The people arrested, a man and a woman, have not been identified. They have no fixed address. They were thought to have been in the area known as Lucifer’s Notch, where the missing woman was last seen, according to sources quoted by WDEV radio news station in Waterbury.

No further information was available on whether the people face any charges, WDEV reported.

Samantha Victoria Moore, 20, of Queens, New York, was on her way to Canada to study medicine at the University of Toronto when she was reported missing from the Green Rolling Hills Inn in Spiritsburg, near the Canadian border.

The story ended with a little more background.

Wyatt’s jawline tensed, and he cursed to himself.

“Ray, we don’t want to get beat,” Lockner said.

“Let me work on this.”

“We’re counting on you.”

Wyatt ended the call, shoved his unfinished sandwich aside, and called McDade. Now that the story had leaked, he’d push her to give him more details. His gut told him something was going to break on the case.

But his call went to McDade’s voice mail.

He left her a message. Then he reread the AP story—absorbing it, concentrating on every word.

Oh man, it’s so obvious….man and woman…no fixed address…have been in the area known as Lucifer’s Notch, where the missing woman was last seen….

Cass and Gibby.

They were among the last people to see Samantha Moore before she vanished. He’d interviewed them—exclusively, so far—and came away thinking something was not right about them, especially Gibby, the ex-con.

Out in the middle of nowhere, acting like he was hiding something.

Wyatt needed to learn more about them. He recalled Cass telling him that the man who looked after the property lived in a house over the hills to the north—but he couldn’t find it.

“More coffee, sir?” His server was poised to pour from a carafe.

“No, thank you. Just the check.”

Wyatt thought of the woman at the remote gas station, Zeffie. She seemed to know everybody, and everything, about that part of the world.

He’d go to her.

Now.

CHAPTER 60

Northeast Kingdom, Vermont

Sam trudged along the path that wound through the forest, its branches tugging at her, before she emerged at a dirt road.

This was a better road, a wider road that looked like it was used. Heartened, Sam sighed.

This is good, very good.

Resting for a moment, she drank some of her water. Her whole body ached. She brushed at her tears and checked her foot. Some of her bindings were frayed but her makeshift sole was holding up.

Which way to go?

Catching her breath, she decided to go right.

Maple and birch lined the road. Birds and butterflies darted in the shaded meadows. As she slowly plodded along, Sam began to suspect that this was the same road that she and Kevin had been on.