Page 64 of Erased
Grant applied his turn signal, slowed and turned onto the paved road.
The car behind them continued straight.
After a few hundred feet, Grant found a place to turn around and headed back the way they’d come, finding the dirt road Avery had noted before, and they pulled far enough off the main road so the car wouldn’t be easy to see.
He grabbed the gun from where he’d stashed it beneath the seat and glanced across at Avery. “Ready?”
“Are you sure you want to do this without a warrant?” she asked.
“We can sneak up, check it out from a distance. If it looks suspicious, we can leave and come back with a warrant.”
She nodded. “Since you’re the Navy SEAL, you can lead, I’ll follow.”
Grant led the way through the woods, paralleling the highway until they neared the dirt road the GPS had indicated. There again, he paralleled that road, keeping low and in the shadows.
Avery followed, mimicking his movements.
They’d gone several hundred feet deeper into the woods when the dense underbrush thinned.
Grant held up his hand in a fist, indicating they should stop. He knelt next to a tree, using a bush for concealment. The sun had dropped below the treetops, casting them into deep shadow, while the clearing remained well lit.
Avery joined him and dropped to her haunches.
An old farmhouse with peeling white paint sat in the middle of the clearing.
Behind the house was what appeared to be a greenhouse that looked new compared to the weathered exterior of the house.
“That could explain the spike in electricity usage,” Grant said, “if they’re using grow lights inside.”
Avery frowned. “It looks like the house has a trap door to a basement on the side. Based on the size of the house, I doubt the basement was big enough to house the equipment necessary to brew beer or whiskey.”
“What about the old barn behind it?” Grant asked.
“We’d have to get inside to find out.”
Grant moved backward, deeper into the underbrush.
Avery hurried to catch up. “Where are you going?” she whispered.
“To the back side of the barn,” he answered softly, moving swiftly and silently through the trees.
Avery did her best to follow as quietly as the SEAL, admiring how he made it seem so effortless. The man moved like a lion stalking its prey, in complete control of his every move and sexy as hell.
Damn, she’d missed him. Giving him up before Operation Orchid had been the hardest thing she’d ever done. But she’d known that he would have been as much a target as she if the Elite had discovered her deception.
Could he ever forgive her for dumping him for her job? Was there a future for her with Grant in it?
For now, she had to be satisfied being with him. After they caught the killer, she would see where their roads led.
They made a wide circle around the perimeter of the clearing. As they came even with the back of the barn, Grant, in the lead, eased closer. They moved slowly and steadily until he suddenly stopped and murmured a curse beneath his breath.
Avery froze.
Grant glanced down at a thin line that looked like fishing line, barely visible in the shadows.
“Avery,” he whispered. “Go back the way we came,” he said so softly she could barely hear his words.
“Not without you,” she said in an equally quiet tone.
