Cam felt the warmth of the sun on him when he woke up the next morning. It was early, and Kristy was still sleeping, so he tried to stretch his muscles as much as he could from his sitting position. He knew if he moved he would wake her. He sat quietly and looked out into the surrounding woods.

The morning was Cam’s favorite time of day to be out here in the mountains and he smiled as he scanned the scenery. The dirt was wet with dew and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves as they waved through the day’s first rays of sun. There was no movement and the only sounds were those of the birds chirping away at each other. He always imagined they were discussing breakfast the same way people do every morning, and it made him smile. He loved the way everything smelled in the morning; the way the scents of the dirt with the pine and vegetation mixed together with the perfect amount of cool, fresh air. It was his favorite smell in the world. He closed his eyes and sucked in a lungful of this cool, mountain morning. It smelled like sunshine.

Kristy lifted her head and her eyes fluttered open to meet the day. Her neck was stiff and she rolled her head around her shoulders to loosen the muscles. “Hey.” She said when she saw that Cam was already awake.

“Good morning.”

Kristy stood up and stretched the rest of her muscles. It felt good after sitting on the hard ground all night. Cam pushed himself up and did the same. Kristy watched as he gingerly put pressure on his ankle and tried to gauge his reaction. She couldn’t tell if he was still in pain.

“How does it feel?”

“A lot better, actually.” Cam smiled and took a few steps. He held out his foot and rolled his ankle in circles. It was still sore, but the swelling had gone down and he could walk just fine. “I guess we should head back.”

“How do we know they’re not still there?” Kristy asked cautiously.

“We don’t. We just have to be careful. Let’s head this way, along the bottom of this hill.” He pointed to the right out of their little cubby. “We can make our way around here and then slowly go back up the hill on the other side of my truck. We’ll be able to see if they’re still around. Just follow me. Stay close.”

Kristy nodded. Cam looked out and around both sides of the large boulder that was hiding them. He listened for any sound. He crouched and began to move along the bottom of the hill. As they worked their way closer, the hillside began to flatten. Cam stopped and turned around to Kristy. “Wait here. I’m going to go up and take a look. If they’re gone I’ll wave and you can follow me.”

Kristy watched and waited as he crawled up the hill as quietly as he could. He got up to a group of small trees and pulled himself up against them. She kept her eye on him and waited. After a few minutes he pulled himself all the way up off the ground and turned back to Kristy.

“They’re gone.” He said as he waved her up. She followed the path he had taken and he reached out his hand and helped pull her up to where he was standing. His truck was in the same place they had left it. It looked untouched. Cam walked past it and toward the open cabin door. Kristy followed him. She was afraid of what they would find.

Cam stopped in the doorway of the cabin and looked around at the mess in front of him. There was hardly a space on the floor that didn’t have pieces of broken glass strewn all over. The couch had been cut open and one of the chairs was lying next to the wall in pieces. Light bulbs had been smashed and furniture was turned over. In the kitchen, drawers had been rummaged through and paper plates and mismatched silverware littered the floor. Kristy came up behind Cam and let her hand rest on his shoulder. A simple gesture that said I’m sorry. Without a word, he turned on his heels and exited the cabin. He got into his truck and pulled his keys out of his pocket. Kristy opened the passenger door and silently slid in the seat, unsure of what to say. She could feel the anger radiating off of him and she wasn’t sure how to handle it. When he reached up to start the truck, she reached over and put her hand on his arm again. “Cam,”

“Don’t.” He said without looking at her.

“Sorry.” The coldness in his voice made her flinch. Kristy pulled away from him and stared out the passenger window as they drove away. A knot formed in her stomach and she wished she could sink into the seat and disappear at that moment.

When they arrived at the bottom of the hill, Cam pulled into a spot at the gas station near the freeway and turned off the truck. With his hands still on the wheel, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he let it out, he turned his head toward Kristy. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. They’re just things.”

“I feel like it is my fault. I’ll replace everything.” She said softly.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it right now. It can be fixed.” His expression softened and he was able to give her a weak smile that made her stomach begin to untie. With renewed energy, Cam opened the door of the truck and jumped out.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to use their phone.” Cam hurried inside and asked to use the phone. He was directed to the payphone outside of the gas station.

