Page 102 of Whispers in the Night

“Then we wait him out,” she said with a shrug. “But I don’t think his ego will let him just watch. He’s been planning this confrontation for five years. He’ll want to finish it.”

Holloway studied her proposal, his jaw tight. “This is risky.”

“Searching five hundred square miles of wilderness while Sutton has multiple escape routes is also risky. This gives us better odds.”

“What does Kane think about this?”

“He hates it. But he agrees it’s our best option.”

Holloway was quiet for a long moment, weighing their options. Finally, he nodded. “We run the search teams as planned. But we also prep the bait operation as a contingency. If the searches come up empty after forty-eight hours, we implement your plan.”

Harper breathed deep. “Thank you, Captain.”

He patted the now roll-up paper in his open hand, looking over her head as he moved around her. “Don’t thank me yet. If this goes sideways, we’re all going to regret it.”

The search teams deployed at seven-thirty a.m., heading into the mountains in full tactical gear. Harper and Silas stayed at the station, monitoring communication and coordinating between teams.

The first location—an abandoned logging camp—was clear. So was the second, an old ranger station near a creek. Team Three reported finding recent tire tracks at a hunting lodge, butthe structure itself was empty and showed no signs of recent occupation.

“He’s staying mobile,” Harper said, studying the map. “Not establishing a base. That makes him harder to find.”

“Or he’s not in the search area at all,” Morris suggested. “Could have ditched the sedan and headed in a completely different direction.”

“No.” Harper was certain. “He’s close. He wants to finish what he started, and he can’t do that if he runs too far.”

At noon, Team Two found something. An abandoned mining operation fifteen miles east of the city, partially collapsed but with several structures still standing. Fresh footprints in the dirt. Evidence of a recent fire in one of the buildings.

“Someone’s been here,” the team leader radioed. “Within the last day or two.”

“Move in carefully,” Holloway ordered. “Full tactical protocols.”

Harper and Silas listened to the radio chatter as the team cleared the structures one by one. The main building was empty. The old bunkhouse showed signs of recent use—disturbed dust, a few food wrappers, cigarette butts.

“Cigarette butts are fresh,” the team leader reported. “Less than twenty-four hours old based on decomposition.”

“Bag them for DNA analysis,” Holloway said. “See if they match Sutton.”

But when the team finished their search, Sutton wasn’t there. Just evidence that someone had used the location recently and moved on.

“He’s playing cat and mouse,” Silas said. “Staying one step ahead.”

Harper studied the pattern of locations they’d searched. The abandoned logging camp was ten miles north. The rangerstation was eight miles south. The mining operation was fifteen miles east. If you plotted them on a map...

“He’s moving in a circle,” Harper realized. “Look at the pattern. He’s not running away from Blackridge. He’s orbiting it. Staying close but never in one place long enough to be caught.”

“Why orbit?” Morris asked. “Why not just leave the area entirely?”

“Because he’s not done yet.” Harper pulled up the map of Blackridge, adding the locations where they’d found evidence of recent activity. “He’s waiting for something. Planning his final move.”

“Or waiting for you,” Silas said quietly.

At three p.m., the helicopter reported a sighting. A dark sedan, partially hidden under tree cover about twenty miles northeast of the city. The pilot couldn’t get close enough for a definitive ID, but the location and vehicle matched.

“Send Team One,” Holloway ordered. “Approach with extreme caution.”

It took the team forty minutes to reach the location from logging roads. When they arrived, they found the sedan—Sutton’s car, confirmed by the license plate. But it was empty, abandoned. The keys were still in the ignition, the gas tank nearly full.

“He ditched it,” the team leader reported. “Left it here and continued on foot.”