Page 107 of See How They Hide

Kara turned to the security chief. “Who’s with the body?”

“My two men.”

“Stay here with Riley. Don’t let her out of your sight,” Kara said to the security chief. Turning to Riley, who looked shell-shocked, she added, “Hey, it’s going to be okay. Just hang here, stick with Mr. Young, okay? Matt and Michael are on their way back.”

Riley nodded, but Kara didn’t think that she heard her. She was staring out the window.

Kara followed her gaze. She couldn’t see the body from here, but Young’s two security guys were standing on the far edge of the deck.

She said to Young, “No one goes in or out of this lobby until the sheriff gets here, understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Kara and Dean went out the double doors to the deck. There were two sets of footprints leading from the door to the edge of the deck, as far from the hotel as you could get while still staying on the platform. There, at the top of stairs that went down into the field, was a body. Kara didn’t need to approach the body to know that someone from Havenwood had dumped her here—poppies littered the scene like large drops of blood. They had been scattered not only on the body, but down the stairs, as if marking a trail.

Dean asked the men, “Who found her?”

“I did,” the tall, younger guy said. “I thought it was an animal, and then...” He gulped. “I haven’t left since. I called my partner, he informed Chief Young, then came out here to stand with me.”

Kara stared at the dead woman. She wore jeans and a flannel shirt, well-worn black sneakers. No jacket. Her dark red hair was damp and matted, from snow and blood. Her throat had been slit like the others, but there were bruises both old and new on her face; her wrist appeared to be broken. The blood was dry; she hadn’t been killed here.

Kara knew exactly who she was. She recognized her from Riley’s sketches and the photo in Jesse Morrison’s bedroom.

“It’s Thalia,” she told Dean.

She was about to go back inside to call Matt when Dean said, “There’s a note.”

She looked again at the body. Dean was correct; a white envelope stuck out of the breast pocket, partly covered by Thalia’s long hair.

Kara shouldn’t disturb the crime scene, but when she saw that FBI had been written in bold letters, she said fuck it, took a picture with her phone, pulled on gloves she had in her back pocket, and yanked the paper out. Dean didn’t say a word.

The envelope wasn’t sealed. She opened it.

We will exchange your agent for Riley in 24 hours. Wait for our instructions.

Kara ran into the lodge, pulling her phone out to call Matt. Who had they grabbed? Sloane? Jim?

“Kara,” Dean called out, following her.

Matt didn’t answer. She called Michael.

On the fourth ring, he answered. “Michael, the body at the lodge is Thalia. There’s a note that they have an agent. Is everyone accounted for? Matt’s not answering his phone.”

“He’s here in the car with me talking to Ryder. We’re five minutes from the hotel.”

“I’m calling Jim and Sloane. We’ll be in the lobby waiting for you.” She ended the call and started toward the doors. She called Jim. He answered almost immediately.

“Yep?”

“You safe?”

“Yes, Sloane and I just pulled up in front of the Miller house. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. They’re playing fucking games with us right now. But I have a bad feeling. Be careful. Where’s Agent Stewart, from Denver?”

“I don’t know.”

“Find him, tell him to do a head count of all his agents who were working on the Morrison place.”

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