Page 121 of See How They Hide

Anton pushed him into the seat when Calliope scowled.

“It’s going to be a long day. I suggest you eat, because this is the only food you’re going to get.”

He ate. He needed to be prepared for whenever his team acted—and he was certain they had a plan. He wished he had some idea what they were going to do, but he didn’t have the information they had. Had they found Havenwood? Were they coming here? Or were they going to wait for the exchange and try to mitigate casualties?

“Marcus, is Riley’s room ready for her?”

“Yes, just the way she likes it. Aired out and clean, and I put fresh flowers from the greenhouse.”

“Thank you, darling.” Calliope beamed. “You can thank Marcus for the meal, Mathias. He’s an amazing cook. The ham is from our own stock, the eggs from our chickens, the bread made at our bakery—don’t look so surprised, we have one house dedicated to baking. Everything we serve is fresh. Even in the winter when we’re snowed in for months, we have fresh vegetables, meat, water. Havenwood is paradise.”

Matt glanced at Marcus. He was missing his pinky finger. Just like the woman Matt saw last night.

Coincidence? Maybe. But it was creepy.

He was still trying to gauge the relationships and what was really going on here—because this was a woman who ordered the murder of several people. He would find it hard to believe that Anton and the others were killing without her knowledge.

“So, Calliope,” he said conversationally, “what happens when the FBI refuses to cooperate?”

“It won’t matter. Riley will return of her own free will.”

“Riley knows that you had her best friend killed.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You know Jane is dead.”

When Matt said it, he saw Evan flinch. Interesting. Evan... Timmy’s uncle. Timmy was the boy who was mauled by a mountain lion, and Jane’s boyfriend. The boy in the picture in her box.

He wondered if Evan was angry or guilty about Jane’s murder. He looked like he was struggling.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Calliope said. “Jane was a sweet girl, and the world outside Havenwood is a violent place.”

“And she knows you had Robert, one of her fathers, killed.”

“Robert has been dead for eleven years,” she said with an undercurrent of venom. “At least to me.”

Her jaw had tightened and she was getting angry. Because the FBI had figured out the connection? Because she was just now realizing she wasn’t going to get away with murder? He didn’t know.

“If you think—” Matt began, and Calliope cut him off.

“Anton, get him out of here. Back to prison.”

Matt was pulled roughly to his feet.

“Don’t kill him, not yet,” Calliope said. “But make sure he can’t get out.”

45

Outside Havenwood

Catherine wasn’t completely comfortable with the plan Dean settled on, and she suspected that Kara had intervened and convinced him to do something more risky than necessary. Yet... Catherine was as worried about Matt as Kara was, and while she didn’t like the cop, she had grown to respect her instincts. Catherine didn’t think Dean could be swayed to go against his best judgment and experience, so maybe this was the best option.

Catherine, Ryder and Riley were in a ranger’s cabin three miles off the highway. The cabin was accessed from the same road that eventually led to Havenwood, but that was five miles down an unmaintained road.

Ryder was monitoring communications, while Catherine was protecting Riley. She might be a psychiatrist, but she was also a trained FBI agent, something she thought Kara often forgot.

The day was cold though the sky was clear. While the ranger station was three miles as the crow flies from the valley of Havenwood, it was a more than five-mile trek down. The first half of the road was maintained by the Forest Service: it was paved though not generally plowed. The ranger had gone down to ensure there were no obstacles and reported that the road had been used recently, but not today.

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