"Now for the fun part.” Cam opened a black case he’d set on a stump. “Have you ever shot a gun?”

“Once when I was a kid.”

“Okay,” He held out a pistol so she could see it. “This is a Glock 17; standard police issue. It’s a 9mm. Here, hold it.”

Kristy took it in her hands and carefully turned it over and looked at each side. She fit her hand around the grip and held it out. It was lighter than she thought it would be, and it fit nicely in her hand.

Cam held up another piece. “This is the magazine.” He held his hand out and Kristy gave the gun back to him. He slid the magazine into the base of the pistol grip and handed it back to Kristy. He spent the next thirty minutes briefing her on the basics of gun safety. Assume every weapon is loaded and ready to fire. Never point a weapon at anything you don’t intend to shoot. Never shoot unless the area behind your target is clear. Never put your finger on the trigger unless you’re prepared to fire the weapon.

Cam held the weapon and demonstrated as he explained each point to Kristy. When he was finished and she could repeat them back to him, he turned away from Kristy and fired three shots at a tree ten yards away. When he turned back to Kristy she had her hands over her ears. He held the gun out for her to take it.

“Stand here.” Cam pointed to where he was standing when he had fired the gun. “Put one hand around the gun, and place your other hand around the bottom.” He pointed to the top of the gun. “These are the sights. Hold it out in front of you and line up your target in the sights.” Cam stood behind her and positioned her arms out in front of her.

“What am I aiming at?” She asked him.

“Just aim for that tree for now. Keep it steady. When you’re ready, go ahead and squeeze the trigger.”

Kristy set her feet apart and held out the gun. She took slow, steady breaths even though her heart was beating rapidly. She pulled the trigger and felt the gun jolt back in her hands. The sound startled her and she jumped back and turned to face Cam. She was breathing heavily.

They both looked back at the tree. Cam moved towards it and Kristy followed. There were three holes near the center of the trunk where Cam had shot, and a long mark on the right side where the bullet had skimmed the tree trunk.

“At least you hit it.” Cam smiled at Kristy. “You want to try again?” She nodded and smiled with excitement.

He went inside and got a box of ammunition and a few pieces of paper and empty beer cans. Cam lined up the cans on stumps and balanced some on tree branches, and he hung the larger paper targets on tree trunks.

“Okay,” He pointed at the cans. “Concentrate, and shoot those down.”

Kristy raised the pistol, lined up the sight like Cam had showed her, inhaled, and squeezed the trigger. The can didn’t move. She tried again, and it remained on the stump. She moved and aimed at one of the paper targets. Cam stopped her.

“You’re leaning back too much. Lean forward, into it.” He pushed her shoulders forward slightly. She shot at the target and was happy to see she hit the corner of the paper. It wasn’t inside the circle, but she felt good that is was close.

“Good,” Cam said behind her. “Now try the cans again.”

Kristy took aim at one of the cans that was set on a low branch. She fired and missed. Some of the leaves above the can moved.

“You were just a little high. Try again.” Cam said.

Kristy missed the can a second time. She shot until the magazine was empty without hitting a single can. Thoroughly frustrated, she turned around and looked at Cam. “What am I doing wrong?”

“Hey, don’t worry, it takes practice. You just have to keep trying. Don’t correct it so much. You were high, and then you were low. Soon you’ll take ‘em all down with just one shot.” He nudged her with his elbow.

“Yeah, I’d like to see you do that.” Kristy muttered.

“Give me that.” Cam held out his hand. She handed him the gun. He released the magazine, filled it, and slid it back in. In one fluid motion, he turned, positioned himself, and fired five shots. Kristy watched as every can fell to the ground. He turned to her with a smug smile and handed the gun back to her. “Just keep at it.”

“Show off.” Kristy shook her head and laughed.

They spent the next hour shooting at the targets. Cam showed her how to load and unload the gun and soon she was comfortable handling it. She was hitting her mark more often than not, and Cam was enjoying showing off his marksmanship.

“We’ve been out here awhile. It’s later than I thought.” Cam finally looked at the time. “We have to get going.”

They sat in a small diner right off the freeway. They had driven for almost thirty minutes down the hill to meet Cam’s friend from the police department.

“Who are we meeting?” Kristy asked Cam while they sat in a booth sipping their drinks.

“Juan Zero. We used to work S.W.A.T. together.”

Kristy raised an eyebrow at Cam and made him laugh. “What?” he asked.

“Juan Zero? It sounds made up.” She laughed.

“Well, it is, kind of. Juan is his real name, but he doesn’t like to tell people his real last name. He goes by Juan Zero when he meets new people. It’s a nerdy computer thing.”

“Okay,” Kristy nodded. She watched every person who walked through the door until she spotted a slender, clean-cut, Hispanic man. He looked around until his eyes met Cam’s, and he smiled and made his way across the diner to join them.

“Hey, man. Thanks for coming.” Cam rose from his seat to greet him.

“No problem, brother.” The man slapped Cam on the back and took Cam’s empty seat. Cam slid into the booth next to Kristy.

“Kristy, this is Juan.”

Juan took Kristy’s hand, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too. Thanks for coming.” Kristy shook his hand.

“Not a problem. So, let’s see what you’ve got.” Juan rubbed the palms of his hands together in anticipation.

Cam slid the laptop and the flash drive across the table to Juan. Juan traced his lip with his finger as he flipped through the pictures. He listened to Cam explain the situation and everything that had happened. Cam told him about the earpiece and hearing the man on the other end get excited about their discovery of the flash drive.

