CHAPTER SIX
A red-shouldered hawk squealed overhead as Ashley picked her way through the forest underbrush with Daniel directing her path from behind. He’d asked her to go first, wanting her to get a sense of the area without interference, hoping she would catch something he had missed. So far, she’d found nothing. No clues to shed light on the last few hours of Sarah Lester’s short life.
There were other investigators scouring the woods as well—TBI agents and sheriff’s deputies had arrived at first light. But they had moved on from the line Ashley and Daniel walked, expanding their search in an ever-widening circle.
Looking up, her eyes following the flight of the screeching hawk, she noticed a break in the canopy of trees ahead. The sound of rushing water echoed toward her. The Chicka
