Mike had been sitting at the edge of his bed for the better part of an hour. Since before dawn, his active senses had made out movement outside the motel. Positioning himself to be able to stare out the nearby window, he'd watched with great interest as the settlement came to life.
For as small as it seemed, there was a surprising amount of people in this area.
Across the street, he'd seen the grocery store open up for business and a few guys were heading down the road to Richardson's Meat Processing. Over at Peggy Mae's, a tiny diner tucked into the corner of a house, the waitresses arrived for the early breakfast shift.
Large pine trees surrounded the center of town before thinning out farther to the northeast. Several small two-tracks lead around buildings and into the denser parts of the forest.
For much of the morning, Mike had felt like a sentinel, quietly watching the town. But with each person passing by the motel and glancing at the tan sedan parked out front, a worrying suspicion arose in his gut.
After arriving less than eight hours ago, something told him that everybody knew about the two San Francisco Detectives by now.
Next to him, Steve was beginning to stir.
Mike sat back and smiled, visibly enjoying his partner struggle to wake up. Fighting with the knotted-up sheets, Steve slowly rolled onto his back, his unfocused green eyes staring at the ceiling.
"Do you ever sleep?", the young Inspector asked groggily but didn't look over.
"As you get older, you don't need that much sleep.", Mike lied and watched Steve run a hand across his face.
"Something came to me in a dream, Mike."
"Don't you think it's too early to discuss your romantic endeavors again?", the Lieutenant teased, only to watch his partner shake his head.
"It took us how long to get here once we left Carmet?… Would you say an hour? Hour and a half?", at his question, Mike nodded intrigued, "How many vehicles did we see on the road during that time?"
Exhaling slowly, Mike shrugged.
"There was only one. That old logging truck stacked full of pine. And even he seemed surprised that we were heading up here …well, surprised enough to stop and make sure we had directions."
"Exactly.", sitting up in bed and running a nervous hand through his disheveled hair, Steve looked up at his partner in grave concern. "Mike, Glenn hitchhiked his way up here. How in the world did he reach this town when there's no traffic to take him here? You think he walked the twenty-some miles?"
"It's a valid question. Maybe somebody was waiting for him.", Mike countered deep in thought, "Let's head across the street for breakfast. It's time we start asking some questions around here."