I knelt once more at the exact spot where I’d seen the man. The soil was dry but not hard, and it was loose enough to take a print. Except there were no prints anywhere.

It made no sense. I’d seen the man for sure. This wasn’t a case of me seeing a shrub or stunted tree and being confused. He had been tall, maybe middle aged, with gray hair, trousers, and a sweater with some kind of pattern on it. He had been right goddamned here.

There was a double click of squelch as Top sent a wordless inquiry.

“Wait one,” I told them.

Ghost stood by me, his body rippling with tension that he was no doubt picking up from me.

I searched all around the spot.

Nothing.

Then as I straightened, I saw something. Not a man, but a faintness of a line that ran like a strand of silver through the leaves maybe two feet from where I stood.

Had I not seen that man, I would have walked right through it.

The wire ran across the various natural walking paths and vanished into the leaves. I followed it to a small metal box attached to the base of a pine tree. It was a kind I’d never seen before, but that didn’t matter. It was without a doubt an antipersonnel mine.

I tapped into the team channel. “Havoc Actual to Havoc Team, stop and listen.” I described what I found.

A few moments later, Andrea said, “Copy that, Outlaw. Same over here.”

And then Top verified that he and Belle found the same thing.

“What about the hostile?” asked Top.

“Sighting uncertain,” I said. “Stay alert.”

I scanned for laser trip wires but found nothing. There were more advanced versions of trip wires, but despite dealing in technology, Mitrović liked it old-school. Physical trip wires were still one of the most effective methods of ambushing foot patrols like ours. I could feel my heart thudding.

“Leave the wires intact and proceed with caution,” I advised. “Look for other traps.”

“Hooah,” they replied.

I stepped over the wire very carefully and then watched Ghost jump clear. He had been trained to avoid trip wires. Maybe he would have found it had he gone a few more yards into the forest. Or maybe he and I would be scattered across this whole slope. These are the things soldiers base their superstitions on. A lucky break? Maybe. Something felt deeply weird about all this. Why hadn’t Ghost seen the man? And where had the guy gone?

Two questions for which I had no answers.

We moved on with infinite care. The uneasy feeling lingered, following me like a shadow.