Chapter Ten
The tents were set up and everyone was settled in for the night when Tanner came out to sit next to Noah at the fire.
They made it to the camping site with no problem and had caught fish in the stream tributary of the Colorado River they’d be coasting on tomorrow.
By the time they’d finished making the s’mores with the ingredients Tanner had sneaked in as a special surprise, the smile on everyone’s face had been near giddy.
Except Noah’s.
Not that his brother was ever going to be much of a talker or smiler, but he was definitely tenser now than he had been when they first started the hike.
“What’s going on?” Tanner asked softly. He didn’t want anyone else to hear this conversation.
“Nothing I can put my finger on.”
Tanner sat down on the log across from his brother. “But you’re thinking there might be trouble?”
“I don’t have concrete evidence of anything.” Noah looked around into what anyone else would consider to be peaceful darkness.
Tanner rolled his eyes. “I’ll take your gut feeling over 99 percent of the population’s concrete evidence any day.”
Noah was quiet for a long minute. “I’m not sure I can trust my gut too much either, to be honest. But there’s nobody around us right now, that much I know for sure.
I set up a few observation traps that would let me know if anybody had been surveilling us.
When I checked them a few minutes ago there was no evidence of anybody else around. ”
“Could be stress wearing on you. That talk with Jared definitely didn’t put me at ease.”
“That’s for damn sure. Bastard was way too confident he wouldn’t be convicted at the trial. Like he knows something we don’t.”
Tanner nodded, lips tight. Oscar Stobbart already put a call in to Sheriff Duggan, Tanner’s boss.
Nothing formal, just a verbal complaint and concern about harassment against his client.
Fortunately, they didn’t have an ID for Bree, so there was nothing official Oscar could do.
But Tanner had no doubt this would come up again at the trial if Stobbart could possibly work it in.
“Have you been following Jared more? We don’t want to do anything that gives Stobbart any reason to try to have the case dismissed outright.”
“I’ve got a colleague who’s gone into Denver a couple of times for me, with instructions to stay far from Jared. I do know they’ve still got those building plans and maps out everywhere. Stobbart has joined them most nights. Another man joined them last night.”
“That’s probably Marius Nixon, the guy who provided money for Jared’s bail. He arrived back in the country yesterday.”
Noah rolled his shoulders. “They’re planning something, Tanner.”
“Do you know that for sure? Has your guy been using the surveillance equipment you talked about?” Anything the man heard wouldn’t be allowable in court, but at this point, Tanner would be glad just to have information. Once they knew what was going on, they’d figure out a plan later.
“I know there’s something going on because my man couldn’t hear anything with his surveillance equipment. They’re using counter surveillance equipment.”
Tanner let out a low curse.
Noah nodded. “That’s how I felt too. It’s high-end stuff. Took my man a night to figure out the info he was receiving wasn’t legit. He happened to hear a loop in the recording their equipment was spitting out. Most people wouldn’t have caught it at all.”
“What do you think they’re planning?” Tanner leaned closer to the fire, trying to process all of this.
“Honestly, I think they have something up their sleeves for the trial, then are planning to take Marilyn and the kids somewhere. I’m not going to let that happen, Tanner.”
Tanner nodded. “We’re not going to let that happen. Not you, not me, not Bree, not anyone else at New Journeys or in Risk Peak. Marilyn and those kids are one of ours now. You’re not alone in this. Neither is she.”
Noah shrugged. “It’s hard for me not to work alone.”
“We’ve got almost four months until the trial. We know the ankle monitor is working, so we focus on figuring out their plan. In this case, the best offense is a good defense. But we’ve got to let the law handle this. We cannot go after them just because they’re doing suspicious stuff.”
“Roger that.”
“So let’s try to enjoy this camping trip and make it something memorable for Marilyn and the kids. Unless you think there’s actual danger here.”
Noah ran a hand through his thick black hair that looked so much like Tanner’s own.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I feel like something is off, but my neutrality is definitely compromised when it comes to that woman and those kids.
Maybe I want Jared to be here so that I have an excuse to take him out and make sure they’re safe for the rest of their lives. ”
“As an officer of the law, I’m afraid I’d probably have to let you do exactly that if Jared showed up here.” Tanner gave his brother a wide grin.
