Chapter 46 Search
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Tessa’s Tactical Team
The convoy crawled up the ridge road like a hunting pack—blue strobes off, engines low.
Burke’s truck led, Rosie pressed to the passenger door, alert. Behind him, Tessa Quinn commanded SBI’s tactical team, Parker’s voice crackling through the radio as he coordinated the perimeter.
They’d spotted the black Tahoe hours earlier, tucked beneath pine limbs at the end of Ridge Bluff Lane. Fog curled along the ground, night clinging to the trees.
Burke’s hands locked on the wheel. Her laugh flashed through his mind—a sound he’d die before letting Jason silence. He would not lose her.
“This is it,” Parker said. “No movement yet. Drone caught a heat signature earlier—maybe him, maybe her.”
“Could be both,” Burke answered. “Hold perimeter. We’re going in.”
Scout pulled in behind him, followed by two SBI agents and a pair of deputies on foot. The cabin ahead was weathered, tin roof patched, chimney cold. The Tahoe crouched in the shadows.
Burke stepped out, rifle ready. Rosie leapt down, ears pricked.
“Positions Alpha through Delta,” Tessa ordered. “Confirm eyes on the cabin.”
They moved with practiced silence. Scout circled right with two deputies; Tessa flanked left. Rosie stayed at Burke’s heel, nose working the air.
At Burke’s signal, Scout kicked the door. The lock splintered.
“Sheriff’s Office!”
Silence.
Inside was too neat. The bed made. Everything staged.
She’s been here, Burke murmured. Not long.
“He never stayed,” Tessa said. “Dropped the Tahoe and moved her somewhere else. Fast. Quiet. No tracks.”
“Which means Evan Cole helped,” Scout muttered.
Burke’s voice was clipped. “The Tahoe was bait. We’ve been chasing ghosts.”
“Judge signed off,” Tessa said into her comm. “Once cleared, we run a five-mile thermal sweep. Anything warm that shouldn’t be—we hit it.”
“Mountain Rentals still isn’t responding,” Parker added.
“Then we do it the hard way,” Burke said. “Every damn door they own.”
Rosie whined once, then went still. Burke crouched beside her, hand steady on her back.
“We’re coming, Caitlin. Just hold on.” His voice cracked. He swallowed hard, steel sliding back into place.
For a heartbeat, he wanted nothing more than to drag Evan Cole into a cell and make him talk—but that wasn’t how the badge worked. Not tonight.
Burke straightened, staring at the cold hearth, the untouched bedspread. The bastard had planned this—left them a stage set for a rescue that would never come.
Caitlin
Higher up the ridge, on a private stretch of land he’d leased under another name, a modern cabin sat half-hidden in the trees. Metal roof, tinted windows, satellite dish—luxury disguised as wilderness. He’d chosen it because no one would think to look here.
Inside, Caitlin sat at the edge of the bed, wrists raw from the bite of zip ties. No windows at the back. Only one door.
Jason moved through the cabin like he owned it—calm, composed, deliberate.
He poured himself a bourbon, ice ticking in the glass, then returned carrying a garment bag.
The bourbon’s burn and his aftershave made her sick.
With slow precision, he unzipped the bag.
A white silk nightgown gleamed in the lamplight—a whisper of fabric that made her skin crawl.
He laid it on the bed beside her with the care of a man setting evidence on a table.
“You’re going to shower,” he said evenly. “When you come out, you’ll put this on.”
Caitlin didn’t move.
He crouched in front of her, voice soft and razor-edged. “You’re going to look like the woman you used to be. Because tonight I’m going to remind you of everything you gave up.”
She flinched when he brushed a lock of hair behind her ear—an echo of gentleness that felt obscene.
“I haven’t decided yet,” he went on. “If I want you back, we’ll fly home tomorrow. My jet’s waiting.”
His smile thinned. “If not… well. You’ll find out.”
He stood, rolling his shoulders as if preparing for a meeting. “If you want me to choose the jet over regret, start cooperating.”
He left her there—silence thick enough to choke.
Caitlin stared at the nightgown, the fabric glaring white against the gloom. Her head throbbed.
Plan, don’t panic, she told herself. Remember every detail. Wait. Watch. Endure.
When the opening came, she would act.
Far below, the search lights swept through fog and pine, tracing empty shadows across the wrong cabin. Burke didn’t know it yet—but while his team scoured a decoy, Caitlin sat in another house on the same mountain, counting her breaths and waiting for the one chance that might save them both.