Page 109 of See How They Hide

“Where does that leave Matt?” Kara asked. “And why didn’t they tell ushowthey were going to communicate the demands? They don’t have his phone, that was found in the car.”

“They know you are in South Fork. They’ll likely communicate through the hotel, or the sheriff, or call Denver FBI,” Tony said. “We will be ready to trace any call.”

“They won’t contact us from Havenwood,” Michael said. “Even though they’ve been off the grid for years, several of them come and go and they’ll have some idea that we’d be able to trace any call they make. They also can’t think that we’d trade a civilian even for an FBI agent. I don’t see their plan.”

Michael was their tactical expert. He was always a rock in every situation. Kara had never seen him this stressed. He’d disabled a bomb she held, he’d rescued her from a sinking ship, but right now he seemed lost. Because he had been with Matt during the abduction? She couldn’t lose Michael’s strength. She needed it more than ever.

Dean said, “There are several points we need to consider. First, our disadvantage—that until recently this cult was unknown to us—is diminishing because we have Riley who has helped us understand their mentality and provided information on how to find them. We will locate them, and I don’t think they have the capacity to understand how quickly we can do so. To our advantage is that they have been off the grid for decades. They may not have a detailed plan. I concur with Kara’s original theory that they expected to grab Riley during the fire alarm. Yet, they acted quickly enough to kidnap an agent they knew was returning from the Morrison property because they’d made that call. We also now believe they were staking out the building for the last two days.”

Kara saw Riley shiver. She wasn’t in the mood to console anyone right now. Riley was alive; she would stay alive.

Catherine spoke up for the first time. “They may think that law enforcement will trade for one of their own, and they showed the lengths they are willing to go through the murder of now six people.”

Dean nodded. “They’ll be prepared for a trap, so whatever they tell us when they call, it won’t be what they actually plan to do.”

Catherine said, “I concur. No negotiating without proof of life.”

Kara’s stomach twisted into a knot. How could Catherine be so calm? She was Matt’sfriend. His longest friend in the FBI.

Maybe you’re the one who needs to get a grip.

She had to focus. Matt as colleague, not lover. Matt as cop, not the man she loved.

She walked over to the table and stood behind Michael, put her hand on his shoulder. He was tense, and she should have been less angry and more focused during the meeting. Recognizing that, recognizing her own weakness, made her stronger.

“Okay,” Kara said, forcing herself to be calm. “What’s the plan while we wait for contact? How far along is Ryder and the cyber team in finding Havenwood? If we believe that Matt is there, then we need a plan to retrieve him.”

“Ryder is confident he’ll find it,” Tony said. “It’s the timing that is problematic. They’re running the program through multiple systems and they’re optimistic it’ll be only a few hours. Once we locate Havenwood, Michael and the Denver SWAT leader will coordinate a tactical plan. Kara, I read your report about the potential number of children on-site. The safety of the children is our number one priority. We want to find and extract Matt and then arrest those responsible with minimal casualties. This will come down to a negotiation. Therefore, I’m putting ranking agent Dean Montero in temporary command of the MRT. Dean is a trained hostage negotiator and cult expert. Is everyone clear on that?”

“Yes, sir,” Michael said. Kara didn’t say anything.

“As soon as we locate Havenwood, I’ll call in.” Tony was about to sign off when he said, “Ryder has something.”

Ryder popped onto the screen. He was in the FBI lab at Quantico.

He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Circles under his eyes, his face unusually pale, and something Kara had never seen before: Ryder was unshaven. He hadn’t shaved in at least two days.

“Hey,” she said as if no one else was in the room or on the screen. “We’re going to find him, Ryder.”

He nodded, somber. “The cybercrime unit and I have broken through the security of the message board that Jesse Morrison ran. We’ve located the last two individuals Riley Pierce identified—Cal is going by Cal Stone, a different name than what his false identity is under. He’s working on a ranch in West Texas. Amber died of a drug overdose last year. We have agents investigating her death, and interviewing Mr. Stone.”

Kara shot a glance at Riley, who was sitting on the opposite side of the room. She looked almost catatonic.

“Partially good news,” Dean said. “We can get Cal Stone into protective custody.”

“We also identified an unknown female who goes by Abby,” Ryder said. “She posted on the message board that she was struggling. Thalia had rescued her eighteen months ago, but we haven’t found information as to where she landed. We’ve contacted the hospital and SSA to find a female called Abby or Abigail who falls under the same parameters we identified in how Morrison hacked the system, but won’t have an answer until tomorrow or Monday. Abby reached out to Morrison several times at the beginning and he gave her advice. Then nothing until February. She said she needed help. He said he’d reach out privately. I don’t know how he did that, but it was on March 2nd, more than four weeks ago.”

Catherine said, “Which is in the window of TOD Jim established for Morrison. He could have called or texted her. Denver has his phone records and will confirm either way.”

Ryder said, “We also noted an IP address that accessed the message board twice a week which doesn’t match Morrison’s. It’s a private IP, and it’ll take time to track, but I believe that was Thalia checking the board. She has done so regularly for years, since it was first set up. The last time she checked was March 4th.”

Kara ran through everything they knew. It was April 4; Merrifield, Crossman, and Benson were killed nearly two weeks ago; Jim had figured that Morrison was killed two weeks before them, give or take a few days.

Michael said, “Morrison gave Abby his address and then she killed him? Tortured and killed him? Why?”

A faint voice behind them said, “She went back.”

Everyone turned to her.

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