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“You’re still difficult.”
“You keep saying that like it surprises you.”
“It doesn’t anymore.”
I turned toward the river before he could see my expression.
Something rested between two rocks near the water.
A small wooden object.
“Mace.”
He followed the beam of my flashlight.
A carved eagle had been placed on the mud.
Its wings had been broken off.
Beneath it lay a laminated piece of paper.
A map.
Mace crouched beside it.
The old summer camp was circled in red.
So was one building near the northern edge of the property.
“What was that building?” I asked.
“The camp office, I think, Sheriff Tate said behind us.”
I studied the map.
A narrow trail had been drawn from the office to the river. Beside it, someone had written a single word.
OPEN.
“The key,” I said. “Emily gave Rylie a key to something at that camp.”
Mace looked toward the trees.
“He’s telling us where to use it.”
“No. He’s telling us where he wants us to go.”
“Same place.”
“Not the same reason.”
My phone rang.
Carson.
“Tell me you found the listening device.”
“We found two.”