Chapter 5: Motives Unearthed

The loggers, drunk and sated after the long claiming session, had retreated upstairs to drink more whiskey and play cards. Their laughter and crude boasts carried faintly down the stairs. The women, still naked and marked, used the brief window of loose supervision to slip back into the basement. The heavy door clicked shut behind them, the soundproofing swallowing all noise.

They went straight to the small table where the battered leather journal still lay. Alex opened it again, and this time they read the earlier, more revealing entries in full, the flashlight beam steady in her hand.

Expanded Journal Excerpts: The Loggers’ Motives

The handwriting varied—Travis’s blocky print, Boone’s heavier scrawl, Colton’s more erratic cursive. The tone was boastful, self-justifying, laced with crude excitement and zero remorse.

Early entries – The Spark (Roughly 10 years ago, late fall): Travis: Season finally over. Me, Boone, and Colton holed up in the new cabin we claimed out here in Hidden Valley. Logging camp was hell—months of freezing your balls off, swinging axes and running saws till your arms felt like they’d fall off. No women for miles except the ones in town on payday. We’d drive in, get drunk, find some bar girl or hitchhiker who looked like she wanted a good time. Most went along rough enough. Spank ‘em, hold ‘em down, fuck ‘em hard. They’d complain but they came. Or at least we told ourselves they did.

Boone: That one redhead from the diner changed things. She came back to the truck easy after drinks. Started fighting once we got her here—said she changed her mind. We didn’t listen. Boone here held her while Travis and Colton took turns. She screamed at first, then got quiet. After, she just lay there staring at the ceiling. We dropped her off the next morning with some cash and a warning. She never talked. That’s when we realized: out here, nobody hears. Nobody cares. These valley roads and the snow—they keep secrets better than any lock.