“If so, that means they’re watching us watching them.” Dungar’s dark eyes met mine, his expression somber in the low light. Even exhausted after days of investigation, with his hair slightly mussed from running his fingers through it, I found him breathtaking.
“Look at the locations.” I redirected my focus to the map spread across his desk. “First the outer perimeter was breached, then the storage areas, now they’re targeting the pens directly.”
Dungar nodded, arranging colored pins on the map. Red for confirmed breaches, blue for suspected activity, yellow for areas we’d reinforced. “They’re working their way inward, methodically testing our defenses.”
“This isn’t Mary’s group doing habitat enhancement.”
“No.” He placed the last pin, stepping back to assess the pattern. “This is someone else, but who?”
We’d been at this for hours, reviewing every scrap of evidence since discovering our original suspects were innocent. The humiliation of that mistake still pinched, but we’d moved past it, determined to find the real culprit before any luminooks were harmed.
I stretched, my back protesting the hours of my bent posture. “I need to move. Fresh air might help us think.”
Dungar’s eyes softened as he watched me roll my shoulders. “Stakeout?”
“You read my mind.” I reached for my jacket. “Let’sgo remove that spiderweb that’s interfering with the camera pointed at the back of the maintenance shed.”
He was already collecting his equipment belt, flashlight, and radio. Each item went into its designated place on his belt. “I’ll take the east approach, you cover the west.”
“Planning to flank a spider?” I smiled, a spark of teasing cutting through my fatigue. “I like how you think, Sheriff.”
His answering smile made my heart stutter. “That’s why we make a good team, Deputy.”
The night air bit through my jacket as we slipped out the back door, avoiding the boardwalk out front that might alert anyone watching. Dungar’s hand found the small of my back, guiding me through the shadows between buildings with the confidence of someone who’d memorized every inch of the town.
“Stay low,” he whispered as we approached the maintenance area. “The moon’s bright enough to cast shadows, and our suspect could be near, watching.”
I nodded, crouching beside him behind a stack of lumber. From this vantage point, we could see both the back of the shed and the path leading toward the luminook pens. My pulse quickened as I scanned the silvery landscape, my every sense heightened.
Dungar pointed, his breath warm against my ear. “What do we have here?”
A shadow slid through the darkness near the shed door, moving slowly, carefully. They’d dressed in loose dark clothing and wore a ski mask to disguise their face.
“It’s them,” I whispered, and he nodded.
The person paused at the door, testing it, then moved around to the window.
“They’re checking to see if anyone’s inside,” I breathed.
Dungar’s body tensed beside mine. “Heading toward the pens now.”
They moved quickly, keeping to the shadows, using terrain features for cover. They knew exactly where to step to avoid the most visible areas.
“Let’s go,” Dungar growled.
We burst from our hiding spot, Dungar veering right while I cut left, executing the flanking maneuver we’d silently agreed upon. The figure froze for a second, looking our way, then bolted around the luminook pens and out into the vast plain beyond.
“Sheriff’s department. Stop,” I shouted, my boots pounding the ground as I gave chase.
They glanced back once, then redoubled their speed, fleeing across the plain, heading for the tree line where the darkness would give them plenty of places to hide. They moved with the confidence of someone familiar with the landscape, cutting across uneven ground without hesitation.
Dungar was faster than me, his longer legs eating up the distance, but even he was struggling to close the gap. The intruder ducked between two large boulders, briefly disappearing from view.
“Cut right,” Dungar called.
I veered sharply, hoping to intercept them as theyemerged, but they’d already changed direction. By the time we reached the trees, the figure had vanished into the dense forest, leaving only disturbed underbrush behind.
Breathing hard, I stopped beside Dungar. “They knew exactly where they were going.”
