After he repeated the removal on the other side, he took out the bandana in his ass pocket and wrapped his little prize up. Then he killed his light and backed out of the cave in a crouch, straightening when he was sure he was free of the overhang.

Glancing around again, he put the bundle into his jacket and strode off.

As he returned to where the execution had gone down, there was a disturbance in the ground cover, obvious even if you weren’t looking for anything. It went without saying that there would be some blood, too.

He looked at the gray sky. “Come on, rain. I could use a little backup, if you don’t mind.”

Kneeling down, he dug through the leaves and needles, going into the dirt. It took some sifting with his bare hands … but he found the bullet. Thanks to a granite shelf about ten inches down, the lead slug hadn’t penetrated very deep.

There was nothing he could do about the strike mark on the stone but cover it up.

At least he wasn’t worried about local law enforcement. Small towns like these didn’t have bloodhound professionals who were going to deconstruct an area the size of this clearing just on the outside chance they found something.

Especially when they had two eyewitnesses who said a man had been choked out, instead of killed.

With one last look, and a few kicks with his boot, he turned away and headed for the path, the lane … the county road that had pavement.

The sense that he was being followed wasn’t a news flash. He was used to his deeds staying tight on his heel.

But the fact that he cared what Lydia Susi thought about him was a real goddamn inconvenience.

AS LYDIA RAN up to her car, her heart was going triple time and her eyes were bouncing all around, the trees seeming to move as she herky-jerked her head left and right. But nothing came out at her, no one dressed in black, no one armed, no one …

Not Daniel, either.

What if that other man woke up? What if they were fighting now, and Daniel was being overpowered because the element of surprise no longer worked to his advantage—

As a wave of dizzy panic shorted out her brain, she forced herself to palm her keys and get into the hatchback. Cranking the engine, she had a thought that she should find whatever the hell had been put on her undercarriage, but the mental image of those guns Daniel had taken off that soldier cured her of the impulse.

Back to the county road. Get help. Save Daniel.

Yanking the gear shift into reverse, she twisted around and backed out down the little lane, its twin tracks of raw dirt like a set of train tracks and good thing. She needed the help to stay on course.

It was forever before she emerged into the open air, twelve years if it was a moment. And when she got to the asphalt, she barely looked for traffic. She just backed right out into the middle of the road, spun the steering wheel, and took off. She needed to get far enough away to dial the sheriff—

As her phone rang, she jumped and fumbled with it. “Hello—”

“I’m okay. I’m all right—”

“Daniel!” She hit the brakes for no good reason. “Where are you?”

“I’m coming through the woods on a southwesterly tack. I have no idea how long it’s going to take me to get out to the road.”

“Where’s the soldier? Or whatever he was?”

“I tied him up with a zip cord he had. I just left him there and ran.”

“Thank God.” She closed her eyes briefly. “I’m looking for a place to pull over—”

“Get where no one can see you and I’ll tell you where the tracker is. You need to take it off and throw it away first. You’re still in danger until you do that—”

At that very moment, one of the trailheads into the preserve appeared. It was the route that led up the “ugly side of things” as the locals put it, so there was no one parked in the small, shaded area.

“I’m here,” she said as she pulled in. “I’m stopping, I mean.”

“Good.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” She put the gear shift in park. “Are you—”

“I’m just having a nice jog in the woods. Enjoying the view. You know, touristy stuff.”

She closed her eyes again. “Where am I going under this car?”

“Driver’s side. It’s right behind the front wheel. You’ll see it with your phone light.”

“Okay.”

Getting out, she dropped to the ground and shimmied under. There was heat coming off the engine block, transmitted through the metal of the frame, and the smell of oil and dirt made her sneeze.

“You still there?” she said as she put Daniel on speaker and turned on the light.

“Yup.” His voice was tinny. “Where are you?”

“Under the car.”

“Where are you stopped?”

“Burning Tree Trailhead. The parking lot. There’s no one else here.”

“Okay, turn your head a little right. It’s—”

“I got it.”

The black whatever-the-hell was larger than she’d thought, about the size of her palm, and as she moved her light around, it was like something out of a 007 movie.

“Is there any chance I take it off and it explodes?” she said.

There was a pause. “Yeah, that might happen. I don’t know.”

Lydia cursed. “Remind me not to ask you for my risks of cancer.”

“Nah, you’re good with the cancer. You eat right, exercise. Although what are your genetics like?”

“I’m a total mutt,” she muttered as she got a grip on the device. “Okay, am I counting down or just doing it?”

“Just do it.”

“Great time to live the Nike slogan.”

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath—

“Shit!” she said as she ripped it free.

“Lydia? Lydia!”

“Oh, God, it’s blinking.” She turned the thing over in her hand. “What the hell is it?”

“Throw it! Throw it as far as you can—just fucking throw that thing into the woods.”

In a scramble that left her banging her head as she came out from under the car, she jumped up, hauled back, and put every ounce of strength into a Lamar Jackson, pitching the device into the trees.

“Lydia?” came Daniel’s voice. “Did you—”

“Yes, I threw it.”

“Get out of there.”

She didn’t waste a second: In the car. Not even a seatbelt. Slamming in reverse and skidding on the dirt as she k-turned and took off.

“You okay?” Daniel said.

With a shaking hand, she put the phone up to her ear even though he was still on speaker. “I’m not. No. I’m not. Where are you?”

“Still in the woods.”

“Are you safe?”

There was a pause, during which all she heard was the sound of him running and breathing. “You don’t have to save me, Lydia. I told you, I’m always fine.”

Out on the county road, she just drove in whatever direction her car was pointed in. Every time she blinked, she caught snapshots that dismantled her composure further: the bathroom at Peter Wynne’s, the soldier walking under the deer stand … and then what Daniel had done to protect them both.