“As the crow flies from the west, yes. In truth, it would be a lot longer given the terrain and river crossings.” She considered other routes. From the north, there was a trail that would get them within five miles of the lodge, but it was on the other side of the eastern ridge of the lake basin, up the slopes of Mt. Olympus. An easier hike given the maintained trail, but still five miles of overland schlepping down a steep, wet hillside from there to the lodge.

Xavier nodded. “That’s why weapons would be staged here, within easy range of the lodge. A team hiking in would only need camping gear.”

She swallowed hard and told herself George was fine. He had to be. “But how could anyone have known about the training in November? Your proposal landed on my desk days after the looting.”

His jaw set in a hard line. “We informed inholding landowners of the proposed action a little more than a week before we finalized the proposal and submitted it to the park. We needed to start the thirty-day public comment period right away to make our timeline, so the landowners received priority notification.”

That explained how Jeb McCutcheon had known about the proposal before she did. He’d mentioned it when she, Jeb, and George had stood in this very spot, looking at the desecration to the burial ground. She hadn’t believed him at the time, figuring it was another of Jeb’s conspiracy theories. His concerns about the lake community ran the gamut from other inholding landowners running illegal Airbnbs to the federal government seizing his cabin through eminent domain. A secret government training ground fit nicely in between, so she’d dismissed the comment.

He’d gloated after she discovered he’d been right. She had to admit, she’d then wondered if the Baldwins really were renting out their cabin on a dark web vacation rental site.

“It was the day the comment period closed that you came to my office.” And lied in an attempt to get her fired from the job she’d wanted since she was eleven years old.

And he’d done it knowing what her job meant to her.

Xavier gave a sharp nod. Between the face paint and the shadows of the forest, she couldn’t read his expression. Did he regret what he’d done?

Foolish of her to hold on to that pathetic hope. Of course he didn’t. He was here right now thanks to his lie.

But none of that was important in this moment. She needed to focus on what mattered. “You think one of the inholding owners revealed your plans?”

“Right now, it’s the most likely scenario.”