“It doesn’t make a whole lotta sense,” Cam said after a short pause, “These guys have been following her around and sitting outside her window. They bugged her apartment, and over what? This is the only thing we found that seems to have any significance to it.”

“Kristy,” Juan looked up her, “How well did your brother know his way around a computer? How tech savvy was he?”

Kristy thought a moment. “He never seemed to have trouble, but I don’t know if he knew how to do anything more than the average person. He may have learned some tricks while he was in the Army.” Juan nodded, and then he turned his attention back to the computer in front of him.

“Can you get past the password?” Kristy asked Juan.

Cam leaned in towards Kristy. “He can do it. He can get into anything. In S.W.A.T. we used to call him the Trojan Man because he could hack into any kind of system.”

“That’s not the only reason they called me that.” Juan winked at her. It made all three of them laugh. Then Juan turned serious. “I’m not quite the magician Cam makes me out to be, but I’ll do what I can.” He turned to Cam. “But I don’t think I should do it here.”

“Yeah.” Cam nodded. It was a risky thing to do in public. “How long do you think it will take? We need to know what we’re dealing with.”

“I know you do.” said Juan. “If I take it home now I can have it for you first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good.” They all got up and walked toward the door. Cam gave the waitress twenty dollars and told her to keep the change. He placed his hand between Kristy’s shoulders and escorted her out the door. Outside, they shook hands once more and climbed into their separate vehicles.

“Tomorrow morning? Eight o’clock?” Juan pointed at the diner they had just left.

“Sounds good, man. Thanks.” Kristy and Cam waved and watched Juan drive away. Cam started his truck, but instead of heading back up the hill towards the cabin, he went across the street to a little market.

“I’m gonna pick up a few things for dinner.”

* * *

They carried in the two bags from the market and Kristy started to put them away. They had gotten some asparagus and a bag of small potatoes, and some orange juice to go with breakfast. Cam wanted to buy a bottle of wine as well, but Kristy assured him she was fine with the beer he already had. It made him smile and he grabbed a six-pack of bottled beer.

While Kristy was in the kitchen, Cam got out the shotgun he brought and a box of shotgun shells. He put on the hat he had taken out of Alex’s bag and slipped into a camouflage vest with a large pouch hanging off the back. He filled the pockets on the vest with as many of the shells as he could fit.

“Are you going somewhere?” Kristy stood in the doorway and looked at Cam. He could see her anxiety building at the thought of being there alone.

“I’m going to go kill us some dinner.” He held up the gun and smiled. “Lots of birds live around here.” He walked closer to her. “Don’t worry. I won’t go very far, and I’ll be back soon. It’ll be fine.”

“Okay, you’re right. It’ll be fine. I’m just a little nervous.” Kristy’s cheeks heated slightly, embarrassed to be scared of something so menial. She lived alone, for God’s sake. “I’ll just…” She looked around the cabin searching for something that would keep her busy until he returned.

“Can you build a fire?” Cam asked, aware that she would be more comfortable alone if she was focused on something. “Could you also cut up the vegetables so I can throw them on the grill when I get back? Just wrap them in some foil.”

Kristy nodded. “Sure, I can do that.”

Cam opened a cabinet near the table. “Here, I have this radio. If the batteries are dead, there are more in this drawer. There are also some cards in here.”

Kristy took the radio and turned it on. It was programmed to a station she didn’t recognize, but it was an oldies station and she liked it. “Thanks. You go ahead, I’ll be fine.” She said to reassure them both. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

“See you soon.” Cam headed out the door.

Kristy stood in the middle of the room and looked around after he left. It was the first time she had been alone in almost twenty-four hours. She thought of Ariana and Jordan and dug out her cell phone. She had missed calls and texts from both of them wondering if she was alright and where she was. Ariana’s message said that she had stopped by Kristy’s apartment after she didn’t hear from her that morning. Jordan’s text asked where she was and said he hoped Kristy was okay. Kristy sent Ariana a quick text telling her she was with Cam and everything was fine, and that she would call soon. Then she dialed Jordan’s number. He picked up on the first ring.

“Kristy, where are you? Why haven’t you been answering the phone?” Jordan’s voice was filled with worry.

“I’m fine. I’m with Cam.” She tried to calm him.

“Your brother’s friend who you don’t like?”

“Yeah, but we settled that last night. He told me some things I didn’t know about the past. We’re good.”

“Why didn’t you call me last night?”

“I did call you. You didn’t answer. I called the police and made a report about the cars sitting outside my apartment, and then I called Cam and he came and got me.”

“Where are you?”

“He took me up to his hunting cabin. It’s nice up here.”

“What are you going to do after that?”

“I don’t really know. I’m waiting for Cam to get back.”

“He left you alone?” Jordan raised his voice.

“Yes. Relax. I’ll be fine. He knows people. He’s going to help.”

“I wish I could be there with you.” He said sweetly. Kristy melted.

“I know. I wish you could too. I’ll call you as soon as I know more.”

“Are you sure you can trust him?”

“Absolutely.” She reassured him.

“How can you be sure?”

“Alex trusted him.” She said simply. It was true. If Alex trusted him she was sure she could too.

“If you say so.” He didn’t sound convinced. “Please let me know what’s going on. I want to know you’re safe.”

“I will.” Kristy beamed into the phone.

When they hung up, Kristy left her phone on the table and went to retrieve some firewood. Task number one: start a fire.