Hunter replied without missing a beat. ‘I would’ve done everything I could. He was my friend.’
Twenty-Three
An hour and eight minutes after taking off, the Phenom 100 jet touched down at Western Carolina Regional Airport. The weather outside had started to change. Several large clouds were now lurking around in the sky, keeping the sun from properly shining through, and bringing the temperature down a few degrees. In spite of the lack of sunshine, Taylor put on her sunglasses as soon as they stepped out of the plane. It was basic FBI training – once in public, always hide your eyes.
Outside the airport, Hunter and Taylor met a representative from a local car-rental company she had spoken to on the phone. He delivered them a top-of-the-range, black Lincoln MKZ sedan.
‘OK,’ Taylor said, flipping open her laptop as she and Hunter got into the car. She took the driver’s seat. The car looked and smelled brand new, as if it had been purchased that morning just to accommodate them. ‘Let’s figure out where we need to go from here.’
Taylor used the laptop’s touchpad and quickly called up a satellite-view application. In a fraction of a second, she had a photographic bird’s-eye-view map of the city of Murphy on her screen.
‘Lucien said that the house was at the end of a wood’s edge,’ she continued, angling the laptop Hunter’s way.
They both studied the screen for a long moment and, as Taylor used the touch pad to drag the map from left to right and top to bottom, her demeanor changed.
‘Was he kidding?’ she finally said. Her voice was still calm, but it now had a sliver of annoyance to it. She lifted her sunglasses and placed them on her head before pinning Hunter down with a concerned stare. ‘This place is surrounded by woodland. It’s everywhere, inside and outside the city. Just look at this.’
Her gaze returned to her screen as she used the touchpad again to zoom out on the map. She wasn’t joking. The city of Murphy looked like it had been built slap-bang in the middle of a large, hilly forest. There seemed to be more woodland around than buildings.
‘What are we supposed to do? Find a house at the edge of every woodland we come across and go see if any of his keys fit?’
Hunter said nothing. He was still staring at the screen, trying to figure it all out.
‘He was fucking with us, wasn’t he?’ Taylor chuckled those words. ‘Even if this house does exist, which I now doubt, it could take us a couple of days to find it, maybe more. He sent us on a wild goose chase, Robert. He’s playing games.’ She took a moment to think about it. ‘I’m sure he’s been here before. Maybe even lived here for a while. He knows Murphy is surrounded by woodland. That’s why he sent us here with that crazy riddle. We could spend days here, and never come across this . . . fantasy house.’
Hunter spent a few more seconds analyzing the map before shaking his head. ‘No, this is wrong. This isn’t what he meant.’
Taylor’s eyebrows arched. ‘What do you mean? That’s exactly what he said: “ The house is at the end of a wood’s edge. ” Unless you’ve got this riddle wrong, and we came to the wrong place.’
‘I didn’t,’ Hunter assured her. ‘We came to the right place.’
‘OK then, so Lucien is playing games. Just look at that map, Robert.’ She nodded at her laptop. ‘“ The house is at the end of a wood’s edge ,”’ she repeated. ‘Those were his words. I’ve got the recording here with me if you want to listen to it again.’
‘I don’t have to,’ Hunter replied, turning the laptop to face him. ‘Because that’s not exactly what he said.’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘He said that the house was at the end of the wood’s edge, not a wood’s edge. And there’s a big difference. Can you get us a searchable map of Murphy? Locations, street names, things like that?’
‘Yeah, sure.’
A few keystrokes later and the bird’s-eye-view map on the screen
Twenty-Three
An hour and eight minutes after taking off, the Phenom 100 jet touched down at Western Carolina Regional Airport. The weather outside had started to change. Several large clouds were now lurking around in the sky, keeping the sun from properly shining through, and bringing the temperature down a few degrees. In spite of the lack of sunshine, Taylor put on her sunglasses as soon as they stepped out of the plane. It was basic FBI training – once in public, always hide your eyes.
Outside the airport, Hunter and Taylor met a representative from a local car-rental company she had spoken to on the phone. He delivered them a top-of-the-range, black Lincoln MKZ sedan.
‘OK,’ Taylor said, flipping open her laptop as she and Hunter got into the car. She took the driver’s seat. The car looked and smelled brand new, as if it had been purchased that morning just to accommodate them. ‘Let’s figure out where we need to go from here.’
Taylor used the laptop’s touchpad and quickly called up a satellite-view application. In a fraction of a second, she had a photographic bird’s-eye-view map of the city of Murphy on her screen.
‘Lucien said that the house was at the end of a wood’s edge,’ she continued, angling the laptop Hunter’s way.
They both studied the screen for a long moment and, as Taylor used the touch pad to drag the map from left to right and top to bottom, her demeanor changed.
‘Was he kidding?’ she finally said. Her voice was still calm, but it now had a sliver of annoyance to it. She lifted her sunglasses and placed them on her head before pinning Hunter down with a concerned stare. ‘This place is surrounded by woodland. It’s everywhere, inside and outside the city. Just look at this.’
Her gaze returned to her screen as she used the touchpad again to zoom out on the map. She wasn’t joking. The city of Murphy looked like it had been built slap-bang in the middle of a large, hilly forest. There seemed to be more woodland around than buildings.
‘What are we supposed to do? Find a house at the edge of every woodland we come across and go see if any of his keys fit?’
Hunter said nothing. He was still staring at the screen, trying to figure it all out.
‘He was fucking with us, wasn’t he?’ Taylor chuckled those words. ‘Even if this house does exist, which I now doubt, it could take us a couple of days to find it, maybe more. He sent us on a wild goose chase, Robert. He’s playing games.’ She took a moment to think about it. ‘I’m sure he’s been here before. Maybe even lived here for a while. He knows Murphy is surrounded by woodland. That’s why he sent us here with that crazy riddle. We could spend days here, and never come across this . . . fantasy house.’
Hunter spent a few more seconds analyzing the map before shaking his head. ‘No, this is wrong. This isn’t what he meant.’
Taylor’s eyebrows arched. ‘What do you mean? That’s exactly what he said: “ The house is at the end of a wood’s edge. ” Unless you’ve got this riddle wrong, and we came to the wrong place.’
‘I didn’t,’ Hunter assured her. ‘We came to the right place.’
‘OK then, so Lucien is playing games. Just look at that map, Robert.’ She nodded at her laptop. ‘“ The house is at the end of a wood’s edge ,”’ she repeated. ‘Those were his words. I’ve got the recording here with me if you want to listen to it again.’
‘I don’t have to,’ Hunter replied, turning the laptop to face him. ‘Because that’s not exactly what he said.’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘He said that the house was at the end of the wood’s edge, not a wood’s edge. And there’s a big difference. Can you get us a searchable map of Murphy? Locations, street names, things like that?’
‘Yeah, sure.’
A few keystrokes later and the bird’s-eye-view map on the screen
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