Page 108 of See How They Hide

“What’s going on Kara?”

“Those bastards dumped Thalia’s body at the hotel and left a note that they have one of our agents. Dean’s with me, Matt’s with Michael and I just talked to them. You and Sloane are safe. So either it’s a false alarm to screw with us, or they took one of Stewart’s people.”

“I’m on it,” Jim said and ended the call.

Matt asked Michael, “What was that?”

“Kara said Thalia’s body was left at the hotel with a note that they have a federal agent. She’s checking with Jim and Sloane.”

Matt relayed the information to Ryder and told him to check on the status of everyone in the field and get back to him.

Michael turned into the hotel parking lot. There were people milling about outside, and two fire trucks were still there.

Suddenly, they were rammed hard from behind, forcing their car into a parked vehicle. The air bags went off and slammed Matt in the face, the powder making him cough and his eyes burn.

But immediately he knew this wasn’t an accident. This was a setup.

His phone had fallen to the floor, and he couldn’t see anything at first. Then he heard gunfire and thought for sure that he and Michael were dead.

Matt reached for his gun at the same time as a hammer came down and smashed his passenger door window. He was grabbed by two sets of rough hands as a van pulled up and he was pushed inside. He heard more gunfire and feared for Michael. He fought back, but his defense was short-lived when they hit him on the back of the head and he fell stunned to the floor of the van. His hands were tied behind him and he felt someone grab his gun from his holster. They were moving fast.

The entire abduction took less than one minute.

40

South Fork, Colorado

“This is bullshit!” Kara exclaimed as she paced the small room.

Riley was sitting quietly in the corner. She had wanted to go to the adjoining room to lie down, but Kara said no. They needed Riley here—Kara didn’t want to spare an agent to sit with her, and Riley might have information they needed to find Matt.

Michael and Dean were sitting at the table; Tony and Catherine were on the other end of a video chat.

Michael looked like shit. He was cut up from the accident and he probably had a concussion. They hadn’t been shooting to kill him, at least Michael said they weren’t, but one of the bullets had grazed his bicep and he had a bandage around his arm. He refused to sit down.

Matt was gone and they had few leads.

The dark green truck that Anton and Ginger had been seen in last night had been used to ram the FBI’s vehicle. It had been left behind and the sheriff’s department was combing through it for evidence. The van that matched the description of the one outside Donovan Smith’s house had pulled alongside the FBI vehicle, but the security cameras weren’t in range of the actual abduction. Based on all the angles they could find, five people had been involved when they thought they were only dealing with three. Another truck sped off after the van, and they suspected that truck was involved as well—and based on the feeds, it had been in the parking lot all morning. Someone had been watching them.

Five people were in South Fork watching, waiting for an opportunity to grab, or kill, Riley.

When the fire alarm didn’t work, did they already know they were going to take an agent? It didn’t matter who. They had divided the team by making the false call of trespassers. Were they just waiting for agents to show up, knowing they would after the body was found?

It could have been any of them. But it was Matt.

“Where are we with the satellite maps?” Kara asked. “All the sketches and pictures? Why can’t we narrow this place down?”

“Ryder is working on it,” Tony assured her. “We are doing everything we can to find Havenwood, but there is no evidence that they took Matt there.”

“Where else would they go? This is a group that has been off the grid for decades. I don’t think they have a bunch of places around the country to hang out.”

Dean said, “I agree with Detective Quinn.”

Kara was surprised. She had taken out her anger on him earlier when she felt stuck. He’d offered to stay with Riley so she could coordinate with Michael, but she said no because she didn’t trust him. That was unfair, she realized now. He was a trained FBI agent and while he was no longer a field agent, he wasn’t completely incompetent. He could protect Riley in a hotel room. But Riley was her responsibility—it was the last order Matt had given her, and if Kara lost her...well, she wasn’t going to.

Dean continued, “While it isn’t logical that they would take a federal agent to their sanctuary, it’s the only place that they feel safe and secure. They may not have thought it through, or they may not realize we have resources to find them. They must know we’ll have people out in full-force looking for our agent, but they are also confident that they are well hidden and won’t be found. Once they determine they aren’t being followed, they will head directly there. It’s home, it’s safety, it’s security.

“Also,” he said, “they said twenty-four hours. Why twenty-four and not twelve? Six? Immediately? This tells me they have a plan. They will want to trade Matt in a place they can control, where they feel they won’t be apprehended. Or, they have a plan to grab Riley within the twenty-four hours because our attention will be divided.”

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