Chapter 17
Kori stood at the edge of the parking lot and stared at Wyatt’s truck.
Both tires she could see from this viewpoint sagged against the gravel. The rubber was split open in long, jagged cuts.
Her stomach dropped.
Someone had done this. This hadn’t been bad luck. This hadn’t been an accident caused by the cold or a hidden nail on the road.
Someone had been here. Someone had waited until Jake left. Then they’d sent Wyatt a clear message.
Wyatt paced away from her and made a couple of phone calls. As he did, Kori watched the woods, trying to think like a prosecutor instead of a sister.
This was a deliberate act of vandalism.
Actually, this wasn’t just vandalism.
This had been done to send a message.
Someone didn’t want them to find Mackenzie. But why?
Still on the phone, Wyatt crouched beside his truck and ran a gloved hand along the tire, studying the damage. “Someone used a knife to do this. The cuts are clean.”
He straightened and scanned the snow around the truck. A set of footprints led from the woods to Wyatt’s truck and then back to the woods.
She shivered, and her gaze drifted across the lot.
Mackenzie’s Subaru still sat where they’d found it earlier that morning. Seeing it again made her chest tighten.
Her sister had made it to the trail. She’d hiked at least five miles. Then she’d left her backpack. Why would Mackenzie do that?
Unless she hadn’t had any other choice.
Kori pressed her eyes closed, unable to handle the thought.
Either way, Mackenzie hadn’t made it back to her vehicle.
Wyatt slipped his phone into his pocket and turned toward her. “Micah’s on his way. They’re sending another ranger with a truck for us also.”
“At least there’s that.”
Thunder padded over and sat beside him, watching the woods as if he understood the tension.
Wyatt grabbed a bottle from his pack and poured some water into Thunder’s collapsible bowl. The dog drank quickly before lifting his head and sniffing the air.
They waited in the lot. Now that Kori had stopped walking, the cold began to creep through her layers of clothing, and she shivered.
Wyatt observed her through narrowed eyes. “Do you want to sit in my truck?”
She glanced at it. At the slashed tires. Then she shook her head. “No, I’d rather wait out here. Believe it or not, I’m too antsy to sit right now.”
“Drink some more water. And I have another protein bar if you need one.”
“I’m fine, but thank you.”
However, her mind wouldn’t stop racing.
What was going on out there in the woods? Where was her sister right now?
The forest around them remained silent except for the wind whispering through the trees.
Kori kept scanning the woods.
Maybe it was foolish. Maybe it was paranoia. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone might still be watching.
Twenty minutes later, Kori saw Sheriff Sutherland’s SUV pull to a stop beside Wyatt’s truck.
The sheriff stepped out and stared at Wyatt’s tires before letting out a grunt. “I don’t like the sight of that—or the message it sends.”
“Me either,” Wyatt said. “We were being watched the whole time out there. I found fresh tracks running parallel to ours while we were stopped. Someone was following us.”
The sheriff’s eyes narrowed. “A hiker reported something similar last week. Said she felt watched. She turned back before she went too far.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.” Wyatt shifted and held up Mackenzie’s backpack. “We found this out there. It’s Mackenzie’s. That means she doesn’t have a tent, a sleeping bag, or food. We need to take this search to the next level.”
Relief filled Kori at his words. Part of her had feared law enforcement wouldn’t take this seriously—which was hard news to take when her whole world hinged on the outcome of this search and rescue mission.
“I agree,” Sheriff Sutherland said.
“We need resources,” Wyatt said. “Starting with drones with thermal imaging. If there’s a heat signature in that forest we can find it from the air.”
The sheriff nodded. “And State Police need to be looped in.”
Wyatt looked at the forest again. “We go back in tomorrow.”
Kori’s breath caught. “Tomorrow? Why not today?”
Wyatt’s gaze softened as he turned toward her. “It will take too much time. It’s already two o’clock. By the time we get this organized, it will be dark again.”
“I know. And Mackenzie will still be out there.” Her voice cracked, and she rubbed her throat, hating the display of weakness.
Wyatt touched her arm. “I know you’re worried. And I’m sorry. But we’re just getting started right now.”
“If she’s out there without a tent, she could get hypothermia.”
His jaw twitched. “She was dressed for the hike. There’s a chance she found somewhere warm. That she started a fire. It sounds like she’s a smart woman. We’ve got to stay positive.”
Kori absorbed his words and nodded. “Okay.”
The dread that had settled over Kori spread from her chest into something harder to name.
She’d handled difficult cases. She’d sat across from people who’d done terrible things, and she’d kept her face neutral and her voice even. She knew how to remain composed. How to manage fear.
But this was different.
This was Mackenzie.
She couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to her sister.
Micah’s radio crackled, and the dispatcher’s voice came through. “Sheriff Sutherland, we have a missing person’s report. Pete Williamston. Wife says he left for the general store this morning, and no one has seen him since.”
Kori went cold.
Pete Williamston?
Hadn’t the woman at Ember & Oak, Martha, mentioned him last night? He was her husband, if Kori remembered correctly.
And now he was missing.
Just like Mackenzie.