It was just sitting there, out in the open.

“Where are you folks from?”

“It’s so good to finally meet you, brave hero!”

Valerie's voice was like a child who'd just brought in a stray, and was now desperately pleading with their parents to keep it.

“Sorry to interupt, everyone,” Dr. Arden Lee Siren apologized. “But I’m afraid I can’t abide a lynching in good conscience.”

Valerie coughed once, her face a mixture of relief and embarassment. “Dr. Siren. You’re here.”

List’s head snapped toward the jail’s door at the sound of the lock turning.

List really had given her shit directions.

Even for a logging village in the middle of nowhere, the jail was tiny.

A trail of mud-spattered footprints and puddles of water followed Valerie as she staggered into the tavern, finally out of the rain.