Chapter 30
Wyatt heard the voices before he saw anyone.
“Over here!” he called.
Two members of the medical team appeared through the trees, a portable stretcher between them.
“Adult female?” one of them asked as they closed the distance.
“Hypothermic,” Wyatt said. “Disoriented. Weak on her feet. She’s been out here a while.”
“Let’s get her down.”
They worked quickly.
Wyatt crouched beside the woman as they lowered the stretcher into the snow. “You’re okay. We’re going to get you out of here.”
Her eyes moved to him, unfocused but aware enough to track his voice.
“Stay with me,” he added.
Garrett moved in on the other side, and together they guided her onto the stretcher. She winced as they adjusted her legs.
“Easy,” Wyatt murmured.
They secured the straps, then lifted.
The trail felt steeper on the way out.
Wyatt took the front left position, his boots sliding slightly with each step as he compensated for the uneven ground. The stretcher shifted once, and he tightened his grip.
“Watch that patch,” he warned. “Ice underneath.”
“Got it.”
They moved slower now—but steady.
By the time they broke through the last stretch of trees, Wyatt’s shoulders burned.
Then he saw the flashing red and white through the branches.
The ambulance was waiting.
Relief washed through him.
“We’re almost there,” he told the woman.
They cleared the tree line and stepped into the open.
The ambulance sat just in the parking area, engine running and rear doors open.
“Bring her straight in,” a paramedic called.
They carried the stretcher the final distance and eased it down beside the gurney.
“On three,” Camryn Masters said as she moved into position. “One—two—three.”
Wyatt lifted with the others, guiding the woman onto the gurney.
Her head rolled slightly to the side.
Camryn was already moving. “Let’s get her inside where it’s warm.”
She pushed the gurney up and into the ambulance.
Wyatt stepped back, catching his breath.
The doors stayed open as Camryn leaned over the woman, her voice low and steady.
“Can you hear me? Stay with me, okay?” Camryn checked the woman’s eyes, then her pulse, then reached for a blanket.
Kori stood a few feet away.
Her arms were wrapped tight across her chest, her gaze fixed on the ambulance. She hadn’t moved since they’d stepped out of the trees.
Wyatt glanced at her, then back at the woman.
He understood exactly what Kori was seeing—and exactly what she was afraid of.
For a few minutes, they’d both believed they’d found Mackenzie. Instead, they’d found someone else entirely. Finding this woman was still a win. But he knew Kori had to be disappointed.
The good news was that the rest of the search teams were still out there. They were still searching for Mackenzie.
Maybe one of them would find something. After all, two people were still missing. One man was dead.
And the answers waited somewhere out there in the forest.
Wyatt did a slow sweep of the trees.
Nothing moved. But he was still on guard.
He turned back toward the ambulance in time to see Camryn take his coat off the woman. A blanket was placed over her shoulders instead.
“King, take this. You need it. I don’t want to treat you too.” Camryn gave him his coat back.
“Thanks.” He slipped it on, grateful for the warmth.
Then Camryn pushed the woman’s blanket back to check her pulse.
More scars appeared—thin, pale lines crossing her wrist.
But that wasn’t the only thing that made him pause.
A bracelet circled her wrist Actually, two of them.
They were handmade using thin cord, small stones, and careful knotwork.
And they looked familiar.
He went still.
Something tugged at the edge of his memory.
The farmers market in town last fall. They had one every Saturday morning in September and October.
Wyatt had stopped by after a search briefing, and he’d run into Naomi wandering the rows of booths. She’d shown him a pair of bracelets made with leather cord and small stones she’d just bought.
Aren’t these beautiful? I got them from a new vendor. Then she’d let out a chuckle. They were a little strange, but I like their work.
Wyatt hadn’t thought about those bracelets again. Not until now.
But maybe this was the lead they needed.
Wyatt stepped away from the ambulance and pulled out his phone.
Naomi answered on the second ring. “Wyatt? Is everything okay?”
“Everyone’s fine,” he said. “Listen, I need to ask you something. At the farmers market in the fall—you bought some bracelets. Leather cord, small stones.”
“That’s right,” she said. “Why?”
“Do you remember anything about the people you bought them from?”
“Not much. Just that they were unique. They kind of had a hippie vibe. You know, not very well groomed, more au natural. They were also a little awkward. I’d never seen them before, and I haven’t seen them since. Why are you asking?”
Wyatt looked toward the ambulance where Camryn continued examining the woman. “I’ll explain later. Thanks for your help.”
He ended the call and walked over to Garrett. Garrett’s wife was the mayor of Blue Ridge Hollow, and the two of them were heavily involved in everything going on there. If anyone knew the answer to this question, it was them.
“That farmers market we have in the fall,” Wyatt said. “Do you know who organizes the vendors?”
“Martha was in charge this year.”
Wyatt drew in a quick breath.
Martha Williamston. The woman whose husband was still missing.
He didn’t want to bother her.
But if this woman they’d found in the woods was affiliated with someone who’d been a vendor at that market . . . then this might connect to Pete’s disappearance after all.
Wyatt glanced toward the ambulance again.
Camryn was asking the woman a series of questions, and Kori stood nearby, listening.
Their eyes met briefly.
Hers held the same question pressing through Wyatt’s own thoughts.
Who was this woman?
And how had she ended up terrified and alone in those woods? And was she connected with everything else going on out here in this forest?