Chapter 33
As Garrett launched the drone for a second pass, Wyatt stood near the hood of the truck. The map was spread out in front of him, with red marks clustered tight within the same two-mile radius northwest of the trail marker.
Whatever was happening out there wasn’t random. He was certain of it.
Wyatt watched in the distance as Flint walked away from Kori.
He tried to picture the two of them together, and he couldn’t quite make it fit.
Kori was sharp, controlled, and purposeful.
Flint . . . was harder to read. The man was easygoing but practiced.
Wyatt pushed the thought aside. It was all water under the bridge, he supposed.
Instead, he moved closer to Garrett.
Kori reached them and stood at Garrett’s shoulder, her gaze focused on the tablet.
Wyatt took up position just to her left.
They watched as the drone climbed and cleared the tree line. The live feed steadied—standard video first, not thermal.
Trees. Snow. Gray light flattening everything from above.
“I’m just running a visual pass before we switch to thermal,” Garrett said.
“Good,” Wyatt replied.
The drone moved northwest.
The trail corridor slid beneath them—faint but visible in the snow. Wyatt could track yesterday’s route without trying.
“There’s the downed pine,” Garrett said.
Wyatt nodded. “Keep going.”
The rock formation came into view next—the place they’d found the woman.
Kori didn’t move, but Wyatt shifted beside her.
Garrett pushed the drone farther.
As he did, the canopy thickened and shadows deepened.
“Switching to thermal,” Garrett said.
The screen shifted—color draining into cool blues and grays, heat signatures flickering faintly through the trees.
Nothing significant showed.
Garrett adjusted altitude, trading detail for coverage.
They swept left. Then right.
Still nothing.
Then Garrett slowed. “There. You guys see that?”
Wyatt leaned in. At first it looked like nothing—just uneven shapes beneath the snow.
Then the lines sharpened.
“Those are the old structures,” Wyatt finally said. “The remnants of Harrow’s Mill.”
Wyatt looked closer. There were six, maybe seven buildings left. Each were tucked under the canopy of the forest and covered with snow.
But it wasn’t the buildings that caught his eye.
It was the people.
There were at least eight to ten people in the area.
“Could they be camping?” Kori asked.
“Not without a permit,” Wyatt said. “Could be squatters. Off-grid group. People who don’t want to be found.”
Kori didn’t look convinced.
Neither was he.
Wyatt scanned the display again. He studied the figures moving between the buildings. From this height they each looked small and indistinct, like dark shapes crossing the snow.
He counted five. Then seven. Then he lost track.
His pulse quickened as he studied each one.
As Garrett switched from thermal to aerial, Wyatt realized he still couldn’t see any faces. The altitude was too high, and the camera resolution wasn’t built for that kind of detail.
Still, he leaned closer to the tablet as if the extra inch might help.
The drone drifted slightly, and a new angle opened on the largest structure.
This one was longer than the others, its roofline lower and wider.
Its position at the center of the cluster suggested it could be a meeting place.
One of the figures stopped moving.
Everyone else continued their routines—crossing between buildings, carrying various things, moving with a quiet rhythm.
But one person stood in the open space between two of the smaller structures.
He looked up.
Not at the sky.
At the drone.
Wyatt’s breath caught. “He sees us.”
“Yes, he does,” Garrett muttered.
For one suspended second the man didn’t move.
Then his arm came up.
Even at this altitude there was no mistaking the shape in his hand.
Wyatt sucked in a breath as he realized what was about to happen.
“Garrett—” Wyatt started.
Before his colleague could do anything, the gun flashed.
Static filled the tablet screen.
Garrett muttered something under his breath.
Wyatt’s jaw tightened. Whoever these people were, they weren’t playing. They didn’t want to be discovered.
He grabbed his radio. “Confirmed armed individuals. Multiple structures. Coordinates incoming. We need state police response.”
When he lowered the radio, he saw Kori staring at him.
“Mackenzie is there somewhere, isn’t she?” she murmured. “She could be one of those figures inside one of the buildings. One of the figures who isn’t moving.”
“We don’t know yet. But maybe. Pete could be there also.”
“We need to get to the hospital and talk to the woman we found today. If she came from that place,” Kori nodded toward the dark forest beyond the lot, “then she might be the only person who can tell us what’s happening up there.”
Quiet understanding washed through Wyatt, and he nodded.
“And if Mackenzie is inside that compound . . .” Kori’s voice tightened, “then maybe this woman can tell us how to get her out.”