Page 28 of Crosshairs

Sam wore Redwings while Linc and Ainsley had on lightweight hiking boots. Getting the impressions gave Linc time to pull himself together. With his attention refocused, he studied the layout of the room, taking in the two sets of doors at the front and back of the church as Ainsley knelt behind the pulpit. The assailant could have entered any of them, especially if he got to the church before they arrived at the crime scene.

If it was later, he probably came in through one of the front doors, given he and Ainsley had been in the cemetery with a direct line of sight to the back entrances. And since Linc came in from the front of the church, the assailant must have fled out the back.

He turned to the pews that were unlike any he’d ever seen. A wooden divider was built in the middle of the row that went all the way to the floor. Perfect hiding place. The man could have hidden on any row.

Linc started with the aisle to the left and turned on the flashlight before he knelt on all fours, angling the light so that any prints would show up. Inching forward, he examined the floor all the way to the front of the room. The dust was undisturbed. To keep from contaminating the other areas, he backtracked to where he’d started and then moved to the other aisle.

“Nothing up here,” Ainsley said. “I’m going to check in frontof the altar on the off chance I didn’t walk over his tracks when I came in.”

Linc gave her a thumbs-up and continued his search. Halfway up the aisle on the right, he found shoe prints in the dust, and he tracked them to the back door. It looked as though the assailant had entered through the back, probably before they got to the church, and walked straight to the pew where he hunkered down.

“Over here, Sam,” he called. “I need your larger flashlight and gel sheets.”

Once he had Sam’s flashlight, he laid it on the floor and pointed out the prints to the other two. “It looks like he hid here,” he said and shined the light on a space up under the pew beside him. “See, the dust is all smudged.”

“I never looked under the pews when I entered the church, and he must’ve gotten behind me while I was at the front,” Ainsley said.

Sam opened the box he’d brought in and took out a rectangular sheet and peeled the back off. Linc shined the light on the floor again.

“Hold it lower.” Linc obliged, and Sam laid the sheet on the floor and used a roller from the box to press the gel lifter onto the floor. After a minute, he lifted the sheet and showed them the print.

“It doesn’t look like the same shoe that you cast,” Ainsley said.

The district ranger agreed. “But the shoe size looks about the same so it doesn’t mean it’s not the same person.”

“Why would anyone be hiding in the church? And why attack you?” Linc’s jaw clenched as he stared at the shoe print.

Sam tilted his head. “What if he followed you two to Rocky Springs and overheard that Ainsley was searching the church?”

Her eyes widened. “But why? Unless...” Color drained from her face.

“He meant to kill you,” Linc said, finishing her sentence.

15

Ainsley’s head swam. Fainting was not an option. She already chafed at not apprehending her assailant. With a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and immediately gritted her teeth to keep from groaning when pain shot through her head. Linc was probably right about a concussion.

Linc. Ainsley refused to think about how he’d almost kissed her before Sam returned. A kiss she would have welcomed.Don’t go there.She sucked in air to clear the thought away. Linc had let her down once, nothing said he wouldn’t do it again. She made the mistake of looking up into his hazel eyes that had a green cast today.

“You okay?” His voice was tender, reminding her of what they’d had together once.

Ainsley nodded, the movement making her head throb even more. Until now, adrenaline had kept her going, but the rush was wearing off, leaving exhaustion and pain in its wake. That’s all it was. Exhaustion made her vulnerable to him.

“None of this makes sense,” she said. “Do you think we were followed?”

“It’d be hard to tell. There were a few cars behind us. A couple of them passed us, but you were only driving the posted fifty-miles-an-hour speed limit. When we stopped for the tree thatwas down, there were two or three cars behind us.” He frowned. “Nothing suspicious, though.”

“And no one else turned into Rocky Springs,” she said.

“He could have gone past the campground and then turned around, or he could have anticipated where you were going and was already here,” Sam pointed out. “We need to check out the campers. See if anyone has abruptly left or seemed suspicious.”

She massaged her temples. “How did he even know I’d be here this morning?”

“Who knew you were meeting me at Rocky Springs?” Sam asked.

“Hardly anyone knows why I’m here other than my boss in East Tennessee. My grandmother and Cora, but who would they have told?” She looked at Linc. “There was that reporter with you ... and my dad.”

Sam shook his head. “None of them are likely candidates.”

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