Sheriff Sutherland nodded toward the stretch of road leading out from the gate. “She came this way.”
Max was already moving, his attention locked on the ground as he followed the edge of the asphalt.
The wind had picked up just enough to blur things. Not enough to erase tracks completely—but enough to make themharder to read. Tire marks overlapped in places. Footprints broke apart and disappeared where the snow thinned.
He slowed, scanning carefully.
There had to be some kind of sign she’d been here.
He stepped off the pavement and onto the shoulder, his boots crunching through the softer snow. He crouched, studying a set of partial impressions. But they were too shallow and distorted.
Max stood again, his jaw tightening as he headed a few steps farther down the road. His gaze swept back and forth, catching on every shadow, every uneven patch of ground.
Nothing.
For a second, unease crept in.
What if they were too late?
What if there was nothing to find?
He pushed the thought away and kept moving.
Then something caught his eye—a break in the pattern.
A darker shape lay near the edge of the pavement, half-hidden where the snow had drifted unevenly.
Max’s focus sharpened as he stepped closer.
He crouched beside the object, brushing a thin layer of snow aside with his gloved hand.
A phone.
The screen was cracked along one side, a jagged line running from corner to corner.
“Sheriff Sutherland,” he called.
Footsteps approached behind him. “You find something?”
Max nodded at the phone. “Think this was Lyndee’s?”
Sheriff Sutherland crouched beside him and examined the device. “Maybe. It hasn’t been here long.”
“My thoughts too.”
Sheriff Sutherland frowned as he stared at it. “Looks like it took a hit.”
Max glanced back toward the road. “In other words, someone didn’t just drop it here.”
“No,” Sheriff Sutherland agreed. “Most likely, someone tossed it.”
Caleb joined them. “So what are you thinking?”
The sheriff’s gaze tracked the direction Lyndee would’ve come from. “She climbs the gate. Comes out here.” He gestured toward the phone. “Someone was waiting for her just out of sight and wanted to make sure her location wasn’t tracked.”
Max didn’t like the sound of that.
Sheriff Sutherland pulled on some gloves before slipping the phone into an evidence bag from his pocket. Then he hit the screen.
