off through the trees, but someone else could come along and set it on fire.” Hawke opened the door and stood in the opening watching the area between the bunkhouse and lodge. “Gather Sage and Kitree. We’ll go to the lodge.”
He wasn’t sure if any of the troopers or deputies watching the place would come in to see what happened. They had to be careful to make sure anyone they saw was planning to do harm and not an officer coming to their aide.
“Got them.” Tuck said behind him.
“Kitree, Sage, get behind me and stay close. I’m going to run toward the lodge. Tuck, you follow close behind.”
“Are you hurt?” Kitree asked.
He turned back to the group. “Why?”
“You sound different.”
It had to be his smashed nose and thickening lips. “Come on.” They’d all see him soon enough if anyone turned on a lantern at the lodge.
As if on cue, a light shone in the lodge.
“Shit!” he said under his breath.
“What’s wrong?” Sage asked.
“I don’t know if the light in the lodge is from Dani or someone is in there waiting for us to show up.” Dog sat at his feet. He and Dog could go check things out but that left the three back in the bunkhouse that could be set on fire.
He glanced at his cabin. Did he dare take them in there with Dolan?
A shadow by the side of the lodge caught his attention. Dog stood and growled low in his throat.
“I see it,” he whispered.
“Hawke? Hawke?” Tyson whispered.
“Fetch,” Hawke whispered to Dog.
The animal shot out from under the bunkhouse porch and straight to Tyson.
“Hey boy, what are you doing?”
The dog must have grabbed his hand. Within minutes the dog and young man were in front of Hawke.
“What’s going on?” Tyson whispered. “Dani heard shots and sent me out here.”
“Is she the one who lit the lamp?”
“Yeah.”
Without any preamble, Hawke said, “Let’s get to the lodge.” He took off across the opening, listening to the feet padding along behind him.
As soon as he hit the porch the door opened. Dani herded them inside, giving Kitree a hug. “What happened?”
“Dog heard something. I went out and spotted someone pouring something on the back of the bunkhouse. Smelled like kerosene. I shot and sent him bolting through the trees. I went to get these three to bring them here but saw the light go on and wasn’t sure it was safe.” He moved them all into the dining room as he spoke.
“Tyson, you sit by a front window and watch for any movement out there.” Hawke instructed the young man. “And grab a rifle from the case.”
Tyson left the room.
“Tuck, keep an eye out the window in here in case someone tries to come in the back way.”
The wrangler pulled a chair over to the only window in the room.
“Ladies, if you think you can sleep, use the beds in here.” He scanned the three faces. Dani had determination and defiance on her oval shaped face. Sage’s pixie face was wrinkled in worry.
Kitree’s small brow was furrowed. Her gaze remained locked on his face. “You are hurt,” she said.
Dani moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll get water and a rag.”
“It’s nothing—”
“Mimi asked me how you really hurt your shoulder,” Kitree said, leading him over to a chair and pulling him down to sit. “You really shouldn’t tell her your job isn’t dangerous.”
He was supposed to keep this girl alive and here she was chastising him for telling his mother white lies. “She was the one who said my being a game warden wouldn’t be as worrisome for her.”
Both Sage and Kitree gave him the look. The one women give when a man has said something stupid. That was something he hadn’t missed from not having a woman in his life.
“You should have told her different.” Kitree sat down on the chair next to him as Dani returned with the water and rag.
“What happened to you?” Dani asked, dipping the rag in the water and wringing it out.
“These two are accusing me—”
“Not now. What caused your nose to bleed and your lip to split?” Dani glanced from him to Sage and Kitree. “Then tell me why these two are upset.”
If ever there was a time when Hawke wished he were somewhere else, it was now. “The person I caught—”
“You caught someone? I thought he ran off when you shot the gun?” Dani held the cloth soaking in his blood away from his face and stared at him.
“Before the person trying to torch the bunkhouse, I caught someone trying to sneak in.” He licked his lip and wished he hadn’t. The salty saliva made his lip sting. “She’s tied up in my cabin.”
“She?” All three females said at the same time.
Hawke started to stand. He should be helping keep an eye on things.
Dani shoved him back down in the chair with her hand on his sore shoulder.
“Ow!”
Kitree pointed a finger at him. “He told his mother his job wasn’t dangerous.”
Another scolding look from Dani and he’d had enough.
Hawke stood, making Dani move backwards or be bumped by him. “I have work to do. This is why I don’t have a wife. You all worry too much.”
He stalked out of the dining room and stopped by Tyson. “You see anything out there?”
“No. You think they are going to try again tonight?”
Hawke glanced at the old clock on the mantle. Four in the morning. “I doubt it. It’ll be getting light soon.
“Damn! I was hoping tonight would be it. Now it will be another night without sleep and worrying.” Tyson rubbed a hand over his face.
“Go on to your room and get a few hours of sleep. I’ll take over here.” Hawke waited for the young man to walk into the other room before he dropped onto the chair. He was getting too old for this shit. He stood back up, turned the chair around, straddled the seat, and put his good arm across the back of the chair, settling his chin on top.
The shadows faded as the clock ticked the seconds and the sun rose from the east. Hawke dozed a couple of times.
Dog whined. Hawke shook his head and glanced down. The dog had his nose pointed to the door.
“Need to find a tree, do you?” Hawke rose off the chair and groaned as his stiff muscles complained about the movement.
He opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. The birds were singing. The faint scent of kerosene mingled with pine in the dewy morning air. He wasn’t sure how to take the kerosene off the old wood of the bunkhouse. Or how long it would make the building flammable.
Scratching his healing shoulder with the butt of the shotgun, he glanced at the first cabin. The door was open. Damn! He jogged over and found the rope and handcuffs on the floor. His belongings had been looked through and strung all over.
One more person to be on the lookout for. She’d had balls last night thinking she could get into the bunkhouse on her own. No, he was pretty sure she had been a diversion all along. But now, she was a threat.
He bent over to pick up his things and a shadow fell across his hand. He grabbed the shotgun and whirled.
State Trooper Dillion stood in the doorway a fraction of a second before ducking inside. “What was the shot last night?”
Hawke lowered the gun, sat on the bed, and told him the details of the night before. All but finding the disk. That was better left to very few knowing that bit of information. “Didn’t someone catch the guy? He took off running through the trees howling. He had to have taken some buckshot.”
Dillion shook his head. “I was in the opposite direction. But no one radioed anything about that. Sullens told me to come see what happened since I was the closest.”
“Why didn’t you come last night?” He’d planned this for backup should the killer turn up.
“When I asked if I should check it out, someone said to hold my position.”
“Could you tell who said it?”
“It didn’t sound familiar. I thought maybe it was a deputy.” Dillion pulled out his radio and messed with the dials.
“Damn! They have your radio frequency. They know we’re on to them.” Hawke stood up and kicked his saddlebag. “They aren’t going to wait around. They’re going to be here tonight and get the job done.” He handed the trooper a tablet. “Here’s what you’re going to do.”