“Who’s they?” Chase asks.
“That’s the question,” Roman says grimly. “But there’s more.” He pulls up property records on his laptop. “After ROS was shut down, the land didn’t go to the state. It was purchased.”
“By who?” Grant asks, each word like a bullet from his lips.
“By Mom.” Roman watches Valen closely. “She bought it, destroyed everything Terra had there, and then let the property sit vacant in the family trust for the last twelve years.”
Valen is deathly still. “Vivi bought the compound.”
“Not just bought. She watched it.” Roman shows a security system log on his screen. “It’s a pretty basic system, nothing fancy. It’s logged the random local teen party over the years, but otherwise, it’s sat empty…until about seven months ago, when someone accessed the property but managed to maneuver around the cameras. Local hikers said they saw lights there for a couple of days, then nothing since.”
“Seven months,” Sterling repeats. “Clover, when did your packages start?”
An answer to his question won’t come. I’m numb, unable to do anything beyond clench my own arms tighter around myself.
“They arrived as letters first,” Valen says for me. “Letters that were supposedly from me, six months ago.”
Grant’s jaw clenches. “So someone trespassed on a property that belongs to us, found Valen’s journal, and started sending cryptic messages to Clover, all without us knowing a damn fucking thing about it?”
“Invitations,” Valen corrects, still staring at the red writing. “These aren’t threats, are they, Honeybee? They’re?—”
“Breadcrumbs,” I gasp, understanding dawning. “It’s what I do in my thriller novels. I leave breadcrumbs, Easter eggs that only unveil themselves when I want them to. Someone wants us to go back there. To…find something.”
“The tree,” Valen says. “If Terra found a journal, but not all the?—”
“Someone might think you still have evidence out there somewhere,” Grant paces as he speaks. “Hidden, waiting. Terra wasn’t the only one with something to hide, was she?”
I shake my head.
“Tell me about the tree,” Sterling says.
“There was a crevice in the tree that we dug into. Valen created a false bottom with a couple pieces of plywood. We glued tree bark to the top so it would blend in. It would be really hard to find unless you were intentionally searching for it.”
“Exactly.” Roman nods. “My theory is that someone found these pages and got spooked that more journals exist. They can’t retrieve them—or won’t—so they’re attempting to lead you back to them.”
“Why not just search the property and destroy the evidence?” Chase asks.
“Maybe, like Clover said, they can’t find the hiding spots.” Sterling is staring at a map on the screen in front of him. “There must be a thousand trees on that property. Only Valen and Clover know exactly where it is. If they think there are more places like this, they’d have to search a thousand trees, and who knows where else.”
“So, we have two possibilities,” Grant says carefully. “They want you to find them so they can destroy them because they’re afraid of being implicated after all these years. Or they want you to find them for closure, or proof. For?—”
“For exactly what it is,” Valen finishes. “Evidence that could finally put away any of Terra’s followers who escaped.”
My insides tremble like a wooden roller coaster. “But Terra’s dead, so who?—”
“Former cult members are a given,” Chase says. “Even if Mom had implicated all the ones at the compound, Terra had outside help. They could fear getting caught, have a guilty conscience, who knows.” Sad eyes meet mine. “Anotherpossibility is that it could be another child who was harmed there but doesn’t have the means to get closure.”
I’ve never allowed myself to picture the other children. I was never around them long enough to learn their names.
“We’re still missing something,” Grant grumbles.
Chief’s signature knock sounds on the door, a quick three taps, and Chase lets him in while Roman makes room for him on the couch. Sadness fills his expression as he stares at me, but he says nothing.
He’s here for moral support. He’s here for me.
“So, what do we do?” I ask.
Valen looks at me. Really looks at me. “I think the only option we have is to go to the compound, find the tree, and dig up whatever’s left. And then, we find a way to end this.”
