40

“Your stubbornness brought you back. The same thing that’s keeping you from being home and recovering like you should be. You need to take better care of yourself, Jack. Gain some weight back.”

“That’s exactly where the cookies come in,” he said, straight-faced. She was laughing as he walked out the door.

In less than half an hour, he was in the woods off Spring Road, walking up to Bing.

The captain’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?” “Was driving by, saw the commotion.”

“And I’m a woodland fairy. You know what sick leave means? You stay home and heal.”

“You sound like Leila. So what do we have?”

“A hiker called the place in.” Bing shrugged, then called out, “Anything back there, Mike?”

“Locked up tight.” Mike, the other rookie who’d joined the team the previous year with Joe, came around the cabin, a round Irish kid, red hair sticking up all over, eyes green as shamrocks, and a grin that betrayed he hadn’t spent too much time on the force yet. He’d barely seen anything.

“Who