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“Maybe not. But see, it’s…I guess…”

“You didn’t want to see it.”

“No. I don’t know what I told myself. He was a sort of bigger-than-life hero until a few months ago when…well, my humanitarian aid team was attacked and I saw what he did.”

James nodded. “And you wish you hadn’t.”

“I don’t know. Yes. No. I mean, now I know who he is.”

“That’s just one part of him. I don’t know him, but most warriors section off their lives. They can see the bigger picture. This is just one piece of it.”

“It’s a pretty significant piece. Feels like there are alternatives to violence.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on who’s perpetrating the violence. Sometimes the violence walks up, and all you can do is react.”

Funny thing for him to say. And maybe he knew it from experience. He glanced at her. “Or maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about and I’ve been reading too many Jack Carr books.” He smiled then.

Okay, see, she’d totally overreacted. Maybe…

“He sounds like a man who is just trying to figure out how to make the world a better place.”

She made a hum of agreement. Yes, he probably was.

And she was on that mission too.

They wove into the mountains, up hills and into valleys, while John Denver sang about country roads and sunshine on his shoulders, and finally she spotted the outskirts of a small town, the sign for Shelly on the shoulder.

Steep forested slopes barricaded one side of the road, while the other fell down to the dark blue of Shelly Lake, winding along the highway. Sagebrush dotted the land, along with towering pines. Homes with long winding driveways overlooked the lake.

They drove into town, passing a couple cafés and coffee shops as well as eateries and motels. She spotted a waterfront area.

“Cute town,” James said.

She expected him to stop.

Instead, he kept going, through town and then out, along the highway.

“Where are you going?”

“I got a look at your pin yesterday. I think I can find this.”

Huh. “We could stop and ask.”

He nodded but said nothing.

Weird.

A little way out of town, he turned onto another paved road. The landscape here had thinned, and they passed farmhouses and A-frames and even a vineyard, then the road became dirt, spongy with rain.

And it occurred to her, a fist deep in her gut, that James seemed to know exactly where he was going.

A secluded two-story timber-framed cabin came into view, rustic charm amidst the wilderness, with a wraparound porch, and beyond that, another lake.

The gravel driveway crunched under the RV’s tires.

An SUV sat in the driveway. And as they got closer, she spotted a child’s plastic playset in the grass.

James pulled in and put the RV in park. Glanced at her. “Hope this is the right place. Do you know these people?”