Same land he’d known his whole life.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could still remember crayons rolling across the sheriff’s office floor while his father talked quietly behind closed doors.
Burke reached over, pulled the file into his lap, and flipped it open.
“Walkaway,” he muttered.
He didn’t close it this time.
He started reading.
19
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office — Late Morning
Luke knocked once and stepped into Burke’s office.
Burke was at his desk, file open, reading like he was trying to find something that wasn’t there. He’d spent half the night thinking about that straight line in Clara’s sketch, tracing the back side of Hollis land in his head, and the longer he did, the clearer one thing became: a personal visit from the sheriff would put too many eyes on something he wasn’t even sure about yet.
“You needed me?” Luke said.
Burke nodded toward the chair. “Yeah. Sit a minute.”
Luke dropped into it, relaxed, waiting.
Burke closed the file, kept his hand on it.
“You ever hear of Clara Vale?” he asked.
Luke gave him a look. “No.”
Burke nodded once. “Didn’t figure you would. Nineteen ninety-nine. Missing out on the Talley place. Marked a walkaway.”
Luke leaned back a little. “That’s… a while ago.”
“Yeah.”
“So why are we talking about it now?” Luke asked.
Burke shifted in his chair.
“Caitlin got interested in it,” he said. “She and Izzy found some old paintings out at a cabin on the ridge.”
Luke raised a brow. “What cabin?”
“Back side of Grant’s property. Out in the woods.”
“Huh.”
Burke tapped the file once with his fingers.
“Name on the paintings matched,” he said. “Girl who went missing in ’99.”
Luke nodded slowly. “You talk to your dad?”
“Yeah. He said she walked.”
Luke studied him a second. “You don’t believe him?”
