First, an interlude at the ranger station

District Ranger Jennifer White poured over the day's latest dispatches from the field offices around Silver Lake, but her mind barely registered anything. Given the insanity that had turned the main office upside-down over the past few days, she could be forgiven, if she could forgive herself.

Chief Jensen had been terminated. She remembered how shocked she was at the news, to see him being carted away in a federal vehicle and taken away as a team picked apart his office. The agents couldn't comment too much due to the ongoing investigation, but his charge was illegal use of public land and that they would be the first to know any developments in the case. That failed to placate Jennifer, and only after turning to a friend she knew higher up in the department did she begin to see the full story.

Apparently, Jensen had sold out to a logging firm that had its eye on the further reaches of the reserve, and they agreed to cut Jensen in on the deal if he managed to keep that area isolated from rangers and visitors. No cabins here located there, and the nearest office was his own, so covering up the firm's activity had been easy -- but Jensen hadn't counted on Detective Carlos Rivera, who not coincidentally had been staying in his own cabin not too far away from the hot zone.

A real-life Sherlock Holmes right there, Jennifer mused. She hadn't understood how, but Jensen obviously made a crucial mistake or two somewhere in his plan, and he fell into Rivera's trap. She had been gone for not more than 45 minutes before the agents arrived. One moment, Jensen was her boss. The next, she had been generously handed his job as acing chief due to her seniority, and they left her to pick up the bashed remains of Jensen's professionalism.

At least Colin was still here. Ryan had just vanished; he was there that morning, but no one from any field office had seen him since. Her gut constantly gnawed on the thought that he had been deeply involved in the scandal, then headed for the hills at the first sign of trouble. Jensen had to had an accomplice here, Jennifer concluded, and given the little number of staff and the rest accounted for, she had to be correct. Sadly, painfully correct.

The door barked a knock, and Jennifer barked back with curt acknowledgment Colin soon entered, with a fistful of letters from the mail. They seemed to be a regular occurrence lately.

"Anything from the department?" Jennifer got right to the point.

"Only that the new section chief will get here any day now," he said.

"Which is what they say on the phone, and in emails, and to anyone I damn well shout at down at headquarters." She slapped one pile on papers, sending it crashing to the floor. "Ah, shit."

Colin crouched to the floor, helping his friend and coworker. "Hey, Jen, look, we're managing here. We're doing okay."

"Aside from every district ranger wondering what the hell is going on and asking me as if I know anything, and the press wanting me to given something more than 'I don't know, fuck off' and the random letter from some old man saying he's appalled that his tax money is going to crooks, and me doing it all for the same pay I had been making." Jennifer returned to the chair with a slump. "Yeah, doing great!"

Colin paused, then smirked. "Careful, or you'll end up like Jensen."

Jennifer snorted, then chuckled. "Yeah, yeah... it'll get to me and I'll start selling off hawk talons or something on the black market as penis pills."

"Sounds like you put thought into that one," Colin replied, grinning.

"If I ever do, you'll be on the ground floor." Jennifer smiled. "Damn Colin, I'm glad you're here. I'd go bonkers otherwise."

"Anything for our collective well-being. And, well," Colin cleared his throat, and a grim expression took hold. "Speaking about that, something came in the mail today from the federal offices..."

"Something other than empty promises?"

"Amazingly," Colin scratched his head. "Still though, I'm pretty sure they're serious. I even had to call them about this, just to be sure."

Jennifer's brow furrowed. "Okay, out with it, Colin."

He produced a certified letter with the department's seal watermarked across its face, and began to read its contents. He said a particular phrase, and she had to just stop him. She could feel a migraine developing deep in her brain.