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34

South Fork, Colorado Present Day

Kara sat across from Riley, who was still unmoving on the couch.

They were alone. Matt and Michael were working with security to identify the truck Anton escaped in. With luck, they’d get the plates and maybe a witness.

To Riley she said, “You’re safe here with me.”

Riley didn’t say anything, nor did she look at her.

Kara wasn’t good at playing games. She was good at playing parts . She could work undercover and adopt any number of personas. But she was straightforward when dealing with suspects and witnesses. She didn’t like coddling or placating or pretending that everything was going to be fine. But she had to find a way to get through to Riley.

She thought about Riley’s sketches. The girl had talent, but more than talent, she observed what couldn’t be easily seen. Like the sketch of Kara and Matt. She may have occasionally looked at Matt as Riley depicted, and Matt may have looked at her with that expression of... love . But they hadn’t been staring at each other like two lovesick teenagers, not in front of Riley. Which meant she picked up on an undercurrent and put two and two together.

Riley saw a lot more than most people. Maybe because she was an artist, she saw what people didn’t want to share.

Kara brought a chair over near the small couch, where she could still see the door, but also focus on Riley.

“We need to establish trust,” Kara said.

Riley blinked, looked at her. “I trust you.”

“When you saw Anton, you couldn’t move. I pushed you up those damn stairs, and if Anton had a gun, he had the time to shoot you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Okay. Good. I need you to listen to me.”

“I have been.”

“Listen again. I will protect you. When I can’t—when I need to sleep—my team will protect you. Sloane, Michael, Matt, they’re all trained to make sure you stay safe.”

“Not Dean?”

Kara smiled, not surprised she had singled him out. “Him, too, but he hasn’t been in the field in a long time, and he’s not a part of my team. I’m not going to leave you with him, not until I trust him. He’s been a good cop, has a record of helping people like you free themselves from places like Havenwood. But he’s been sitting behind a desk for too long.”

“Oh.”

“When I say run, you run. When I say stop, you stop. If I say drop, you drop. Do you understand me?”

“Yes. I’m sorry,” she said again.

“We’ve already established that,” Kara said. “I don’t do psychology well. I’m sure our team shrink will tell me I have to talk to you this way or that way and she might be right. But I think you would know if I lied. You see people as they are.”

Riley didn’t say anything, but looked down at the closed sketchbook she held tightly on her lap.

“I know you’ve grown up in an environment that is completely foreign to me,” Kara said. “I lived in Los Angeles for twelve years, and I loved having people everywhere to the point that individuals disappeared in the masses. I also lived in a very small town in Washington—not as small as Havenwood, but small enough that I recognized half the people at the grocery store and knew everyone in our neighborhood by name. One thing we have in common is our grandmothers. I love my grams. She was there for me when my mother left because I was cramping her style. You loved your grandmother. Mine is still alive, and I miss her because I can’t be there all the time. So I know you really miss yours.”

“If she was still alive, I never would have left Havenwood.”

Kara believed her. “We have a woman who is a person of interest in the attempted murder of Andrew Gardner.”

Riley frowned. “You said he was okay.”

“I said he was alive and in the hospital. I don’t know if he’s going to be okay. He tried to kill himself. I told you that yesterday. Last night, someone tried to kill him. That is the reason we transferred him. Other people didn’t want to tell you because they thought you might get scared, and I agreed with them at the time. Now I think you need to know. So you can protect yourself.”

Riley frowned, her bottom lip quivering.

“I need to know right now if you don’t care about your life.”

“Of course I care!”

“Andrew tried to kill himself. I don’t know if he did it because Donovan is dead, or because he didn’t want to face his past in Havenwood, and we were asking questions.”

“I don’t want to die,” Riley said firmly.

“Good. I don’t want you to die either. There’s been too much death. I have a police sketch of the woman we suspect, and Dean saw a woman driving away with Anton. It’s not your mother. Your sketch of her is very detailed—I think I would recognize her anywhere, even without the snakes in her hair.”

“I took a class in Greek and Roman mythology,” Riley said. “It was fascinating. Maybe I was interested because my grandmother was Athena and named her daughters Calliope and Thalia. When I read about Medusa, I thought of my mother. Beautiful and deadly.” She paused. “My mother has never left Havenwood. They moved there when she was nine, and she was terrified of the Outside. I don’t think she would leave now.”