Kristy sat in the truck and looked around while she waited. Behind the seat, she could see the bag of ammo had been shoved aside and her purse had been dumped out. She got out and moved the seat so she could get to her things. She was putting everything back in her purse when Cam came back.

“What’s that?” He asked.

“My purse was turned over. I’m just putting it all back.”

Cam leaned on the open door and worked his tongue along his molars. He watched her, thinking.

“Have you moved that since we left your apartment?”

“No. It’s been in here the whole time.”

Cam looked behind the seat and saw some other things were out of place. He looked over the side of the bed and it was clear that their things had been rustled through. He hadn’t had time to notice it before now. He had expected them to search it, but he was prepared for the seats to be ripped up and the windows to be broken. This search looked very tame, and that made Cam wonder…

He closed the door and stooped down low so he could see under his truck. He ran his hands under the edges of the fenders, the body, the bed, and smiled when he found it. He pried the magnetic tracking device off of his truck and held it for a moment.

“I have to go inside.” He said in a way that told Kristy he had an ulterior motive.

She returned his look with one that told him she understood. “Okay. I’ll wait here.” She climbed into the truck and waited. Cam was only gone for a couple of minutes. When he came out of the gas station he bent down behind a car. It looked like he was tying his shoe. A moment later he was back.

“Okay, what’s going on?”

“They searched the truck, and there was a tracking device underneath.”

“Searched? What do you mean? What about the laptop?” Kristy’s eyes widened as the reality of his words stuck her. Cam reached down below his seat and handed Kristy the laptop he had hidden.

“What… how did they not find this under your seat?”

“When I was a cop I bolted a magnetic plate to the bottom of the seat so my gun wouldn’t slide around. It’s still there.” He winked at her. “And the flash drive and ear piece are in my pocket.”

Kristy smiled and nodded. “What about the tracking device?”

“It’s magnetic. I just took it off my truck and sent it with the man who just told me he’s headed for Canada.” He smiled at Kristy. She could see he was very proud of himself.

“Very clever of you.” She returned his smile. “Where are we headed now?”

“We need to hit your apartment. Then we’re going to Juan’s house.” He dug into his jacket pocket and took out their cell phones. “Put the batteries back in these. We’ll get rid of them.” Kristy quickly put the phones back together and turned them on. She handed hers to Cam and he slowed to a stop and dropped it into the bed of a pickup truck at one of the gas pumps.

“Nice.” Kristy giggled. She had Cam’s phone on now, and she gave it to him next. He kept it until they entered the freeway. He drove a few miles until he spotted a big rig hauling a load of tomatoes. He pulled up next to the truck and held a steady speed.

“You think you can make it?” With a sly grin on his face, Cam pointed his chin toward the tomato truck and held the phone out to Kristy.

“Maybe…” She slowly took it and rolled down her window. Kristy hovered over the seat and stuck her head and shoulder as far out the window as she could, and threw the phone into the air.

Perfect.

It plopped onto the pile of tomatoes near the rear corner. Cam and Kristy erupted in laughter; a combination of surprise and amusement.

“Let them track that.” Cam chuckled as he sped up and passed the truck.

* * *

Kristy pulled out her keys and shoved her front door open. She flipped on the light and gasped. “Oh my goodness,” she brought both hands up to her face and covered her mouth.

“Wow…” Cam’s reaction was the same.

Kristy’s apartment was trashed.

The kitchen cupboards were cleaned out, drawers were emptied and lying on the floor, the small table in her living room was turned on its side, her couch and mattress had been cut open. She knelt down next to a pile and picked up the flags on the floor. They had been knocked off the shelf and their stands were broken. She dug out the locket she had put inside of Alex’s flag after his funeral. She clutched it to her chest as she sat there on floor and looked at the mess that lay before her.

Cam sat down next to her. She was overwhelmed with emotions. She became enraged at the entire situation and she began breathing heavily as she thought more about everything that had happened, and in so little time. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply as she tried to calm herself. “Hey, it’ll be okay.” Cam tried to sooth her.

