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“That, too.”

Ford narrowed his eyes and searched his memory until he realized where Annie had set it up. “You put it on the tree closest to where we parked the ATV. The one where you were pulling off those vines you said were choking it.”

Knox nodded. “It was the closest place I could think of that wouldn’t be obvious. Our cameras are motion-activated and solar powered, so it should work.”

Ford nodded. “Good plan. I was thinking of putting one on the duck coop, hiding it with some kind of decoration, but the tree is better.”

Knox laughed. “The duck coop would be a great place. You’ve already made it fun, so adding another decoration with a hidden camera would be easy and it wouldn’t attract any attention. The coop moves daily, so we could angle it wherever we want. I’m going to text Sam and order a few more cameras.”

Sam Young and some of his friends ran Midnight Lake Security. He was a security specialist and would know exactly what they’d need to secure the property. “Good plan. Even though this stuff with Cyril should be easy to solve, more security is never a bad idea.”

Jolie sighed. “It’s been so peaceful and happy down at the pond. I hate that someone has ruined that.”

He put his arm around her and squeezed. “It’s only temporary. We’ll have this solved soon. Probably by tomorrow. Then we’ll be back to normal.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Tomorrow? What makes you think that?”

Although he hadn’t talked with Knox, he knew they were thinking along the same lines. “Annie and I are going to stay down by the pond tonight. We’ll make a show of leaving after we secure the ducks, but we’ll find a good vantage point to watch and see what happens.”

Knox nodded. “If no one shows up, we’ll get Cyril out of the pond tomorrow. Either way, it’ll be over.”

The women exchanged a glance, making him wonder if they’d developed their own silent communication system in the short time they’d known each other.

Jolie spoke. “You’re not staying down there alone. We’ll all stay.”

“No.” He and Knox spoke at the same time.

Thea snorted. “You don’t get to decide for us.”

Ford sighed. “It’s safer if you stay here. There’s no sense in all of us being uncomfortable.”

Jolie rolled her eyes. “We’ll bring down some sleeping bags or blankets. Then we’ll take shifts so that no one is up all night. We’ll bring Hemsworth with us. He’ll be a good alert system. And maybe Fox will show up.”

He groaned. “Great. Why don’t we make it a party? That’ll be the best way to stay hidden.”

Jolie laughed and kissed his cheek. “Don’t be grumpy. We’re not staying here while the menfolk ride off into danger.”

He glanced at Knox and saw the same resignation in his eyes. “Looks like it a party.”

Jolie’s eyes sparkled. “Maybe we should make s’mores.”

He knew she was teasing, but he hated that he couldn’t talk her into staying far away from the potential danger.

Even though he and Knox were trained to handle almost anything, when dealing with dangerous people, there was always the potential for someone to get hurt.

If anything happened to Jolie on his watch, he didn’t know how he was supposed to handle it.

Love was a hell of a thing.

Jolie knew the men were annoyed she and Thea insisted on joining their reconnaissance mission, but it wouldn’t stop either of them from tagging along.

Four was better than two.

She wouldn’t sleep in the farmhouse knowing someone dangerous might come to retrieve Cyril while Ford and Knox were out there.

They might all be overreacting. It might simply be a coincidence that an ATV had arrived the night after she’d found Cyril. But if the driver had been there to check on the cylinder, why hadn’t they simply taken it out of the pond? Surely, if they’d put it there in the first place, they had a plan to retrieve it.

Which meant they’d only been checking the previous night. If they returned tonight, they’d be prepared.