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South Fork, Colorado

“This is bullshit!” Kara exclaimed as she paced the small room.

Riley was sitting quietly in the corner. She had wanted to go to the adjoining room to lie down, but Kara said no. They needed Riley here—Kara didn’t want to spare an agent to sit with her, and Riley might have information they needed to find Matt.

Michael and Dean were sitting at the table; Tony and Catherine were on the other end of a video chat.

Michael looked like shit. He was cut up from the accident and he probably had a concussion. They hadn’t been shooting to kill him, at least Michael said they weren’t, but one of the bullets had grazed his bicep and he had a bandage around his arm. He refused to sit down.

Matt was gone and they had few leads.

The dark green truck that Anton and Ginger had been seen in last night had been used to ram the FBI’s vehicle. It had been left behind and the sheriff’s department was combing through it for evidence. The van that matched the description of the one outside Donovan Smith’s house had pulled alongside the FBI vehicle, but the security cameras weren’t in range of the actual abduction. Based on all the angles they could find, five people had been involved when they thought they were only dealing with three. Another truck sped off after the van, and they suspected that truck was involved as well—and based on the feeds, it had been in the parking lot all morning. Someone had been watching them.

Five people were in South Fork watching, waiting for an opportunity to grab, or kill, Riley.

When the fire alarm didn’t work, did they already know they were going to take an agent? It didn’t matter who. They had divided the team by making the false call of trespassers. Were they just waiting for agents to show up, knowing they would after the body was found?

It could have been any of them. But it was Matt.

“Where are we with the satellite maps?” Kara asked. “All the sketches and pictures? Why can’t we narrow this place down?”

“Ryder is working on it,” Tony assured her. “We are doing everything we can to find Havenwood, but there is no evidence that they took Matt there.”

“Where else would they go? This is a group that has been off the grid for decades. I don’t think they have a bunch of places around the country to hang out.”

Dean said, “I agree with Detective Quinn.”

Kara was surprised. She had taken out her anger on him earlier when she felt stuck. He’d offered to stay with Riley so she could coordinate with Michael, but she said no because she didn’t trust him. That was unfair, she realized now. He was a trained FBI agent and while he was no longer a field agent, he wasn’t completely incompetent. He could protect Riley in a hotel room. But Riley was her responsibility—it was the last order Matt had given her, and if Kara lost her...well, she wasn’t going to.

Dean continued, “While it isn’t logical that they would take a federal agent to their sanctuary, it’s the only place that they feel safe and secure. They may not have thought it through, or they may not realize we have resources to find them. They must know we’ll have people out in full-force looking for our agent, but they are also confident that they are well hidden and won’t be found. Once they determine they aren’t being followed, they will head directly there. It’s home, it’s safety, it’s security.

“Also,” he said, “they said twenty-four hours. Why twenty-four and not twelve? Six? Immediately? This tells me they have a plan. They will want to trade Matt in a place they can control, where they feel they won’t be apprehended. Or, they have a plan to grab Riley within the twenty-four hours because our attention will be divided.”

“Where does that leave Matt?” Kara asked. “And why didn’t they tell us how they were going to communicate the demands? They don’t have his phone, that was found in the car.”

“They know you are in South Fork. They’ll likely communicate through the hotel, or the sheriff, or call Denver FBI,” Tony said. “We will be ready to trace any call.”

“They won’t contact us from Havenwood,” Michael said. “Even though they’ve been off the grid for years, several of them come and go and they’ll have some idea that we’d be able to trace any call they make. They also can’t think that we’d trade a civilian even for an FBI agent. I don’t see their plan.”

Michael was their tactical expert. He was always a rock in every situation. Kara had never seen him this stressed. He’d disabled a bomb she held, he’d rescued her from a sinking ship, but right now he seemed lost. Because he had been with Matt during the abduction? She couldn’t lose Michael’s strength. She needed it more than ever.

Dean said, “There are several points we need to consider. First, our disadvantage—that until recently this cult was unknown to us—is diminishing because we have Riley who has helped us understand their mentality and provided information on how to find them. We will locate them, and I don’t think they have the capacity to understand how quickly we can do so. To our advantage is that they have been off the grid for decades. They may not have a detailed plan. I concur with Kara’s original theory that they expected to grab Riley during the fire alarm. Yet, they acted quickly enough to kidnap an agent they knew was returning from the Morrison property because they’d made that call. We also now believe they were staking out the building for the last two days.”

Kara saw Riley shiver. She wasn’t in the mood to console anyone right now. Riley was alive; she would stay alive.

Catherine spoke up for the first time. “They may think that law enforcement will trade for one of their own, and they showed the lengths they are willing to go through the murder of now six people.”

Dean nodded. “They’ll be prepared for a trap, so whatever they tell us when they call, it won’t be what they actually plan to do.”

Catherine said, “I concur. No negotiating without proof of life.”

Kara’s stomach twisted into a knot. How could Catherine be so calm? She was Matt’s friend . His longest friend in the FBI.

Maybe you’re the one who needs to get a grip.

She had to focus. Matt as colleague, not lover. Matt as cop, not the man she loved.

She walked over to the table and stood behind Michael, put her hand on his shoulder. He was tense, and she should have been less angry and more focused during the meeting. Recognizing that, recognizing her own weakness, made her stronger.

“Okay,” Kara said, forcing herself to be calm. “What’s the plan while we wait for contact? How far along is Ryder and the cyber team in finding Havenwood? If we believe that Matt is there, then we need a plan to retrieve him.”

