Who Do You Trust Now? (A Disappearance Mystery Thriller Book 5), Laura Greene [notion reading list txt] 📗

but here she stands, amazed by rich, wilderness comeliness. The trees that were fiendishly swept away and uprooted by the rainfall helped form a valley that they now occupy in droves. While she was fortunate to not encounter it last night, the rain did form a sinkhole, which created a funnel and added depth to the valley.

The wilderness is just as lovely as when she first laid eyes on it, like the storm did not occur last night.

Remembering her time is limited, she devises a plan, quickly packs her things like the nomad she has become and leaves the cave the way she found it. Then, walking down the ramp, along the side of the hill, she promptly exits the cave and finds an opening among the trees to hide behind.

The woods engulf her from sight, as they do a crafty predator. She specifically wore camouflage for this reason. And there she awaits her prey, hungry to know whom the cave belongs to.

She is close, on the opposite side of the trail; she’ll get a good look of whoever walks up the ramp without exposing herself.

Her guess is they will come from where she saw the light, appear from among the trees, then walk up the ramp, into the cave. And she is right. Ten minutes of her stakeout, surveying the cave barely passes by before she gets a hit.

Immediately, two rather large men, wearing heavy work boots appear from behind the trees and walk up the ramp. Melody can see one of them slightly, she can tell he looks familiar, but she can’t pinpoint where she has seen him before. Shortly after, they disappear into the cave.

Her plan is going as intended. According to her calculations, they will not stay in the cave more than five minutes. She guesses this based on the provisions inside the cave. First of all, there is no food inside, so if they are coming this early in the morning, they are probably just picking up the boots.

She is right. The men walk out with the pair of boots at one man’s side, then disappear into the trees again. They knew what they were looking for, she considers.

Melody gathers her bag, to follow closely behind. When she gets to the bottom of the hill, she sees the same size boot print in the dirt and she knows these are her men.

Keeping a safe distance, Melody avoids being spotted. They are going to where she saw the light glowing last night. This is exactly what she wants them to do, Yes, lead me to your lair.

Slipping past a silver birch with her backpack, she can tell they know where they are going. Both men walk confidently, like they have walked this trail many times. Neither man leads; they walk side by side, happily discussing together like familiar friends. Yet they are being closely watched.

She is close, close enough to hear them talking, but too far to tell what they say. This does not bother Melody, she is more interested in where they are going right now. They men swiftly stoop down the side of a hill and she does the same, they swing past a line-up of tall trees, the men are walking fast and Melody has no time to see what type of trees they are.

Just then, she sees an opening forming up ahead and she slows down. A space looks like it's been cleared out from among the thick woods. The men exit the woods into this area, Melody remains, hiding behind a few trees in the woods.

With her eyes, she continues to follow the two men’s movements and there it is – a wooden cabin, neatly planted on a cement foundation, at the center of the open area. It’s a home.

The man holding the boots goes inside first, then the second man disappears behind its quarters. Melody takes the opportunity to inch a little closer to the cabin, still remaining behind the safety of the trees.

She sits and takes in the cabin’s dark wooden features. It’s professionally built by someone who intended to live here for a period of time. They thought through their design. The cabin is on raised ground, with an extra half a foot of cement to combat floods. To make it more welcoming, a small flower garden of bright, yellow tulips sits just beyond the cement, on one side of the matching wooden door.

Beautiful tree outlines give it a stunning backdrop without blocking the sun’s warm rays. Even now, she squints her eyes from her spot in the woods, looking at a window to see what’s going on inside the cabin, but the sun reflects off the windows and gloss of the cabin’s wooden logs, obstructing her view.

She wonders if one of these windows is where the light she saw in the evening was glowing from? Patiently, Melody waits. She takes out her power bars from inside her backpack and eats, quietly, watching. Right now she has no way of drawing close to the cabin, unnoticed, but once evening comes, she will carry out the rest of her plan.

*

The sun is setting and Melody has been thinking strongly about whether or not her father might still be on the island, just deserted somewhere. The island has a decently small acreage, but she can see how someone can easily get lost in its vast forestry. Maybe it is just her hope of seeing him again.

From what she has observed, the men have been in the cabin mostly, one came out to gather wood from the side of the cabin and took it in, then, the other man came and rooted up some weeds from the flower garden.

She wonders if these men are friends or foes. They seem to be living their lives, normally. She hasn’t gotten a good look at either man yet, but she soon will.