THE AFTERLINE BUREAU

A missing child.
A hidden forest trail.
A network built in the dark-where the youngest never walk out the same.

When four children are found wandering out of a remote forest, bruised, terrified, and unable to explain how they got there, the Afterline Bureau is called in to uncover the truth. Carter, Greene, Bria, Naomi, Zariah, Omar, Tessa, and the rest of the team arrive expecting a search-and-rescue.

They discover a nightmare instead.

Deep inside the woods lies a relay network known only as The Hollow Path-a chain of hidden shelters, carved symbols, and ritualized movements used to move abducted children from one "Hand" to the next. But when the Bureau begins their investigation, they realize the Path hasn't just taken children...

It's been built around one.

Maya Kent-fragile, silent, and barely alive-is identified as the "First Root," a child marked years before her disappearance. And the man at the center of it all-the calm and calculating Elias Hartman-will do anything to reclaim her.

When Hartman's people attack, when the relay collapses, and when rain and darkness close in around the med tents, the Bureau is forced into a relentless fight to save Maya and the others before the final piece of the Path is activated.

Hartman thinks they can't stop him.
Hartman thinks the Path can't be broken.
Hartman is wrong.

Because the Afterline Bureau doesn't abandon children-ever.

Book Ten closes the most haunting case the Bureau has ever faced.
The Path ends here... but the team is far from finished.

Perfect for fans of gritty investigative thrillers, found-family detective teams, missing-child mysteries, and dark rural suspense.