Chapter 55
Michael reached the spine of a high, jagged ridgeline, and then dropped down to lie flat on the ground. He motioned for Charlotte, Jake, and Quade to do the same as they crept to his side at the edge of a cliff.
Charlotte gaped in wonder at the scene below.
Beyond the sheer drop she saw a clearing, and within it, a fenced compound. It appeared to be a grim, bleak place. The smoke came from the chimney of a tall, central building. A figure sat in a tower beside it. She wondered what he guarded against.
“I saw a man and woman carry firewood into the compound,” Michael said. “The man appeared middle-aged, wavy brown hair streaked with gray. The woman was tall, fit, with short blond hair.”
“Could be Melisse Willis,” Jake said. “But the man wasn’t one of the missing.”
“She didn
