Page 117 of See How They Hide

Tony’s voice came over the computer. “I just read the report from our cyber unit and am looking at a satellite map of Havenwood now. Damn. It’s really deep in there.”

“Yes, sir,” Ryder said, “but I’ve reached out to the forest ranger station in the area and the lead ranger knows the place. He goes out and checks on them once, twice a year. Has never had a problem, usually just gives advice for cutting back trees near the cabins, or tells them if there are physical dangers like the road closing. He’s currently checking on road status and will meet up with us when we get there.”

“Excellent,” Tony said. “Dean, what’s your plan?”

“Havenwood is going to reach out to us this morning. I want to be as close to their location as possible when they do that,” Dean said. “My guess is they won’t have Matt with them. They’ll expect a trap and use him as leverage. They’ll want to see Riley. If they don’t, or if they think we’re playing games, I can’t honestly tell you what they will do.”

“Why would they kill him?” Catherine asked. “They must know if they kill a federal agent they will lose their home. According to Riley, everything they did was to protect Havenwood.”

“Then why take him in the first place?” Dean said. “It makes no sense, based on Calliope’s psychology and what Riley remembers, that she would bring not only a stranger, but a man in authority into her camp.”

“She didn’t,” Riley said without opening her eyes. “If he’s there, she didn’t know they were bringing him.”

Catherine looked like she didn’t believe her, but Kara wanted her to keep talking.

Riley sat up, rubbed her eyes.

“Who would defy her?” Catherine said.

“I don’t know. Anton, maybe. I don’t know who else she sent. They want me, they know I’m alive, and maybe that twisted my mother up into doing something reckless, but she wouldn’t bring Matt to Havenwood.”

“Maybe he’s not there,” Kara said. “Could they have taken him to another place?”

No one said anything.

“Until they call, we won’t know,” Dean said. “But,” he continued slowly, collecting his thoughts, “I think he’s there. I have rewatched every interview we had with Riley, read the transcripts, looked at the satellite images, and I don’t think they have any other place to go. There’s a better than even chance that he’s there. We’ll ask for proof of life when they call.”

“How will they reach out?” Michael said. “Havenwood is remote, they couldn’t have cell reception.”

Riley said, “I drew you the map. They have an office. It used to be open to everyone, but my mother stopped that after Athena died. There is a computer and she has a cell phone with a hotspot. It’s slow, but it works.”

Everyone turned to her simultaneously. She rubbed her eyes. “It’s marked ‘the Office’ on my map. It’s the building closest to the road, but sort of on a little hill. It’s the only place someone can get and receive calls. Cell phones don’t work anywhere else in the valley. We kept them charged in the Office to use at fairs.”

“So,” Michael said, “they can keep Matt in Havenwood and someone will be able to communicate with Calliope and the others.”

Dean said, “If they believe we’ll make the trade, they plan to take Riley, then call in and have Matt taken from Havenwood and left somewhere remote. The hitch in my plan is that they could already have taken him elsewhere.”

“They’re going to kill him,” Riley said, voicing Kara’s greatest fear.

“We don’t know that,” Catherine said.

“Yes, I do know that,” Riley said firmly. “You weren’t there when Todd and Sheila came to Havenwood. I was little, but I saw what that did to my mother, to the others. Their actions shocked everyone, reinforced their fear of the Outside. Created an underlying hatred of strangers, born of that fear. I still miss the serenity of Havenwood and I know the darkness that lives beneath. No one leaves. They killed people who tried to leave. And now they’re hunting down those of us who escaped. You have to go in before they call. You have to find him and save him.”

“The problem, Riley,” Dean said with kindness, “is that a show of force will put innocent people in jeopardy. There are children in Havenwood.”

“I will not have another Ruby Ridge or Waco, not on my watch,” Tony said firmly. “Some of the smartest people I know are in that hotel room—start thinking.”

No one spoke for a minute, then Ryder said, “Can we assume they don’t know that we found Havenwood?”

Dean said, “They’ve felt safe for a long time, but they know we have Riley, and they know that we talked to Andrew.”

“They’ve been in South Fork for days,” Kara said. “They poisoned Andrew and know that he was unconscious. They might think he’s dead or in a coma. And since that attack, they haven’t seen us near Havenwood, which would reason that he didn’t tell us how to get there. So, Ryder, if we do assume that, what are you thinking?”

“Go in quietly and get Matt.”

“I like that idea,” Kara said immediately.

“What about the people suspected of murder?” Catherine said. “We can’t walk away and let the status quo remain.”

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