Chapter 6 Marcus
MARCUS
The scratch of a zipper startles me awake. Early morning light, pale and cold, filters into camp. There’s no need to hide from Allegra anymore, and last night I set up camp a respectful distance away behind a thicket of bushes, but not deep in the forest like I have been.
Allegra’s awake before me for once, and she emerges from her tent and stretches gracefully. Her hair is messy from sleep and hangs loose down her back. It’s the first time I’ve seen it free from a braid, and it’s longer than I imagined. The dawn sunlight makes it shimmer golden like a lion’s mane.
“Get a fucking grip,” I mutter to myself.
I’m here to protect her, not notice every detail of her fucking hair. I roll out of my bivy and scan the camp perimeter.
All is still this morning, and there’s a chill in the air.
When I glance back at Allegra, she’s crouched over an object on the ground.
It’s her solar panel charger, which she left set up to charge with the early morning light.
Her movements are sharp with frustration as she mutters to herself.
I take a few steps forward to get a better look at what’s put the frown on her face.
One panel is face down in the dirt. That can’t be good. I’m not sure exactly what she’s doing out here, but there’s equipment that needs power. The slim laptop she logs her work on, the battery packs for her GPS, and the charging kit for the no-frills filming I’ve watched her record.
Those solar panels aren’t for comfort; they’re powering her scientific work. If she can’t power the work, it chokes the research.
I check the sensors and all systems are green; nothing was tripped last night.
I walk a wider perimeter, looking for anything unusual in the surroundings.
Something silver catches my eye, and I crouch next to a large pine.
It’s a protein bar wrapper, discarded on the forest floor, and next to it, in the soft dirt, boot prints.
More than one. They’re together, as if someone crouched here.
It could be another hiker, or it could be someone watching.
A cold chill travels down my spine, and I jog back to camp, needing to keep Allegra in my line of sight.
She hasn’t acknowledged my presence, and I guess she’s still cross from yesterday—cross that I’m here at all.
I’m reluctant to break her rules and lose trust, but the downed panel needs a closer inspection, especially given what I found in the forest.
While she retrieves something from her tent, I use the opportunity to inspect the panel.
I scan the area on my approach, but there are no footprints in the soil, which tracks with the sensors not going off. It could have fallen down on its own, but my gut tells me there’s more at play here.
I run my fingers over the edge of the panel and find a nick in the frame. I doubt Allegra, with all her resources, would come out with less than perfect supplies.
The nick has a sharp edge to it, like a stone has hit it. I scan the earth and, sure enough, there’s a rock in the dirt by the fallen panel. It’s about the size of a baby’s fist with jagged edges. Big enough to do damage.
I glance up and scan the surrounding area. We’re in the forest. There’s nowhere this could have fallen from unless it was thrown.
This isn’t some random idiot. Whoever did this is getting bolder, and they know about the sensors. They’re smart and bold. The worst combination.
I stand up, and there’s a dull ache in my back and shoulder. I roll the shoulder a couple of times, pressing down on the old wound.
The high altitude and chill in the air bring my old aches to the surface. But I’m trained to keep going in discomfort, and I do that now, compartmentalizing the ache and focusing on the mission.
Allegra comes out of her tent holding her laptop and stops still when she sees me. Her eyes narrow, and for a moment I think she’s going to chuck her laptop at me.
“Morena,” I greet her cheerfully in Māori, thinking her curious nature might break the ice, but instead she puts one hand on her hip and waits, presumably for me to leave.
But I’m not retreating today. Whether she likes it or not, it’s time to find out exactly what I’m dealing with.
“What exactly are you measuring out here?”
She stiffens, and I can see the retort forming on her lips. “That’s none of your business.”
I don’t want to scare her. This could all be a coincidence.
It could have been an animal tripping the sensor on the first night, and the wind could have pushed the solar panel over, causing the nick.
But my gut tells me it wasn’t an animal, and it was the stone that caused that nick.
And stones don’t just fall out of the sky.
“Did that solar panel have the nick in it when you set it up last night?”
Her eyebrows pull together. She’s curious despite herself.
“No.”
“If it’s broken, then you’ll be wanting to borrow mine, and if I’m going to be lending my supplies to the research, I want to know what I’m helping to fund.”
I keep it light, not wanting to scare her.
She huffs out a long breath, and her gaze sweeps over me as if she’s measuring me up.
“I’m collecting field data to measure mineral levels in the mountain’s water sources.”
Her tone is clipped and factual, and her eyes flick downwards. She’s not telling me everything.
“And why are the mineral levels important?”
She huffs out a breath and eyes me warily. Then she steps forward and plants herself in her camp chair. She’s broken the ten feet rule, but I don’t mention it.
She opens her laptop and pulls up a file, then swivels it around on her knee to show me. I step closer so I’m over her shoulder and catch the scent of chamomile. It must be coming from her hair. Chamomile shampoo.
I peer at the document on the screen, unsure of what I’m looking at. The title says “Green Report.”
“It’s an environmental report on the local area.” She scrolls through the document, shaking her head slowly. “But it’s all bullshit. No one’s done the research to actually test if the current mining is doing any damage.”
Her voice gets stronger as she talks, more determined.
This isn’t just an academic exercise for Allegra; she cares deeply about this work.
She’s not just some spoiled rich kid with science as a hobby.
She cares. And someone’s sabotaging her work, not because of who she is, but because her work matters.
I turn slowly and scan the forest. If what she says is true, then this just got way more complicated. “Does your father know about this?”
She shakes her head. “I’m not stupid. The fewer people who know what I’m doing, the better. He thinks I’m collecting water samples to determine which areas stoneflies spawn in.”
The corner of one lip tugs up.
But if her father doesn’t know, then who does?
While Allegra packs up camp, I climb a small ridge, keeping the camp in my line of sight. When I’m out of earshot, I find a secure line and put in a call to Joel.
“Marcus,” he answers immediately. “What’s up?”
“I need intel.” I give him a brief rundown of our location and the suspected sabotage.
“I need to know mining companies, contractors, environmental violations, all known operators in the area.”
Joel promises to get Hudson on the case, and between them they’ll get the info I need.
“They’re not just watching her; they’re testing my perimeter.”
I finish the call with Joel and consider giving Allegra’s father a call.
“I’m ready.” I glance down to find Allegra with her pack on looking up at me.
She’s speaking to me, and that’s better than ignoring me.
If I call her father, he’ll insist on pulling her off, and that will be the end of her research.
If I act too soon and I’m wrong, she’ll never get this opportunity again.
It shouldn’t matter. But it matters to her.
I’ll call her father when I get something concrete. Until then, I’ll keep my eyes open and keep her safe.
I scramble down the boulders and shoulder my pack, ignoring the twinge in my shoulder.
Allegra heads down the trail, and I follow.
I’m not keeping ten feet behind today. If she’s got a problem with that, she doesn’t say.
Instead, we walk in silence, and I scan the surroundings.
If someone is coming for her, they’ll have to get through me first.