Luke lets out a low breath. “You think they’re watching this place?”
“I know they are,” I answer. “The truck didn’t park itself twice, the casings didn’t bury themselves last week, and that note wasn’t a coincidence.”
Lane shifts his weight slightly, eyes narrowing just enough to tell me he’s already running through the same angles I am. “So what’s the play?”
I look out over the land again, letting it settle into something clearer instead of the mess it felt like five minutes ago.
“First thing, we lock this place down,” I say. “No more open access. Anyone on this property is either working for us or known to us. No exceptions.”
Wade nods immediately. “I can handle that.”
“I know you can.”
“Second?” Luke asks.
“We go back through everything we pulled out,” I continue. “Not just what it is, but who it ties to. Names in that ledger, codes on the tags, anything that points back to someone still active and we take pictures of it all.”
Dusty snorts softly. “You’re digging into old dirt that people made a point of burying.”
“Yeah,” I say, meeting his gaze. “Because someone’s still protecting it.”
That lands.
“Third,” I go on, not giving anyone time to talk me out of it, “we find Colt before he finds another angle.”
Wade’s head snaps slightly in my direction. “You really think he’s running this?”
“No,” I say. “I think he’s part of it. And right now, he’s the only piece we’ve got in front of us.”
Lane’s quiet for a beat. “You planning on walking up and asking him?”
“No,” I answer. “I’m planning on making him uncomfortable enough to move.”
Luke huffs a short laugh. “That sounds like a great way to start something we don’t understand yet.”
“It already started,” I say. “We’re just behind it.”
Silence settles again, different this time.
It isn’t uncertainty, it’s momentum.
Wade rubs a hand over his jaw. “And Riley?”
There it is, the piece that doesn’t fit clean into any plan.
I don’t hesitate.
“She doesn’t leave my sight,” I say. “Same for Hadley.”
Luke glances toward the house, then back at me. “You think they’re targets?”
“I think they’re leverage,” I answer. “And I think there is jealousy and I’m not giving anyone the chance to use them like that.”
Dusty pushes off the tailgate slowly, boots hitting dirt with a soft thud. “You’re talking about pulling everyone into this whether they like it or not.”
“I’m talking about keeping them alive,” I say, sharper now. “You’ve seen how this works. You think whoever’s behind that ledger stops at threats?”
He doesn’t answer because he doesn’t need to, we all know the answer to that. "This guy could stop at nothing to cover his crime. We just don't know."
