Lawless Read Online Free PDF

command clear. “This is Joel Kidd, my helper, and Cameron Roth.”
    Joel cleared his throat. “Helper?”
    With a raise of the chin she held her ground. “Yes.”
    The silence lasted for only a second before he nodded. “Alrighty then.”
    Relief poured through her when he didn’t push it. She turned back to Lance. “Where’s Perry?”
    “Who’s that?” Cam asked.
    Lance got up and brushed off his pants. He stopped to shake hands with everyone. “Perry Kramer is our sales manager.”
    “What does he sell?” Joel stared at Hope when she shoved an elbow into his stomach. “What? It’s a fair question.”
    Lance shrugged. “But it’s probably not important information right now.”
    Hope heard the rustle of branches and glanced over in time to see Charlie Bardon, the camp owner and cook, break through the trees on the far side of the last cabin. He was out of breath and running his hands over his grimy chef’s apron as he walked.
    “What’s going on out here?” he asked.
    Joel looked to the newcomer. “That was going to be my question.”
    Charlie didn’t look any more willing to back down than Joel. They stood face to face and shared the same former military in-command presence. Pushing fifty, Charlie had been out for decades, but Joel seemed just as determined and set in his ways at thirty-three.
    Before this could blow into a full-blown argument, Hope tried to step in. “Mark is missing.”
    “I was hoping he was with you.” Charlie turned his attention to Joel. “Where did you come from?”
    Joel shrugged. “Annapolis...or are you looking for an explanation about how birthing works?”
    The older man’s eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to be funny?”
    “Not really.”
    “Okay, enough.” She wasn’t sure who deserved the bigger kick to the shin—Joel for acting disinterested and maintaining his monotone voice through the snide comments or Cam, who couldn’t stop smiling. “Cam and Joel came in by helicopter to help me.”
    If possible, Charlie’s scowl deepened. “With what?”
    She had no idea how to answer the question, so she skipped it and talked to the campers, trying to ignore the fact another one appeared to be missing. “When is the last time anyone saw Mark?”
    Taking a long time and making the movement last longer than necessary, Jeff folded his arms in front of him. “When you two fought last night.”
    Joel turned to face her. “Really?”
    “He stormed out, saying he was going to the cabin,” Lance said. “But he wasn’t in there when I went to bed.”
    “What time was that?” Cam asked.
    “Around midnight.”
    Charlie blew out a long breath as he talked. “You didn’t think that was odd?”
    “He was ticked off that Hope took his gun. I thought I heard him coming in later, but he wasn’t there this morning.” Lance looked at Joel as if he expected backup.
    Joel leaned in closer instead. “His what?”
    She knew there was no way that comment would slide by. “Gun, and I’ll explain later.”
    “Yeah, you will,” Joel said.
    But not now. Not when all those eyes focused solely on her. “Go on, Lance.”
    “That’s it. I figured he was walking it off or getting something to eat. Honestly, I didn’t think it was a big deal. He got scolded. Get over it.”
    Hope didn’t know what to do with any of that information. Mark had gotten angry and stormed off. She knew that before she took off on her search. But maybe she could get an answer to one question. “Were either of you out in the woods this morning?”
    She got a lot of head shaking and mumbling but no answers. She scanned the crowd. Only Lance didn’t possess the right body type. He’d joked about gaining more weight than his wife during the pregnancy. Hope doubted that was true, but he was carrying around a few extra pounds that would have made it a bit tough to dodge in and out of the trees.
    Still, that didn’t mean none of them had done it. Someone had and the nerves jumping around inside her