“Mom has his picture.”
Tess crouched beside her.
“What’s your name, honey?”
“Lily.”
“Lily Mercer?”
The girl nodded.
“And your mom?”
“Anna.”
Tess offered her hand without touching her until Lily chose to take it.
“Anna Mercer came out here looking for something belonging to your grandfather?”
Lily swallowed.
“She said Grandma left her a secret.”
Colter felt the uneasy sensation in his chest deepen.
“What kind of secret?”
Lily shook her head.
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
Another sound came from ahead.
Metal scraping against metal.
Then silence.
Lily squeezed Tess’s hand.
“That’s where Mommy is.”
Colter turned to two riders standing behind him.
“Dale, go back to the road and tell Marcus to call emergency services.”
Dale nodded.
“Tell them we have a missing woman, possible injury, old structures in the woods, and an unknown vehicle.”
“You got it.”
“Take Ben with you.”
The two men disappeared down the trail.
Colter looked at Tess.
“You stay with Lily.”
Tess gave him a look.
“You know I’m coming.”
“I figured you’d say that.”
The faintest smile passed between them, gone almost immediately.
Three other riders followed several yards behind while Colter moved ahead.
The tire tracks bent left around a stand of sycamores.
Beyond them, something unnatural appeared among the trees.
A roof.
It belonged to a small wooden structure sagging beneath decades of weather.
One side had nearly surrendered to vines.
The porch tilted toward the earth.
Rusty tin roofing curled along the edges like dried leaves.
Beside it sat a brown pickup truck.
Its engine was cold.
The driver’s door stood open.
Lily stopped.
“That truck came after us.”
Colter turned.
“You saw the driver?”
“A man.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Did he hurt your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
Her lower lip trembled.
“He yelled for her not to go inside.”
That detail changed something.
Colter had expected a story of pursuit.
Instead, he heard warning.
“Then what happened?”
“Mom told me to stay outside.”