Page 26 of Shadow of Hope
“Micha was just filling me in on leads, and he said you got several of the guys to tell you about their boot brands. That along with the pictures he took should help the staff at Veritas narrow down the boot style.”
Micha’s gaze flashed to Ryan. “You got them on board to process our evidence?”
“Reid did. They’ll expedite your catapult, and you can give them the boot print pictures, too.”
“That’s wonderful,” Ava said. “Your team’s connections will really help, won’t they?”
“Let’s hope so,” Micha said. “But don’t get too excited yet. The person who built the catapult could’ve worn gloves. And there’s no way we can afford to get a Veritas staff member up here to process the area and look for additional evidence.”
“True that,” Ryan said. “But the catapult and boot print are a good start. And we should grab the rock, too.”
“Already done.”
“Figured you’d have taken it. Some investigators think you can’t get prints off such rough surfaces, but Sierra isn’t just any forensic tech, as you’ll see when you meet her.” Ryan looked between her and Micha. “I’ll keep an eye on these guys for the next few days. Might learn something else helpful.”
“Be careful,” she said. “This person could be dangerous.”
“Ryan can handle himself.” Micha laid a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “He’s a former police officer, and he’s carrying too.”
She’d forgotten about that fact as the men always concealed their weapons well with an overshirt or jacket.
“Besides,” Ryan said. “Your fellow participants might all be innocent, and someone else located you up here.”
“But how and who?”
Ryan shrugged. “Depending on time, the person after you might’ve joined us for an earlier session to see where we went during this week. Or one of these guys is in on it and brought a phone along so you could be tracked.”
She shook her head. “This is all getting complicated.”
“Not overly,” Micha said. “Not compared to some of the investigations I’ve handled. At least not yet. But don’t worry. No matter what we learn, we’ll figure it out.”
“You’ll have our whole team working with you, and you can’t ask for better investigators.” Ryan brushed his knuckles across his chest and cast a playful grin at Micha. “’Course some of us better than others, but…”
Micha rolled his eyes, then looked at his watch. “We should get going. I want to leave plenty of time to get back before dark. Never know when we could encounter a problem.”
“You mean from someone coming after me?”
“No. Your stalker likely doesn’t know you’re leaving so hasn’t planned to follow us. I’m thinking more like rough terrain. Animals. Things like that.”
“Watch out for those sneaky spiders out to get you too.” Ryan grinned. “Wouldn’t want you screaming like a little girl.”
Micha clenched his fingers. “I know you’re just trying to lighten things up, but thanks for throwing me under the bus like that.”
“So you haven’t told the group about your spider phobia?” Ryan kept his gaze pinned to Micha. “You usually do that day one when you tell them to be careful near wood piles.”
“Well, I didn’t, all right?”
“It’s okay,” Ava said, wanting to ease his discomfort. “I already figured it out.”
Micha gritted his teeth.
“We might all joke about it, but he has a legit reason,” Ryan said. “He was bit by a poisonous one in the service and almost died.”
She looked at Micha. “I’d say that was legit.”
“I suppose,” he said. “But I should be able to overcome it.”
“You’re not superhuman, you know?” Ryan grinned again. “Go ahead and leave that to me.”
