She’d opened the first clue almost three months ago. Mentally and emotionally, she’d had time to prepare herself to finish the last hunt her father would ever plan for her. Now that the moment had come, however, she didn’t feel prepared. This final stage came wrapped in more questions than answers, which gave her imagination permission to drum up all kinds of scary scenarios.

What treasure did you bury for me, Dad?

She could picture him as he’d been the day of the picnic, in his lightweight hiking pants and National Model Railroad Association T-shirt. His white-gray curls had framed a tan face made even more striking thanks to the grooves that gave it character. She imagined him looking back over his shoulder at her and smiling.

“Hold up,” Luke murmured in an undertone of warning.

She stopped.

He nodded to the right. Straining her eyes, she spotted movement through the trees. A trace of red and brown, followed by a feminine voice and a chuckle. Several yards away and heading toward them, a friendly-looking mom and her teenage son came into view. With a sigh of relief, Finley continued forward. Clearly, these two were not a threat.

Attempting not to look like someone en route to excavate treasure, Finley greeted them. They cheerfully returned her greeting as they passed.

Luke was always vigilant, but the fact that he’d registered the mom and son before Finley informed her that he was on high alert.

As they progressed deeper into the forest, they could no longer hear the sound of cars on the road. They encountered no other humans.

Just a quarter-mile left.

“Almost there.”

Less than seven hundred feet left.

The topography began to open, allowing glimpses of sky ahead. The GPS counted down the remaining feet to her destination. Yes. In general, this felt right. A few more steps, and the terrain dropped downhill, providing an iconic North Georgia landscape of mountains undulating to the horizon. Lake Trahlyta nestled below like a sapphire cushioned in green velvet.

Coming to an abrupt stop, Finley consulted her phone. “This is where I dropped the pin.” She took in her surroundings. “This isn’t exactly where we had the picnic, though. It wasn’t steep like this. It was level and ended in a cliff.”

“Do you think we’re close?”

“Yes, I do think we’re close.” It was time for her to do what her dad had done when he’d found the spot the first time. Follow instincts. She walked to the right. Farther.

She looked up. Nope.

She looked down, then went still. “That’s it,” she whispered reverently, pointing. Several yards below and to the side, on an outcropping of ground, was the site of her long-ago picnic with her dad.

“Good job,” Luke said.

Gratification buzzed around her like fireflies. She’d found it.