Mike could hear his partner release a deep shuddered breath, as they slowed down in front of the farm house just past noon. Sharing the same sentiment but keeping up his professional façade, if nothing else to assuage his partner's worries and give him enough confidence to react instead of hesitate when needed; he tapped the younger man's shoulder and pointed at the red rocking chair on the porch.
"At least we can still see that far…"
Steve nodded quietly, his eyes tracing their surroundings, cursing everything the fog was hiding beyond their immediate perimeter. And somewhere, a hundred feet or so back, sat their only backup in the form of two young, inexperienced journalists. Taking in another deep breath and then holding it for a few moments, the young Inspector sighed, before pointing his chin ahead.
"Where do you want to start?"
Mike bit the inside of his lip, his active mind going over every last detail of the plan, before pursing his lips.
"We're going to start at ground-level. Literally. I've seen lots of tracks back at the old five-way, I want to get an idea of who came here, who's left, and who might still be here."
Steve glanced over at him, his curious green eyes clouded with a deep sense of worry he wasn't as good at hiding from his partner. Clenching his strong jaws, he nodded in understanding.
"Alright, let's do it…"
As both detectives exited the car, Mike noticed the significant temperature drop that had overcome the area along with the fog. Feeling a slight shudder for more than one reason, he shut the door of the Galaxy and let his eyes sink to the gravel driveway.
Just as he'd anticipated, three different sets of tracks could be found, two heavy vehicles, one light one. As he circled the tan sedan to see where they all lead, he noticed that only one of the heavy vehicles turned around and left, the other two backed up and drove toward the pole barn.
"Mike…"
He couldn't see his partner at first until he walked around the front of the Galaxy, where Steve was crouched down; using the pencil of his notebook to pick up what looked to be a woman's bracelet.
"Somebody is getting sloppy…", the young Inspector whispered, before straightening back out, and holding their latest piece of evidence in front of Mike's face.
"Could have gotten ripped off during a fight…", the Lieutenant speculated and stepped back to look for more jewelry or signs of a struggle, but couldn't find anything.
"That, or it was sliding around on the floor of those trucks from one of the earlier kidnappings. When he opened the door, it fell out without him noticing. Looks like it's been out in the elements for a little while…", Steve said and pointed at some of the abrasions on the small silver bracelet.
Mike waited until his partner had safely stored their evidence in one of their plastic bags, before pointing at the old farm house.
"I think it's time to start knocking on some doors around here."