CHAPTER 3
Wyatt’s officewasn’t much—just a desk, two chairs, and a topographical map of the forest pinned to the wall.
Thunder settled on his bed in the corner, his chin on his paws as he watched everything the way he always did.
Thunder had been his oldest sister Sarah’s dog. That was still how Wyatt thought of him sometimes, even after three years—as his sister’s dog. He’d adopted Thunder after her death, and the canine had turned out to have the instincts of a search and rescue animal.
Sarah herself had always had good instincts—except when it came to men.
His throat constricted at the thought, but he quickly pushed it away. This wasn’t the time or place to dwell on that.
He gestured to the chair across from his desk. “Have a seat.”
The woman sat down, bag still on her shoulder. “I’m Kori. Kori Hutchins.”
“I’m Ranger King. You can call me Wyatt.”
Now that she was close, he took in her details. High cheekbones. A small Roman nose. Unusual gray-green eyes. She was uniquely beautiful. Composed. The way she spoke conveyed intelligence and education.
She was the kind of woman who didn’t belong here—and somehow that made it hard not to look at her twice.
He pulled out a notepad. “Full name of your sister.”
“Mackenzie Elaine Hutchins. She’s twenty-six. Five foot four. A hundred twenty pounds. Brown hair. Brown eyes.”
He wrote down the details. As he did, the woman pulled up a picture of Mackenzie on her phone and showed him.
Something moved at the edge of his memory. He’d seen Mackenzie around town before, maybe at the grocery store or at one of the street festivals. In a small town like Blue Ridge Hollow, everyone generally knew everyone—unless you didn’t want to be known.
He glanced at Kori. “You said her neighbor specifically mentioned Lost Hollow Trail?”
“Yes. Apparently the hike was on my sister’s bucket list.”
He tapped his pen against the notepad as he thought through the protocol. “I see.”
“Listen, she’s the only family I have left.” Kori locked gazes with him. “Our parents are gone. It’s just the two of us. Me and Mackenzie. I can’t lose her.”
Wyatt set his pen down.
He knew something about loss. About the weight of it. About the way it changed the air in a room. And he wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
“We’ll find her,” he said. “But we do it right. First step—I want to see where she lives. See if there’s anything there that might give us a clue as to if she changed her plans or anything of that sort.”
Kori nodded and stood, gratitude filling her gaze. “That makes sense.”
As she did, Thunder lifted his head and rose from the corner.
She drew in a sharp breath and stepped back, her hand going over her heart.
Wyatt glanced at her. “Thunder goes where I go. Is that going to be a problem?”
She looked down at the dog, an unreadable emotion moving across her face.
Then she swallowed hard before saying, “I’d face Bigfoot himself if it meant finding my sister.”
Mackenzie’s apartment building was a two-story brick walk-up on the quieter end of Main Street. It had black window boxes on the outside, though nothing was growing in them this time of year. A lopsided wreath, which someone had made by hand out of pine branches and dried berries, hung on the front door.
Kori sat in her car a moment after she parked and stared at the place.
