A no trespassing sign warned him they were approaching the property line. A thick swathe of scrub and bushes blocked visibility and he was forced nearer to the cabin than he’d planned. That was the nature of any op. Adjust as necessary.

A narrow game path ran behind a gnarly old box elder. He went to take another step when something made him glance down. He might not have seen it if it hadn’t been for the drop of water about to fall from the wire strung tightly between two tree trunks low to the ground. He froze—grabbing Yael’s arm with his uninjured right hand to stop her from moving forward.

“Tripwire,” he murmured. “Stand completely still.”

12

Tripwire?

A freaking tripwire?

What the…?

Yael’s heart thundered in her chest and she found it difficult to inhale especially wearing the constricting flak jacket and several layers of clothes.

Shane gave her a shit-eating grin that reminded her exactly how handsome he was. He looked positively thrilled by this development. He probably trained for this sort of scenario every day.

“Is that an explosive?” she asked, gripping the bicep of his bad arm so tightly it was a wonder he didn’t wince. He did gather the walking poles out of her hands, probably so she didn’t accidentally blow them up.

“Not sure. Could be an explosive but much more likely to be some kind of early warning system rigged to prevent anyone sneaking up on him.”

“Oh my god. He’s here, isn’t he?”

Shane’s hunch had been dead on. Lloyd Zenko was here and the sicko had boobytrapped his own property.

“I’d say there is a very high likelihood he’s here. Yes.”

“My heart is pounding,” she admitted, letting go of him and putting her hand to her chest. Everything had suddenly become a lot more real.

“That’s my fault. Sorry. Don’t step anywhere. I want to quickly check the area before we move. I doubt Zenko has many of these else the local wildlife would be setting them off constantly, but the fact he is this worried tells me not only is he here—”

“He’s also guilty as hell,” she whispered back. “Do you think Evi1Geni-us is here too?”

“I doubt it. EG is too careful to risk getting caught. This Zenko character is a loose end that I doubt EG gave enough thought to. EG wanted to send a message to the FBI,” he said, bitterness dripping from every word, “but he forgot he was going to leave more clues as to his identity when he did so.” Shane scanned the ground behind them to confirm it was clear, then took her gently by the arm and led her to a rock which he checked to make sure was free of wires and explosives, before propping the walking sticks upright against it.