Just off to the right side of the house, partially hidden by tall grass and a bit of deadfall and woodland debris, was an old barn. It looked like a horse barn, complete with the second story up in the rafters. A black hole of an ancient window looked out onto the yard. The barn itself did not look all that ominous. After all, this was the South; hundreds of old structures like this sat all across fields and wooded lots.

But sitting right there, like a ghost on the property of a man who had thrown punches with Nick Sanders, made it a bit more relevant. It wasnt that Kate had not physically seen it upon arriving; she had simply let it blur into the surroundings because she had been so hyper-focused on returning to Richmond to wrap this case and get back to Melissa.

She stopped her car along the side of the driveway. It was still in view of Jack Kramers house, but hed really have to make an effort to look for it through his front windows. Before getting out of the car, she texted DeMarco, just in case she was about to make a mistake. She sent the text and then got out of the car. She stayed along the edge of the driveway until she came to the yard. There, she clung to the tree line, hunkering down in the tall grass as she moved toward the barn.

As she reached it, she saw old pieces of lumber scattered in the weeds. There were also old tractor parts and rusted tools strewn about. She looked back to the house, saw that there was no sign of Jack, and tried the barn door. Given the age of the barn and the condition of most of the boards that comprised its structure, Kate was not all that surprised to find that the door opened easily. It creaked a bit on its hinges but opened up without a problem.

She stepped inside and within two seconds of looking around, felt that her instincts had led her down the right path once again.

There was an old storage trailer at the back of the barn, the kind that was often pulled behind trucks when people were moving but did not need an entire U-Haul. The rest of the barn looked practically boring in comparison.

The trailers door was the rolling kind, similar to a garage door. It was held in place along the back end, just below a small step and what looked to have once served as a bumper. The lock itself was an old Masterlock, battered and scratched up. It was also unlocked, the U-shaped clasp placed into the latch at the bottom of the door, but opened.