“Stop right there!” The young man’s eyes widened in sudden terror. He turned and vaulted over the low wooden fence, fleeing down the embankment toward the creek road. Daniel reached the fence five seconds later, scrambling over the wood. He hit the gravel lane just in time to see the young man dive into the driver’s seat of a faded blue delivery van parked in the shadows.
The engine roared to life, tires spitting gravel as the vehicle sped away into the morning mist. Daniel stood in the middle of the empty lane, gasping for breath, staring at the red taillights as they disappeared into the fog. For the next twenty-four hours, Daniel did not sleep. He sat in his truck parked behind the cemetery maintenance shed, staring through binoculars.