Page 101 of Mountain Man’s Mystic Touch

Grant follows with the event coordinator while the evidence technician carries nothing except his phone. The laptop, camera, and every other piece of equipment remain inside.

“How far?” I ask Carver.

“Until we know what’s beneath that display, farther is better.”

We continue toward the south parking area. Morales directs the responding deputies to close the county road while Grant moves our employees to the outer perimeter. No one approaches the lodge. No radios transmit within range of the building until the bomb squad determines whether the object can be triggered remotely.

Loralee remains beside me, moving quickly without complaint. She doesn’t ask what I think the man placed beneath the cloth. She already knows enough.

When we reach the parking area, I open my truck and position her behind the engine block.

“I don’t need to sit in your vehicle.”

“You’re not sitting. You’re using it as cover.”

“That is not more reassuring.”

“It isn’t intended to be.”

Her hand closes around my wrist before I can turn away. “Don’t disappear into whatever happens next.”

I look down at her fingers against my skin.

“I need to coordinate my people.”

“I know. I’m asking you not to disappear from me.”

The distinction lands harder than it should.

I bring her hand to my mouth and press my lips against her knuckles. “I’m here.”

For the next forty minutes, the parking area becomes a temporary command post. Carver speaks with the state bomb squad while Grant accounts for every employee and volunteer still on the property. The coordinator works through a list of people with access to the lodge, storage buildings, vendor credentials, and service gates.

There are forty-seven names.

Too many.

We need the man in the video, but his cap hides his face and the vendor jacket provides no help. Hundreds were ordered for the festival. Staff received black jackets. Vendors received brown. The man wore brown.

“He knew where the cameras were,” I say.

The coordinator looks up from her list. “Anyone who worked setup could have noticed them.”

“He entered through the rear hall and never looked around. He knew the interior camera didn’t cover that doorway.”

“We don’t have an interior camera.”

“You do. The one he installed.”

She looks toward the lodge.

“He chose the only entrance that kept his face turned away from it,” I continue. “He also knew about the equipment road, the storage decorations, and the blind side of Loralee’s booth. That eliminates most vendors.”

The coordinator lowers the clipboard. “You think he worked here.”

“I think he knew the property before this week.”

Something changes in her expression.