Tracker

Previously on Tracker...

The man you saw on the cliff the night Dad died, his name's Otto.

Mom's the one that sent him up there.

He threw Dad over the cliff.

Think Mom was having an affair with this Otto guy?

I think she trusted him enough to ask him for help.

You know, something else Otto told me...

He said that there were people from the government that were harassing our family.

Also found a phone number hidden in the spine of one of his journals.

Had my guy look into it. Belonged to a scientist.

- What was his connection to Dad? - I don't know.

Well, maybe I could shake something loose.

Thought you were saying leave it be.

Well, you're not going to, are you?

Yeah, there's no service.

Oh, no, Jay, how are you going to survive?

Come on, I think we should head back soon.

I think we should do the opposite of that.

What? What's wrong? Is it almost empty?

-No, no, I'm good. -Let me see it.

Mom and Dad told me to watch out for you.

-Jay, stop. -Just let me look. Let me see it.

-Jay, I said I'm good. -Come on.

Look, the sun's gonna set soon. Plus, we still have to go back to the car.

And I'm hungry.

Well, I got a peanut butter crunch and three cookie dough,

so I think we're good.

I'll take a protein bar, and I can keep going.

Yeah, one more hour, please.

I don't know.

Come on, Jay. You promised one last adventure.

Plus how cool would it be if we found something?

That would be cool.

Please.

I say we head back.

I-I'm with Jaden.

Fine, suit yourselves. Charlie, you coming?

Charlie.

Mom and Dad are gonna kill us, Sarah.

Randy, did you get that stuff I sent over?

Uh, yeah, got some stuff from your brother Russell.

A bunch of records. It looks like some kinda...

Voya redacted stuff.

I'm not gonna ask him where he got it, but I guess I'm here to help.

Take a look, see if there's anything there.

All right.

Hey, is this about that name that you had me run,

the number that you found in your dad's box from David Pearson?

Yeah, that's right.

Okay. You don't think it'd be nice to tell me more about it?

I don't know. I think it's best if you come in cold.

All right, you got it.

I'll do a deep dive. Maybe we'll find something,

or maybe we just run into another mystery.

Yeah, well, a lot of that when it comes to my family.

Yeah, I'm starting to see that.

Oh, and before you say anything, don't worry, I'm keeping it all to myself.

Appreciate it.

You got it, man. So you close?

Uh, yeah, a couple of minutes from the trail right now.

-Any updates on the search? - No hit on the kids' phones.

They either off or out of service.

That makes sense. If I go any deeper, I'm gonna need my sat phone.

Yeah, coastal fog hampered the use of drones,

but they got some folks coming out to assist.

Nora and Pierce Canfield, they're waiting for you.

That's Jaden and Sarah's parents.

Okay, Charlie and Brooke's parents?

They are on their way from Florida.

They just jumped the first flight out.

Okay, I'll update you when I know anything. Thanks, Randy.

-Colter. -Thanks for coming so fast.

We're grateful you're here.

How familiar are your kids with the trail?

Jaden's hiked it before. Their friends, Brooke and Charlie too.

It's Sarah's first time.

She has asthma, and if anything goes wrong, if she has an attack, then--

Jaden knows what to do if that happens.

Any sign of them on the trail?

Just some protein bar wrappers at a junction.

All right. Any way they snuck off, did something different?

They wouldn't do that.

Okay.

I'm sorry, I have to ask, is there any issues at school, maybe at home?

Well, we're leaving the country next month, moving to Hong Kong.

-Nora got a promotion. -How'd that go over?

Well, Sarah's coming around to the idea, but Jaden's taking it hard.

They're just both trying to make the most of the time

they have left with their friends.

It was just supposed to be a day hike.

When was the last time you heard from them?

Oh. They sent me this picture yesterday afternoon,

two hours into the hike.

Mm-hmm.

I replied right away, but I haven't heard anything back since.

They look prepared. Water... Space blankets?

-I don't know. -Okay.

