Page 128

He smirked at his cousin. “You actually went inside?”
“Hell no.” Zach made a face. “I’m not trying to get cursed by achindi.”
Danny squinted at the photo. “Why won’t you go inside? I mean, aside from rattlesnakes and a dozen other things that want to kill you.”
“The Navajo believe when someone dies inside their home, their spirit can linger—unless their belongings and the dwelling are destroyed.” Caleb kept his expression deadpan, though the corner of his mouth threatened to lift. “You’re the Anglo. We’ll let you use the hogan as cover.”
A high, piercing howl cut through the stillness outside.
Caleb froze. His gaze found Zach’s.
Coyote.
The trickster. The bringer of death.
Their grandmother would’ve called it an omen.
He forced the chill from his spine. Just a male during mating season, staking territory. That’s all.
“Gee, thanks.” Oblivious, Danny held up another photo—this one showing the sloping base of the plateau. “Guess I’m the dumbass in the horror movie going into the basement. I thought I was on overwatch.”
“That’s my job,” Zach said. “My MOS in the Marine Corps was scout sniper.”
“Damn,” Danny muttered. “Here I thought with Nathan not being around, I’d get to be sniper for once.”
Gia gave them all a wide-eyed look. “Hopefully, no one gets shot and we get Jennie back unharmed.”
Caleb exchanged covert glances with Zach and Danny.
Yeah.Getting Jennie back unharmed?
That was the hope.
But as for no one getting shot?
That wasn’t the plan.
“It’s a perfect spot,” Zach continued. “Isolated. Abandoned. There’s a place for a sniper to set up on the eastern slope, and”—he pointed to a dry channel masked by sagebrush beside the home—“this arroyo is deep enough to provide cover for my guys to spring the trap when the time comes. As far as the cartel boys will know, only you and Gia will be waiting.”
“Your guys?” Caleb asked.
“Roy and Ford. I spoke to them last night. They wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
Caleb frowned. “It’s going to be dangerous. Did you tell them that?”
Zach met his gaze without flinching. “They don’t like outsiders messing with our people.”
A twinge of pressure settled beneath Caleb’s sternum. He could accept the danger himself. Zach and Danny had trained for it. Dìleas would send reinforcements.
But civilians?Even with prior military experience?
All these men, stepping up. For Gia. For him.
Dìleas. The Diné. His family.
His throat tightened. He swallowed hard, breath hitching before he forced it steady.
To ground himself, he rapped his knuckles on the stack of photos. “Let’s get this plan mapped out. Once it’s solid, I’ll text Lopez the coordinates. Set the meet for tomorrow afternoon.”