Ill Take Forever

her house was located, the way they had walked through the hills and where the field might be.
    She found a couple of possibilities, and both near a fire road. The next step was to drive out and see. Telling Shasta to guard the house, she went for her SUV.
    Once on the dirt road of the fire trails, Jenny drove slowly, carefully. She kept a close watch in her rear-view mirror, to make sure she wasn't being followed. If this was the correct road, she had no desire to be found on it by the growers.
    Jenny had marked on the map where she thought the field was, and she tried to equate what she saw with what was on the map. She should have gone over the trail and tried to find the road that way. Twice she stopped, climbed out and scouted along the north side of the road. She hadn't seen the road Kyle had mentioned when he made his circle around the field, but she knew the field was on the north side, not too far from the road. She drove further, stopping again.
    She pushed her way through a small cluster of trees and burst through to the marijuana field. She'd found it! It lay before her gently sloping upward, silent in the hot sun. She could retrace her steps and park near the fork, watching for anyone to drive by.
    'What the hell are you doing here?' Kyle's angry face blazed down at her. She turned and almost bumped into him, his face tight with anger. 'If you've messed up this bust, I'll bust you!'
    Two men came silently out of the shadows from the perimeter. One walked warily, the other had a big grin on his face. Jenny recognized him as Jason Sperry from Kyle's office.
    'Mac, drive the car this lady came in up the road about a mile, try to find a hiding place. You come with me.' Kyle jerked the keys from her hand and tossed them to the first man. Grasping her arm he marched her into the trees.
    Jenny stumbled, then recovered as she tried to match his long stride.
    'Your dumb old bust is fine. No one followed me,' she grumbled, overcoming her surprise at seeing him. So much for trying to surprise him with the identity of people using the road, he obviously had another plan. Which she would have known had he told her!
    'Not on the road, maybe. But you don't know whether they come by that road. Duck down.'
    They crouched down and entered a thicket of scrub, madrone, cottonwood and mesquite. Blankets, food and camera gear were carefully stacked to one side.
    'What's this?' Jenny asked in surprise.
    'A stakeout. Why are you here, Jenny? What's going on?' Kyle's voice was laced with anger.
    Jason followed them in, picked up the camera again, and smiled at Jenny. 'Hi,' he said.
    'Hi, Jason.' Jenny stalled.
    Kyle recognized the tactic. 'Jenny!'
    'I was trying to find the road, so I could watch to see who used it. I wanted to help. I didn't know you already knew about it. I didn’t think the growers trekked through the forest every time they came here.'
    His face softened just a little as he shook his head. 'If I'd known you'd try a fool thing like this, I'd have told you what we were doing. This isn’t a game. I don’t need someone helping out who hasn’t been trained. It’s damned dangerous.'
    'I know, the need-to-know principle.'
    Jason threw her a quick grin. 'Kyle's favorite axiom.'
    'Watch the field,' Kyle said drily.
    'At least now I understand why you asked for this assignment,' Jason murmured irrepressibly, turning back to the field, camera held ready.
    Jenny looked puzzled for a moment, then turned back to Kyle, her voice low.
    'Why are you doing a stakeout now? I thought you were going to catch them when harvesting.'
    'Change of plan. We want to destroy this field now, before harvest. If we can get a line on who's interested in it now, and a few pictures, we'll arrest and destroy now. Sooner or later someone has to come to turn on the water. It’s been hot the last few days. My guess is soon. The plants are starting to wilt already in the heat. Once they come, we'll snap their pictures and wrap it up.'
    'Catch them in the act.'
    'Right.'
    Jenny sat quietly, thinking through the implication of his comment. If they accomplished it soon, Kyle would be leaving soon. While she had known he wouldn't stay forever, she had thought he'd stay longer, until the marijuana field was harvested. Now, it could all be over soon, in days, not weeks. She caught her breath at a small dart of pain. She had known his being here was temporary, but she had thought she had more time. It was ending too soon.
    She glanced at him under