Page 60 of No Man Left Behind

When he got back to where the others waited, he realized they’d all come to the same conclusion. Nico shrugged. “We’ve checked out the entire area. No one found anything. I don’t think our birder was hiding anything.”

Apparently, the former FBI profiler had been watching Marcus. “I agree. Let’s get out of here before he finds his car blocked in and starts asking questions.”

Frustration rippled through him, and he wasn’t surprised when Elina slipped her hand into his. “Maybe he’s not coming back.”

He nodded but didn’t respond. Maybe he wasn’t. But perhaps they’d just given away how much they knew. If the man had driven by the congregation of the cars on the road, he’d know they were onto him.

Elina knew Marcus wanted the man caught—she did too—but she was relieved it had been a tourist. Coming close to someone who was targeting one of them wasn’t appealing. She wanted it over with, but she wanted it done with no threat to any of these people.

With the amount of trained people in the woods today, maybe it would have been easy to trap him. But what if he’d shot Marcus? She held in the shudder and hoped he’d left the area permanently.

Instead of returning to Midnight Lake this late, they waved off their friends, promising to visit another day.

Once they were in the car, Elina asked. “Do you want to check on the station and make sure that everything is okay?”

He nodded. “Good idea. I’ll feel better once I check. Do you mind walking through the woods? After what just happened, I’ll worry if I don’t see for myself. But I’d rather not broadcast that we’re doing that.”

It wasn’t long before the car was in Marcus’s driveway, and they snuck out the back door in case anyone was watching. She was relieved he hadn’t tried to talk her into remaining behind but the woods had taken on a sinister feeling as dusk deepened.

She kept her attention on the trees around her but didn’t sense anything off as they moved to the station. A quick tour showed all the windows intact and no surprises left on the pathways or sprayed on the walls.

The security system hadn’t alerted them, but they did a quick check on the inside. Nothing was disturbed. When they looked into the office, Marcus laughed and pulled her in for a hug. “Those posters are going to make me smile every day. Thank you.”

She was glad to have given him something happy but could feel the tension radiating from him. “I can’t decide if I should be relieved or sad that the man in the woods was just a photographer.”

Marcus kissed her hair and kept his arms around her. “Same. It would be nice if he’d simply moved on with no intention of returning.”

“But?”

“But I’d like it better if we had him sitting in that cell in the back room.”

She nodded. “Me too.”

Marcus ran his hands over her back for a moment. “Okay, let’s set the alarm and head home.”

Home. She liked the sound of that. “How about we watch one of the movies Nina used to name some of the animals she named? Something happy.”

“Or another of the Agatha Christie adaptations? You enjoyed the one we watched at the park the other night.”

“It was amazing to see how they interpreted the book. I loved Poirot’s mustache. I thought they did a great job.”

They chatted about the movie as they locked up and returned along the path to Marcus’s house. As they reached the edge of the woods, a chill ran up her spine. She squeezed his hand, but he’d already stopped. His voice barely reached her ears. “You feel it?”

When she nodded, he asked her to text Troy. They didn’t move, and Elina tried to figure out the direction of the creepy feeling. It wasn’t as pronounced as before. She wished they had Finch because she wasn’t sure she could trust her senses.

Marcus had his weapon out, but his frown wasn’t as deep.

She leaned close and kept her voice soft. “Do you think he’s gone or just backed away to watch?”

Marcus held up two fingers to show her choice number two. The man was still watching. Her adrenaline had settled down after finding the birdwatcher but it rocketed up at his serious demeanor. She figured the house was fine because there hadn’t been any alerts on Marcus’s phone.

Through the trees, she spotted a vehicle’s headlights moving toward where Marcus’s house sat on the dead end of the street. Troy? Someone less benign?

The lights slowed, and another light shone out of the driver’s side window, sweeping over the trees on the other side of the street. Had to be Troy.

He drove past them to the end of the street and then backed up and turned into the driveway. Elina started forward, but Marcus held her arm. “Let’s wait for the all clear.”

It didn’t take long. Troy, Sean, and Levi exited the car and closed their doors simultaneously with barely a glance in the lighted area. These men were highly trained, and watching them work together was always a joy. Although she would prefer if they didn’t have to use their skills here. Had she brought danger to them or was the person after Marcus?

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