Page 26 of So Dark

“Let me see.”

She clicked on the link that said memberships. It led to a page with the following simple message:memberships by referral only. For questions, call Lisa Blackwood.

The message was followed by a phone number, presumably Lisa Blackwood’s, and business hours. The business hours looked more like suggestions. Nine-thirty to five-thirty “most days.”

“Quite the exclusive little club,” Michael said.

“So it seems,” Faith replied. “But I say we give it a shot.”

“Works for me.” He yawned. “I’m going to turn in now. I’m beat. Get her address and whatever else you think we need to know. We’ll visit her in the morning and see what we can learn about these Guardians.”

“Sounds good. Get some sleep, Papa Bear.”

“Eww.”

“What?”

“Don’t call me that. Papa Bear? Where the…” he sighed. “Just… eww.”

She chuckled and said, “All right. Get some sleep, dumbass.”

“I’ll take that over Papa Bear any day.”

Faith wasn’t tired yet, but she stopped drinking her coffee. She looked through the Nature’s Guardians website and tried to get a sense of the people in the photos. They all looked… intense. They smiled, but there was an edge to their smiles. Their eyes looked both haunted and passionate. It was an odd mix of personality traits, but it somehow made sense. They made a hobby out of putting themselves in situations that would kill other people.

But maybe for one person in that group, that was no longer enough. Perhaps that rush had become dull, and they had to up the ante by taking the lives of their fellow survivalists.

Faith looked at those intense smiles and wondered if one of them had crossed the line from survivor to killer.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lisa Blackwood lived in Eureka Roadhouse, an equally tiny community a few miles west of Nelchina. Her property consisted of a small cabin with a wire fence that contained a vegetable garden, a chicken coop, a stand of berry bushes and a couple of odd structures that Faith didn’t recognize. On one side of the house, animal skins were stretched out to cure. Lisa clearly took her survivalism very seriously.

She answered the door wearing more animal skins, including shoes that appeared to be made from hand-stitched leather. She was a rather petite woman of around forty with curly, mouse-brown hair and honey-colored eyes. She looked at the agents and went white as a sheet. Interesting.

“You need a warrant to search my property,” she said tersely.

Faith raised an eyebrow. “Is there a reason we should search your property?”

“I don’t answer questions,” she said just as tersely.

She started to close the door, but Michael stopped it. “Let me tell you why we’re here before you decide to kick us off of your porch. I’m Special Agent Michael Prince and this is my partner, Special Agent Faith Bold with her K9 unit, Turk. We’re here because two members of your survivalist club were murdered, and we’d like to determine if you have any information that can help us solve this case.”

She blinked. “Murdered? What…” A look flashed across her face that looked suspiciously like relief to Faith. “Oh. Well… I guess I should talk to you then.”

She opened the door and ushered them inside. The heavy smell of incense washed over Faith. She coughed a little and looked at Turk. He shook his head irritably and sneezed.

“Yeah, that stuff’s pretty strong,” Lisa said apologetically. “But it’s good for the soul. Really cleansing. This one’s, uh… poppy, I think?”

Faith had smelled poppies before, and this was nothing like that. She wasn’t here to talk to Lisa about her choice of potpourri, though. “Two of your members were murdered recently. Valerie North and Ethan Holloway.”

Lisa sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that. They were good people.”

She didn’t seem too broken up over the news. “If you’ll forgive me,” Faith said, “you don’t seem very upset.”

"Of course I'm upset. I just… I'm a little shocked, is all.”

Faith’s eyes narrowed. “Can you confirm your whereabouts three nights ago?”

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