Page 106 of Mountain Man’s Mystic Touch

Carver joins us. “Which buildings overlook the south lot?”

“The lodge,” the coordinator says. “The maintenance shed sits higher, but it faces the wrong direction. There’s an old ticket office near the west entrance.”

“Windows?” Rocco asks.

“Across the front and one side.”

“Does it have an upper floor?”

“Storage loft.”

Rocco looks at the photograph again. “How far?”

“Two hundred yards.”

I follow the line from the west entrance to our position. The ticket office would give someone a view of the parking area, the front of the lodge, and the route security used to reach the equipment road.

Rocco turns to Carver. “Don’t send everyone there.”

“You think Mercer expects us to identify it.”

“I think he expects movement. Give him some.”

They coordinate in low voices. Two marked vehicles leave the south parking area with their lights off and head toward the county road. From a distance, it will appear that deputies are expanding the search away from the festival.

Grant sends one employee toward the east row and another to the bomb squad vehicle. Everyone else remains in place.

Nothing about the activity looks urgent.

Rocco takes my arm. “You’re going with Grant.”

“No.”

“Loralee.”

“You said he may be using me to control your attention. Sending me somewhere else creates another movement for him to watch.”

“Standing here makes you visible.”

“Then put me where he expects me to be.”

Rocco stares at me long enough that I feel the force of everything he refuses to say.

The thought of using myself as bait frightens me. I don’t want to be brave enough to suggest it. I want Rocco to take me back to his cabin, lock the door, and hold me until nothing exists beyond the walls.

But doing exactly what Mercer expects has brought us here.

“If he can see us, he already knows you won’t leave me unprotected,” I say. “Pretend nothing has changed.”

“Nothing about this will be unprotected.”

“I know.”

His hand closes around the back of my neck. “You stay with Grant. You do not leave the truck. If he tells you to get down, you do it before you ask why.”

“I will.”

“I need more than that.”