Page 69 of The Catcher
“Well, I understand it could be just a coincidence, but this is my father and the Ashfords we’re talking about,” Noah replied.
Noah joined Callie in the living room, settling into a seat across from her. He nodded, his attention focused as she spoke. Callie reached up, gathering her brunette hair into a loose bun with a hair tie, her movements fluid and practiced. That day, she was dressed in deep green cargo pants with a white T-shirt peeking out from beneath a light blue jean jacket.
As she responded, offering her thoughts on the situation, Noah studied her with a newfound appreciation. It wasn’t that he was oblivious to how attractive she was, but in their professional interactions, she was often in uniform, and he hadn’t dwelled on it. Yet now, seeing her in casual attire, he couldn’t help but notice the subtle details of her appearance.
“So, what do you think?” Callie asked, breaking through Noah’s reverie.
“Huh?” Noah replied, momentarily distracted as he shook himself out of his daze.
“Someone working on the inside for Ashford. That’s the only way they would have known about that file,” Callie elaborated.
“Possibly,” Noah responded, his mind still preoccupied with his thoughts.
Right then, his phone rang, disrupting the conversation. Noah got up, set his coffee on the counter, and hurried back into his bedroom to retrieve it. He answered the call as he made his way back to the living room.
“McKenzie, no, I don’t suspect you of taking it, but I just had to ask,” Noah explained.
“What are you talking about?” McKenzie’s voice came through the phone, confusion evident.
“The message I left. Forget it. Why are you calling?” Noah asked.
“The sheriff’s office down in Lake George contacted us this morning. Mischa Redka and Addison Sterling have gone missing.”
“What? How?” Noah’s voice was filled with disbelief as he listened to McKenzie’s update.
“It was a trip out of town for the weekend. They were at the Regal Aviation Mall. The parents took them to see a movie. At some point, they stepped out and well, they never returned. The mall’s security fought with a group earlier that morning. That same group was following the teens. CCTV has them nearby at the time but no hard description. We’re unsure if this is Nicholas, as he’s not home. Anyway, while Porter is searching for Nicholas, Terry and I are traveling down. We should be there in the next half an hour. I just figured I would update you,” McKenzie explained, his voice tense.
Callie said something.
“Is that Thorne?” McKenzie asked.
“Yeah,” Noah confirmed. “She swung by for coffee.”
“Nice to have a day off. Lucky for some. Anyway, gotta go.”
Noah ended the call, his mind racing about the missing teens. He glanced at Callie, his expression grim. “Two more teens have gone missing.”
As he stood there, his mind whirling with possibilities, Noah opened the Geocaching app on his phone, working off a hunch. He brought up the map and zoomed in on the last location, where Colt Banning’s body was found.
“What are you doing?” Callie asked, her curiosity piqued.
“McKenzie told me that on the day the Banning boy was found, they checked the app, and there were no icons for geocaches listed in or around the area,” Noah explained, his eyes scanning the screen intently. Then, with a sudden realization, he turned the phone toward Callie. “There’s one there now. Sonofabitch! There wasn’t one listed on the day because he didn’t have the girls.”
“Let’s head out there,” Callie said as she quickly moved toward the door.
“No need,” Noah replied, his expression determined. “It’s a puzzle geocache. The description says the final cache is not at the posted coordinates. It says it’s a simple math-based puzzle. We just need to use math to find the coordinates to the final location.”
The final coordinates were listed at: N44.AB.CDE W073 FG.HIJ
NORTH
4 guzinta 4=A
Then it listed more for the remaining letters:
WEST
4 guzinta 8=F
