“That was delicious. Thank you.” Kristy swallowed her last bite of the goose Cam had shot. It went perfectly with the potatoes and asparagus Cam had cooked on the table-top grill he kept at his cabin.

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t know you could cook so well.” Kristy sat back in her chair and sipped the Blue Moon out of a bottle.

“There’s a lot you don’t know I can do.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“I can play the guitar.” Cam smiled proudly.

“Really? I love the guitar! Where’d you learn that?” Kristy’s eyes lit up and she smiled.

“My uncle taught me.” Cam shrugged.

“You’ll have to play me something sometime.”

“It’s a deal.” Cam rose and cleared both of their plates from the table. On his way back to the small table he dug through a drawer and found a deck of cards. He held it up and shook it in the air. “I can also play a mean game of poker.”

“Hmm, that sounds like a challenge.” Kristy sat forward and got ready.

Cam sat down and shuffled the cards and Kristy emptied the last of the beer into her mouth. “Five card stud or Texas hold ‘em?”

Kristy shrugged, “It doesn’t matter. Let’s play hold ‘em. I’m going to make you cry either way.”

“Oh, big talker, huh?” Cam dealt them each two cards. “I don’t have to explain the rules, do I?” Cam teased.

“What are we playing for?” Kristy asked before she picked up her cards.

Cam shrugged. “There’s a bag of M&M’s in the kitchen.” He rose to get the bag and a beer for each of them. “I’ll feel bad when you owe me money after you lose.” He taunted her.

They both picked up their cards and looked at them. Kristy set hers face down on the table and grabbed a handful of M&M’s. She counted out twenty-five and put the rest back in the bag. Cam did the same, and then turned over the first three cards. The flop was ace, jack, seven.

Kristy picked up the corners of her cards and glanced at them again before she put five M&M’s in the middle. Cam looked at his cards again and then studied Kristy’s face. His fingers twitched on top of his cards as he looked for some sign of what she might be holding.

“Man, you don’t give anything away, do you?” Cam said after he had been looking at her for a few minutes. She just smiled at him from across the table, her green eyes dancing. He tapped his fingers on the edge of the table and pushed five M&M’s into the middle. He flipped the fourth card over to reveal a four.

Kristy thought for a few seconds, popped the cap off of her beer, and tilted it upward. “Check.”

Cam nodded his head and tapped the table indicating that he would check as well, and then he flipped the final card. It was a ten. He looked up at Kristy. She showed no emotion, but she counted out ten M&M’s and placed them in the middle with the others. “Ten.” She stated calmly.

Cam picked up his two cards and looked at them. He quickly put them back down and pushed them forward. “I fold. It’s yours.”

Kristy smiled and used one hand to scoop the M&M’s toward her pile.

“Did you have the straight?” Cam leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“You’re not going to show me?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” she laughed. “No, I didn’t have the straight.” She held up her two cards so he could see them. She had an eight and a three.

“Wow. That’s embarrassing.” Cam pushed the cards toward her and ran his hand through his hair. “You are disturbingly good at this.”

“I warned you.” She smirked at him and gathered up the cards. “Do you want to play again? Or do you want to just give me the bag of M&M’s and call it a night?”

“No way. We’re playing again. Your deal.” Cam cracked open his beer and took a sip. Kristy shuffled and dealt them each two cards.

They each looked at their cards and Kristy flipped the first three. They were ten, ten, six. Cam bet ten M&M’s. Kristy counted ten M&M’s and called his bet. She dealt the next card. It was a queen. Cam bet again. This time he pushed forward five M&M’s. Again, Kristy called his bet. She smiled at him and flipped the last card. It was a five.

“Check.” Cam said as he tapped his fingers on the table.

Kristy tapped her fingernails a few times and finally decided to bet. She counted ten M&M’s and put them in the middle.

“Oh no,” Cam said, “I’m not falling for that again. I call.” He put his remaining M&M’s into the middle along with five more from the bag.

“Okay,” Kristy said, “show ‘em.”

“Two pair. Tens and fives.” Cam announced proudly as he flipped his two cards over. He had a five and an ace.

“Ouch,” Kristy said before she showed hers. Sure that he had won, Cam reached for the pile of M&M’s. As he did Kristy flipped her cards and revealed a ten and a six. “I flopped a full house.”

“Are you serious?” Cam’s eyebrows shot up. He shook his head and sipped his beer as he watched her scoop the pile of M&M’s toward her. “Where did you learn to play?”

“Alex taught me everything I know about playing poker.”

Cam turned his eyes away from Kristy and chuckled. “Yeah. He used to beat me all the time.”

There was an awkward silence between them as they both let their eyes wander around the room. Cam took a handful of M&M’s out of the bag and began to sort them by color. It made Kristy smile. “I used to do that.” She told him. “Which ones do you eat first?”

Cam glanced up from his piles and smiled shyly. “The brown ones.” Kristy put an M&M in her mouth and waited for him to explain his choice.

“Chocolate is already brown,” Cam started, “so I feel like the brown ones are the most boring. The colors give the other ones more personality, so I like to keep them around longer.” He shrugged and went back to sorting his M&M’s. Kristy wasn’t sure what to say. It seemed like such an innocent, child-like act. She found it very endearing. When Cam was finished sorting, he looked back at Kristy. Their eyes met and the mood shifted.

“How long will we stay here?”

“I don’t know.” Cam munched on an M&M. “Depends what Juan finds. Maybe he’ll need more time and we’ll stay and wait. Maybe he’ll find something we can’t handle and we’ll have to alert someone else; someone bigger. Tell them what we’ve got. I have no idea.”

