Page 175

“We’ll have to compare the number to the old records,” Judy said.

She turned it over.

Letters had been scratched across the back.

HE KNEW.

“Emily’s letter said one of the brothers had their father’s badge,” Judy said.

“And now it’s here,” Wolf replied.

“Waiting for us to find it.”

This entire camp was a trail of planted evidence.

The caller wanted us to suspect the Mills family.

That didn’t mean they were innocent.

But it meant we couldn’t trust anything we found unless we could prove when and how it got here.

A gunshot cracked across the lake.

I grabbed Judy and pulled her down behind the dock.

The bullet struck the wooden piling above us.

Wolf and Havoc returned fire toward the flash.

Max crouched beside me, waiting for my command.

Judy was beneath me.

One of my arms was around her waist. Her back was pressed against my chest, and her hand covered mine.

“You hit?” I asked.

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Mace, I’m fine.”

Another shot struck the dock.

Wood splintered above Judy’s head.

I tightened my hold and dragged her behind a low bank.

Wolf and Havoc moved to either side of us, trying to locate the shooter.

The light on the opposite shore appeared again.

Not a flashlight.

Flames.

A line of fire raced along the dry grass beside the lake.