Chapter 16

The hours dragged until the appointed time when Sam was scheduled to call Michael. At the crack of dawn Sam was awake, itching to take action. He helped Harve around the place doing chores, but with the two of them working together, it didn't take long to finish.

"Hey Sam, wanna go huntin' with me? I got a rifle you can use."

"What do you shoot this time of year?"

Harve grinned. "Pretty much whatever I want. Those ranger guys don't care. They know we gotta feed families out here, so they pretty much let us have free rein. Besides, we ain't on park land, so they got no jurisdiction."

"I see." He drained his coffee cup and scooped up the last of his pancakes onto a fork. "Sure, I'll go along." Anything to get him away from Vivien. Funny how he wanted nothing better than to be near her during every crisis, but now, when he knew she'd lied to him about who she was, she was like poison to him. As if he'd never lied to get a woman into bed! He tried to justify it, that this was different because with her he was putting his life on the line. That didn't make him feel any better.

Before they left the cabin, Sam asked, "Mind if I check out this rifle?"

"Go right ahead, Sam." Harve got it out of a cabinet and gave him the gun and some ammunition. Sam set them all on the table. In a minute he had the entire gun disassembled. "You got anything to clean this thing? It's a mess."

"Yeah. I haven't used it in awhile. I like my shotgun right fine." He handed Sam the cleaning supplies. "That one there was my daddy's gun."

Sam glanced at him. "Are you okay with me using it?"

"Sure." He nodded, sat and watched Sam clean the gun. In very short time he had it put back together, in his hands, sighting down the barrel.

"It's a fine piece of hardware, Harve. Kind of reminds me of one of my first rifles. My dad taught me to be a sniper with it."

"Whoooowe, this should be interestin', huntin' with you!"

"Y'all be careful out there, boys. Watch out for the crazies." Liza warned with a warm smile and a kiss for Harve.

"Oh yeah, we'll be fine," Sam assured her. "Come on, Harve. I feel a need to practice for later on." He purposefully avoided Vivien's glance his way. That morning he'd taken care of her as professionally as he could, without making small talk or kidding around like he did when they first met. He was just part of a mission to her. He had to remember that.

Harve staked out his favorite tree for sighting deer, and Sam found one nearby that suited his purpose. Neither man spoke once they climbed up into the trees and waited. Sam thought it was too late in the morning to catch sight of a deer, but they were in some heavily wooded area. The shadows made it cooler, and he pulled the borrowed jacket around himself to keep the chill at bay. He heard a crackle of dry leaves and he scanned the horizon. He saw a large buck walking through the woods, oblivious to them. He sniffed the air, stopped, and put his muzzle to the ground in search of greens.

Sam smiled. You're mine, buddy. He sighted down the barrel which rested in a y formed by two branches, the stock against his shoulder to keep the gun steady. His legs wrapped tighter around the tree branch as he gently squeezed the trigger. He anticipated the recoil so he wouldn't fall out of the tree, and he watched as the bullet hit its mark. The buck shot up and started running, but Sam was a quick shot. Two more before the buck was out of range, and he went down hard.

"Woah, Sam! That was excellent shooting!" Harve was out of his perch and running toward the animal.

Sam shimmied down the tree and raced after him. By the time he arrived, Harve had given the buck the death blow to the head.

"Dang, that's one big buck! This'll keep me and Liza fed for a long time." He glanced up at Sam. "Unless you wanna take it with ya."

"No, he's all yours, Harve. Just think of it as payment for letting us stay with you for a while."

"Wow. Thanks, Sam!" He gazed at the animal and shook his head. "This is unbelievable. I've never seen anybody shoot like that before!"

"I told you, I've been trained as a sniper. First by my dad, and then by the military."

"They sure do a good job."

"Ain't that the truth." Sam grinned. "Question is, how are we going to get him back to your house?"

"We'll gut him, and then leave him here for now. Then we'll get the horses hooked up to the wagon, come back, and pick him up."