“I have the emergency radio,” Tanner said after a few minutes. “If there’s any change in Jared’s status, Ronnie will let us know right away.”
“Good. There’s probably nothing out there right now except my own feelings of inadequacy haunting me.”
“Well, you better let those die out in the cold, because we’re going to need your help protecting Marilyn if Jared really is found innocent by some miracle. And I need you on this trip because those kids certainly look up to you. Especially Sam.”
Noah shrugged. “That’s good, because I look up to them too. And especially their mom.”
That was about as gushing and flowery as Noah got. Tanner swallowed his chuckle, but not quickly enough.
“Stuff it, jackass,” Noah muttered.
“Yes, sir. How about I take first shift on lookout, just in case? We’ve got a long day of hiking and rafting ahead of us tomorrow.”
None of it would be very rough—nobody wanted to take young children on rapids they couldn’t handle—but it would be a full and exciting day.
“Wake me up in a couple hours and I’ll relieve you.”
Tanner settled into his place by the fire, listening for changes in the night noises around him.
That would be his first indication that danger was nearby.
He looked up at the moon, barely visible through the trees.
Standing guard was no hardship for him. Maybe Noah was right, and his gut feelings were just a manifestation of the frustration inside him for not being able to do anything about the abuse Marilyn had suffered.
But either way, Tanner would be ready in case danger came.
BEING OUT HERE in the woods was so much better than wedding planning, but it didn’t take Bree long to recognize tension in both Noah and Tanner the next day.
It wasn’t overt—they were both still teaching and smiling, at least as much as Noah ever smiled, and they seemed to be having a good time. But there was a tension in Tanner—an awareness—that hadn’t been there yesterday when they’d started their trip.
“What’s going on?” she asked when they stopped for water. She’d been watching him all morning and all through their lunch break. Watching him watch the area around them, looking for threats.
“Nothing’s going on. Why do you ask?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t know. Maybe because I’ve seen you around enough dangerous situations to recognize the I’m-about-to-turn-into-supercop look? What aren’t you telling me?”
He pulled her against him and kissed her temple. “Nothing. I promise. Nothing concrete. Noah just got a little spooked—although it ended up being nothing—and both of us just want to be diligent.”
“But nothing happened besides Noah’s Spidey senses tingling?”
He smiled and kissed her. “Nothing. I promise I’ll tell you if I think you need to be concerned.”
“Really? You have been known to keep things from me before. Important things—because you wanted to handle it all by yourself.”
“Believe me, I’ve learned my lesson when it comes to keeping things from you. We are a team.”
Bree kissed him and turned back to the group. She watched as Noah took a sip of his water, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand afterward. Sam, sitting right beside him, mimicked the motion almost exactly a couple seconds later.
They spent the next two hours making steady progress through the wilderness. Tanner and Noah took multiple opportunities to indicate different plants and animals along the way. They showed some edible berries, but then were quick to point out the poisonous berries that looked very similar.
They identified poison oak and other plants to avoid, as well as specifying the multiple different trees and flowers that made up the beauty of this part of Colorado.
Their respect for the wilderness around them was evident in every sentence.
It was nearly impossible not to get caught up in their passion for the land.
The running theme was obvious: respect nature. Nature wasn’t always gentle, but even in its harshness there was beauty.
They came across all sorts of animals. The racer snake they saw along one rocky ridge was Sam’s personal favorite, even though it had everybody else squealing in fear.
Noah pointed out the tracks from deer and elk, and even the signs that a bear had passed through at some point.
When Eva’s eyes grew wide, Tanner took the time to explain the best way to defend yourself against a bear was actually to avoid it in the first place.
Talking out loud and letting a bear know you were nearby was the best way to get it to move along in the opposite direction.
Most bears weren’t looking for a confrontation.
Sam wanted to press about what should be done if the bear didn’t move along and charged instead, but that topic of conversation was obviously a little upsetting for Eva, who was soon near tears.
A look and nod passed between Tanner and Noah, before Tanner grabbed Eva’s hand to show her a caterpillar that was climbing up a tree.
Noah placed a light hand on Sam’s shoulder and led him a few steps over to the side.
Concern clouded Marilyn’s face.