Page 29 of Crosshairs

“He may not have followed us at all,” Linc said. “Let me throw this out there—what if he followed you from East Tennessee? If he knows you’re investigating this crime, he could have assumed you’d come to the crime scene. Came here, saw the tape, and then noticed how close the church is, and could have hidden in the church, waiting for you.”

“Or...” Sam said, “like I said earlier, if he overheard us before we split up, he would’ve known you were the one checking out the church. He had time to get into place.”

Cold chills ran over her body. She knew no one in Natchez who would want her dead, and troublecouldhave followed her from East Tennessee. Over the years, she’d made a few enemies of the people she’d arrested. When she finished here, she would call Brent Murphy, the special agent in charge of the East Tennessee district and ask him to pull the records of all the criminals who had threatened her.

“I’ll notify Randolph of your attack,” Sam said. “You two want to interview the people at the campground while I dust for fingerprints and get a few more of these shoe prints?”

Linc looked at her. “You up to it?”

She warmed under his intense scrutiny. “I am.”

Her phone rang and she glanced at the number. Her grandmother. Her heart clenched, and she quickly punched the green answer button. “Hello?”

“Oh good. I got you.” Gran’s voice sounded shaky. “Cora’s surgery has been moved up to noon.”

That meant the bleeding in her skull had gotten worse. Ainsley checked her watch. Eleven forty-five. She should have stayed at the hospital instead of coming to Rocky Springs.

“I’ll get there as soon as I can,” she said.

“You stay and do your job. Cora and I will be just fine—like always.”

Guilt rubbed like a too-tight shoe. Ainsley had never been there for any of their other emergencies. Hadn’t even known when they had one until it was over.

“Okay, but keep me updated.” When she disconnected, she looked up into Linc’s concerned eyes.

“Everything okay?”

“They’re taking her to surgery right away.”

“Do you want to go to the hospital? Sam and I can do the interviews, and then I can catch a ride with him back to Natchez.”

She was torn, wanting to be there for her grandmother and Cora but knowing this might be the only chance to interview some of the campers before they scattered. Not that Sam and Linc wouldn’t do a good job, but secondhand testimony wasn’t the same thing as hearing it firsthand.

“Gran told me to stay here and do my job. Besides, I can’t get to the hospital in time for the surgery anyway.” She turned to Sam. “Send me the report on the prints when you get it.”

“Will do.”

Ten minutes later they approached the campground loop where RVs and trailers were parked. Ainsley counted ten campers. “I’ll take these five,” she said, pointing to the first campsites.

“Good deal. I’ll get the rest, and if I finish first, I’ll check out the tent campers.”

She walked to the first site, a nice fifth wheel with a diesel pickup parked to the side, and knocked on the screen door. “Hello! Anyone home?”

A teenaged boy appeared in the doorway. “I am, but my parents are hiking.”

Was this the boy Linc had run into? She told him her name. “Can I ask you a few questions?” she asked.

He regarded her suspiciously. “About?”

“Just checking to see if you’ve seen anyone suspicious or an unoccupied car parked around here.”

He opened the screen door and stepped outside. “What kind of car?”

“I’m not sure.” She glanced at the picnic table in the shade. “Mind if we sit over there?”

He shrugged, and taking it as a yes, she walked to the table and sat down. At first, she thought he wasn’t going to follow, but after a minute’s hesitation, he did and sat across from her. “Did you talk to another ranger earlier?”

He nodded silently.

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