Caleb looked toward the waterline. Two lockers left.
The one he didn’t want to be empty was still ahead.
CHAPTER 49
Dusk was closing in,the light thinning as the woods swallowed the road. Tree branches scraped along the sides of the truck.
Caleb’s heart was racing. They put their faith in the idea that she was in one of the lockers, told themselves she was in one of them. She had to be. But what if she wasn’t? His jaw ached from how hard he was clenching it. He forced his hands to stay steady.
The cab stayed silent as they drove toward the second site. Silence felt louder than sirens.
“It’s close,” said Nate, glancing at the map.
They hadn’t been on the road long when his radio crackled. Caleb’s pulse spiked.
Good news?
“Nothing at the second locker,” Chase said. “We’re moving on.”
Caleb’s gut wrenched. His mouth went dry.
No matter. They had to keep going. Had to keep the faith.
Nate pointed ahead. “Next right. Another dirt road.”
The road narrowed down to a single rutted track. Headlights bounced off bushes and low branches.
Then they stopped. A fallen tree lay across the track, its trunk thick, roots ripped up with dirt still clinging to them.
“Fuck,” Caleb muttered. This couldn’t be happening.
They were out of the truck in seconds. The air smelled of damp earth and pine sap. The light in the woods was dim. Darkness wasn’t far off. Caleb dug in, boots slipping as they pushed. The tree didn’t move. Pressure built behind his eyes, hot and blinding. They were burning time they didn’t have.
“Any chains in the truck?” Nate asked, wiping sweat from his face.
Caleb shook his head.
Nate blew out a breath. “Alrighty then. By hand, it is.”
They repositioned themselves, boots skidding in the dirt. Someone counted off. Sweat ran into Caleb’s eyes. His arms trembled.
They attacked it again, prying and shoving, muscles burning as they heaved together, giving it everything they had. Finally, the tree shifted just enough to open a narrow gap along the edge of the road.
“That’s all we’re getting,” Titus said.
By the time they piled back into the truck, Caleb’s hands were scraped raw and shaking. The tremor pissed him off. He shoved it down and started the engine.
It was enough. It had to be.
But it was time wasted, and they didn’t have any to spare.
Another two minutes and the second locker came into view, swallowed by vines and overgrown bushes. If they hadn’t known it was there, they would’ve driven right past.
Caleb parked, and they were out of the truck before the engine fully cut.
The door was even more rusted than the last, the metal pitted and flaking. The padlock was swollen with corrosion.
Titus grabbed the bolt cutters. They stepped back as he braced and snapped through the lock.
