By the time Eli and Kate reached Biggins Restaurant, the adrenaline had worn off just enough for the cold to set in. They chose a corner table with a clear view of both the front door and the parking lot. The tin box was in Eli’s backpack, resting against his foot under the table.
The scent of fried catfish and strong coffee drifted through the air, but neither of them was in the mood to eat. Kate kept glancing toward the window as she stirred her coffee without drinking it.
“We need to figure out why the old man wanted this so badly,” she said quietly. “If we go to West Boggs Lake without knowing what we’re walking into—”
She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes fixed on the door.
A man had just stepped inside. His gaze swept the room in a slow, deliberate scan before locking on their table. Eli felt a jolt of recognition — the same man in the dark jacket and baseball cap who had been lurking near the shelter house at West Boggs Lake.
The man walked straight over, stopping at the edge of their table. Leaning in slightly, he said, “You’ve got something that doesn’t belong to you.”
Eli kept his tone level. “You working for the guy with the snake-eye ring?”
The man’s mouth curled into a humorless smile. “Let’s just say I work for people who don’t like to be crossed.”
Kate tilted her head, her voice calm but sharp. “Then maybe you should tell your boss he should’ve made a better offer.”
The man leaned a little closer. “I’m not here to negotiate. I’m here to give you a choice. You can leave that box with me, and we’ll pretend we never saw each other. Or… you can keep playing this game and find out why the last person who went after the Fifth Mark didn’t come back.”
Eli’s eyes narrowed. “What happened to him?”
The man’s smile faded. “He met the old man. That’s all you need to know.”
He straightened, glanced toward the parking lot, and walked out without another word.
Kate’s voice was barely above a whisper. “That was subtle.”
Eli’s eyes tracked the man through the window. “Not subtle enough. His name’s Mercer. He was watching us at the park — and now he’s following us.”
The man leaned against a dark sedan, watching them through the glass — the same stance, the same stillness Eli remembered from the shelter house.
They finished their coffee in silence. By the time they stepped outside, the sedan was gone — but the unease lingered like a shadow that wouldn’t leave.
Across the lot, a flickering neon sign marked the entrance to a low, weathered motel.
“We’re not driving anywhere tonight,” Eli said. “If we go to West Boggs Lake now, we’ll just lead them there.”
Kate nodded. Ten minutes later, they had a key to a room that smelled faintly of stale air and disinfectant.
Eli locked the door, checked the window, and set the tin box on the table. He opened it again, studying the medallion and the sketched shoreline. “Tomorrow morning,” he said, “we go to the lake. But we’re not going alone.”
Kate raised an eyebrow. “Who’s coming with us?”
Eli’s answer was firm. “Sage.”
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