Chapter 29
Lana
I wrap my arms around myself, trying to hold on to some heat.
After being discovered, Caleb made a small fire, but it still didn’t ward of the chill.
With Hawthorne and his men lurking in the shadows and Margret’s betrayal still fresh, none of us can even think about sleep.
We huddle together under the rocky overhang, speaking in whispers when we speak at all.
Caleb sits beside me, a solid anchor in this increasingly dangerous situation. His eyes never stop scanning our surroundings, watching for any movement that might signal Hawthorne’s return.
“Do you think they’re still out there?” Julia asks, her voice barely audible.
“Count on it,” Caleb replies grimly, draping his arm around me. “They didn’t come all this way just to leave empty-handed.”
Richard hasn’t spoken since Margret left. He sits slightly apart from the rest of us, his expression haunted. I can’t imagine how he’s feeling. Decades of research, of carrying this burden alone, only to have the person he was trying to protect turn against him.
The fire is now out, and the minutes crawl by at an excruciatingly slow pace. Hawk and Nightingale maintain their vigilance, occasionally communicating through hand signals that I don’t understand. The eastern sky gradually lightens, darkness giving way to the pale gray of approaching dawn.
“Almost time,” Richard says suddenly, rousing himself from his stupor. He checks his notes one final time, then gestures toward the wolf marking below. “We need to be down there when the first rays hit.”
Caleb nods, signaling for Hawk to check the area. After a tense moment, Hawk gives the all-clear sign.
“Move quickly, stay low,” Caleb instructs as we begin our careful descent to the waterfall basin.
The air feels charged with anticipation as we position ourselves near the wolf-marked stone. The sky continues to brighten, pink and gold streaking the horizon to the east. I find myself holding my breath as the first golden rays of the equinox sun pierce through the trees.
“There,” Richard whispers urgently, pointing to the stone.
As the sunlight touches the wolf marking, something extraordinary happens.
The etched lines begin to glow with an otherworldly blue luminescence, as if the stone itself has awakened.
I gasp, unable to contain my amazement as the light intensifies, revealing details invisible before—the wolf’s eye, the curve of its jaw, and most importantly, a clear arrow pointing downstream.
“Thomas Wolf, you clever man,” Richard breathes, his eyes wide with wonder.
“We need to follow it,” I say, already moving in the direction the arrow indicates.
Caleb catches my arm. “Carefully,” he cautions. “Remember, we’re being watched.”
He’s right. I take a deep breath, steadying myself. “So we make it look like we’re heading back to the vehicles,” I suggest. “Like we found nothing and we’re giving up.”
“Exactly,” he agrees. “Just a group of disappointed researchers calling it a day.”
We gather our equipment with deliberate casualness, making sure our disappointment is visible to any watching eyes. Julia, catching on quickly, gives an exaggerated sigh and kicks at a stone.
“All this way for nothing,” she says loudly. “What a waste of a perfectly good camping trip. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for ruining our camping trip!”
Richard follows her lead, slumping his shoulders as he packs away his notebook. “Perhaps I was mistaken about the significance of this location,” he announces, his voice carrying clearly. “We should head back and reconsider our research.”
We begin making our way downstream, following the arrow’s direction while appearing to head toward our exit route. I keep my eyes fixed on the ground, scanning for anything unusual, anything that doesn’t belong.
The early morning light filters through the trees, creating dappled patterns on the rocky riverbank. We walk slowly, our movements casual but our senses hyperalert. Hawk and Nightingale have positioned themselves to cover our flanks, their vigilance unobtrusive but constant.
We’ve gone perhaps two hundred yards when Richard suddenly pauses, his attention caught by something near the water’s edge. He bends down, pretending to tie his shoe, but I can see his eyes widening with recognition.
He straightens and walks casually toward us, his expression carefully neutral. When he reaches us, he leans in close, his voice barely noticeable over the rushing water.
“There’s a stone cairn partially submerged in the water,” he whispers. “It’s not natural—someone placed those rocks deliberately. And there’s another wolf mark, smaller than the first.”
My pulse quickens. “What do we do?”
“We need to examine it without drawing attention,” Caleb says under his breath. “But first, we need to make sure we’re not being followed.”
Before we can formulate a plan, Julia steps forward, her phone held high. “Everyone, gather round!” she announces loudly. “I want a picture of our adventure team before we leave! Come on, don’t be shy!”
I stare at her in confusion until I catch the subtle wink she gives me. She’s creating a diversion—and a record.
We cluster together near the spot Richard indicated, arranging ourselves as if for a group photo.
But as Julia holds up her phone, I realize she’s not taking a picture at all—she’s recording a video, slowly panning to capture not just us but the entire surrounding area, including the cairn Richard discovered.
“Say ‘failed expedition’!” she chirps, turning in a half circle to get every angle.
“Failed expedition,” we chorus obligingly, playing along with her ruse.
When she finally lowers her phone, her smile is triumphant. “Perfect! Now I have something to remember this waste of time.”
“We should head back,” Caleb announces loudly. “Jake will be wondering where we are.”
We gather our things and begin walking onward, maintaining the charade of disappointment.
But there’s an electric current of excitement running through our group now.
We found something—something significant enough that Richard’s eyes are bright with suppressed enthusiasm despite Margret’s betrayal.
As we hike back through the forest, Julia falls into step beside me and shows me her phone screen. “I got everything,” she whispers. “The cairn, the wolf mark, even a glimpse of someone watching us from the trees—one of Hawthorne’s men, I think.”
I squeeze her arm gratefully. “You’re a genius.”
She grins. “I know. Now I just need to figure out how to work this into my blog without getting us all killed.”
The return journey passes in tense silence, all of us aware that we’re likely still being observed. When we finally reach our vehicles, I feel the weight of unseen eyes on us, watching, assessing.
“What now?” I ask Caleb as we load our gear.
“Now we go back to Jake’s,” he replies, his voice so low that only I can hear him. “And we figure out what Richard found.”
As we drive away from the waterfall, I can’t help glancing back one last time. Something tells me we’ve only scratched the surface of Thomas Wolf’s secrets—and that Hawthorne and his allies won’t give up easily.
The game has changed. It’s no longer just about finding hidden gold or exposing century-old crimes. Now it’s about staying one step ahead of them.
I reach for Caleb’s hand as he drives, drawing strength from him. Whatever comes next, at least we’re facing it together.