Martha waved a hand. “Don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to protect. We’ve got a bunch of meat eaters around here. They like hunting, and they like their red meat.”
Kori hid a smile.
Martha looked back at Wyatt again, some of her cheerfulness disappearing. “Listen, since you’re here . . . Pete mentioned something the other night that I wanted to run by you.”
“Martha’s husband runs the general store on Fourth,” Wyatt explained before looking back at Martha. “What’s going on?”
“He’s had some unusual customers lately. Strangers, and they’ve been buying in bulk.” She shook her head. “It’s nothing illegal, but it just seems odd. It’s too much stuff for a camping trip.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Mostly rice, water, beans. That type of thing.”
Wyatt’s eyes narrowed before he finally nodded. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“It might be nothing . . .” Martha shrugged. “Or it might be something.”
As Martha moved on to the next table, Wyatt chewed on Martha’s words. Why would strangers be ordering supplies in bulk?
It was like Martha said . . . it could be nothing. Or it could be something.
If he had to guess? The people ordering sounded like preppers to him. They were becoming more and more common around here, and there was nothing illegal about storing up food in case of a worst-case scenario.
Besides, people from out of town had been buying up farmland in the area. Just because Pete didn’t recognize the people didn’t necessarily mean anything.
“You don’t think it’s nothing, do you?” Kori murmured.
Her voice pulled him from his thoughts.
He didn’t answer right away. “I think Blue Ridge Hollow is a small town. People notice things. It’s our greatest asset and our greatest liability.”
“Makes sense.” She nodded slowly before clearing her throat. “Listen, there’s something I need to tell you.”
He lowered his fork. “Go ahead.”
“When I stayed back at Mackenzie’s earlier, I found a laptop she’d hidden under her bed.”
His eyebrows shot up. “And?”
She licked her lips before continuing. “And there wasn’t anything obviously suspicious on it. I think maybe she used it for work.”
He squinted. “Why would she hide her work laptop under her bed?”
“I’m not sure. The only thing I really saw on it was some footage from a trail camera.”
He stilled slightly. “She had trail camera footage on her computer?”
Kori paused. “Is that significant?”
Wyatt hesitated a fraction of a second before answering. “I’ve come across a few trail cameras in the woods lately. Nothing illegal on their own, but . . .” He shook his head. “They didn’t appear to be placed for wildlife.”
A chill worked its way down Kori’s spine. “What do you mean?”
“They were positioned to watch movement. Trails. Access points.” His gaze flicked toward the window, like he couldalready see the forest from here. “Whoever put them up wasn’t looking for deer.”
Kori’s stomach tightened. “So you think this could be connected?”
“I think it’s not something I’m going to ignore.” He glanced back at her. “Was that all?”
