Page 7 of In Her Sights

“Damn,” Jake muttered.

Jenna pocketed her phone, joining the two men as they tried the door and found the car unlocked.

“Nothing looks out of place,” Jake observed. “No signs of a struggle or forced entry.”

“Could be she just went deeper into the woods than she planned,” Billy offered.

Jake nodded, stepping forward to inspect a map that lay on the passenger seat. “She’s marked a common trail. If she stuck to it, she shouldn’t have had any trouble.”

“Let’s get going,” Billy said decisively, turning back to his vehicle. “I’ll radio the deputies to meet us here. We’ll need all the help we can get.”

Billy’s thumb pressed firmly against his radio transmitter, a static crackle slicing through the tension. “Base to Delta One, Two, and Three, converge on my twenty at the Whispering Pines trailhead parking. Over.”

“Copy that, Base,” came the first crisp reply, followed by two more affirmations. The rangers were efficient, their responses quick and clear-cut.

Jenna stepped away from Sarah’s car, under the dense canopy of Whispering Pines. She could feel the forest’s breath—a damp exhale that seemed to murmur with secrets. “Billy, in your experience, what kind of dangers might Sarah have encountered out here?”

Billy Schmitt, his face creased with concern beneath his ranger hat, glanced around at the thick underbrush and towering pines before meeting Jenna’s gaze. “Well, Sheriff, mountain lion incidents are rare in these parts, but …” He hesitated. “My deputies have reported some black bear activity recently.”

“Black bears?” Jake interjected, his protective instincts causing him to scan their surroundings with renewed wariness.

“Yup,” Billy confirmed with a solemn nod. “They’re generally shy creatures, but it’s possible for encounters to turn dangerous, especially if she stumbled upon a mother with cubs.”

The thought of a bear attack sent a shiver through Jenna. It was one thing to confront human malevolence, quite another to be at the mercy of nature’s raw and uncalculating force.

“Could she have gotten lost? Maybe injured herself?” Jenna asked, her eyes searching the forest as if it might yield its secrets to her keen intuition.

“Definitely a possibility,” Billy said, scratching his beard thoughtfully. “This terrain can be treacherous, and an injured hiker could easily go unnoticed.”

“Alright. We need to cover as much ground as possible,” Jenna stated, the leader in her emerging with clear command. “If Sarah is injured, time is against us. Jake, let’s you and I start by following the trail nearest her car. Billy, do you think there are other routes she might’ve taken from where she parked?”

“Several,” Billy replied, his expression grave. “I’ll show you on the map.”

Together, they hunched over the crinkled paper that was now spread across the hood of Billy’s vehicle. Trails snaked like veins across the forest’s heart, each a potential path that Sarah may have walked. Jenna’s finger traced the lines, her mind racing to unlock the pattern that would lead them to the missing hiker.

The rustling sound of tires over gravel announced the arrival of Billy’s deputy rangers. Three sturdy SUVs pulled up, each one driven by a man who bore the same rugged, capable look of their lead ranger. They stepped out, geared up with boots laced tight and radios clipped to their shoulders. Their faces were set with determination; they were the guardians of these woods, familiar with its secrets and prepared to unearth them.

“Everyone, listen up,” Billy commanded, gathering the group with a practiced ease. “We’re looking for Sarah Thompson, missing since yesterday afternoon. She’s a schoolteacher in Trentville and she knows these trails. But we can’t rule out an accident or even foul play. We’ll split into teams, cover the main routes, and then fan out from there.”

“Her roommate said she often went hiking alone,” Jenna added. “Let’s assume she stayed on marked trails, at least to start with.”

“Look for signs of deviation,” Billy instructed. “Broken branches, disturbed ground, footprints, discarded gear, anything Sarah might have left behind.”

He handed out maps and assigned areas to search and directed that they launch a couple of drones to check out any small clearings and overgrown dirt roads.

The group dispersed, each team with a designated leader.

As the deputy rangers faded into the tree line, Jenna turned to Jake, her expression somber. “I have a feeling…” She paused, struggling to articulate the intuitive sense that clamored for attention in her mind. “…we’re not just searching for one missing hiker.”

“What do you mean?” Jake asked. “We haven’t had reports of any other hikers missing out here, have we?”

“Nothing that clear cut.” She struggled to find the right words to convey the intuitive whisper that echoed in her mind.

“One of your gut feelings?” Jake questioned, his face furrowed with confusion.

“More than that,” Jenna admitted. “It’s like a looming sense of unease, as if we’re walking into something much bigger and more complicated than we imagined.”

CHAPTER FOUR

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