Page 98 of See How They Hide

“What’s around the cabin?” Kara asked. “An unusual boulder, a creek, a path, anything that’s distinctly different.”

On another page Riley started drawing what at first Kara thought was a mountain, but then realized was a boulder outcropping over which water flowed. “A waterfall?” Kara asked.

“Yes. I don’t know what it looks like, but I can hear it from the cabin. I think it’s the waterfall that gives our valley fresh water.”

“North of Havenwood.”

“Yeah. But I don’t know how far it is.”

“How long did it take you to get from the center of Havenwood to the cabin?”

Riley thought. “At least ninety minutes. It’s really hard to get up to from the valley, because there’s not an easy trail, and impossible in winter.”

A waterfall and cabin north of Havenwood. She spoke of a valley multiple times. They had to be able to find it. What about hikers, people who lived in the general area? County officials? Someone had to know of a group of more than a hundred people living off the grid in a southwest Colorado valley.

“Do you remember anything after you left the cabin with Thalia?”

“Not much. It was dark.”

“Did you hike on a trail? Walk on a road? Did Thalia drive a vehicle?”

Riley frowned, closed her eyes. “It took longer to walk to her truck than it did to get from Havenwood to the cabin. We were mostly on a trail, but there was a narrow packed road with some ruts in it for part of the way. Thalia said it was called a fire road. I didn’t know what that meant then, now I do.”

Riley jumped when there was a knock on the door. Kara told her to stay and went to the door, hand on her gun. She looked out the peephole. It was Matt. She wanted to talk to him without Riley, so she said, “Stay here, okay? It’s just Matt, but I need to talk to him.”

Riley said, “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

Even if she did, she wouldn’t get far because the door of the adjoining room let out on this hall.

She stepped out, closed the door. “News?”

“Partial plate, partial view of the female driver, good security shot of Anton. We’ve put an APB out on him as a person of interest, but we don’t have any actual evidence against him. Good call on the glass—it’s already on its way to the county lab to be processed.”

“I emailed pictures of Riley’s drawings to the team. Maybe Catherine has some insight, or Ryder can work on narrowing the region.”

“Good.”

“Riley ID’d the sketch of the woman who bribed the florist. Her name is Ginger. She is part of Calliope’s inner circle.”

“You told her about Andrew?”

“She needed to know.”

“Okay.” Matt shot a glance at the door. “We need to ask her some tough questions. Dean is pussyfooting around with her, but do you think she can handle it?”

“Yes,” Kara said without hesitation. “I’ve gotten a lot out of her. She’s scared, and I don’t know if she’ll freeze again when faced with someone from Havenwood, but right now she’s willing and able to talk.”

“That’s good,” Matt said.

They walked back into the room and Riley was sitting and sketching. Matt saw the drawing of them and picked it up. “Wow.”

“Dean saw it. Didn’t comment, but you know,” Kara said, feeling self-conscious.

He looked at her and there was a shift in his expression, for a moment it was just them, remembering the last time they’d been together, without work, without stress.

Then Matt smiled, and Kara felt it was all going to be okay. Their relationship, even if Dean knew about it, was solid. He carefully placed the sketch back on the table, lightly brushed Kara’s hand with his fingers, and turned to Riley.

“Your names are very helpful,” Matt said. “I want to get all of them under protection. Would there be any problem with my agents dropping your name when we find them?”

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