Above the engine, Brodie yelled, “Where’s the girl?”

“What girl?” Jenner grinned feebly.

Brodie nodded, and Tarver kicked Jenner in the flank. He doubled up, gasping as the cord bit into his neck, his fingers trying to get under the rope. He lay there, gasping and retching from pain.

Brodie turned the airboat around and cut the throttle, moving back to the river opposite where they’d found the kayak; he was sure the ranger was in there somewhere, and he wanted her to see what he was going to do.

“Two questions. One: where is the girl? Two: what were you doing at the farm?”

Jenner was still struggling for breath. “I was looking for Lucy Craine at the farm; I saw her go into the farmhouse, and I was trying to get her. Then it exploded.”

Brodie snorted. “It didn’t ‘explode’—I exploded it.” He grinned slightly. “So no need to worry about the Craine girl anymore. Where is the ranger, the one Nash shot?”

It was Jenner’s turn to shrug. “I don’t know. I put her in the kayak, told her to head to the sea. By the time I got back, she was long gone…”

Brodie looked at Jenner for a minute, then shook his head. “I sure wish we were playing poker tonight, doc—you can’t lie to save your life!”