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She still had her own doubts but Ximena seemed sure when they discussed it last night. She reassured her that she knew deep in her bones that Alex hadn’t run off.

"I can feel it, something happened to him." She kept repeating it like a horrific mantra.

Vera listened, trying to pull out pieces of verifiable fact from opinion but there was little to go on. She was used to conducting investigations, being exposed to death and navigating the law, but there was too little to go off of so far beyond emotion and circumstantial evidence. She was trained by the best and brightest the FBI had to offer, she didn’t build a case based on either one of those things.

Vera watched in the rearview mirror as Teddi tipped her head back, swallowing a big bite of egg and cheese. “Mmm. Well, my boss Mackey, who knows pretty much everyone and everywhere in Colorado, couldn’t tell me squat. It’s tiny. The last census reported a population of two hundred and ten people. Seems like mostly a family community, couldn’t find any industry that’s holding it up and I know tourism isn’t doing it since it’s so far off the beaten path it’s not even on the map.”

Normally, Vera would have already called into the D.C. office asking for help, seeking out any of the federal agents who worked in and or near Sylen that could provide additional information. But she couldn’t, not even Rod could help her now that she was out. She took another sip of coffee to cover the heaviness that filled her limbs.

“How did we all grow up here and none of us knew someone from there or heard about it? Doesn’t that seem weird?” Ximena asked before sipping her latte. She appeared to be in a better mood this morning—not happy by any means—but steadier. More prepared for what was coming. But Vera knew there wasn’t any way to truly prepare to come face to face with a dead body and her sister wasn’t going to handle it well if they were met with the worst-case scenario.

She made Vera hold her hand as she fell asleep on the couch the night before, like an olive branch. All of the hours before that were a mixture of forced pleasantries about nothing in particular. A throbbing undercurrent of tension woven into every moment. An unspoken truce was called when her little sister’s open hand reached out toward her. Vera clasped it tight, pretending to watch the tv while her sister gave her a squeeze intermittently, as if to check that she was still there.

Vera hadn’t said it but she was glad to have someone next to her as well, the warmth of a shoulder to lean on was too comforting to resist. She hadn’t gotten up the courage to explain how she got the time off so quickly but she knew the conversation was coming. A problem for another day at least.

Facing her feelings on Ximena’s hiring of Teddi was unavoidable though. After she left, Ximena asked again if it was ok. If she could deal with being around her ex. The uncompromising steel in her voice told her it didn't matter what she said. Ximena wanted Teddi there and she wasn’t going to change her mind, no matter what Vera’s personal feelings were. She forced a smile and gave her a guarantee that it wouldn’t cause any problems.

“I guess, but if you think about it, Colorado, and especially here up north is covered in landscape that could have anyone and anything living within it,” Teddi replied.

As well exposed as she was to seedy underbellies, the idea sent a tiny shiver down Vera’s spine. She had enough of monsters lurking in the dark for one year, she didn’t need some faceless forest boogeyman doing the same. “You don’t really want to start spouting conspiracy theories, do you?”

Teddi shrugged, smiling at her in the rearview mirror. Ignoring the inclination to react, Vera turned to her sister. “We’ll go in, identify the body and progress from there. Don’t stress out about anything beyond what we can control right this minute.” Ximena was scratching at her neck so hard the skin puckered. “One problem at a time, deal? The missing persons database doesn’t have all the information, it could be someone else, Mimi.” She tucked her chin into the layers of her thick scarf and nodded, wide eyes on the road ahead.

“I don’t understand how you can be so calm about this.” It sounded more like an accusation than mere curiosity from Ximena.

She couldn’t explain how every part of violence and loss and suffering was a part of her job. There was no use in sharing that reality with her sister when she still wore her rose-colored glass to look at the world. “It’s my job.”

Ximena turned to look out her window, folding herself into the small space by the door. All three women remained silent for the rest of the drive, the tension and worry between them a flaming fire. Opening the collar of her jacket, Vera tried to get some air as her thoughts bounced like a tennis ball back and forth.

There would be another review board once the ninety-day suspension was over to see if she was fit for duty. If they were going to allow her back on the job. She needed to stay ready. Once everything was taken care of at home, there were other things to prepare for, steps to take to ensure she was ready to go.

Unbidden, an image of her hands dripping with blood flashed across her mind. The FBI was going to do its best to sniff it out until her career disappeared. Vera drew a long inhale to steady herself. She wasn’t going to let that happen. The FBI was all she knew, it was all she dreamed of growing up. She joined to make a difference and for the first few years, she felt like she did. Then one lengthy undercover op rolled into another and soon she was watching more scumbags get away unpunished than she could bring to justice. It was a leaky tap without a shut-off valve. But it was her life and one decision–no matter how messy–wasn’t going to take that from her.

A small sign appeared up ahead announcing their exit. The solitary metal highway sign was so worn it was barely readable, its reflective edge bent backwards as if someone had tried to rip it from the ground. Cracking her window, the cold air slapped Vera in the face as she signaled to pull off the empty highway.

The thin road sloped down to a stop sign with every inch of space off the paved road infiltrated with overgrown woodland. The vivid greens, browns, and orange they’d driven through for the last hour were darkened to charcoal black. Vera wondered if they had a fire recently until her eyes caught the details of the full leaves that still hung off every branch. They were alive and well but so obsidian they blocked out any chance for color to exist. Like a fog machine had been left on, the land was filled with a nearly opaque vapor dancing above the ground.

Something was burning, the smell of smoke wafting in through the window. It was bitter, closer to burning trash than a wood bonfire, making her eyes water.

Looking left, then right, she could see no sign of civilization at the end of the road. No street signs, no directions towards gas stations or hotels, not even a local hospital which Google had confirmed they didn’t have.

“Are we just supposed to guess where the town is?” She asked no one in particular. Sweat began to bead at her collar even with the cold breeze. The skin between her breasts had the invasive, barely-there sensation of a spider’s legs creeping across it.

Waving her phone, Teddi leaned between the two front seats. “GPS isn’t working, the navigation just keeps trying to load. I think it’s to the right?”

Vera caught her gaze in the mirror, realizing she wasn’t the only one feeling off as she noted the tension that pinched the edges of Teddi’s mouth.

“No me siento bien, chicas.” Ximena murmured as she leaned forward. The road to either side of them was hollow. No signs of life through the thick forest or lingering fog.

Teddi shook her head subtly, her gray eyes conveying what Vera felt. Pressure filled her chest. A warning, a threat. For what, she didn’t know and didn’t give it consideration. “Right it is.”

Pulling the car out onto the road, Vera’s grip began to sweat around the wheel. Her pulse drummed as the heady, rotten stench filled the car. Ahead was a two lane road with nothing but forest threatening to overtake it. No homes, no other vehicles on the road. It was abandoned.

Red and blue lights filled the inside of the car. All three of them immediately looked back. A patrol vehicle sat right on the bumper, having appeared out of the haze.

“What the hell.” Pulling over to the side of the lane with no shoulder to use, Vera rolled her window down all the way. The cruiser parked right behind them, its lights dancing across their interior.

“Where did he come from?” Teddi asked but no one had an answer. A tall figure unfolded itself from the SUV, the width of his shoulders made impossibly wide in the murky beam of headlights. Coming to stand at her window, all Vera saw was a torso. Broad, at least six and a half feet tall, he was dressed impeccably in a stiff tan uniform with a loaded tactical belt weighing down his waist. The large brim of his hat kept his face hidden as a heavy hand landed above her head on the vehicle roof.