Tessa didn’t break stride. Scout’s face stayed unreadable. None of them said a word.
At the door, Burke shoved it open hard enough to rattle the frame. The three of them disappeared inside.
Operations Room — Minutes Later
Burke stormed through. Every head in the room snapped up.
He slapped a folder onto the table.
“Our case is Sara Parker,” he said. “That’s it. Not snowed-in agents, not blizzard survival stories, not whatever circus is happening on the station steps.”
He zeroed in on Denton.
“You want to explain why the press is out there talking about everything but the missing woman? Or why a certain NC Bureau agent is feeding them breadcrumbs to run wild with?”
Denton straightened. “They were going to ask the questions anyway. I figured it was better if the facts came from me.”
A few deputies snorted.
Burke leaned in, voice low—flat.
“You figured wrong. All you did was give them room to speculate.”
He didn’t blink.
“When you’re in my station, you follow my command.”
“With all due respect, Sheriff?—”
“Apparently you need a task that suits your talent for talking,” Burke cut in. “Scout and Tessa are heading back up the ridge to retrieve evidence before it disappears.” He jabbed a finger toward the door. “You can stay down here and babysit the press.”
A deputy snickered. Another coughed into his sleeve.
Burke tossed the keys to Scout. He caught them one-handed.
“Get moving,” Burke said. “Forecast says we’re getting a warm-up. If rain hits that ridge, everything turns to mush.”
Denton held Burke’s stare. Said nothing.
Scout’s shoulder brushed Denton’s on the way out. He didn’t apologize.
When the door banged shut, the room finally relaxed.
Station Lot — Later
The reporters still lingered, microphones lowered but curiosity sharp. Snow dusted their shoulders and the tops of their cameras.
Tessa brushed past Kyle—until he caught her elbow.
“You’re really going back up there with that guy?”
She turned to face him.
“That guy is a deputy who almost got shot doing his job.”
“You spent two nights snowed in with him. You don’t see how that plays?”
Something in her snapped.
