Page 95 of See How They Hide

Cal stepped back and looked sheepish.

It was Evan, her mother’s newest partner.

“I—I’m sorry,” Cal said.

Evan frowned. “You okay Riley?”

She nodded because she couldn’t speak.

“I have to tell your mother,” he said.

“Please, I don’t want Cal to get in trouble.”

“He won’t get in trouble, you’re sixteen, you can make these decisions yourself. But you both broke curfew sneaking out so early in the morning. And we have a problem.”

Her heart skipped a beat. They knew.

“What problem?” she asked.

“We found the traitor. But you don’t have to worry about it.”

Cal’s hand tightened around her own. She hadn’t even realized he was holding her hand.

“Come on, you need to explain your absence to Calliope and then do your chores.”

He motioned for them to follow him, then turned and started walking.

Riley stared at Cal in the awakening dawn. “What’s happening?”

“Nothing good. But as far as everyone is concerned, we met behind the barn at four thirty this morning.”

“You’re next,” she whispered.

“You’ll come with me.”

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

Suddenly Calliope was in their path. Evan said something to her, and she looked at Cal and Riley. Riley froze. She knew. She had to know.

Then Calliope said, “I’ll talk to you two later. For now, you’re both grounded. Cal, go home. Riley, to your room. Do not leave until I say you can leave.”

She nodded, dropped Cal’s hand, and ran home.

By the time she got to her room she heard a commotion outside her window. She opened her curtains and stared down at the village center, where a huge redwood tree grew. Anton and Garrett were dragging a bloodied man along the path, toward the prison—the pit in the ground where Calliope punished serious offenders.

It was Brian.

We found the traitor.

Calliope thought that Brian had helped Andrew and Donovan escape, because they were friends. Brian worked with Donovan every day in the greenhouse. She picked up on a few words below, that he’d disappeared in the middle of the night and they found him on the road. Brian was sobbing.

“I didn’t do anything!” he cried out.

That was the last Riley heard—or saw—Brian.

34

South Fork,Colorado

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