“Are you sure you have time for all this? I mean, I assume you have a job to be at. I don’t want you to be,”

“I’ve only been laying cement for my buddy’s business. I called him this morning. He won’t go under if I’m gone a few days.” He stopped fidgeting with the M&M’s. “I’m not going to leave you alone.”

“Thank you. Really, thank you so much.”

“I’m glad you called me. Alex was my best friend and I’d like to think I still sort of belong in your family even after he’s gone. His family, Gram, is my family, and I’d do anything to protect that.”

Kristy smiled shyly and looked at the floor. When she returned her eyes to Cam he looked anxious. He wasn’t sure how she would react to what he had said. After a few moments she gave him a reassuring smile. “You’ll always be welcome in our family.”

They played three more hands as the night wore on. Cam lost two of them.

“One more game?” She held up the cards she had shuffled.

“No. I’ve lost to you enough tonight.” He was quiet as he looked at her. He turned his face down toward the table. After a moment, he glanced up at her. “Do you want to go sit outside? I could make a fire.”

“Do you think it’s safe?”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine.” He held up the pistol and raised an eyebrow.

They each carried a couple pieces of wood outside and laid them in the small fire pit in the front of the cabin. Soon they were standing in front of a cozy fire. Kristy held her hands out, soaking up the heat. The fire crackled and the smoke dissipated into the night sky. Cam’s eyes followed it.

“Look.” He pointed upward. Kristy’s eyes followed his finger to a group of stars. “It’s The Arrow.”

“I don’t see anything.”

“It’s not very bright. You can’t see it in the city.” He moved closer to her and pointed to a part of the sky just above the top of a mountain in the distance. “There. See those faint stars over there? There’s three in a row, and one off to the side.”

“Right under that bright star?”

“Yeah. The one under the bright star connects to the one under it, and the two faint stars below that make an upside down V.” Cam formed an upside down V in the air with his fingers.

“Oh, yeah, I see it.” Kristy smiled and looked at Cam and then back to the constellation. “What’s it called? The Arrow?”

“Yeah. It’s supposed to be Cupid’s arrow. The story is that the arrow was shot at an unknown target, and it’s still floating around out there.”

“Wow…” They were standing close to each other now; almost touching. Kristy continued to scan the sky. Cam looked down and watched her smile at seeing all the stars that were never visible in the city. He turned his face toward the sky again, and was about to point out another constellation, when he heard a crunch come from the woods behind them. With the pistol in his hands, he spun around and stepped in front of her. His face turned serious and his police training kicked in. He held his breath and listened hard. Kristy sensed the change in his mood; the relaxation she was feeling just moments before evaporated.

“What’s -” Kristy started to talk, but Cam quickly cut her off.

“Shhh…” He never took his eyes away from the trees where he heard the noise. He thought it had sounded like a footstep and was looking for any sign of movement. He whispered to Kristy. “I need you to go inside and get the shotgun out of its case and wait for me. Move slowly.”

“Cam…” Kristy’s voice was trembling.

“I’m going to move with you. I want you to stay behind me.” Cam took a step sideways toward the cabin door. Kristy moved with him, one slow step after another. Cam never turned his back to the woods where he’d heard the noise. His eyes darted back and forth as he escorted her to the cabin door. Once Kristy was inside, Cam took slow steps backwards into the cabin, never taking his eyes off the expanse of forest in front of them. Kristy was already kneeling on the floor opening the long case that held the shotgun.

He crouched and made his way toward her. “You take this,” He held out the pistol to her. Her hand was shaking at she reached for it. “Hey,” Cam looked her right in the eye. “This is the same gun you shot earlier today. You did really well with it. You know how it works. You can do this.” He reassured her. She looked at the gun again and swallowed hard. Her eyes met his again, and she took the pistol out of his hand. He took the shotgun from her and quickly slipped five shells into it.

He took his phone and truck keys out of his pocket and placed them in Kristy’s free hand. “I’m going to go back outside,”

Kristy’s eyes got wide and she shook her head violently. “No, Cam. No, no, no.” She crawled across the floor to where he was crouched. “No, Cam. Stay here. Please.”

“It’s okay. We don’t even know if it’s a person. It could have just been an animal. I’m going to go out and see if they, or it, are still there. If something happens, if you hear shots, or fighting, or if I yell, run to my truck and drive out of here as fast as you can, and call Juan. His number is in my phone.”

Kristy trembled. “No. Please don’t go.” She shook her head and raised her eyebrows at him. Her voice a shaky whisper. “I’m not brave like you.” Tears began to spill out of her eyes.

“I’m not brave. I just pretend to be.” He tried to make her crack a smile, no matter how small. “We’re all stronger than we give ourselves credit for.” He used his thumb to dry a few of her tears. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably and she wrapped her arms around herself.

“Hey,” He let his free hand fall to the top of her shoulder and touched his thumb to the side of neck. “Don’t fall apart on me. It’s going to be okay.” Kristy wasn’t convinced, but she eventually nodded. She had to trust him. She sucked in a deep breath and watched him move away from her. Cam rose and opened the door, and left her.

Kristy crawled toward the door and closed it behind him. She sat on the floor with her knees drawn to her chest clutching the keys and phone he had given her. Her blood pounded in her ears; the rush of adrenaline so powerful she thought she might pass out. The minutes felt like hours.

Five minutes. She heard nothing.

Six minutes.

Seven.

She stood up just enough to peer out the small window in the door, but she didn’t see Cam. She stood up further, but she still saw nothing outside. Kristy sunk back down to the floor and checked the time on Cam’s phone.

Ten minutes had passed.

She sat at the door listening for any sign of Cam, or anything else. She hadn’t heard any sign of trouble and started to calm down, when suddenly, the echoing blast of the shotgun…

BOOM. BOOM.