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CHAPTER 18

POUNDING ON THE front door wakes Chester at 7 a.m. He groans and pulls the covers up over his face. It’s the weekend, damn it, and he’s supposed to be able to sleep in until eight. But the knocking won’t stop.

Grumbling, he puts on his robe. Lacey sits up. “Who is it?” she asks sleepily.

“No one I want to see, I know that much,” Chester says.

Sure enough, he’s absolutely right. There are two men in dark suits standing stiff legged on his porch. One big, grizzled guy and one younger, shorter one. Nobody in Kokanee Creek wears a suit, not even to church. Chester takes an instant dislike to them.

“Chester Greene?” the grizzled one asks.

“Yes.”

“I’m Special Agent Dunham,” he says, flashing his credentials. “This is Field Agent Rollins.”

Rollins lifts his chin in greeting and holds up his badge. “Good morning, Chief Greene.”

Not anymore it isn’t , Chester thinks. “What’s the FBI doing in Kokanee Creek?”

“We hear the fishing’s good,” Agent Rollins says.

“It’s still catch-and-release on the lake,” Chester says, playing along. “And don’t get your hopes up for any Kokanee salmon. It’s going to be another bad year.”

Agent Dunham doesn’t care for the small talk. “We need to speak to the juveniles you have staying with you.”

Chester’s scowl turns to a look of surprise. How the hell do they know about Kai and Holo?

“Can I ask why?” There’s no way a little B&E at the Grizzly Grocery would bring down the feds. The damage didn’t even top five hundred bucks.

“You could,” Agent Dunham says flatly.

“But there’d be no point, because you’re not going to tell me.”

“You’re a quick study, Chief.”

Chester reluctantly lets the men inside and wakes the kids while Lacey makes coffee for everyone.

By the time Chester comes out with a sleepy, rumpled Holo and a wary Kai, the men are sipping coffee on the couch. Lacey asks if she can make them breakfast, but Chester tells her that the FBI doesn’t want any scrambled eggs.

“I do,” Holo says, overhearing.

“Later,” Chester says. His voice comes out sharper than he means it to.

Agent Dunham asks to speak to the kids alone. But he’s not really asking . Chester leaves the room, but he stands as close as he can on the other side of the wall.

He can hear Agent Rollins trying to put Kai and Holo at ease. “You’re not in any trouble,” he says.

He must be the Good Cop , Chester thinks.

Agent Rollins asks them to talk about where they come from. About how they’ve survived. And Kai tells the agents the same story she’d told Chester—how she and her brother lived deep in the woods. They hunted and fished. They fended for themselves. They’d done it for as long as they could remember.

“I’m sorry,” Agent Dunham keeps saying, “can you go over that again?”

Okay, so the older one’s playing Dumb Cop , Chester thinks. He knows the strategy: you make someone repeat their story, again and again, and pretty soon you’ll find inconsistencies. You watch their body language carefully. Are they getting nervous? Do they ever seem confused? Did they just catch themselves in a lie?

The kids’ version of their lives never changes. Kai answers in as few words as possible, and every fact is consistent. No, they’re not runaways. No, they haven’t stolen to survive—barring the Grizzly break-in, of course. Yes, they’re all alone in the world. Yes, they like living with Chief Greene.

That’s the answer that really surprises Chester. Huh , he thinks. Who knew?

Of course, they could be lying. They could be lying about everything. But if they are, they’re very good at it.

After half an hour or so, the agents come into the kitchen, where Lacey and Chester are sitting at the table picking at their cold toast.

“Thanks for your time,” Agent Rollins says. He tips an imaginary hat.

“Sorry to come by on your day off,” Agent Dunham says insincerely.

“What’d you need to talk to those poor kids about?” Lacey demands. Her dark eyes flash.

Chester expects them to brush her off. But Dunham says, “The FBI never forgets a missing child, Mrs. Greene, no matter how long they’ve been missing.”

“Hernandez,” Lacey says icily. “My last name is Hernandez.”

Chester says, “These kids just got here. What are you trying to say?”

But Dunham and Rollins are walking away before he even finishes asking the question.