Page 46 of Taken from Her
"Exactly." Diana assigned tasks quickly: Julia coordinating with traffic enforcement, Morgan expanding digital analysis, and Angela positioning discrete backup units. "I'll update you from the field."
As her team dispersed with clear assignments, Diana remained at the conference table, studying the terrain maps. After several minutes, Diana reached for her phone, already anticipating Lavender's voice.
"Morning," Lavender answered warmly on the second ring.
"We’ve had a breakthrough," Diana said without preamble. "Everything is pointing to there being a staging area in or near the forest. I need your help."
"When?"
"Now. I'll pick you up in fifteen minutes."
"I'll be ready."
Driving through Phoenix Ridge's morning streets felt different today now that she had a strong lead that would hopefully lead to clear answers. Diana pulled up outsideLavender's Café. Through the large windows, she glimpsed at the memorial corner where photos of Tara, Isabel, and Joanna watched over the space, surrounded by flowers and offerings.
Lavender came out of the café carrying a canvas bag and wearing clothes suited for forest hiking: practical boots, layered clothing, hair pulled back with care. But when she settled into the patrol car's passenger seat, her presence immediately transformed the official vehicle into something more personal.
"The forest connection makes sense. All three women had a strong relationship with those trails," Lavender said as Diana drove toward the forest access roads. "Tara's flora surveys were meditation as much as activism. Isabel's photography helped her process corporate burnout. Joanna used trail running to work through her transition from Olympic competitor to instructor."
Diana absorbed this, understanding how case files had reduced complex women to schedules while missing the emotional significance. "Someone who understood those connections could predict not just when they'd be there, but why it mattered."
"These weren't just attack locations," Lavender said quietly. "They were sacred spaces."
The forest access road appeared ahead, winding through coastal vegetation toward towering Douglas firs that created cathedral spaces beneath their canopy. Diana turned off the main highway, immediately noting how the pavement gave way to gravel, how civilization yielded to wilderness with each mile.
"There." Lavender pointed toward a pull-off area where tire tracks were still visible in the soft earth. "That's where community members reported seeing the surveillance vehicle."
Diana parked, studying the positioning. It was the perfect vantage point for observing trail access while maintaining quick escape routes. The location demonstrated tacticalthinking, someone who understood both forest terrain and law enforcement response patterns.
"Ready?" Diana asked, gathering evidence collection equipment from the trunk.
Lavender shouldered her canvas bag, which Diana noticed carried water, emergency supplies, and what looked like herbal first aid materials. "Ready."
They stood at the forest entrance where a gravel road turned into the wilderness trail, morning light filtering through the canopy in golden shafts that made everything seem both beautiful and potentially dangerous. Diana felt her protective instincts activate, hyperaware of Lavender's presence beside her as they prepared to enter terrain where three women had been studied, stalked, and taken.
"Stay close," Diana said, checking her radio and emergency equipment one final time.
"Always," Lavender replied, the word carrying weight that had nothing to do with forest safety.
Diana led the way onto the trail, case files and personal connection combining as they entered the wilderness where she hoped answers waited.
The trail wound deeper into Douglas fir territory, morning light filtering through the canopy in scattered patches. Diana’s boots found steady purchase on the packed earth while Lavender moved beside her with the easy grace of someone who belonged in this environment.
“Tara would’ve come this way for her surveys.” Lavender pointed toward a narrower path that branched off the main trail. “She documented plant communities along these corridors for her environmental reports.”
Diana photographed the junction, noting how someone could position themselves to observe multiple trail approaches from a single vantage point. The forest provided naturalconcealment while the elevation offered clear sightlines in three directions.
They followed the survey path for twenty minutes, Diana documenting potential surveillance positions while Lavender provided context about how each woman had used these spaces.
“Someone spent time learning these patterns,” Diana observed, studying fresh boot prints in the soft soil beside the trail. Not hiking boots or running shoes, but tactical footwear with aggressive tread patterns.
Lavender crouched beside the prints, her expression growing serious. “These are recent. Maybe a day or two old.”
Diana’s hand found her radio automatically, but static greeted her attempt to contact the station. The forest terrain was interfering with communications more than she’d anticipated.
“How much farther to the main survey area?” Diana asked.
“Another half mile. The trail opens into a clearing where Tara conducted most of her detailed work.” Lavender shouldered her pack, but Diana caught the tension in her movements. “It’s more isolated than this section.”
