By midmorning, I found myself standing at the eastern perimeter with Nolan and Jason. The forest looked disappointingly normal.
Sunlight filtered through the canopy overhead, scattering patches of gold across the forest floor while a cool breeze stirred branches high above us. Birds moved somewhere deeper among the trees, and every so often the sound of rustling leaves drifted through the undergrowth.
If I hadn't spent the last two days reading reports and chasing questions, I might have found the scene peaceful.
Instead, every ordinary detail felt suspicious. Nothing about it matched the tension that had followed us here. Nothing about it explained why the knot beneath my ribs refused to loosen.
Jason stood several yards ahead of us near the territory marker where Patrol Four had firs
