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“What about your massage?”

“Call me anyway. If you don’t get me, leave a message. Let me know where you are, and I’ll call you back.”

“Sounds good.”

Jake slows down in the parking lot and waves me up to come up next to him. I roll down my window. “Any idea which way from here?”

I look around, getting a feel for the area, and wait for the tug at my chest to direct me. “Yeah, follow me.”

I drive to the end of the lot, around orange cones, and past a sign that says, 'Service Road. Park Rangers Access Only.’ If anyone comes after me, I have two cops to get me out of trouble. But no one else comes. I guess the chief’s big SUV withPolicewritten on it gets me a hall pass. I drive slowly for another five minutes, going up a narrow two-lane road that winds up and around until I reach a small clearing, then pull to the side. Beyond, the forest is dense—a living wall of green and brown. I exit my car and lock it. Jake and Chief Malone park on either side of my car.

Jake is the first to reach me. He takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. Let’s go when his boss comes around the bumper of his SUV.

“What’s next, Miss Ava?”

I take in a deep breath. Situate myself and open my awareness all the way up. The pull is like an invisible hand reaching inside my chest and dragging me into the woods. I grab my phone from my pocket and open Google maps.

Jake peers at my phone. “What are you doing?”

“Dropping a pin for this location. I want to find my car when I come back.”

He frowns. “What do you mean?”

“We’ll be walking into these woods for a while. My sense of direction sucks and I don’t want to get lost on the way back.”

Jake scowls. “I’m not letting you walk back to your car alone.”

The chief also looks at my phone. “You know where you’re going, but not how to get back?”

I don’t look at him when I answer. “To go in, I have a guide. Let’s go. The faster we find Alice, the faster I can get out of here.”

Chapter41

Avalon

I walk into the forest,the men on either side of me. Chief Malone is half a step behind us. The temperature is cooler under the dense canopy. All around us, there’s life. Birds singing and foraging for food. Insects buzzing, and squirrels flicking their tails as we approach.

The farther we go into the woods, the stronger the pull gets. We walk in silence. The only sounds are those of the forest and our feet crunching leaves and twigs as we make our way. We pass what looks like the ruins of an abandoned log cabin.

“How much longer?” The chief’s voice is labored, so I guess he’s not a runner like Jake and me.

I check my watch. We’ve been walking for twenty minutes, and the trail is going up the side of a hill. “Not much longer, I don’t think.”

The chief wheezes. “How do you know?” His voice is not without suspicion.

I look at the ghostly figure I’m following. “Alice told me.”

Chief Malone trips, rights himself, and curses. I catch a smirk on Jake’s face. He didn’t react when I said Alice told me. Is he getting used to this stuff or hiding it well because of his boss?

Alice stops about twenty-five feet ahead.“Be careful now. Watch your step.”

I stop, and both men do the same. Jake’s hand goes to the small of my back. “You okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. We should go slower and watch our steps. I’ll go first, and you two follow me.”

“The hell you say. I’ll go first.” Jake steps in front of me.

I grab his arm. “Stop. This is the exact opposite of what I said. I have to go first. Unless you’ve suddenly developed some psychic abilities you didn’t tell me about. Have you?”