Page 90 of See How They Hide

The next person was Cal, a teenager. “Cal, Jane, and I were all about the same age,” Riley said. “His mother brought him to Havenwood and then she disappeared. She was very odd, moody, prone to lashing out at people. I don’t know what happened to her, but I think she wandered away and got lost.

“Anyway, he was raised by my grandmother since he was eight, and when she died he sort of...well... I guess just took care of himself. He was defiant and challenged my mother and Anton especially, and he got in trouble a lot. He wanted to leave, made it known to everyone. He was an agitator and Calliope started drugging him. I mean, I don’t know for certain, but he became lethargic and unmotivated. Maybe she was poisoning him.

“I got him out as soon as I could. That’s when Jane learned that I was helping Thalia. She told me she wanted to leave too, but only if I went with her.” Riley paused. “After Cal left, Jane’s boyfriend, Timmy, was attacked by a mountain lion and died. It was awful.”

The last person was a lone female, in her late twenties, named Amber. She had sad eyes and frizzy hair. She left the year after Cal, the year before Jane and Riley.

“Amber had been born in Havenwood when it was good. She watched our world fall apart and then her partner was killed in an accident and she didn’t think it was an accident. I worried my mother would hurt her too, especially after she started asking about people who disappeared. A rumor went out that Thalia was helping people get out, and my mother put an end to people talking. No one was allowed to mention her name. But I’m positive she knew Thalia was responsible. Maybe not at first, but she must have figured it out after a few years. If Amber kept asking questions and pushing her, other people might also have started questioning her, and my mother couldn’t have that.”

“This is great information,” Matt said. “I think we can find these people.”

“They’re not going to be in trouble for what we did, right? I would feel awful if they got in trouble,” Riley said.

“As long as they aren’t currently committing crimes, we don’t plan to prosecute them. We’ll want to talk to them, that’s it. Plus, we’ll offer protection. Okay?” Matt asked.

She nodded. “Okay.”

Matt tore the sheet from the sketch pad and handed the pad back to Riley. “I’m going to scan this and get our people looking. Excuse me.”

He left and went back upstairs. This was the first time he felt they were finally making progress.

One of these five missing people might know exactly how to get to Havenwood.

32

South Fork, Colorado

Kara wasn’t surprised that as soon as Matt left, Riley went back to sketching. It was her crutch, her way of coping, and that was a positive. If Riley had this outlet, it would help her overcome the pain and grief of not only her childhood, but losing her friends.

Dean finished his burger and Kara was picking at her fries. They were good, but she wasn’t all that hungry. She kept running every fact she knew around and around in her mind, twisting them to see how they all fit. She felt it was important to knowwhynow.How had Calliope found the escapees? Had she been looking for them for years, or only recently? Had they caught Thalia and tortured her for information? From what Riley said, Kara didn’t think her aunt would give up people she had saved. Yet pain was a powerful motivator.

Or, maybe, someone else gave them up. Someone Thalia had helped. Maybe Calliope set a trap. Lured Thalia in with a person who had a good reason to leave, and that person learned about the others. It was plausible.

Dean pushed his finished plate away and said to Riley, “You’ve barely eaten.”

She shrugged, didn’t look up from her drawing, her hand moving back and forth, up and down. It was hypnotizing.

“You need to keep up your strength,” Dean said. “Can I see your sketch pad?”

Riley hesitated, and Kara sensed she didn’t want to share, but then she handed it over and started eating her chicken salad.

Dean slowly flipped through the sketches. Kara glanced over. Some were very rough, as if Riley had an idea but didn’t flesh it out. A few were exceptionally detailed. She drew mostly people, though she’d interspersed bits of nature around the edges, almost as if to frame the pages. Flowers, trees, bushes, small animals.

When Dean turned the page again, to what Riley had most recently been working on, Kara did a double take.

The sketch was of her and Matt sitting at the table across from each other. While drawn from Riley’s perspective sitting between them, it was as if she wasn’t there, as there were only two place settings. The background was rough, a few swipes and shadings of the pencil, but it was clear they were in a rustic lodge with natural lighting coming in and hitting the table.

She and Matt were looking at each other. Exchanging...something. Though they weren’t touching, the picture seemed intimate—too intimate. She had a half smile on her face, Matt’s expression was softer than Kara generally thought of him.

Suddenly, she didn’t want anyone looking at this picture, as if someone had caught her and Matt in a private moment. This hadn’t happened—she and Matt always kept their behavior professional when they were working in public. If Catherine saw this, the shit would hit the fan. Kara didn’t want to deal with the fallout from that. It exhausted her just thinking about it.

But clearly Riley saw what they didn’t want anyone to see.

Dean cleared his throat and turned the page. Dammit. He saw the same thing.

At the next page Dean asked, “Riley, who is this?”

He turned the pad and Riley said, “My mother.”

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