Chapter 6
Lila Grant — Vanished in the Valley Podcast
The courthouse sat above Main Street like a stage. White columns. Blue sky. One hundred and four steps rising from the square below.
“Frame it with the fountain,” Lila instructed. “Let the steps sit behind me.”
The livestream numbers were already higher than yesterday.
Vendors were setting up beneath the banners. Tents. Food trucks. Folding tables stacked with T-shirts and caps embroidered with:
VANISHED IN THE VALLEY
A booth near the corner advertised:
MYSTERY MOUNTAIN WALKING TOURS — 2 PM they wanted her forgotten.”
Scout went still.
“Hell,” he said quietly.
The moment people stopped looking.
Scout nodded toward the folder.
“You think Simms connects to all this?”
Outside, a cheer rose from the square as another livestream camera lit up.
Burke shifted his gaze toward the courthouse.
“Simms was already on my list,” he said quietly. “Just not yet.”
Scout frowned.
“Because Sinclair tied up Lauren, Sara, and Tessa.”
“Yeah,” Burke said. “We know what happened there. We know Caitlin was something else entirely.”
“To them,” Burke said, tipping his head toward the banners and cameras below, “it’s all the same now. Missing women. Mountain town. Same damn headline.”
Scout glanced back at the Caroline Simms file.
“So now we don’t get to wait.”
“No,” Burke said quietly. “Now we start with Simms. Lila Grant just forced our hand. If we don’t find the truth, she’s going to invent one. And the town is already buying tickets.”