Chapter 15
Fifteen
Assured that Jenna and the team were safe with Rio and Raven watching their backs, Kane slipped into the forest with Duke close beside him.
All around him appeared unnaturally still.
No birds lingered in the trees and even the insects had fallen quiet.
As he walked, the remnants of last night’s mist still swirled around his feet, obscuring the tiny details he needed to find.
He turned, looking back toward the road where Jenna had seen the apparition.
He used his scope to check the trajectory and moved farther into the forest. Ahead, the ground had been disturbed, not by animals but by someone dragging equipment.
He crouched, examining the marks closely and ran a finger along a scuff mark on the bark of a pine tree, but the heavy coating of leaves and pine needles had obscured any distinctive footprints below the trees.
Standing slowly, he walked around the tree and found a broken branch at shoulder height.
The markings on the tree could have been made by a trail cam at any time over the last two weeks or so.
Trees at this time of year didn’t heal quickly, but the trajectory fitted his explanation of the killer using a projector.
Beside him, Duke hadn’t made a sound, but his hackles had risen and every muscle in his body stiffened.
Unease rolled over Kane as if someone had just stepped behind a tree close by.
He turned slowly and scanned the forest, seeing nothing.
The trust he had in Duke had never wavered and he gave him the hand signal to remain silent.
He dropped into combat mode, all senses on high alert, and moved between the trees, his gaze maneuvering from side to side, checking each shadow.
His attention moved to a tripod indentation and a flattened patch of moss on a boulder close by.
Staying alert, he checked the trajectory again.
Confident he’d discovered the projector site, he touched his com. “Jenna, do you copy?”
Only static greeted him. He tried again. “Anyone, do you copy?”
Nothing but sharp deliberate interference annoyed his ear as if someone had jammed the signal. That’s not possible.
The military-issue state-of-the-art encrypted coms connected via satellite, the same as their phones—they’ve never failed.
A branch snapped behind him and a bird exploded into the air close by.
Kane drew his weapon and moved silently from tree to tree.
The hairs on the back of his neck prickled.
Instinct told him someone was out there watching him.
A pine cone dropped out of nowhere and landed close by, bouncing into the underbrush and reminding him of a grenade.
Kane turned, gun raised, and scanned in all directions.
If this killer planned on playing games with him, he’d picked the wrong guy.
Kane moved on, watching for any sign of movement.
He’d dealt with deadly enemies before but not with his best friends close by and in potential danger.
His heart rate increased but he slowed it with a deep breath.
Where was the stalker? Ahead, a shadow moved and then melted back into the forest. Kane dropped his center of gravity, pivoted sideways, and slid behind a tree trunk.
He gave the order for Duke to drop and stay hidden.
A shiver went through the dog as if he sensed danger.
Kane froze, slowing his breathing and listening.
To his right came the unmistakable sound of weight shifting on damp leaves and clothing brushing bark.
It was a costly mistake and he lifted his M18 pistol and waited.
In seconds he’d become the predator and the Axman his prey.
He stepped on a twig, deliberately making it crack to give away his position and then moved to another tree without making a sound.
The attempt to lure the Axman worked. Moments later, in the darkness something shifted and Kane’s finger moved to the trigger, but no one came toward him and the shadow melted back into the forest as if the Axman had chosen not to face him.
Keeping his position, Kane lifted his scope and scanned the forest, finding no one.
It’s as if he’d been stalked by a phantom.
He clamped his jaw shut, air whistling through his nostrils.
How close the Axman had been to him, and he’d missed the chance to take him down.
If Jenna and the team hadn’t been close by, he’d have peppered the forest with gunfire, but he couldn’t have risked a shot without a positive target.
A stray bullet from his weapon could have hit one of them.
He tried his com again. “Jenna, do you copy?”
“Copy. I’ve been trying to reach you. The coms have been down.” Jenna’s voice came through loud and clear.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, Kane pressed his com. “The Axman is here in the forest right now, so move in close to the others. He was stalking me, but I don’t know any fool who brings an ax to a gunfight. Maybe he believed he could get the jump on me, and trust me, that ain’t gonna happen.”
“He’s here?” Jenna lowered her voice. “Did he mess with our coms?”
Moving without making a sound, Kane walked back to where he’d left Duke. “Yeah, I believe so because when he vanished, they started working again. It takes a sophisticated jammer to do that. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again. We have other frequencies no one can touch.”
“Did you get a look at him?”
Kane moved through the trees, keeping in the dark patches between the dense pines, ever watchful for any movement.
“No, he kept to the shadows, but I found evidence of a projector, so we can put away the notion of a ghost haunting the forest.” He ducked under tree branches.
“I’ll walk the perimeter of the crime scene and then come in from the west. Don’t shoot me, okay?
” He heard taps from the others as they responded.
“And Jenna, there’s no physical evidence of him anywhere, no footprints.
Apart from an indent from a tripod and a scratch on a tree, he left nothing.
Maybe we need to call this guy the Phantom Axman.
Trust me, if you guys weren’t in the line of fire, I’d have sprayed the forest, but I couldn’t risk hitting you. ”
“I’m glad you didn’t risk it. We’ll catch him. We’re heading back to the trucks now.” Jenna sucked in a breath as if to steady her nerves. “Stay safe and see you in five.”