“I know,” She let her breath out. She didn’t realize she had been holding it in. “It’s like you said. They’re just things.”

“What’s that?” Cam pointed to the necklace she had picked out of the pile.

“It’s a St. Christopher locket. It’s the necklace that I moved from the trunk.” She held it out so he could see it. “Gram sent it to our granddad to keep him safe when he was in the Army. I told Alex he should have taken it with him. St. Christopher is supposed to keep you safe when you’re away from home.”

“Take it with you.” Cam handed it back to her. “Keep it close to you. It will be like a little piece of Alex watching over you.”

Kristy smiled at the thought. She liked the idea, and she carefully put it in her pocket. “What do these people want?”

“Well, I think we know what they want. We just have to figure out what to do with it.”

“You’re right.” She stood up. “Where should we start?”

“Well, we’re looking for anything that might have contained copies or information about the reports he had.” Cam tapped his fingers on his leg and looked around the apartment. “Let’s find all the letters. Maybe he said something without us realizing it. They were on the table.” They both made their way over to the kitchen where the table was. Alex’s belongings were scattered around the table and on the floor; among them, a pile of white envelopes.

Kristy picked one off the floor and opened the flap. “It’s empty.”

Cam scooped a handful of envelopes off the floor and scattered them on the table. They opened one after the other, looking for any of Alex’s letters that had been left behind.

“They took them.” Cam finally said. “All of them.”

“Why would they,”

“Same reason we were looking.” Cam shrugged.

Kristy backed away. Anger flooded her again and she walked away without saying a word. Cam gave her a few minutes before he followed her. When he finally decided to seek her out, he found her in her bedroom sitting silently on the cut up mattress. He sat down beside her.

“Hey.”

She turned her head and looked up at him, but she didn’t say anything.

“You alright?”

“No.”

“Let me help you clean this up.”

Kristy shook her head.

“I’m no good at this, Kristy. I want to help, but I have no idea what you need. Tell me what I can do.”

She cracked a weak smile and turned toward him. “Thank you. That’s really sweet, but I don’t think there’s anything that could make me feel better right now. I just need a little time.”

“Okay.” Cam nodded.

“Do you want to take a shower?” Kristy asked him. He was covered in dirt from crawling over the ground, and she was looking for a way to spend a few minutes alone. “They can’t have torn out the tub.” She shrugged.

“You never know.” He laughed with her. “Yeah, I’d like that. Where can I find a towel?”

“Well, usually they’re in the closet in the hallway, but from the looks of things, they could be anywhere.”

“I guess that’s true. I’ll find one.” He put his arm around her and gave her a friendly squeeze before he began his search.

Kristy sat on the bed and looked around for a few more minutes. When she heard the water turn on she got up and made her way through the mess. She was looking for all of Alex’s things. She found his bag and picked up the things she recognized one by one. She found his sunglasses, cards, shoelaces; things that didn’t seem important, but they were the things she had come to treasure. She got down on the floor and started to pick through the piles. She was collecting the broken picture frames and the flags that represented the lives that had been taken. She set these things, along with everything that belonged to Alex, on the counter top.

Cam emerged from the shower while she was sifting through the piles. He walked over and looked at the pile of the items she would save on the counter. Looking at her collection of prized possessions was like opening a window to her heart. He could see the things she truly cared about and, in that moment, felt a twinge of jealousy at the closeness of Kristy and Alex’s family. He knelt down next to her. “Can I help you?”

“No, I can be done. I’ll have to go through it all when I clean it up anyway. I suppose we’ll get to this after we fix your cabin. You can help me then.” Kristy leaned back on her heels and pushed herself up.

“You ready to head out?”

“Yeah. Let me get some things.” Kristy went back to her room and returned with a handful of clothes. “Ready.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Juan’s house was all the way across town. On the way there Kristy started to drift. She was physically and mentally exhausted. She leaned her head against the window. Cam reached back and found one of his jackets behind the seat.

“Here. You can lay on this.”

Kristy smiled at him and placed it between her head and the uncomfortable plastic on the inside of the door. Soon she was in a deep sleep. Good, thought Cam. She needs it.