Chapter 82: The Shape in the Dark
The sky had gone full indigo by the time Brent turned off Carter’s Ridge Road. The truck’s headlights carved a narrow path through the trees, the beams catching branches that swayed like arms reaching across the road. He kept one hand on the wheel, the other resting on the seat beside him, fingers tapping — not nervous, just thinking.
Mrs. Carter had been shaken. The footprints had been fresh. And the truck parked in her drive had been deliberate.
Hale wasn’t hiding anymore.
Brent exhaled slowly, the kind of breath that steadied him from the inside out. He wasn’t scared. He was ready. And that was exactly what Hale didn’t expect.
He turned onto the long gravel stretch leading home.
The cabin lights glowed warm through the trees.
Good.They were awake
