Which, of course, was exactly what he’d done a month ago. He’d had very good reason, but she would never know that part.

He took the precious piece of metal from her hand and moved to flank the back door, nodding to her to take the other side, just like they’d done at the yurt. “We’ll go in fast and search the place.”

The cabin was one story, but larger than many of the old lakeside cottages. It had a big kitchen with a walk-in pantry, dining area, living room, one bathroom, and three bedrooms of roughly equal size.

He relocked the rear door once they were inside. After the initial search, he did a second check of both doors and every window, making sure the cabin was secure. All the windows had exterior shutters and interior curtains. From the outside, no one would know they were here.

He looked at Audrey in the dark room, wishing he could turn on a brighter light than the red one. Even with the closed curtains and shutters, he wouldn’t take the chance that light could slip through.

But the red light was enough to see she shivered in her soaking wet, mud-coated jeans and drenched raincoat. “If there are clothes in one of the bedrooms that fit you, you should change into something dry.”

He circled the old woodstove in the corner of the room by the picture windows that overlooked the lake. Fully enclosed in black iron, the woodstove would pump out heat, but wouldn’t emit light. Rain and darkness would hide smoke from the chimney. It was tempting to build a fire to cut the chill in the room and give Audrey’s coat a chance to dry, but a heat camera could pick it up.

Too risky.

“I’ll grab blankets from one of the beds. You can bundle up and get warm.”

“What about you?” she asked.

He’d been thinking about this the entire long journey to the cabin and knew she wouldn’t like it. “I need to head back out. I’m going to hike up to the van with the signal jammer. Disable the system so I can call NSWC and radio the SEALs.”

“But you said it’s too dangerous without NVGs.”

“Too dangerous for you.” It was the simple truth, and she knew it.

She swallowed. “I understand. There’s a lot at stake here.”

He nodded, thinking of Jeb’s throat, Cohen’s finger, the guy who took a shot at them in the woods, and the man on the ledge. “Getting communication back online is our top priority.” He stepped toward her. “I’ll leave you with the gun.”

“No way. Out there, you’ll need it more than I do.”