“Which one is the Baldwin cabin?”

“Southeast side of the lake—along the sole of the boot, a quarter mile from where the main road comes to a T at the lake.” Lake Olympus Road didn’t circumnavigate the lake—the cliff and falls being the one section that lacked road access—but the main road intersected with the lake at the south end, right at the boot heel, and a short gravel stretch ran up the ankle and back of the calf before dead-ending at a park service campground with an historic shelter built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, before the park had been established.

The main paved road was in the other direction from the T, winding around the foot, along the shin with all its knobs, ending at the lodge below the knee, with another gravel road that continued north—the one Xavier had driven like a madman hours ago to get them to the blacksmith shop in record time.

“That’s not far from the Kalahwamish cabin where our vehicles are parked. We’ll need to be careful, in case there’s someone planted there, waiting for us to show up.”

She nodded. “Makes sense. I have a feeling they’ll have slashed your tires too anyway.”

“Yeah. And there was a tree down on the road near the culvert we crossed under when we left the Jamisons. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve cut off the main road at the fork too.”

She hadn’t seen the tree down, but she didn’t have NVGs. It made her wonder what else she’d missed.

“These guys are really organized,” she whispered.

He nodded. “They’ve been planning this since before they buried their equipment in the site.”

Mid-November.

She shivered.

Xavier’s arm tightened around her, and she leaned into him, taking the feeble comfort he offered and telling herself it was just because she needed his body heat. “So we break into the Baldwins for supplies, then retreat into the forest to sleep?”

“Not yet. I want to check out Jeb’s cabin while it’s still dark. Maybe there’s a clue there as to why he went to the yurt tonight. After that, we can head deep into the forest, holding off on stopping to sleep until about an hour before dawn, so we know we’re well out of range for any searching mercs. Then we’ll pitch our tent and hide out until it’s twilight again.”

“We’re going to hide that long? Lose a whole day?”

“The SEALs will be hidden during daylight too. No point in trying to find them when it’s so risky with little chance of success.”

“So we’ll try to find them when it’s dark again.”