Maureen paid but didn’t step away. “Are you okay?”
Did Polly look as affected by those texts as she felt?
She nibbled her bottom lip. Maureen was actually a long-time local. If anyone knew this Eileen woman, surely it would be her. “Actually…I found something.”
Maureen’s brows lifted. “What kind of something?”
“A phone. I think it belonged to someone named Eileen.”
The change in Maureen was immediate. Any hint of a smile disappeared and her eyes darkened.
“Do you know her?” Polly asked, a bit quieter now.
“Knew. She went missing about ten years ago.”
Ho…ly…shit.Missing. Ten years ago. Right when she’d sent those texts.
Had the same person who’d killed those women also killed this Eileen?
Oh God, she was going to be sick.
She turned, about to talk to Deputy Cox, but her barista had already handed him his coffee, and he was walking out of the café.
Maureen leaned in. “Dear, if I can give you any advice, it’s to hand that phone over to Sheriff Ward and forget you ever found it. You don’t want to stir up old ghosts.”
The scentof wet earth and pine hung in the air as Joel’s feet hit the ground in fast, even steps. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been running, maybe twenty minutes, maybe an hour. He wasn’t tired. But that was what being a SEAL had done for him. It had forced him to reach a level of fitness that most wouldn’t ever come close to. And just like his team, Joel made sure to maintain that fitness.
They ran in a loose formation now, none of them breathing hard.
Branches snapped beneath feet and a light thrum of rain hit their shoulders.
Nothing beat this feeling. The adrenaline that cut through exhaustion. The high that only came from pushing the body to the limit.
He leapt over a root, then veered around a tree.
They weren’t running on any path or flat surface. They were cutting straight through the trees with the rush of the river close by.
He needed to learn this forest. He needed the maze to feel like a map in his head. Every ridge. Every fallen cedar and curve of the river. So when the next call for help came, he knew exactly where to go.
Ryan, their team lead, sped up his pace, and they all matched him stride for stride.
Eventually, that burn started to ignite Joel’s lungs, and he fucking loved it. Craved it.
Back when he’d been a kid, he’d lived for this feeling of taking his body to the edge. But that came from feeling like you were trapped. And hehadbeen trapped. In a family that didn’t understand him. In a house that was too big, and a life that didn’t feel his.
His fists tightened and his feet pounded deeper into the earth.
But he was out. He was carving his own life now. And sooner or later, his parents would stop calling and accept that.
Finally, their SAR base came into view. It was an old, repurposed firehouse with only a thin line of trees between it and the river. It was one of the original buildings in Deep River, from back when the town was founded. Back then, old-school tanker trucks had been filled directly from the water source for fires.
His breathing was heavy as he stepped into the communal room. At one end was the tech equipment—laptops, the drone, GPS gear. That was Ethan’s domain. In the middle of the room was a table and couches. Then a kitchen at the other end, near the door that led to the parking lot.
Down the hall were the medical room, bathrooms, sleeping quarters, and in the old apparatus bay was their equipment—backpacks, helmets, harnesses and ropes.
Ethan and Zac headed straight for the showers, while Joel stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and a Clif bar.
“We need to refill the snack compartment,” he said as he ripped open the packaging.
