Page 15 of Twilight Tactics

“That’s where my mind was going,” Sully said.

“But mine got there first.” She tossed him a cheeky grin and her eyes twinkled for a moment. The innocence in that look made his heart ache. They had to protect her.

“On that note, smarty-pants, I’m gone.”

“I’ve got Ollie,” Piper said.

He shut the door behind him and headed toward the main house, his mind on Ollie and how to do best by her. She was an extraordinary kid, and frankly, he wanted to see where she would wind up in life.God, please protect her.The prayer slipped out before he could bite it back. He sighed. Guess he was going to be on speaking terms with the Almighty whether he wanted to or not. And he did. He just wished ... well, it didn’t matter what he wished. He just prayed that whatever plan God had, he was working it so that everyone Sully cared about was safe. Losing his partner had gutted him. Losing Ollie? Well, he couldn’t take another hit like that.

The crunch of snow under his boots blended with the sounds of the ranch. A horse whinnied and another answered. A gate to the pasture slammed shut. Birds chittered in the trees and fluttered around the feeders.

Movement near the tree line caught his eye—a startled jerk of motion near a tree. An animal? Or a person? Not about to take any chances that someone had snuck onto the property, he changed direction, keeping his eyes on the area. The figure froze, then bolted, and Sully caught a glimpse of dark clothing disappearing into the deeper shadows of the forest. “Hey, federal agent! Stop!”

The person ignored him. Of course they did. He continued the pursuit and started gaining, getting close enough he could hear their ragged breathing. A branch snapped back, nearly catching him in the face.

He ducked and stumbled forward. She—because with the smaller frame and the way she moved, the intruder had to be a woman—appeared to be running blind, zigzagging, trying to throw him off her trail. She scrambled over a fallen log, then veered a sharp left. No strategic movements now—just the desire to put a lot of distance between them. He continuedto gain on her until she dove through a thicket, thorns catching at her clothes. He had to slow down to navigate the same thing, trying not to draw blood, and in those precious seconds, she vanished.

He pulled up and did a careful sweep, weapon ready, but the tracks were everywhere now, a crisscross of footprints in the snow showing how she’d scrambled in multiple directions, possibly trying to confuse her trail—or simply trying to figure out which way to go.

A black ball cap lay in the snow, a dark splash against the white. No doubt it had been snagged by a thorny branch and pulled off her head. The fact that she left it said shereallydidn’t want to be caught.

Sully picked up the hat. A blank Velcro rectangle stared back at him. A place for military or law enforcement patches. A tac hat. Interesting. He pulled out his phone and called Maya while his gaze swept the area. “We’ve got a situation here. Someone was watching the house.”

“Watching it? You ask him why?”

“It’s a her, from what I could tell. And no, I didn’t get a chance to ask her. When she spotted me, she ran. I chased her but lost her near the northwest section. I’ve no idea if she’s armed or not, so be careful if you spot her. She left behind a black tac hat.” She could have gotten the hat from anywhere.

“Are you sure she’s not someone who works here?” Maya asked.

“I realize I don’t know all the staff here, but why would one of them want to avoid me seeing them?”

“Could be someone was triggered by something and having a PTSD moment. If so, we definitely need to find her. Let’s see if anyone is missing.” She sighed. “If it’s not that, then I agree, it’s weird.”

Sully nodded. “All right, you get a head count. Anyone else you can ask to help out with the search?”

“A few.”

“I was coming to talk to you about putting together a team to take shifts monitoring the perimeter, but that can wait for now. Finding the girl is priority. I want to know who she is.” He called Piper and gave her a heads-up to keep an eye on Ollie and to make sure the alarm was armed.

“Got it,” she said. “Keep me updated.”

“Will do. Stay by your phone.”

“What’s wrong?” He heard Ollie’s question just before Piper hung up. His gut tightened. No one was getting to that kid without going through him.

Elenahad been with Mayain the main-house kitchen discussing her thoughts about working with Ollie when Sully’s call came through about the possible intruder. Maya had put it on speakerphone for Elena.

“I’ll get the head count,” Elena said when Maya hung up.

“Thanks. I’m going to ask some of the others to help with the search. There are some I can ask and some I can’t for obvious reasons.”

“Of course.” PTSD was a beast.

Maya raked a hand over her head, then tugged on her black ponytail. “Grab the radios and pass them out as you go. I’ll do the same. With Ollie here, we need to know if anyone has seen someone who shouldn’t be here.”

“On it.” Elena chewed her lip. “I’ll start with the dock, then move to the art therapy room. Rachel’s got a session with a client this morning so she can’t help, but we’ll have to warn her what’s going on. Then we’ll go cabin to cabin. Whoever we can’t find, we’ll try their cell phone. If they don’t answer the cell, we’ll have to get creative.”

“Yep. Take one of the master keys.” Maya went to her deskdrawer, unlocked it, and pulled out a key card. She handed it to Elena. “Knock first, of course, but if no one answers, use it.”