Scout watched him go, then turned back toward the ridge.
It wasn’t rumor anymore. It was a message.
A man out there had staged something like a trophy and left it where it would be found.
And if he’d left Sara’s badge with it…
Scout’s stomach turned once, sharp and ugly.
He forced his thoughts into line.
Headlights appeared at the far barricade—two unmarked SUVs rolling in slow, purposeful.
North Carolina SBI.
They didn’t arrive like the town did, with casseroles and prayers.
They arrived like a storm system.
Calm. Efficient. Prepared.
A small enclosed trailer followed behind them—camper-style, boxy and plain, the kind that could be parked anywhere and turned into a mobile command center in minutes.
Burke stepped forward as the lead SUV stopped. The door opened.
Special Agent Tessa Quinn climbed out, field jacket zipped to her chin, hair pulled back, eyes alert and already working. She’d spent most of Friday up on Miller’s Ridge with Cade and her team, locking down the bones scene. Now she was here—because Sara’s last known location was the one that still mattered most.
Scout stood by the truck, arms folded, mountain wind pushing dark hair back from his forehead. Built lean from years of climbing ridgelines and hauling gear through rough country, he looked carved out of the same terrain he patrolled.
When he turned and those green eyes met hers, she saw it before he could hide it.
Worry.
Not for optics. Not for the crowd.
For Sara.
That mattered more than anything he could have said.
She clocked the faces at the tape—the relief, the fear, the way the whole town seemed to lean toward her and her team like they were a lifeline.
Kyle had looked her in the eyes and said it plain—if she wanted him, she had to give up the job.
Standing here, seeing how badly these people needed help, something in her spine locked into place.
It mattered. Not just to her.
To all of them.
“Glad you’re here,” Burke said.
“Me too,” Tessa answered. Her gaze flicked across the scene—the crowd, the tape, the empty road beyond. “Give me the quick version.”
“Missing since 2:47 a.m. Friday,” Burke said. “We ran the first search grid yesterday. K-9s tracked from the cruiser to the creek bend. Scent breaks in the water.”
Scout handed her a damp map. “Same this morning.”
Tessa studied the ridge for one beat, then nodded like she’d expected it.