“Ryder is confident he’ll find it,” Tony said. “It’s the timing that is problematic. They’re running the program through multiple systems and they’re optimistic it’ll be only a few hours. Once we locate Havenwood, Michael and the Denver SWAT leader will coordinate a tactical plan. Kara, I read your report about the potential number of children on-site. The safety of the children is our number one priority. We want to find and extract Matt and then arrest those responsible with minimal casualties. This will come down to a negotiation. Therefore, I’m putting ranking agent Dean Montero in temporary command of the MRT. Dean is a trained hostage negotiator and cult expert. Is everyone clear on that?”

“Yes, sir,” Michael said. Kara didn’t say anything.

“As soon as we locate Havenwood, I’ll call in.” Tony was about to sign off when he said, “Ryder has something.”

Ryder popped onto the screen. He was in the FBI lab at Quantico.

He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Circles under his eyes, his face unusually pale, and something Kara had never seen before: Ryder was unshaven. He hadn’t shaved in at least two days.

“Hey,” she said as if no one else was in the room or on the screen. “We’re going to find him, Ryder.”

He nodded, somber. “The cybercrime unit and I have broken through the security of the message board that Jesse Morrison ran. We’ve located the last two individuals Riley Pierce identified—Cal is going by Cal Stone, a different name than what his false identity is under. He’s working on a ranch in West Texas. Amber died of a drug overdose last year. We have agents investigating her death, and interviewing Mr. Stone.”

Kara shot a glance at Riley, who was sitting on the opposite side of the room. She looked almost catatonic.

“Partially good news,” Dean said. “We can get Cal Stone into protective custody.”

“We also identified an unknown female who goes by Abby,” Ryder said. “She posted on the message board that she was struggling. Thalia had rescued her eighteen months ago, but we haven’t found information as to where she landed. We’ve contacted the hospital and SSA to find a female called Abby or Abigail who falls under the same parameters we identified in how Morrison hacked the system, but won’t have an answer until tomorrow or Monday. Abby reached out to Morrison several times at the beginning and he gave her advice. Then nothing until February. She said she needed help. He said he’d reach out privately. I don’t know how he did that, but it was on March 2nd, more than four weeks ago.”

Catherine said, “Which is in the window of TOD Jim established for Morrison. He could have called or texted her. Denver has his phone records and will confirm either way.”

Ryder said, “We also noted an IP address that accessed the message board twice a week which doesn’t match Morrison’s. It’s a private IP, and it’ll take time to track, but I believe that was Thalia checking the board. She has done so regularly for years, since it was first set up. The last time she checked was March 4th.”

Kara ran through everything they knew. It was April 4; Merrifield, Crossman, and Benson were killed nearly two weeks ago; Jim had figured that Morrison was killed two weeks before them, give or take a few days.

Michael said, “Morrison gave Abby his address and then she killed him? Tortured and killed him? Why?”

A faint voice behind them said, “She went back.”

Everyone turned to her.

Dean said, “Riley, please explain.”

“I knew Abby would never be able to live on her own. She was dependent on the community. I never would have rescued her.”

“Do you think she set this up?”

Riley shook her head. “I don’t know how Thalia rescued people after I left. She could get in and out of the valley—it’s how we communicated. She’d leave a red poppy with a day and time, and I would meet her. She was a ghost. So I think she must have watched, picked Abby for some reason, and Abby went with her. Then Abby became lonely and scared and went back to Havenwood. Begged them to forgive her. As penance, they made her reveal everything she knew about Thalia’s operation. They used Abby and the message board to find Jesse, and Thalia walked into the trap.” Her voice cracked, but she didn’t break down.

“It’s logical,” Dean said. “Cult members, even when they leave, often have feelings of deep sorrow, low self-esteem, lack of drive, fear of the unknown. Returning to a place they know, even if it’s dangerous or imperfect, is preferable to isolation and loneliness.”

“Any word about the satellite program?” Kara asked. She knew Ryder would tell them as soon as he knew, but she couldn’t help but ask.

“We’re using every available computer. As soon as I know, you all will know.”

“Thank you,” she said.

Tony signed off, and Kara texted Ryder.

I’ll find him. I promise.

Ryder had been with Matt and the MRT from the beginning. The first hire. Ryder was the backbone of the team. He anticipated the needs of everyone. He set up their logistical operations. He was the go-to person for everything research related. But Kara had known, from the beginning, that Ryder’s topmost loyalty was to Matt and Matt alone. Of course he was loyal to the FBI and their team, but Ryder had a deep respect and admiration for his boss. This had to be hurting him as much as her. Especially since he was there, not here.

Michael shut the laptop and rubbed his eyes. Dean said, “The sheriff is transporting Thalia’s body to Colorado Springs, where Jim will assist in the autopsy. They have better facilities than this county. If there is any evidence on the body, they’ll know tonight.”

Dean left the room and Kara said to Michael, “Are you really okay?”

Michael stared at her, his eyes rimmed red. “Dammit, Kara, I should have been able to stop this.”

“If you tried, they would have killed you. But they hit you from behind then fired multiple bullets to pin you down.”

“I don’t care!”

“I do. Matt wouldn’t want you dead trying to save him. Neither do I.” She hugged him tight; he held on as if he were drowning. “We’ll find him, Michael. This is in no way your fault.”