Page 19 of Shared By the Mountain Men Triplets

“Watching a corridor men are using for unknown criminal activity.”

I pause to take a deep breath because I need them to listen, not just react. “Right now, the evidence points to some sort of human activity affecting wildlife movement. It might be poachers, illegal outfitters, or maybe dumping. It could be something bigger, but we don’t know, because we don’t have people on camera.”

Rhett’s jaw flexes.

“My job, a job I’ve done before, is to identify where the trail cams need to go. That’s it. I’m not going to approach anyone. If I see someone, I’m not going to engage.”

Rhett’s mouth is pressed in a line so tight, it looks like it hurts.

“Your supervisor asked you to do this?” Boone asks.

“He asked me to identify movement corridors based on nocturnal activity patterns.”

Cade shakes his head. “Did a lawyer write that for him?”

Rhett plants his hands on the table and leans toward me. “You can go, but you’re not going alone.”

“I don’t need yourpermission to go.”

As Rhett’s face hardens into granite, Boone reaches out and briefly touches my arm. “What Rhett’s trying to say is that we’ll go along to make sure you’re safe.”

“We’re your guides.” Rhett emphasizes each word like it’s a complete sentence.

“You’re my guides when I’m evaluating terrain and moving through areas where I need local knowledge. If I go out there with you at night, I’m not invisible anymore. I won’t look like a biologist observing a wildlife corridor if I have three Army Rangers covering me.”

I look around at each of them, stopping at Cade. “And, as you said yesterday, if someone’s using the cache site, we don’t want them to get nervous and shut it down before we find out what they’re doing.”

Cade is unreadable as he looks back at me. Rhett’s eyes are boring a hole in the side of my head, but I stay firm.

“Your presence out there at night would compromise the observation.”

“We can stay back,” Boone says.

“No, you can’t.”

His brows lift, but I refuse to back down just because he’s looking at me a certain way.

“If something goes wrong, you’ll act. Maybe you’d be right to act, but it would change everything. My supervisor approved me to scout camera placement from a concealed position. He did not approve me bringing armed civilians along. If this becomes an investigation, your presence creates problems I can’t explain away.”

Despite my reasoning, the men aren’t done objecting, and even though I absolutely don’t need their approval, I continue to make my case. I remind them that I’ve worked in grizzly country and rattlesnake habitats, and I know how to stay safe and sit still. I remind them how much terrain we’ve covered in the past week, and how much I’ve learned about the area.

Eventually, they run out of arguments and shift the conversation into a planning session that involves them imposing a lot of rules about where I go, when I go, how I’ll stay in contact, and how I need to stay put, even when getting closer would mean gathering better data.

I go along with most of it, both because it aligns with plans I already made and because I value their input.

When I indicate where I intend to position myself, Cade adjusts my approach to avoid a slope with loose shale. “You hit that in the dark, you’ll slide and make a lot of noise, or you’ll twist an ankle.”

Good to know, so I adjust the route.

After sitting at their table and forming a plan with an exhausting level of detail, they lead me out into the field for a short hike to verify one of the alternate routes.

All three men are quieter than usual. Rhett moves like there’s a thundercloud following him, Boone’s usual warmth is cooler, and Cade says next to nothing.

In the afternoon, I go back to the motel to take a nap and eat something with more substance than trail mix. Then I shower, braid my hair, check my fieldkit, and head back to the ridge, where the setting sun turns the cabin’s windows gold.

One of Rhett’s many requirements was that I set out from the cabin, because a truck with a federal plate parked alongside the road would be too visible.

As always, Rhett meets me in the driveway. Boone appears a moment later with a thermos of coffee, and something in my chest wobbles at the sight of it. They’re supporting my work, even while they object to it.