Search and Rescue geolocate the photo?

Yes, they're up there right now. They know we hired you.

I'll send you the photo.

-Let me get to work. -Thanks.

Thank you.

Hey, buddy. This section's closed.

Yeah. Colter Shaw. The parents hired me to help.

Yeah, right. They mentioned you. Luke Parsons.

Good to meet you.

-Appreciate the help. -Sure.

The search area is pretty large.

You're gonna need more bodies up here.

It's only been 18 hours.

Usually wouldn't mobilize a whole search unit until at least 24 hours have passed,

but I collected a few favors to get a head start.

Okay, anything I should know?

I had a difficult rescue recently that could have been avoided.

Took a bad trail, couldn't get back.

Those areas are closed off now.

I'm hoping these kids just got turned around in the fog.

Maybe. The trail doesn't look too difficult.

Minimal incline, there's markers at every turn.

Well, I've seen people get lost on well marked trails.

Check this out.

That's what I'm getting at. Look at all this gear.

Now they wouldn't need all that equipment to hike this, would they?

What are you saying?

I think they lied to their parents about where they were headed.

-This junction lead to others? -Not directly.

The cliffs limit your options in that direction,

but there are plenty of systems to the northeast.

A bit of a climb, though. Hoping they aren't there.

All right, I'm gonna head up there, rule it out.

I'll join you.

Well, if you're worried about me getting lost, don't.

My old man used to drop me and my brother in the middle of the woods.

He'd leave us there. We had to find our own way back.

That doesn't sound too fun.

Well, it wasn't fun, but it taught us to think.

Never react out of fear.

Yeah, well, my man hated the woods.

Also wasn't around much,

probably why I got into search and rescue to prove I wasn't like him.

I get that.

Randy, I'm headed up the trail with Search and Rescue right now.

Parents give you any more info?

No, I think this hike was a cover for something else.

I remember that. I used to tell my parents I was headed to swim practice,

but really I was just gonna go link with my girl.

You check the kids' socials? See if anything pops?

Yeah, I got you. I'll let you know if I find anything.

Hey. Reenie still not here?

Not yet.

What...

Good luck.

She should be here any minute.

-Can I get you a refill? -I'm good.

You know, if you're into green tea,

I can break out my stash of Dragon Well.

It's pretty awesome.

I didn't come all the way across town to have tea. Thank you, though.

-She's not coming, is she? -She is. She definitely is.

She's probably just stuck in traffic.

-She has my number. -No. Just give me 30 seconds

and I'll find out what's keeping her.

I'm sure she's got a good reason.

Oh, I definitely do.

We're going to miss the signing deadline.

Good, because they slipped in a noncompete to the final package this morning.

Buried it in the executive compendium.

No red line. No heads up. Nothing.

Now look, the clause bars you from working in health tech

or any other data-driven platform for the next three years worldwide.

You could be cashing out, you'd be muzzled.

If we sign, can they really enforce that?

Yes, but we'd be in good legal standing to fight it.

And look, I am more than happy to collect on those billable hours,

but this is not about the money.

Okay? This clause tells me that they want control, not partnership.

They're banking that you won't walk out this late in the game.

-What would you do? -Oh, I'd stall the deal.

Push back.

Look, if they don't want the tech without the golden handcuffs,

someone else will.

I just can't guarantee the payout is gonna be this good.

Okay. Let's push back.

I'll draft a response.

Look, you've made the right decision

and I'll send you an email with an update.

Also, sorry about before.

No problem.

Thank you for stalling back there. Really.

Of course. Anytime.

So when I was at the DA's office,

the interns, they came up with this system of, like, code words.

It kinda helped us be more efficient but also discreet.

I was thinking maybe we could try it.

Like if you need to get off of a phone call

or a client needs distracting. Anything like that.

Okay. Interesting idea.

Something only we know. Like a password or something.

Did Randy put you up to this?

Because he loves passwords and he's been super concerned about my online hygiene.