Page 130 of See How They Hide

That he didn’t know bothered him.

Matt heard a rattling of the lock. He braced himself, then he heard a familiar voice.

“Matt, you here?”

“Michael?”

His friend and colleague came down the stairs.

“I knew you’d find me,” Matt said.

“It was a team effort. Are you injured?”

“I can walk,” Matt said, “but I’m chained. I don’t know where the key is.”

“I don’t need a key. Just a better light.”

Michael turned on his flashlight, held it between his teeth, and worked on picking Matt’s locks.

“What’s happening out there?”

“Catherine is negotiating with four of Calliope’s people on the road who were sent, we believe, to find Riley. Calliope refused to give proof of life, and then Riley ran away through a window.”

“Did you find her?”

“She’s here somewhere. Kara is tracking her. Dean and Sloane are in position behind the barn. It’ll take SWAT nearly thirty minutes to get down the road. But Tony doesn’t want SWAT action unless there’s no other option. Too many children.”

“Good call. Catherine hates it when I say this, but Calliope has a screw loose. I’m worried about these people. They looked both content and scared, as if they are content living in fear. It’s weird.”

“Hold on.” Michael stopped working for a moment, was listening. “Dammit. Catherine said Anton, Ginger, and two others committed suicide rather than be taken into custody.”

“Get me out of these,” Matt said, fearing for the lives of everyone in Havenwood.

Suddenly, the chains fell to the floor. Michael handed Matt his backup piece and spoke into his comm. “Agent Costa is okay. He’s with me.” Michael looked at him pointedly. “You look like shit.”

“I’m sore and need a hot shower, but I’m okay. I have your back.”

Kara saw Riley exit a cabin on the edge of the community. By the looks of it, it had been her grandmother’s—she could tell by the tree in the front, the way the trunk twisted, just like in Riley’s drawings.

“Riley,” Kara said quietly.

She turned, eyes wide. “Go.”

“We have a plan and you’re blowing it.”

“You don’t understand. My mother will hurt people.”

“We have Anton, Ginger, and two others in custody,” Kara said. She didn’t tell her that they all tried to kill themselves. Kara didn’t know if they were dead or alive, but sensed that if Riley knew they might die, she would be even more furious.

Riley shook her head and started walking toward a barn on the opposite side of a cleared-out area with a giant redwood in the center of the small community. Kara needed to get Riley away from the situation.

“Your grandmother wouldn’t want this,” Kara said.

Riley stopped, whirled around. “My grandmother created heaven and my mother created hell. I will stop it today.”

That’s when Kara saw Michael and Matt coming from the food storage. She was so relieved, so happy, that she smiled like a loon. “Riley,” she said. “Look.”

Riley watched Matt and Michael approach them. She stared at Matt. “You’re not dead. I thought for sure she had killed you.”

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