Kara pulled out her phone and brought up the image Michael had sent her, the police sketch of the woman who bribed the flower delivery driver. She showed it to Riley.

Riley sucked in her breath. “Ginger,” she said.

“The woman who nearly died in childbirth?”

Riley nodded. “She is loyal to my mother, she’s as cruel as my mother. But why would she leave her child to come here to hurt Andrew?”

“Her child is...?”

“Molly. I guess she’s eight now?”

Damn cult had children on the premises. Kara had known that, but hearing it again reminded her that there were innocents at Havenwood, and whatever they did when they found the place, they would have to take that into consideration.

She asked, “How many children were at Havenwood when you left?”

“Eighteen, I think, but we usually had one or two births a year.”

“All born there?”

“Most. All the littles. No one joined Havenwood after my grandmother died. I don’t see my mother allowing anyone new inside.”

That meant the kids knew nothing other than life in the commune. They wouldn’t trust law enforcement, and that in and of itself was problematic.

Damn damn damn.

First, they had to find the place.

“Can I look through your sketchbook again?” Kara asked. She didn’t know exactly what she was looking for, but if there was anything there, they had to go over it again and again. “Would you mind if I took pictures and sent them to my team?” The more eyes the better.

Riley handed it to her.

Kara flipped to the picture of her and Matt. She loved it.

“You can have that,” Riley said. “I shouldn’t have drawn it, but...” Her voice trailed off.

“You’re fast. You might have a future as a police sketch artist.”

Riley laughed. It was the first time Kara had heard her not only laugh, but with a smile in her voice.

Kara carefully tore out the page of her and Matt. She didn’t want to fold it—she might just frame it. Then she quickly took photos of all the people, plants, flowers, landscapes that were doodled.

“Are all these from Havenwood?”

“I guess. I didn’t really think about it. Dean told me to draw a map, which I can’t. I have no idea.”

“What about the cabin where you brought people for Thalia? You said it was old and falling apart in the mountain north of Havenwood. Do you know how far?”

Riley thought, then took back the sketch pad and started to draw. Kara watched, mesmerized by her sure, light hand as the lead bled onto the paper, as she rubbed with her fingers to shade areas, bringing out light and dark, until a structure appeared, hidden among the trees.

“What’s around the cabin?” Kara asked. “An unusual boulder, a creek, a path, anything that’s distinctly different.”

On another page Riley started drawing what at first Kara thought was a mountain, but then realized was a boulder outcropping over which water flowed. “A waterfall?” Kara asked.

“Yes. I don’t know what it looks like, but I can hear it from the cabin. I think it’s the waterfall that gives our valley fresh water.”

“North of Havenwood.”

“Yeah. But I don’t know how far it is.”

“How long did it take you to get from the center of Havenwood to the cabin?”

Riley thought. “At least ninety minutes. It’s really hard to get up to from the valley, because there’s not an easy trail, and impossible in winter.”

A waterfall and cabin north of Havenwood. She spoke of a valley multiple times. They had to be able to find it. What about hikers, people who lived in the general area? County officials? Someone had to know of a group of more than a hundred people living off the grid in a southwest Colorado valley.

“Do you remember anything after you left the cabin with Thalia?”

“Not much. It was dark.”

“Did you hike on a trail? Walk on a road? Did Thalia drive a vehicle?”

Riley frowned, closed her eyes. “It took longer to walk to her truck than it did to get from Havenwood to the cabin. We were mostly on a trail, but there was a narrow packed road with some ruts in it for part of the way. Thalia said it was called a fire road. I didn’t know what that meant then, now I do.”

Riley jumped when there was a knock on the door. Kara told her to stay and went to the door, hand on her gun. She looked out the peephole. It was Matt. She wanted to talk to him without Riley, so she said, “Stay here, okay? It’s just Matt, but I need to talk to him.”

Riley said, “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

Even if she did, she wouldn’t get far because the door of the adjoining room let out on this hall.

She stepped out, closed the door. “News?”

“Partial plate, partial view of the female driver, good security shot of Anton. We’ve put an APB out on him as a person of interest, but we don’t have any actual evidence against him. Good call on the glass—it’s already on its way to the county lab to be processed.”

“I emailed pictures of Riley’s drawings to the team. Maybe Catherine has some insight, or Ryder can work on narrowing the region.”

“Good.”

