Rising from the Ashes (Andrew) novel Chapter 1522

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 eat, Mr. Veyne said he wanted to go relieve himself. I didn't think much of it at the time and just told him to be careful.

"Then I saw him walk behind that big rock over there. After waiting a few minutes and seeing no movement, I figured he was probably taking a dump. So, I waited a few more minutes, but he still hadn't come out.

"As a wilderness survival expert, I immediately realized something was wrong. Sure enough, when I ran behind the big rock to check, there wasn't a trace of him anywhere."

Logan said mockingly, "Wow, some survivalist you are! You waited a few minutes and then waited some more. Calling yourself a survival expert is a joke! For all we know, Mr. Veyne is dead because of you!"

Ralph's face turned bright red with embarrassment. He wanted to argue back, but could not find the words to defend himself.

Chantelle turned toward Andrew. "Mr. Lloyd, what now?"

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