Wyatt shook his head. “No, there’s nothing.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Then there’s the woman from the trail.”
“She escaped from the compound. She’d been out there long enough to be near death.” Kori stopped and looked at Wyatt. “She confirmed Mackenzie is inside.”
“And that she’s alive,” Wyatt said.
“Alive.” The word felt like an anchor Kori needed to hold onto.
Kori looked at her hands on the table. The restaurant had thinned out around them while they’d been talking. Only a few tables remained occupied, and the server was refilling condiment holders at the far end of the room.
She was about to say something else when Wyatt’s phone buzzed against the table.
He glanced at the screen, and something shifted in his posture. It wasn’t exactly alarm, but there was something there—an alertness.
“It’s Micah.” He answered. “What do you have?”
Kori watched his face.
She saw the moment it changed.
His jaw set. His eyes lifted to hers. Something quick and unreadable moved through his expression before it settled into focus.
“When?” he said.
A pause.
“How many units?”
Another pause.
“Kori and I are forty minutes out. We’ll head back now.” He ended the call and put the phone into his pocket.
Kori didn’t wait. “What happened?”
“State police moved up the timeline.” He was already standing up and reaching for his jacket. “They didn’t want to give this group any more time. They’re raiding the compound. Right now.”
The wordnowlanded in her chest like something physical.
Kori was on her feet before she’d made a conscious decision to stand. “Mackenzie’s in there.”
“We don’t know that for certain. They may have moved people.” His voice stayed even, but his eyes were on hers. “Kori.”
She looked at him.
“We can’t go in,” he said carefully. “This is a law enforcement operation. There are armed individuals on federal land. They have a protocol to follow.”
“I know,” she said. “But we should be close by in case they find her.”
Wyatt held her gaze a moment longer, a private calculation moving behind his eyes.
Then he pulled out his wallet, left some cash on the table, and looked at her. “Let’s go.”
Thunder was already at his side.
They walked out into the cold together, and Kori looked up at the dark sky above the mountains—the same mountains where her sister had been for eight days now.
She didn’t pray for a particular outcome. She didn’t trust herself to know what to ask for.
She simply pleaded with God the whole way to the truck.
