Page 58 of Hunted in Hope Town

She snorted, the old joke a kind of steadying force. She remembered. This was her life, not a borrowed one. Whatever happened, every piece of the future she wanted stemmed on what they could accomplish about this threat right here, right now.

She was no agent, so she set about doing what she could. Feeding everyone. While she worked to add some things to the meal to make it enough for three, Boyd and Ellis sat at the table and discussed details.

“First, we need to get the important things out of the way,” Ellis said. “Could someone have followed you?”

“No one followed me.”

“Are you sure?” Ellis persisted.

Boyd sighed. “I was covering my tracks so I didn’t get blindsided. No one followed me, but…” He shifted in his seat, looking pissed.

“But what?” Kirsten asked from the kitchen when neither of them seemed like they were going to explain the but.

“I wasn’t covering my tracks thinking I wouldn’t want to lead someone to you, because I thought I was headed for the person behind this. Not the target.”

“Which means he might not have been followed in the moment,” Ellis explained. “But it doesn’t mean they can’t be on their way.”

Chapter Eighteen

Kirsten cleaned up the dishes, while Ellis and Boyd went over what they both knew about the case.

Ellis didn’t like thinking about it like a case, because he didn’t want to go back to using work as some kind of shield against emotional hurt, but it essentially was a case. There was danger, and he had to get to the bottom of it, regardless of the personal aspect.

And now, whatever security that had accomplished since they got up here was potentially breached.

“We could set a trap,” Boyd suggested.

A suggestion Ellis had certainly considered but rejected because… “It’s too dangerous. Too many risks. And at the end of the day, it’s an unnecessary risk as long as we don’t know where this is coming from.”

Ellis had been so deep in it with Boyd and the case, he hadn’t realized Kirsten was paying attention from her place in the kitchen.

“Are those risks on my account?” she demanded.

Ellis glanced at her, noticed the battle light in her eyes. “Kirsten.”

“I realize I’m not an FBI agent, but I’m here because I am already in danger. Already a target. Already a victim of these people. You can’t move forward pretending like I’m just some…” She made a few hand gestures, like she couldn’t quite come up with the words.

“You’ve only just remembered,” Ellis said, trying to remain calm and reasonable. He got to his feet, hoping he could explain this in a way she would understand. “You haven’t even talked to a doctor. It’s not that we can’t take any risks, but we have to be careful and rational.”

She pointed around Ellis to the man still at the table. “Boyd doesn’t think so.”

“Boyd is not getting in the middle of a marital argument,” Boyd said, holding up his hands in surrender. “Ellis is lead on this one. I’m just going to follow orders.”

Kirsten scowled at him, and Boyd hunched his shoulders, but he didn’t relent.

Thank God. Ellis didn’t know how he was going to explain this to her in a way that would get her to back down, but it’d be harder if she and Boyd ganged up on him.

“A trap involves risks,” he told her.

“So did bringing me up here. So did going on that last mission. Hell, it was a risk every day I walked into a classroom, Ellis. Life is risk.”

He didn’t like how damn true that was, but nevertheless… “Yes, and we determine how to mitigate those risks. Particularly in dangerous situations.”

She moved around him, took his seat at the table, and pinned Boyd with a look. “What would your idea be for a trap?”

When Ellis tried to say something, she held up a hand, fixed him with her stern teacher look. “We can’t mitigate anything if we don’t discuss ideas,” she told him primly. Then she turned her gaze back to Boyd. “Now. Explain your idea.”

Boyd, clearly uncomfortable with being put in the middle, cleared his throat, but neither that nor the daggers Ellis was glaring his way were apparently enough to stop him. “I would suggest Ellis and I bundle up and pretend like we’re going to leave—not permanently. Hunt or act like we think someone is out there and have an idea to track them.”