“Riley ID’d the sketch of the woman who bribed the florist. Her name is Ginger. She is part of Calliope’s inner circle.”

“You told her about Andrew?”

“She needed to know.”

“Okay.” Matt shot a glance at the door. “We need to ask her some tough questions. Dean is pussyfooting around with her, but do you think she can handle it?”

“Yes,” Kara said without hesitation. “I’ve gotten a lot out of her. She’s scared, and I don’t know if she’ll freeze again when faced with someone from Havenwood, but right now she’s willing and able to talk.”

“That’s good,” Matt said.

They walked back into the room and Riley was sitting and sketching. Matt saw the drawing of them and picked it up. “Wow.”

“Dean saw it. Didn’t comment, but you know,” Kara said, feeling self-conscious.

He looked at her and there was a shift in his expression, for a moment it was just them, remembering the last time they’d been together, without work, without stress.

Then Matt smiled, and Kara felt it was all going to be okay. Their relationship, even if Dean knew about it, was solid. He carefully placed the sketch back on the table, lightly brushed Kara’s hand with his fingers, and turned to Riley.

“Your names are very helpful,” Matt said. “I want to get all of them under protection. Would there be any problem with my agents dropping your name when we find them?”

“I—I don’t see why you need to,” Riley said, a hitch in her voice.

“We want them to feel comfortable and safe, but also understand that the people from Havenwood are naturally distrustful of the authorities.”

“We were all party to crimes,” Riley said. “Growing and selling marijuana, especially in the quantity that we did, is against the law. We all have fake identities.”

“I told you before that we’re not going to go after anyone for that. We’ll work it out, make everyone official if we can. I have some questions for you, and it might not be comfortable. Now that we know two of Havenwood’s people are in South Fork, it’s important.”

Riley glanced at Kara, then nodded. “Okay.”

“You said that your mother has several partners. I assume you meant romantic partners.”

Riley blushed and nodded.

“Is Anton one of them?”

“Yes,” she said.

“I’d like to know their names, descriptions, anything you can tell me about them. Maybe you can draw them.”

“Robert, Anton, and Glen were my fathers when I was born. After Glen died, Garrett came into the house. Like Anton, he was strong and he had also been in the military and he killed the people who killed my daddy Glen. I felt safe with him, and he was nice to me. Serious, and he never smiled, but he was nicer than Anton. When Robert left, Evan moved in with my mother.”

Kara said, “And everyone is okay with this, um, swapping partners.”

She shrugged. “Sure. I mean, I didn’t really think about it when I was little, only when I was older and realized that my mom was the only person with multiple partners. I liked Evan a lot, though he was sad. His brother and wife were killed in a car accident, and he was the only family to take care of his nephew, Timmy. There was a lot of debt in the family and Evan was having a tough time. He knew Garrett and Garrett invited him to Havenwood.”

So there was a way to communicate with the outside world, Kara thought. Either because Calliope’s people had access to phones and computers, or because they were the only people allowed to leave.

“When you left, Anton, Evan, and Garrett were in your mother’s home? And Timmy?” Matt asked.

Riley squeezed her eyes shut. “Timmy was attacked by a mountain lion and died. That was a year before I left. Evan wasn’t the same after that.”

“Dean asked you about a map,” Matt said, “but what about something on a smaller scale. Not how to get in and out of Havenwood, but how the community is laid out. Where the houses are, the barn, the greenhouse, things like that.”

Riley smiled wearily. “I can do that. It might take me a while. I try to forget.”

“Whatever you can give us is fine. Why don’t you work at my desk?”

Matt cleared off the tabletop, picking up the picture of him and Kara. When Riley sat and started to work with a fresh set of pencils, he pulled Kara across the room.

“I’m sorry about this,” Matt said quietly, holding up the sketch.

“Don’t be.” She took the paper, making sure not to wrinkle it.

“I didn’t think—” He struggled with what to say. “I mean, I wasn’t looking at you like that, not on purpose. Discretion is important to both of us, and I know you’re uncomfortable with people knowing about our relationship.”

“I don’t care if people know,” Kara said. “I just don’t think it’s anyone’s business.” She looked at the sketch again. “She saw what’s beneath the surface, because that moment in time didn’t happen. But it could have.”

He reached out, lightly touched his fingers to hers. “I love you,” he said in a whisper so low she almost didn’t hear it.

“Ditto,” she said.