There was another snapped branch about ten feet away. Then another three feet.
The man had been in a rush to leave.
It was next to that snapped branch that Gunner stopped, frowning. He bent and picked up the braided pine straw that had been left behind.
He stared down at the straw, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. This threading...
He knew this threading.
When they’d been younger, Slade had tossed away pieces of straw like this dozens of times. His brother had twisted the straw, twined it around his hand, and—
“Gunner!”
He stiffened at Logan’s call and his fingers tightened around the braided pine straw.
“Did you find anything?” Logan was closing in.
Gunner lowered his hand, squared his shoulders and turned to face the other man.
* * *
GUNNER FOUND SYDNEY typing frantically on the keyboard, her fingers flying. Her shoulders were hunched forward, and the light from the computer’s monitor clearly showed the scowl on her face.
Even though the door was open, he rapped lightly. Hal, the admin working right beside Sydney, glanced over at him. When he saw Gunner, the guy’s eyes doubled in size. “A-Agent Ortez.”
“Hal, can I have a minute alone with Sydney?”
Hal jumped to his feet. “Sure thing.” He gave Gunner a very wide berth as he hurried from the room.
Sydney just shook her head and kept typing.
Gunner frowned thoughtfully after the other man. “What’s with him?”
“You intimidate him,” Sydney said as she kept typing. “The way you intimidate most people you meet.” She exhaled and finally pushed away from the computer and her chair spun so she could face him. She stared at him, giving him a considering look. “I think it’s the eyes. The way they say, ‘Yes, I’ve looked into hell a few times.’”
He blinked at her.
She smiled at him. “But I’m rather fond of your eyes.”
No way were his cheeks flushing right now. Okay, perhaps they were, and he was very grateful for the olive skin that had to hide most of that flush.
Then her smile slipped away. “What did you find out at my house?”
He wasn’t real eager to start sharing that, so he said, “What have you found out here?”
“Here?” Her lips tightened. “Here I’ve found out that it looks like someone used your old access code to gain entrance into the system.”
“Mine?”
“Yes. Your personnel file was accessed, too, but only for a few seconds, not nearly as long as my file and the Guerrero file were.”
His muscles locked. “Someone’s setting me up.”
She nodded. “That would be my thought.” She pushed out of the chair and closed the distance between them. “Now tell me what you found at my house.” Pain flickered in her eyes. “Was anything left?”
“No, Syd, I’m sorry.”
Her chin lifted, the way it always did when she was trying to pull her strength together. “That place...it was my retreat while I was in D.C. My home has always been in Baton Rouge. I’ll get over this,” she said with a firm nod. “I will.”