Page 59 of No Bed Of Roses

They climbed the stairs, and the men shook hands. Then, her father pulled Levi into a hug as well. “Call me Reg. Thank you for looking out for my girl. That’s a debt I can never repay.”

Levi slapped him on the back. “It’s been a pleasure, Reg. Isla is an amazing woman.”

Isla’s cheeks flamed while Levi took her hand and opened the door to usher them all inside. After he closed and locked the door, she leaned up on her toes to kiss him. “Thanks.”

He raised an eyebrow in question, and she smiled. “For being right about seeing my dad. For watching over us while we got through those first few minutes.”

He kissed her. “You’re welcome. I’m glad it’s good. Now, let’s introduce him to the gang.”

A few minutes later, her dad was battling back tears again as he spoke to her new friends. His voice was thick and shaky. “I haven’t had my daughter’s back in a very long time. I’m thankful to you all.”

Isla hugged him again, and then they all turned their attention to Marcus, who had divided everyone into groups and assigned them areas to check for signs of Ed or Glen.

“We’re working on reconnaissance here. If you spot either of them or their vehicles, stay back and call in the rest of us. We want to keep everyone safe.”

Because they didn’t know the area well, Marcus paired Isla, Levi, and her dad with Troy and Piper to search along the water behind their farms and to the north.

Levi and Troy would be armed, but Isla hoped they wouldn’t need weapons. With a chill of foreboding, she walked into the windy morning and hoped they could find a way to end this.

CHAPTER 20

A Bad Seed

Levi kept his gun holstered. Working with civilians meant the weapon being in plain sight would make them nervous. Nervous people made mistakes.

He and Troy kept the other three between them, with Levi leading and Troy watching their six. Marcus was leading another team starting where they’d found the car yesterday, and Sam’s team was working from their farm south. Stan had several of his buddies with him, checking around his property. Other teams were checking potential camping spots, and other places Ed could be hiding.

Levi would have preferred to search with only trained people, but everyone wanted to help, and as far as they knew, Ed had never been dangerous before meeting up with Glen. But Ed had a gun. He was probably frustrated and scared. Not a good combination with a firearm.

They borrowed a small boat and moved to the other side of the water. For over an hour, they worked their way along the land in a logical search pattern.

When they moved to the next section, further back from the creek, it didn’t take long to spot signs of a human making his way through the area. Levi held up his hand in the universal sign for stop and waited for Troy to join him. He pointed out the flattened area where someone had walked and the broken branches on a couple of bushes.

When Troy nodded, he turned to the others and kept his voice low. “There are signs someone has passed this way. At this point, there’s no telling who it is. Keep close and keep talking to a minimum.”

Troy fired off a text to Marcus, and they kept moving. Many of the trees didn’t sport foliage until about ten feet up, so it was fairly clear going. He kept his gaze roving the space, including up. If Pringle was hiding, he might be up in a tree. Did he know enough about the outdoors or battles to search for higher ground?

As they moved further into the bush, it was more difficult to track the movements. He slowed several times and checked with Troy for his opinion, too. Whoever they were following was meandering. Levi didn’t know the area well enough, but Troy said there was nothing out this way but trees, hills, a few creeks, and eventually, New Hampshire. “But there’s a ravine not far past this next hill. If he’s looking to hide, he might be there.”

When they spotted the ravine, Levi motioned them all to go low. They stopped a dozen yards from the edge. He motioned everyone to sit and that he was going to do a check.

Isla stopped him with a hand on his arm. When he looked, she pointed off to the right. It took him a moment to find what she’d seen.

What looked like a piece of clothing peeked out from beneath a bush. He squeezed her hand with a grin. With a series of hand signals, he and Troy worked out a plan. He motioned for Isla and the others to scoot back and waited until they’d moved at least a dozen yards.

Reg earned himself a little more respect when he put himself in front of Isla and Piper, helping to keep them both safe.

With a nod, he and Troy drew their weapons. Levi moved left and to the edge of the ravine while Troy moved along the bushes on the right.

At the ravine, Levi looked over the edge before moving closer. The cloth could easily be a decoy, while Pringle hid on the slope below.

The ravine had a steep incline. It wouldn’t be easy to manage for a non-climber. He didn’t know if that was part of Pringle’s skill set, either. Certainly difficult with the footwear he’d been wearing at the cabin. Those shoes had barely had a tread.

Levi moved a few yards, checked in with Troy, and studied the ravine again. And again.

Finally, they were close enough to see that it was clothing. A sleeve. An elbow?

Was the guy sleeping in the bush? Was he dead?

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