Page 53 of Gerard

Bernie entered the living room from her bedroom dressed in the worn T-shirt, the shorts she’d worn to bed and her dingo boots. In her hands was her shotgun.

“You should stay in the house,” he whispered.

“Yeah,” she said. “That’s not going to happen. Over the past two nights, they’ve turned my pigs loose, destroyed my property and poisoned my dog. I really hope they’re back tonight because I’ll be waiting.”

“That was my plan. No need for both of us to lose sleep.”

She snorted and closed the distance between them. “I won’t sleep, knowing they might be back. I want a shot at catching them in the act.”

“Same,” Gerard said. “We need to put an end to this.”

“So, I’m not going back to bed,” she said. “How do you want to play this?”

“We could both hang out on the porch and watch for movement,” Gerard said.

“Pretend I’m one of your Marine teammates. What would you do?”

“I’d have him positioned where he could see the house and barn. Then, I’d go out to the field and lay low in the shadows where I could monitor the back of the barn and the pigpen. Plus, we’d keep in touch via radio headsets. I only have one radio headset.”

“You have a cell phone. I have a cell phone. If something goes south near one, we could call the other,” she offered.

Gerard’s lips pressed together. “I don’t feel right leaving you alone unless you’re locked safely in the house.”

“And I’m not going to stay in the house and do nothing while someone attacks my animals and property." She lifted her chin. “I’m a good shot.”

“I’m sure you are.” Gerard didn’t like her being exposed to the attacker, but he didn’t have a choice. “We can both hang out close to the house and see what happens.”

She shook her head. “Someone needs to stay close to the house and barn, and someone else should be where they can see what’s happening with the pigs. If you want to stay by the house, I’ll guard the pigs.” She reached for the doorknob.

His hand closed over hers. “You’re a stubborn woman,” he said.

She lifted her chin. “I’ve had to be to survive.”

He bent and captured her mouth with his in a quick, hard kiss. “Don’t change a thing. But for tonight, you’ve got the house; I’ll take the field. Deal?”

She nodded. “Deal.”

They slipped out the door. Clinging to the shadows, they moved around to the corner of the house.

Gerard pointed to a large bush.

Bernie slipped into the shadows and hunkered low. From her position, she would be able to see two sides of the house, the front of the barn and the pasture where the llamas, donkey and goats lived.

Gerard slipped through the shadows and along the edge of the watermelon field to a point where he could watch the pigpen and the back of the barn. He could just see the corner of the house where Bernie lay hidden in the bushes.

Now, all they had to do was wait.

An hour passed.

His phone, on silent, vibrated in his front pocket. He leaned over his phone, covering it so that no light would shine out from his position, and read the message.

Anything?

He grinned.

Bernie was someone who liked to get things done. Sitting still for hours on a stakeout had to be driving her nuts.

As he replied, he hoped she was shading the light from her phone.