Ten minutes later, every inch of ground outside the ruined heritage hamlet had been turned upside down. But still, there was no sign of Magnus.

It was that eerie hour just before dawn, the darkest stretch of night. In this isolated valley, the only light sources were three campfires and a few scattered flashlights—everything else was swallowed by pitch black.

Chantelle's face was twisted with frustration. "Mr. Sutton, weren't you just with Mr. Veyne the whole time? How the hell did he disappear like that? What the hell were you even doing?"

Ralph looked panicked. "Ms. Garcia, that's unfair! How am I supposed to know?"

Chantelle was fuming. For the first time, she had to admit that Andrew had been right all along. This so-called survival expert really was a useless joke.

Andrew snapped, clearly out of patience. "Ralph, answer me—were you with Magnus before he went missing or not?"

Ralph showed a thoughtful expression and said, "When Ms. Garcia told us to start the fire and e