Sam had never cleaned a deer before, so he was in for a real treat. He'd been trained to do field medicine, including crude surgery in an emergency, but this was something completely different and on a grander scale. He held his breath now and then, hoping he wouldn't lose his breakfast. Afterward, Harve dug a hole and buried the entrails. Sam was a little unsure about leaving the carcass alone, but Harve didn't seem to think it was an issue. Indeed, when they returned with the horses, the buck was still there. Not even the forest scavengers had gotten to it yet.

They brought it back to the house and he and Harve hung it up in a tree. Liza went outside and they didn't see her again until she started bringing in pieces of the deer to salt down and prepare for processing. Sam cautiously glanced at Vivien. She looked as if she needed some fresh air. She was turning green.

"Viv, come on. Let's go out front." The deer was in back, so she wouldn't have to see it. It took some effort to squelch how he was feeling, to be a bigger person and show her some grace. "Here, I'll help you up." He removed the IV that morning, so she didn't have that to drag around. She was drinking plenty of fluids on her own and eating, getting her strength back.

"Sam, could you, um, help me get to the, uh, outhouse?"

He took a breath. "Sure."

When that task was taken care of, he helped her to a wooden glider in the front yard. He set her on it and put her foot up. She looked up at him with disappointment, and he realized that she hoped he would sit with her. He settled himself into an Adirondack style chair.

"I really don't know what I can say, Sam. I should have been honest with you up front, since we were going to be working together anyway." She paused. "If sorry isn't good enough, maybe you're not the honorable man I thought you were."

"I am, and I'm loyal to those who are honest to me. The ones I can trust. You, I'm not so sure I can trust." He wanted to. He really, really wanted to. But whether it was because she was so attractive, or whether it was because she was charming, smart, and sweet, he wasn't sure. Either way, it came down to the fact that he let his heart rule his head too many times, and now he was in the middle of a struggle for his life. He didn't want to make the wrong choice that could cost him and his friends everything.

"If I had my laptop with me right now, you could see my orders, what I was working on." She paused. "I had leads to where Fiona could be."

"So did I, but they're gone now. And so are yours."

"No, it's not gone."

"What, more tricks up your sleeve?" He glared at her.

"No! When you were out hunting, Liza showed me what else Harve brought home. The only thing that wasn't there was your laptop and the stuff we had in our pockets. Oh yeah, and my purse was gone. But everything else was there."

"If you're lying..."

"Never again, Sam. I swear to you, everything I tell you from now on is the truth."

The ice in his expression melted slightly. "Where's your laptop? I'll go get it."

Sam retrieved her computer, relieved that it was exactly where she said it would be. He gave it to her, and she started it up. Then he set up a chunk of wood for her to use as a prop for her leg and he sat beside her on the glider. As she showed him file after file, he was amazed. She had a lot more intel than he had, and a lot of good leads.

He whistled. "I'm glad Mike and Jesse are coming, because it's going to take us a while to track all these down." He used his index finger to run down a list of data and stopped on one line. "Holy crap, Viv. Look!"

She peered at the type. "Prescott, Tennessee?" She locked eyes with him. "That's here!"

"It makes sense now. Anson wants us all here in one place, and he's going to take us down at the same time. Like that general said, he's going to get rid of everything that Mike ever loved or protected. Killing us all at once would do it." He paused, and a chill ran through his body. "Maddie," he whispered.

"Who's Maddie?"

"You did your homework, honey, but not good enough apparently. Maddie is Mike's mom." He pulled the phone from his pocket and glanced at his watch. "It's a little early, but this is an emergency." He quickly dialed Michael's number. "Mike, it's Sam."
"Sam. You're early."

"Yeah, I know, but I had to call. Where's your Ma?"

"She's with a friend, and she's got protection."

"Did you know Anson is targeting not just Fi and me, but her too?"

"I suspected as much. That's why I got her protection. Don't worry, Sam. Just tell me where you are."

"Okay. These are the coordinates." He read them off the piece of paper. "You better hurry, Mike. I've got a feeling this is going down soon."

"We'll be there as soon as we can." Michael cut the connection.

"Sam, is there anything I can do?"

"Not really, Viv. But thanks. Thanks for asking."

She reached for his hand, and when he let her clasp it, she knew that he was beginning to trust her again.