Page 115 of See How They Hide

“That’s really good. Lock them up, throw away the key.”When we find them, she thought.

“And one more thing. During her last weeks of life, she breathed in wood smoke regularly, possibly from a potbellied stove like we saw in Morrison’s house. The wood was infected by a fungus, specifically a type of mushroom, and we were able to narrow it down. It wouldn’t be dangerous to healthy people, but because she breathed it in through the woodsmoke over a long period of time—weeks—and she was weak from being restrained, she became sick and developed a blood infection. It would have killed her without immediate treatment. But we know exactly where this fungus has been found. It’s a very specific region of southwest Colorado. Quantico is already running it with the satellite search. We’ll find him, Kara. I promise you, we’ll find Matt.”

Michael planned to relieve Kara at 2:00 a.m. so she could sleep for a couple of hours, but she doubted she would. She was looking at the picture Riley had drawn of her and Matt and wondering how she had found herself in this situation. How she had grown so close to someone that the idea of losing him made her near paralyzed with fear.

Part of it was because she was stuck. She couldn’tdoanything right now. She couldn’t go out and ask questions, look for clues, knock on doors. Inaction was not in her DNA. She did much better when she had something to do, people to interrogate. Sitting on her ass made her think of what-ifs and would haves.

Plus, she’d received a voice mail from her Realtor. The seller had accepted her offer. She had a house.

But that house meant nothing if Matt wasn’t around. She realized that, while she loved what she did on the Mobile Response Team, she didn’t know if she would continue if someone else was in charge.

Matt was the heart of the MRT.

Riley came out of the bedroom. She sat next to Kara on the couch. Kara put the sketch down.

“I’m so sorry about everything,” Riley said.

“What is your fault? Your mother? Her minions? Their decisions?” She was snippy, but lack of sleep did that to her.

“I knew my mother was capable of cruelty. I didn’t think she would target anyone outside Havenwood. She’s changed. I thought she would never bring a stranger to Havenwood. It is so out of her character. She’s desperate. She knows I’m alive and she wants me back.”

Kara let out a long breath. “She’s not getting away with this. No one can kidnap an FBI agent and walk away.”

“My mother believes she’s invincible. That she can do anything she wants because she has some sort of...mandate from the people of Havenwood. She thinks of herself as a goddess, a benefactor. She is beautiful—I mean, objectively beautiful. She can be cruel, but justifies everything she does and you end up siding with her because it makes sense when she talks. It’s only later that you think, wait, it doesn’t make sense, it’s mean, it’s cruel.”

Riley paused, then she looked directly at Kara. “I will trade myself for Matt.”

“No one will let you do that.”

“It’s the only way to get him back.”

“Matt is resourceful and smart. So is our entire team.”

“She’s sneaky. She’s not going to give him up. She has a plan and it’s probably twisted.” Riley bit her lip.

“What?”

“When I was twelve, after my grandmother died, after Thalia and Robert left, my mother cracked down on people. She started rationing food as punishment. I created a stash of food because no one should be hungry, especially as a punishment. But I was reckless. I told people about it. Not everyone, but when someone got in trouble, I made sure they knew where to go. A few years later my mother found out. She set a trap—she had a pit dug, so the next person who went for food would fall. It was Donovan’s brother. He fell ten feet, but that didn’t kill him. She let him starve to death in the pit. When we heard his cries at night, we didn’t know they were human cries.” Riley was crying now. “No one knew what happened to James. And then...my mother told me. That bad boys and girls will be punished.”

“That’s sadistic,” Kara said.

“It’s important. It’s why Donovan hated me and blamed me for so much that happened at Havenwood. Because I never told my mother that it was me, that I was hiding food. She knew, or I think she did, but I never stood up to her. She had a plan and it worked perfectly. She used me and an innocent boy to show she was in charge. Her plan was sick and twisted, but it worked. And then...”

“What?” Kara pushed.

“The night I took Donovan and Andrew to Thalia, she blamed another resident. She had Brian dragged into the pit. A prison. I never saw him again. It was me, and I remained silent, and Brian is dead.”

“That is on your mother and her people, not on you.”

“It’s on me,” Riley said. “I let Brian die. I could have stood up and said, ‘No, Mother, it’s me!’ But I didn’t. I remained silent. She has a plan for Matt. I don’t know what it is, but if she brought him to Havenwood, she will never let him leave.”

A knock on the door had Kara reaching for her gun. “Stay,” she commanded Riley.

Kara looked through the peephole. She was shocked to see Ryder Kim standing there.

She opened the door and hugged him. “Ryder.” She didn’t want to let him go, and when he hugged her back, she almost cried.

Movement behind him had her reaching for her gun again, then she saw Catherine. She blinked. Nothing could have surprised her more.

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