Page 33 of So Dark

Robert hesitated a moment longer, but his fear for Lisa’s life was greater than his fear of any legal repercussions that mightcome about as a result of his wife’s habit. “All right. It’s in the basement.”

Wyatt and the agents followed Robert down a narrow staircase. When he opened the door to the basement, the pungent smell assailed Faith’s nostrils.

The small basement was filled with pot plants growing under powerful spotlights. Faith didn’t know much about the drug, so she didn’t know how much this setup might be making for Lisa, but it had to be making some money. The lights and irrigation equipment couldn’t be cheap to operate.

As Michael had said, though, they weren’t here for the marijuana.

“If there’s anything for her, it’s going to be here,” Robert said, heading toward a desk sitting on the far wall of the room. “We keep most of the mail in a drawer in the kitchen, but I already checked there, and I didn’t see any notes or anything. Nothing in the bedroom or the garage either.” He opened the drawer and cried out. “Oh God!”

“What?” Faith asked. “What is it?”

“Her phone.” His shoulders began to shake. “Her god damned phone.”

“Can you unlock it?” Faith asked,

“Um… yeah. I know her password.”

He unlocked the satellite phone with trembling fingers and placed it in Faith’s outstretched hand.

“Is it normal for her to leave her phone behind?” Wyatt asked.

Robert shook his head. “That’s my one hard and fast rule. I need to be able to contact her at all times. That’s why I got her the satellite phone.”

Faith opened the messaging app and found a series of texts from an unknown number. The texts consisted of pictures of the grow house in which they were standing, followed by threats tosend these images to the authorities if Lisa didn't give the sender one hundred thousand dollars. The final texts were a list of instructions that told Lisa how to get to the meeting spot.

“Do you have a safe on the property?” she asked Robert.

He frowned. “Yeah. Why? Did she… she didn’t take the money, did she?”

“It appears that someone was blackmailing her. Do you recognize this number?”

Robert took the phone. He released a choked sob when he saw the texts. “Oh, Lisa. Oh no.”

“Robert, I need you to focus. Do you recognize that number?”

He sniffled. “No. The area code is Alaska, but I don’t recognize the number.”

“Where in Alaska?”

“Huh?”

“The area code is for which part of Alaska? Anchorage?”

Robert’s face fell. “Alaska has the same area code for the entire state. There’s a town in the southeast that borrows area codes from the Yukon Province, but almost the whole state uses nine-oh-seven.”

Faith sighed. “All right. Where is your safe?”

“It’s in the root cellar. Do you want me to check?”

"Yes. If the money was still there, Lisa could have left for another reason. If it's missing, then we know she's going to meet this caller."

“How would she know where to go without the instructions?"

Faith could understand Robert’s hesitation. If he could find a reason why Lisa hadn’t met this mysterious caller, he could cling to the hope that she hadn’t been lured to her death. Faith didn’t have the luxury of that hope, nor did she have the luxury of gentleness.

“She’s an experienced survivalist. It’s possible she memorized the instructions.”

Robert sighed and pressed his palms to his temples. “Okay. All right, um… the root cellar’s outside. Follow me.”

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