Page 29 of Let Her Live

Jake nodded, his eyes glued to the screen. "I'm going to see if I can find any reports of him being in the areas where the victims were found," he said. "We might be able to place him at the scene of the crime."

Fiona felt a small glimmer of hope. Could this really be it? Could they have finally found their killer?

It didn't take long for Jake to find what they were looking for. "Here," he said, pointing at the screen. "Henry was off duty in the national park on the day that Derek went missing. And look at this—he took a week off work around the time that Jonas Smith went missing too. He could have easily travelled to those areas. It's not far."

Fiona's heart was pounding. Everything was starting to come together.

"But what about Brenda and Hank?" Fiona asked, her mind still racing with the new information they had uncovered. "Is there any connection there?"

Jake scrolled further down the page, his eyes scanning the text. "There's nothing concrete here," he said."There's no record of him being off work right now, so he could still be in."

"Then we better go pay him a visit," Fiona said.

***

The national park where Henry Mitchell worked came into view as Jake drove them in, Fiona sitting anxiously in the passenger seat. She had enough experience now to know that perps rarely came in without a fight, especially if they felt threatened, and she hoped they could keep Henry under control and get him into the station without a fuss.

They arrived at the ranger’s office, a small building close to the visitor's center. Jake and Fiona got out of the car, looking around for any sign of Henry. But it was dead, and there were no cars.

"Let's check inside," Jake said, leading the way into the ranger office.

The office was small but homey, with wooden walls and cozy furniture arranged in a circle around an old wood-burning stove. There were several desks nestled in between cobweb-covered bookshelves filled with documents and maps of the area, along with some memorabilia from past park rangers that Henry had worked alongside over the years. One corner of the room was devoted to taxidermy specimens—mountain lions, bobcats, and deer—all posed in natural positions that invited admiration but also reminded one of their mortality.

Jake stepped cautiously towards a back room while Fiona moved closer to an old cabinet filled with photographs and trinkets.

"Hello?" Jake called out. "Anyone here?"

No response.

"Maybe he went out," Fiona suggested.

"Let's have a look around the outside," Jake said. "See if we can find any clues."

The two of them stepped out of the ranger office and began to investigate the area surrounding it. Fiona followed Jake, her eyes scanning for something—anything—that could help them in their search. Suddenly, her gaze fell on something that made her heart stop.

Nearby, in a small clearing just off the path, was a set of tire tracks leading away from the office—tire tracks that seemed fresh and intact, as though they had been recently made.They looked like they could be from a large vehicle, a four-wheeler or some other kind of off-road vehicle.

"Jake, over here," Fiona said.

Jake followed her over to the clearing, where they both examined the tire tracks.

"These look fresh," Jake said, his brow furrowed with concern.

Fiona nodded, her eyes scanning the area around them. They were in the middle of a national park, surrounded by dense forest. It would be easy for someone to disappear out here, especially if they knew the area well.

"We need to follow these tracks," Fiona said, her voice resolute. "Who knows what we might find."

Jake nodded in agreement, and the two of them began to follow the tracks deeper into the forest. The trees loomed over them, casting deep shadows on the forest floor. Fiona's heart raced with excitement and fear; they could be getting closer to the killer, but they could also be walking into a trap.

But they had come too far to turn back now.

They had to find out what was at the end of those tracks.

Sweat pooled on Jake's brow as he walked through the national park, the terrain growing swampier the deeper they went in. This time, they didn't have their boots and other hiking gear suited for a trek through the Everglades, and Jake cursed himself for not having the foresight to bring it along. He really was a city boy, and being out here in the elements was reminding him how sheltered he'd really been in Portland. Sure, they had their share of nature, but the Florida Everglades presented a whole slew of challenges, the bugs and heat being the main ones.

But the tire tracks gave them a clear path to follow. They looked like sharp marks on the ground, spaced evenly apart and surrounded by dirt and mud. They twisted and turned as they meandered through the trees and grass, beckoning Fiona and Jake forward.

Jake's heart pounded in his chest as they followed the tracks deeper into the forest. He kept his eyes peeled for any sign of Henry Mitchell, but so far, there was nothing. The forest was eerily quiet, with only the sound of their footsteps and the occasional rustling of leaves breaking the silence.

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