Chapter 4 - Echoes in the Cabin
The abandoned ranger station smelled of damp cedar, dust, and decades of forgotten time. Moonlight filtered brokenly through the shattered windowpanes, casting long, skeletal bars across the rotting wooden floorboards. Jax pushed open a rusted metal door, signaling for the girl to step inside out of the biting night chill. He flicked on a heavy-duty tactical flashlight, its beam cutting through swirling motes of dust to illuminate an old stone fireplace and a battered cot. The girl stood rigidly by the door, the smartphone still clutched tightly in her palm, her dark hoodie zipped up to her chin. Jax pulled a pack of cigarettes from his vest, tapped one out, but changed his mind and shoved it back, running a calloused hand over his beard. ""You shouldn't have been out on Route 9 alone, kid,"" he said, his voice softer now, stripped of its initial menace. ""What were you looking for?"" She stared at him, her frightened eyes reflecting the white glare of the flashlight. ""I was looking for the man who broke my mother's heart,"" she replied, her voice trembling slightly in the hollow room. Jax froze, his hand dropping slowly to his side as the full weight of her words settled heavily between them.
