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This was now a race against time, if Abel was going to try to warn Boris that they were coming.

If they didn't get to that white roofed cabin soon, then it might be too late, because if Boris was warned, then he would undoubtedly hide away.

"We have to get to the right place," Gabe said to Cora as she hit the gas. "And that's not going to be easy. I took a look at those woods on the way into town. I was wondering if maybe he'd hide out there. And from what I can see those trails are like a warren. I saw about three different tracks leading in."

"We need to look at the distance." Cora was keeping her gaze glued on the odometer. "He said a couple of miles. Around two miles, right? Let's see where we are then."

Gabe counted off the miles as they flew by, and Cora drove as fast as she dared on the twisting roads that led north.

As they cleared the outskirts of the small town,the road skirted the woods. Cora slowed down, and they both stared into the thick bank of trees, looking for the pointer that would lead them further.

"There’s an entrance coming up," Gabe said, pointing to a trail head that led off into the woods. "That might be it. We’re on exactly the two mile mark, and I don’t see any others nearby."

Cora nodded. “That’s definitely a clear sign.”

Slowing further, she turned the car off the main road and onto the bumpy, gravel trail. The car bounced and jolted on the uneven ground. The shade was deep and surprisingly dark. They drove on in silence, looking around carefully, the only sounds the crunch of gravel and twigs under the wheels and the rustling of the trees.

And then, ahead, they saw a flash of white that made Cora's attention focus sharply.

But it wasn't the white painted roof that Abel had mentioned.

It was a tree with a white ring roughly painted around it at chest height, as if it might have been placed there to prevent a vehicle colliding with it in the dark.

And the reason that white ring was in place, Cora saw, was that the trail split in two. A narrow track ran to the southeast, and another to the northeast.

Decision time.

Two separate directions, and two of them. Now, Cora knew they were going to have to split up if they wanted to catch Boris in time.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

"No choice," Cora muttered, looking at the fork in the path, and Gabe nodded.

"No choice, Cora. Not with the risk that Abel might call this guy at any time to warn him we’re coming."

He might even have warned him already. It was the pressure of time that had narrowed down their options. Now, speed was the imperative.

Cora took a deep breath and made her decision. "I'll take the southeast trail. You take the northeast one." She looked at how narrow the tracks were. Neither could easily accommodate a car, and turning around might be impossible. She thought, from the tire tracks she did see, that cars had only driven up to this point before stopping and turning. Maybe this was where all Boris’s possessions had been offloaded. But the track she’d opted to follow did look slightly wider. If the killer had gotten a car down here, it would be this way.

“Might as well leave the car on the side of the trail back here, and go along these two branches on foot? They’re so narrow and disused that I’m guessing the cabin can’t be too far ahead?” Gabe asked.

“I suppose not,” Cora said, but she was now thinking that there might be an alternative route to the cabin that Boris was using that was more accessible to cars. She was sure he had a vehicle in good working order, that he was using to get himself to and from the military base. And it must be hidden away in there somewhere.

"Yeah. Sounds good. We keep our eyes open, and keep in touch as soon as we find the cabin. Hopefully there won't be too far to go." Gabe nodded decisively.

There was no time for anything else, except to give Gabe's arm a quick squeeze.

Cora watched him go, her heart heavy with worry. She knew the risks, and that splitting up at this point intensified the danger.

Being emotionally involved with an investigation partner made her acutely aware of that danger. She didn’t want any harm to come to Gabe.

Shaking her head, trying to rid herself of those negative thoughts, Cora turned away, going northeast. She moved quietly through the woods, keeping all her senses on high alert. She knew that if Boris had been living here, even for a short while, he would have familiarized himself with his surroundings. He would know the access points, the alternative routes, the hiding places and the getaways. Of course he would. He was ex-Army, and even though he'd been hazed and intimidated and discharged, he’d had training in this.

Cora looked carefully through the trees as she made her way through the woods. The trail was narrow and winding, with low-hanging branches and thick underbrush obscuring her view.

She concentrated on the task at hand, scanning her surroundings for any sign of Boris, or of that cabin with a white roof.

Or even of any cabin at all. Because he might have a few different bolt holes. They knew so little about him, but it was clear he was an intelligent planner.

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