DAISY

"Someone else is here," Brian said, his eyes scanning the dark wood line.

He pointed toward a set of fresh, deep tire tracks cutting through the snow ahead of us. They belonged to a heavy truck.

"Alita," I said, my hands tightening around the handle of the car door. "Merlin must have leaked the location to her before we secured him, or she knew this would be our next move."

"Stay in the car until I check the perimeter," Brian ordered, bringing the sedan to a halt behind a dense row of overgrown pine trees.

He didn't wait for my answer. He pulled his semi-automatic pistol from his belt,...