"Man, oh man, I am not liking this…what do you want to do, Michael?"

Unusually tense, Steve flinched slightly when the tires of the Galaxy left the paved road behind, and rolled onto an ill-maintained two-track leading into the densely forested area of the State Park.

Deep ruts and exposed tree roots told tales of powerful storms sweeping through the area not too long ago, and a decaying, unoccupied guard shack to their left spoke of a time when the area saw significantly more tourist activity.

The blue LTD had barely slowed down since it traded the country road for the two-track, making it obvious that the gang was both, familiar with the terrain and in a certain rush to reach their destination.

Once completely out of sight, Steve slowed the Galaxy to a complete halt, before glancing over at his partner in undisguised worry.

"I truly feel like they're leading us into a trap. We're going to stick out like a sore thumb in these woods. We're not prepared to go hiking. I don't even know how much of these deep ruts this car can handle."

Stealing a glance over the slight ravine forming to the left, an indentation in the land that grew significantly deeper as the road rose in elevation; Mike hesitated, before clearing his throat.

"We stayed far enough behind. They wouldn't have seen us. It's just…it's impossible. What is possible is that they're checking on their hideout. And the longer we sit here and argue about this issue, the greater chance there is that we lose them in these winding paths. If their LTD can make it, so can this car."

He didn't like overruling his partner's justified concerns.

It was a gentleman's agreement he'd made with the young Inspector the day they joined forces. Every concern brought up was valid and deserved recognition, regardless of rank. It was just that sometimes, the seasoned part inside him, the many years of putting himself into the shoes of criminals, had sharpened his mind enough to sense when he was getting close to a case break.

And it was right there, in those inconspicuous woods.

Without gracing his indirect order with an answer, Steve clenched his jaws and slowly sped up again, trying hard to avoid the potholes along the way, but failing to do so as the road grade deteriorated significantly, the farther away they moved from civilization.

As he watched tree after tree pass them by, a not-so-subtle reminder that they were slowly but surely creeping away from the safety of a fast support network should an emergency arise; Mike swallowed his own concerns about the situation at hand, knowing that any undue worry about something they knew so little of at the moment would only serve to cloud their judgement, or worse yet, allow room for errors when they could least afford it.

A covert glance to the left revealed the ever-growing ravine, that was cut off by an approaching mountainside covered in pines so tall, that they threw shadows across the vast grassland at its foot.

Down below, the groaning of the Galaxy's suspension and the eerie swishing of grass that was growing in the median of the two-track hitting the bottom of the chassis made him wonder just how much farther into the woods Cassidy would drag them.

Then again, the more remote and less populated the area was, the better it would serve as a hideout for thugs with questionable intentions.

As they reached the mountain range ahead, Steve let out a quiet sigh of defeat, when a three-way intersection greeted them, lacking any signage to help them choose a direction.

The main road continued straight ahead, where it grew significantly steeper. Deep tire tracks suggested heavy equipment use, likely to move fallen trees out of the way. Two smaller roads went off to the left and right, both reasonably open.

A bed of gravel had been spread across the intersection to prevent further washouts, a reasonable idea except that it blinded them to tire tracks of regular sized vehicles. Even Jimmy's tracking device didn't help much, it's quiet beeping signaling that the LTD was somewhere nearby still, but not moving fast enough to aid in identifying the direction it travelled.

Rubbing the back of his neck to ease the ever-growing tension headache, Mike grunted in frustration, before pointing left.

"That take route. Once we get off that gravel, we should be able to see if they went that way. If not, we'll turn around and try the other roads. We are not going to lose them."

Meeting his glance with false neutrality, Steve pointed his chin at the chosen road, that had clearly been carved out of the mountainside a long time ago.

"Let's hope we find those tracks soon, because I won't be able to turn this tank around on a dime. And I don't feel like backing it up several miles and moving an inch too far over, causing us to summersault our way back to civilization…and death…"

"You don't like this idea, do you?", Mike challenged, immediately causing Steve to glare back over at him, holding his breath as their silent standoff continued for several long moments.

"Not one bit. But it doesn't matter, now does it?", the young Inspector counted in growing frustration, unable to hide the slight tremor in his voice, "After all, we gotta find these guys before they find us."