Chapter 34 - Lake Arden Road
Lake Arden Road wound through dense pine forest, its cracked asphalt shining beneath the storm.
The gray van had vanished from traffic cameras twenty miles outside the city, but Arthur had predicted the next turn before the patrol reports confirmed it.
"There is an old service road near the reservoir," he said. "It would not appear on modern maps."
Mercer looked at him.
"How do you know?"
Arthur kept his eyes forward.
"Because Elena used it once."
The road narrowed until branches scraped against both sides of the vehicles. Ahead, a rusted maintenance gate stood half-open.
Fresh tire tracks cut through the mud.
Mercer stopped the convoy immediately.
"They came this way."
The team moved on foot from there.
No sirens.
No lights.
Only rain, mud, and the distant sound of water spilling over the reservoir walls.
Arthur should have stayed back.
Everyone knew it.
No one said it.
He moved slower than the others, but his mind traveled ahead of them, rebuilding possibilities from memory, weather, terrain, and fear.
After fifteen minutes, Reeves spotted something near the tree line.
A child's shoe.
Arthur's chest tightened.
It was Eli's missing shoe.
Mercer crouched beside it.
"No blood."
Arthur looked deeper into the trees.
"He left it deliberately."
"As a trail?"
"Or a message."
They pressed forward.
Soon, a small abandoned ranger station appeared through the rain. Its windows were boarded, but faint light glowed through the cracks.
Mercer signaled everyone to stop.
Voices came from inside.
One adult.
One child.
Eli was alive.
Then a third voice spoke, older and calm.
"Tell Mr. Hale we are disappointed he brought company."
Arthur's face changed.
Mercer whispered, "They know we're here."
Arthur did not answer.
From inside the ranger station, Eli suddenly shouted.
"Arthur! Don't come in!"
A sharp sound followed.
Not a gunshot.
A slap.
Arthur's hand tightened around his cane.
The old man's voice remained low, but every officer near him heard the steel beneath it.
May you like
"No one touches that boy again."
Then he stepped out from behind the trees and walked slowly toward the ranger station door.
