McKayla crossed her arms tighter.“Hard not to when it’s my sister’s face.”
Anchor reached up and ripped the poster off the tree in one hard pull.Something caught his attention immediately.He flipped the paper over.
“What?”I asked.
Anchor stared at the back of the poster.“There’s a date.”
Everyone crowded closer.Written in black marker across the back was a date.Seventeen days from now.Silence settled over all of us.
Post frowned.“What the hell does that mean?”
I took the poster from Anchor and looked it over carefully.
The paper felt newer than the others.Cleaner, less worn, and then it clicked.“This is fresh.”
Anchor glanced at me.“What?”
I turned the poster over in my hands.“It rained two nights ago.Hard.”I ran my thumb along the paper.“This thing doesn’t look like it got wet at all.”
McKayla immediately nodded.“He’s right.The others are warped from weather.This one isn’t.”
“So somebody just put it here,” Pull said.
“Yeah,” I muttered.
Piney rubbed a hand down his beard.“Okay, but what the hell does the date mean?”
“Maybe that’s when something’s gonna happen,” Post suggested.
“Or when he’s gonna take her,” Piney said quietly.
McKayla went pale instantly.
Anchor shot Piney a look.“Helpful.”
“What?We’re all thinking it.”Unfortunately, he was probably right.
I looked at the date again.Seventeen days.Too specific to mean nothing.
McKayla started pacing suddenly, hands moving while she talked faster.“Okay.Okay.So either this guy is planning something for that date, or something already happened on that date before.”She pointed at the poster.“But it has to do with Erin, right?”
“Breathe,” I interrupted gently.
She stopped pacing immediately and dragged in a breath.Then another.
Anchor studied at the poster again.“Could be a countdown.”
“To what?”Pull asked.
Nobody answered, because nobody had a damn clue.
McKayla looked up suddenly.“I need to go through the footage from the last two days.”
All eyes turned to her.
“If this was put up after the rain,” she continued, “then maybe whoever did it is on camera somewhere.”
“She’s right,” Post said.
