Page 39 of No Man Left Behind

“How could anyone do that? What’s the point?”

Marcus pulled her into a hug. “Some people are just sick. This guy wants us to know he’s watching us.”

Troy agreed. “He also wants us to know he’s capable of violence. Hurting animals, especially the way this was done, is a sign of someone with serious problems. It’s not a huge stretch to go from hurting animals to hurting people. We’re all going to be very careful.”

She nodded, took a deep breath, and straightened. “Okay. Show me how to help collect evidence so you can get him locked up for a long time.”

“Good plan.”

The light was fading, so they worked quickly. Elina’s eyes were sad, but she worked alongside them to record and collect the evidence.

A chickadee whistle preceded Oz’s return to the yard. “The guy is using the woods as a cover, but he hasn’t built a nest there.”

Marcus had been hoping for a nest. Then they’d have the asshole behind bars because his guys would have contained him.

By the time they’d collected all the evidence, the others returned. Slick grinned and held up a napkin from the Saloon. “Found something. I photographed it in place and took a video like you’ve shown us before. I used the napkin to pick it up.”

“What is it?”

“A cigarette butt.”

Everyone grinned except Elina. He held out an evidence bag. Heath dropped the butt inside and Marcus explained to Elina. “We should be able to get DNA off it. Once we catch the guy, it’ll prove he was here twice and watching.”

He held up the bag to look at it. “Is that Pashto lettering?”

Heath nodded. “It is.”

Holy shit. That narrowed their suspect pool because not too many people smoked Afghan cigarettes in the States. None of the Phail residents even smoked. Not a single one.

Sure, some tourists would, but this helped. Anyone they spotted smoking or who smelled like smoke was an immediate suspect. From their experiences overseas, he’d bet they’d all recognize the odor of an Afghan cigarette immediately.

Now, to figure out why someone who smoked Afghan cigarettes was here in Phail. Did it have something to do with Elina? One of their missions? That awful day in Suraih?What the hell was going on?

Elina stayed beside Marcus as the group walked to his office in Phail General. It didn’t surprise her when the others formed a group around them, with her and Marcus in the middle. They were natural protectors but their instincts had been honed during their time in the army. And in taking care of the situations that they’d been involved with here in Phail over the past year.

Had trouble followed her somehow? Worse, had someone been following her in order to find Marcus or someone on his team? Had she led them here?

Once they were in the office, Marcus locked the door and moved to his desk. He started up his computer and got to work.

Elina moved to sit on the couch, hoping to stay out of the way while she tried to figure this out.

After a few minutes, Oz—Levi—sat beside her. He’d always been the quietest of the men, so the move surprised her.

The big man studied her for a moment. “You need to stop with the guilty vibes. None of this is your fault.”

“But it might be. What if someone was looking for Marcus or any of you, and I led them here? Or if they are angry at me, I still brought them here.”

Levi raised an eyebrow. “You’re not the asshole, so it’s not your fault.”

That made her smile.

He continued. “We’re trained to cope with this kind of shit. It’s what we do for each other and everyone else in this town. We have a whole other team out at Midnight Lake ready to help at any moment, too.”

“But you shouldn’t have to take on my mess.”

“Not your mess because it’s not your fault. Besides, taking assholes out of the picture is kind of fun.”

Fun?

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