“I will,” Jake said.

We left the diner parking lot, the SUV leading the way through the worsening blizzard.

The Miller Creek development site was a ghost town of half-finished luxury homes.

Skeletal wooden frames loomed out of the darkness, covered in white sheets of plastic that flapped violently in the storm.

The SUV pulled into a dark turnoff hidden by a thick grove of pine trees.

From here, we could see the entrance gate and the glowing yellow window of the sales trailer.

Another vehicle was already parked there—Walter’s heavy silver pickup truck.

“They are here,” Jake said, looking through the frosted windshield.

“We are receiving your signal,” Reyes said, adjusting his headphones. “Go. We have you.”

Jake turned to me, his dark eyes filled with a quiet determination.

“Keep the heater on for Owen,” he said softly.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you too,” he said.

He opened the door and stepped out into the blizzard, his boots crunching loudly in the fresh snow.

We watched his dark figure walk toward the glowing trailer.

The wind seemed to swallow him whole.