Page 102 of See How They Hide

“I have an idea, but I’m not quite sure how to implement it. I’ll be in your office in ten minutes.”

As she gathered her notes, she called her husband to give him her ETA, and left.

FRIDAY

37

South Fork, Colorado

The storm blew in Thursday night and lasted until six in the morning. By nine, the city and county had cleared the main roads and by ten, the sky was blue and the skiers had left the lodge, making the lobby feel empty.

Kara needed to do something. She was antsy and being cooped up all night and morning had put her in a sour mood. They’d had breakfast in their room, then Sloane went to the gym while Kara stayed with Riley, who was still quiet and withdrawn after seeing Anton yesterday. Once Sloane returned and showered, she told Kara to take a break.

She’d walked the halls, not wanting to spend time in the gym. She was in decent shape, and she enjoyed running (outside, not on a treadmill), but doing reps with weights or watching the news while a machine moved under her wasn’t her idea of fun.

When she reached the lobby, she spotted Dean having coffee in the restaurant. The only other people on the main floor—other than staff—were an elderly couple sitting next to the windows while eating breakfast.

Kara didn’t want to talk to Dean. She was still irritated about yesterday afternoon and had avoided him in the evening. But they had to work together, and because Matt was working closely with multiple FBI offices to track down the five missing people, Dean had spent most of the night working with the local authorities to locate Anton and Ginger. Michael, Sloane, and Kara had rotated shifts to keep an eye on the hotel and Riley.

“Hey,” she said and sat down across from Dean. He still sported a small bandage on his head.

The waitress came over and asked if she’d like anything.

“Just coffee,” she said.

The waitress poured her a cup, refreshed Dean’s, and left.

“I need to apologize to you again for yesterday,” Dean said.

She shrugged. Maybe she shouldn’t have sat down. She didn’t want this conversation.

“Matt had some choice words for me, and he’s right,” Dean said. “I haven’t been in the field for many years, spending far too much time behind a desk. Not that it’s an excuse.”

“I knew your background and should have asked you to flank us. But don’t be surprised if I don’t want you as a partner.”

“I suppose I deserve that.” He turned a sheet around to show her what he was reading. “Ryder has identified the five people currently still alive but missing. He’s sending agents out for a welfare check and to apprise them of the situation. We’re hoping one or more of them can identify the location of Havenwood. However, he’s also reached out to local law enforcement throughout southwest Colorado asking if anyone has familiarity with Havenwood, by name or description.”

“Great idea.”

“He tried before, on a larger scale, had no bites. Now that the lab narrowed down the region, he contacted each of the local agencies personally, including the US Forest Service. But we’re still looking at millions of acres. And there’s no guarantee that the poppies were grown at Havenwood.”

Matt walked into the restaurant, sat and said, “Tess and Greg Miller.”

“The couple with the kid,” Kara said.

Matt nodded. “I thought they’d be the most difficult to find, using the common name Miller, but they were the easiest. They live in Colorado Springs, have a seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son. He works for the county in maintenance and she works from home as a seamstress. The locals did a welfare check, they are alive and well, and I’m sending Sloane and Jim out to interview them. Then they’ll check on Andrew Gardner. There’s nothing more Jim can do here, so if we don’t have another lead, they’re going back to Virginia from Colorado Springs.”

“What about protection for the Millers?” Kara asked.

“I couldn’t get it authorized from our end, but Jim will talk to local law enforcement, and he’s also going to suggest they go on a vacation for a while. They have two little kids—I don’t think it’ll be difficult to convince them to leave.”

“What about the other three?” Dean asked.

“We have full names and their socials, but that’s it. We don’t know where they are.” Matt looked at his phone. “Bridget O’Malley, twenty-nine; Cal Carpenter, twenty-four; Amber Nelson, thirty-two.” He looked from Dean to Kara. “We’re writing a memo for law enforcement nationwide that a threat has been made on their lives and the FBI needs to speak with them. That’s all we can do right now.”

“I was telling Kara about the threads Ryder’s pulling.”

“There’s more,” Matt said. “Catherine suggested they scan all of Riley’s drawings and our IT experts are running a program to identify the plants, flowers, and animals. We may be able to pinpoint a tighter area to explore. Riley is working on the town map. When we get that, we’re going to run it against satellite images. It’ll take time, but I’m a lot more confident we’ll find them sooner rather than later.”

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