Warren sat back into his chair. “How often did you two speak?” he asked.

“We tried to every day. It depended if she had cell phone service, but she checked in pretty regularly, sometimes just a text.”

Tara listened intently as she gained the impression that he and his daughter were close. But as close as they seemed, Tara knew that any daughter would keep some things to herself—especially a possible love interest.

“Do you know if she stayed at any campsites?” Tara finally asked. She knew it would be the prime place to meet someone on such a solo adventure.

“I was just keeping track of where she was on the trail. I’m not too sure what campsites she stayed at.”

He shook his head again as he looked back down at the picture, rubbing his thumb hard back and forth against the image, reminding Tara that his moment of composure could soon come to a close.

“Do you know where she was when you spoke to her last?”

He wiped a few tears off his cheek. “Yeah…she mentioned she was leaving Hanover.”

His words sent a jolt through Tara’s body and she suddenly looked back at Warren, only to be met with the same question in his eyes.

“Did she decide to head back home after Hanover?” she asked, wondering if maybe she decided to head back up to Maine, which would explain the location of her body.

“No, why? She was heading to Pennsylvania.” The man looked up as his thumb paused in motion.

A silence fell around them and Tara looked from the man to Warren, who suddenly opened his mouth.

“Sir, your daughter was found about six miles north of Hanover.”

The man scrunched his face into confusion.

“But that doesn’t make sense,” he said. “She was moving south.”

Tara’s mind raced, visualizing each piece of the puzzle for what it was and forcing them together until one of them fit. It was what the sheriff mentioned earlier, that the first two victims were spotted at a camping store in the same town.

“Do you know where she stopped in Hanover?” Tara asked.

The man sniffled as he leaned his face onto his fist.

“Yeah, she mentioned she needed a new water jug. I think she stopped at some store to get one.”

Tara looked at Warren, but he was already out of his chair. They now had a lead.

Chapter Seven

“I think this is it,” Warren said as he pulled up on the side of the road and looked over at one of the stores.

Tara saw a large wooden sign hanging over the entrance with BAKER’S OUTDOOR GEAR etched into it. It was the only camping store in town, and named after the owner and man the sheriff mentioned he already interviewed, Tom Baker.

Moments later Tara and Warren stood in the store while the bells atop the closing door behind them settled into a hum. The aroma of fresh leather and new merchandise surrounded them, but not a single person.