Page 5

CHAPTER

FOUR

Logan documented the size of the footprint as well as took a picture.

This might be nothing. Maybe she’d had a friend over. Maybe she had a dating life he was unaware of.

Then he paused by Morgan’s bedroom door.

Peering inside seemed intrusive. But he wanted to be thorough, and he’d ask for forgiveness if nothing came of this.

He pushed the door open.

Morgan’s bedroom occupied the eastern corner of the cabin, and it smelled of cedar, lavender, and the chemical note of photographic paper—an alchemy uniquely Morgan’s. Mud-caked hiking boots lay beside the braided rug beneath her bed.

His throat tightened when he saw her suitcase in the corner. And on her dresser . . . was her favorite camera.

She’d never go on a trip without it.

Seeing the suitcase and camera only confirmed something was wrong.

Logan paused near a leather-bound journal.

He started to pick it up but stopped himself.

He didn’t want to look inside. Actually, he did want to look inside. To know what Morgan’s thoughts were—especially if she’d written on those pages after the award ceremony.

But he knew that would definitely be crossing the line.

Journals were meant to be private.

Not seeing anything else alarming, Logan strode back into the living space.

Should he wait here for her to return? How would Morgan feel if she came back and saw him sitting inside?

He hated feeling uncertain. However, Morgan’s safety was his first priority.

As the thoughts raced through his mind, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen and saw it was Andi.

He put the phone to his ear. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Gibson.” Her voice contained that serious tone often present when some type of investigation was underway. “Duke and I found something and wanted to let you know about it.”

His back straightened as he anticipated the worst. Was this about Morgan?

He shook his head. No, he had no reason to believe it would be.

“We got a lead via our website for The Round Table.”

The Round Table was the name of the true crime podcast Andi, Duke, and four other friends had started. It had been a smashing success. Even better, several cases had been solved due to their efforts.

“Someone gave us coordinates to a location near the Tanana Valley overlook,” Andi continued. “The sender said we’d find something of interest there, and then he mentioned you.”

“Me?” Logan repeated.

“That’s right,” Andi said. “He said you’d want to know. But we didn’t want to call you in case it was a joke. So we decided to check it out first instead. When we got there, we found someone hanging from a tree in the forest.”

His jaw hardened. “What? Where are you exactly?”

“I’ll drop you a pin with our location.”

“I’ll be right there. I’m leaving now.” He stepped toward the door then hesitated.

Morgan wasn’t here, he reminded himself.

But what if she returned while he was gone? Or what if . . . what if she was the person hanging from that tree?

No . . . Andi and Duke would have said something.

Unless she was unrecognizable.

He’d check out the crime scene . . . then he’d come back.

He needed to see Morgan with his own eyes and know she was okay. He needed to prove his suspicions were just paranoia.

But if that was true, then why did he feel doubtful that this was all just one big overreaction?

Logan pulled up to the location where Andi had sent him.

Duke’s SUV was parked along the side of the road, but it didn’t appear the officer on duty for this area had arrived yet.

Policing in Alaska presented unique challenges unlike anywhere else in America. Vast wilderness stretched between isolated communities, with many areas accessible only by bush plane or snowmobile.

A single trooper’s jurisdiction might cover thousands of square miles, meaning response times stretched from hours to days depending on weather and terrain.

The harsh elements added another layer of difficulty. Whiteout blizzards, ice fog, and temperatures that could freeze equipment solid often hampered even the most urgent efforts.

Resources were always stretched thin, stations understaffed, and backup could be hundreds of miles away.

It wasn’t just that things moved slower than they should—it was that the very geography and climate of Alaska demanded a different approach to law enforcement altogether.

Despite these obstacles, troopers adapted. They developed resilience and self-reliance out of necessity. They did the best they could with what they had, knowing sometimes their best wouldn’t be enough.

Logan pulled to the side of the road and climbed out. As he walked toward the trail, he spotted Duke and Andi waving him down. Both wore winter coats and boots, and Andi’s white-blonde hair was held back by a thick headband.

He hurried toward them, trying to focus on whatever might have happened here—even as his mind longed to linger on Morgan. He didn’t want to think in the worst-case scenarios involving her.

Instead, he continually tried to take deep breaths and keep his thoughts under control.

“Thanks for calling.” He paused in front of them as they stood on the side of the road. “Tell me again what happened.”

“Andi and I got that message via the website.” Duke’s demeanor turned all professional.

“Normally, we might ignore a tip like that. But something about the tone of this email had Andi and me both curious. We figured we’d check it out first before calling the police—just to make sure it wasn’t some kind of sick joke. ”

“We didn’t see anything at first.” Andi picked up where Duke had left off. “Then something caught my eye. You know me. If something catches my eye, I’m going to check it out before I move on.”

That was actually one of Andi’s best attributes. As a lawyer, she had a keen eye for these things. So did Duke.

“We moved closer, and that’s when we saw him—just like the email said,” Duke continued.

“We didn’t touch anything,” Andi added.

These two could finish each other’s sentences seamlessly and worked so well as a team. Logan envied their relationship at times. Not that he was looking for a relationship. Or, if he was, it was only with Morgan—the very woman who now hated him.

“I just finished my shift. You did the right thing by calling me.” He drew in a breath, the cold air causing his lungs to ache. “Why don’t you show me what you found?”

“This way.” Duke nodded toward the woods.

As Logan took a step forward, his gaze scanned the area around him. The shadows were darker now, making it harder to see. Which also meant it was a good thing that he’d gotten here when he did.

They were working against time and the elements.

He watched his steps as he walked through the woods, looking for any footprints or anything else that could potentially show what happened here.

Duke and Andi stepped apart from each other to let him through.

Just ahead, he spotted a man hanging from a tree—just as Duke and Andi had reported.

The man was probably in his mid-thirties with dark hair and an average-sized build. Nothing about him seemed especially remarkable, nor did he look familiar.

Andi frowned and looked away. “Do you think it’s suicide?”

“That seems like a possibility at first glance.” But Logan nodded at the ground beneath the dangling feet. “But how did he get up there? There’s no stool or anything that could have assisted him.”

“Good point,” Andi murmured. “Which would mean someone else was involved, am I right?”

They all knew if someone else had been here, this act wasn’t suicide.

It was murder.

Logan glanced at the ground. A set of footprints stretched there, a set marred by drag marks. Beneath the tree, he spotted scuffle marks.

Why did something about this area seem so familiar? He wasn’t sure.

He continued studying the scene.

Then it hit him.

His heart began to beat faster.

He stepped back for a better look, to confirm his imagination wasn’t deceiving him.

It wasn’t.

He’d seen this area before.

He’d seen this exact tree, in fact. The tree that had a strange growth on the side of it—one that looked like a heart.

Morgan had featured this very birch tree in one of her photographs.