Thea’s POV

I carefully observed the surroundings. The cabin’s windows were closed, and there was no sound. But…

“Wait,” I grabbed Sebastian’s arm, my nails digging into his skin. “It’s too quiet here.”

He immediately understood, a flash of alertness crossing his eyes. If Vanessa was really here and had spotted the police, she couldn’t possibly be this quiet. Either she’d already escaped, or this was a trap.

My heart sank. An ominous feeling enveloped me, like an invisible hand tightening around my neck.

Hawthorne and his team surrounded the cabin. I held my breath, watching them break down the door, flashlight beams sweeping back and forth in the darkness. I heard sounds of searching from inside: footsteps, rummaging noises, low conversations.

A few minutes later, Hawthorne emerged, his face ten times darker than before. His expression told us everything.

“Empty,” he said curtly. “And all traces have been cleaned.”

A wave of massive disappointment washed over me, like a bucket of ice water poured from head to toe. My hands trembled, not from cold, but from anger. “She escaped?”

“Not just escaped,” Sebastian’s voice was dangerous, “she deliberately let us find clues to this place.”

Hawthorne nodded, his expression growing even more serious: “This is a diversion. She intentionally left traces for us to find this place, then escaped from somewhere else while we were all here.”

“Damn it!” I cursed. “This bitch is even more cunning than I imagined!”

I paced back and forth by the lake, hands clenched into tight fists. Anger burned in my chest; I wanted nothing more than to find Vanessa and make her pay for everything she’d done.

“Anger will make you lose your reason, Thea.” Diana was right, but it was hard to calm down. Just thinking about Vanessa possibly laughing somewhere, thinking she might escape justice forever, filled me with helpless rage.

“But there’s a problem,” Sebastian frowned, thinking deeply, his voice temporarily pulling me from my emotions. “How did she know we’d discovered the truth? How did she know to escape in advance?”

This question made everyone fall into contemplation. Logically, we’d just gotten the key information from Aurora, and the entire process had taken place inside the police station. From questioning Aurora until now, it had been less than two hours. Vanessa couldn’t have known this quickly. Unless…

“She had someone’s help.” My voice sounded particularly clear in the night air, like a stone thrown into calm water, creating ripples. The entire scene went quiet. Everyone turned to look at me.

Hawthorne’s face turned iron gray. “You mean someone in the police station tipped her off?”

“Is there any other explanation?” I shot back, my voice carrying obvious sarcasm. “From when we started questioning Aurora until now, it’s been less than two hours. And judging by the current situation, her actions were ahead of all of us. Without someone’s help, she couldn’t have destroyed all evidence and arranged this decoy while escaping without a trace in such a short time.”

Sebastian nodded: “Thea’s right. This person should be very familiar with police procedures, know when we’d take action, know what route we’d choose, so we can’t rule out the possibility of a mole in the station.”

A chill crept up my spine, like countless icy fingers crawling on my skin. If there really was someone in the police station helping Vanessa, it meant this conspiracy was even more complex than we’d imagined. This might not just be one crazy woman’s act of revenge.

Hawthorne began pacing by the lake, clearly this discovery had caused him massive shock. He kept pulling out his phone, speaking in low tones with someone, probably arranging warrant matters and mobilizing more personnel to search for Vanessa’s whereabouts.

But the unease in my heart grew stronger. This woman could plan such a perfect frame job, could predict our actions in advance, could plant informants in the police station – based on this alone, she was definitely not a simple character.

The police began cleaning up the scene, preparing to withdraw. Several young officers looked dejected; tonight’s failed operation had obviously disappointed them. Hawthorne was still constantly making phone calls, arranging follow-up search work.

I took one last look at that empty cabin, my heart heavy with mixed feelings. I’d thought tonight would end everything, never expecting the situation would turn out like this.

Just as everyone was preparing to leave, Sebastian suddenly called out to me.

“Thea, wait.”