Chapter 47
Kori woke before her alarm the next morning.
For one disoriented moment, she didn’t know where she was.
Then it came back. Refuge Cove.
She already had three missed calls from her office and two emails flagged urgent. Her head pounded at the thought. Getting away from her job—even for a personal emergency—seemed impossible.
Could she live like this forever? She wasn’t sure.
She set the phone face down on the nightstand.
Whatever was happening in a DC courtroom right now was going to have to wait. She had people covering for her. They could handle things.
Then she remembered those videos she’d seen last night. She needed to tell Wyatt about them. She’d considered calling him in the middle of the night but had decided against it. Wyatt deserved to get some rest, and a few hours wouldn’t change anything.
He was picking her up this morning, and she’d tell him then.
She dressed quickly and then slipped out of her room.
She followed the smell of coffee to the kitchen.
Naomi was already standing at the counter in a thick robe with her hair loose around her shoulders. She looked up when Kori appeared and reached immediately for a second mug.
“I heard you moving around,” Naomi said. “Figured you’d be up early.”
“I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“You didn’t. Grace did.” She poured the coffee and slid it across the counter with a small smile. “She keeps her own schedule.”
“Thank you for this.” Kori wrapped both hands around the mug.
“I have almond milk. Would that work?”
“It sounds fantastic.”
Naomi pulled the carton from the fridge and handed it to her. Kori poured some into her drink, stirred it, and then took a small sip.
It tasted heavenly.
Naomi leaned her hip against the counter. “How are you holding up?”
She was tempted to give her a pat answer but decided against it. Instead, she shrugged. “I’ve been better.”
Naomi nodded as if she understood. “Wyatt will find your sister. He and Thunder are really good at what they do—and they’re determined.”
“I know. I just keep thinking about this new storm that’s coming through.”
“He’s thinking about it too. I’ve seen him work. When he sets his mind on something, he might be delayed, but he doesn’t stop.”
Kori looked at her. “Has he always been like that?”
“Always. Even as a kid. If he decided something mattered, that was it. The rest of the world could wait. One time, a man at church broke his leg and couldn’t tend to his apple orchard. Wyatt organized all the kids in youth group to go out and help. That’s just the kind of person he is.”
Kori thought about what Wyatt had told her—about Patagonia, about his fiancée who didn’t want to move, about the choice he’d made to come home anyway.
She thought about how he’d pulled her into a hug yesterday when she’d been on the verge of falling apart.
At that moment, she’d felt held together.
She hadn’t felt like that since her parents died.
Bitterness had taken root in her life and had left her feeling more miserable than ever. Yet here was this family who’d sacrificed so much for people who’d hurt them.
How did they do that?
She cleared her throat before asking, “How could you possibly forgive the man who killed your sister and care enough to take care of his baby?”
Maybe the question was too personal. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked.
But she had to know. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since she’d heard their story.
Naomi released a long breath. “She’s named Grace for a reason. I know people say that not forgiving someone usually hurts you more than it hurts them. It’s true. I couldn’t let bitterness eat away at me. I felt the Lord directing me on what to do.”
“I really admire that,” Kori murmured.
And she did. There was a time she couldn’t imagine forgiving Mackenzie and Flint. But maybe it was time to let go of those hard feelings and realize everyone was imperfect—including her.
She glanced back at her coffee.
Just then, headlights swept across the kitchen window.
Kori straightened. Someone was here.
She glanced at her watch. And right on time.
A minute later the side door opened, and Wyatt stepped into the mudroom with Thunder at his heels.
Perfect. She needed to tell him about the videos.
Thunder immediately went to Kori and waited for a head rub. She chuckled and happily gave him one. This dog deserved it after all the help he’d been.
Wyatt looked at her across the kitchen, and she read his expression before he said a word.
He had news.
Something had happened overnight, hadn’t it? Did it involve Mackenzie?
Nausea pooled in her stomach at the thought.
Wyatt wrapped both hands around his coffee mug and let the kitchen settle around him.
“Graham called me on the drive over,” Wyatt started. “The forensics team has been in the structures for most of the night. The good news is they found a map.”
Kori straightened. “What kind of map?”
“It was hand-drawn and indicated a second location.”
“Did someone leave it behind?” Naomi asked.
He shrugged. “It appeared someone dropped it—it was pretty mangled and wet from landing in the snow. But it was still readable. The task force thinks the marked location is where this group might be headed now.”
Kori nodded and took another sip of her coffee.
“Law enforcement is gearing up now,” Wyatt said. “They’re planning to move on that area this morning.”
Something shifted in Kori’s expression, and Wyatt had the impression she was holding something back.
“What is it, Kori?”
She licked her lips before saying, “I couldn’t sleep last night, so I went through Mackenzie’s trail camera footage.”
“And?”
She pulled out her phone and showed him the screen.
It was a grainy photograph she’d taken of the laptop display.
“There are fourteen clips,” she said. “Different days. Different weather. Same trail. Same direction.”
She swiped to the next photo. It was of a man carrying a box through the woods.
“They’re not hikers,” Kori said. “They’re moving supplies.”
Wyatt studied each frame as she scrolled. “So Mackenzie discovered this.”
“Yes. But there’s more. Look at this image.” She showed him the one. “I recognized the man.”
He squinted. “What do you mean?”
She explained who Bartholomew Beekman was. Wyatt’s eyes widened with each new detail.
“Wait . . . this may be connected with you?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Not for sure. But it can’t be a coincidence. What if Mackenzie was watching this footage, and she recognized him also?”
“Tell me everything you know about him.”
She blew out a long breath before answering. “He owned like six hundred acres or something. The land had been in his family for years. Then the state decided they needed to build a highway right in the middle of it—eminent domain. He was furious. Especially since he had a farm there.”
“Keep going,” Wyatt said.
“I could understand his anger. But then he started sabotaging equipment. He took it too far when he went to the home of the project manager with a gun and began threatening him.”
“Sounds like he lost his mind a little.”
“He did. I sensed something really off about him. I knew he was a danger.”
“How long did he get in prison?”
“Ten years. That was four years ago.”
“Any way he could have gotten out early?” Wyatt asked.
“It’s a possibility. I already put in a call, but it’s too early for anyone to get back with me.”