Free The Target by Gerri Hill

days to play.”
    Jaime nodded. What could have caused the reflection? Glass?
    Metal? Could be anything. She turned to walk on but she had a nagging feeling that it wasn’t just anything. She stopped and scratched her head, then turned back again, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, just the scattered spruce and fir trees that had found footholds in the rocks. She had convinced herself that these threats against Sara Michaels were bogus. Hell, even the FBI suggested they were. But what if they weren’t? What if someone had been following them the whole time? Watching them? And all the while, she’d been more concerned with having a good time and teasing Sara, not protecting her.
    “Goddamn,” she murmured.
    “You coming?”
    Jaime looked back at Sandra and shook her head. “You know what? You go on ahead. I’ll catch up. I know the way. I want to do a little exploring around here, maybe chase up a bird or two.”
    “A bird?”
    Jaime grinned. “Yeah. It’ll be quieter without all you guys running your mouths.”
    Sandra waved. “Okay. Go on. But I’ll expect you in the hot springs later.”
    “It’s a date.”
    Jaime’s smile faded as soon as Sandra walked away and she turned back toward the trail, wondering where to start. Up this high, the vegetation was thin. She decided to go down between the two ridges, trying to conceal herself as much as possible behind the boulders that dotted the area. She slipped once on a rock and landed on her ass, stopping her downward slide by grabbing a tree.
    “Nice and quiet, Jaime. You’re doing great,” she murmured sarcastically, getting to her feet again. She circled around, constantly watching the mountainside for movement. Then there it was, the reflection again. She whipped out her binoculars, scanning the trees and rocks, seeing nothing.
    “Shit.”
    She studied the area, wondering what it could be. She looked up. The sun was at her back, shining directly on the mountain, no doubt reflecting off of … something. Then she looked at her binoculars. Could be reflecting off of the glass of a binocular lens or spotting scope. Her eyes widened. Or off of the scope on a rifle.
    She shook her head. She was letting her imagination get the best of her. If they’d been followed for the past six days by someone with a rifle, surely they could have taken a shot by now.
    “I hate this job.”
    She waited another half-hour but saw neither movement nor the reflection again. Well, regardless, it was time she let Sara Michaels in on it. It was only fair. After all, she was the target of this supposed threat.
     
    As Sara walked, she noticed something was missing. The constant chatter at the back of the line. She stopped and turned around, looking for the laughing brown eyes that were normally there waiting for her. She found none.
    “Where’s Jaime?” she asked. Everyone turned around and looked at Sandra.
    “She went off by herself,” Sandra said as she tried to catch her breath.
    “Off where?” Sara demanded.
    Sandra shrugged. “Just off. She was looking for some bird or something.”
    “A bird?”
    “That’s what she said.”
    “Is she coming back?”
    “Yeah. She said she knew the way, Ms. Michaels. I think maybe she just wanted a little alone time.”
    “Uh-huh.” But Sara shrugged. She shouldn’t really care. It wasn’t like she invited her on this trip to begin with. She started walking again. According to the map and Jaime’s directions, they should be at the river any minute.
    And fifteen minutes later, they heard water cascading over rocks. At the water crossing, Sara turned upstream as Jaime had told her, easily finding the well-worn trail between the trees.
    Apparently, these hot springs were popular. A short while later, she saw the steam rising.
    “Oh my God,” Abby said. “It’s beautiful.”
    Yes, it was. Practically an oasis stuck high up in the Rocky Mountains. The river dropped some twenty feet onto boulders that were strewn about then