Page 113 of Stay With Me
My jaw locks in frustration. He’s right, but seeing everything would make it so much easier.
I focus back on the video. No movement comes from the van for several minutes before a man opens the back door and walks just out of view of the camera.
Hunt pauses the video, backs it up, and freezes it on the man getting out of the van. “I see at least two other people in the van, but the one getting out matches the description of Chris Smith.” He turns to one of his agents. “I’m going to send this to one of our techs. Can you pull some strings to see if they can clean thevideo up? A license plate would be nice, as well as a clear picture to get a positive ID.”
“On it,” the agent says and walks out of the room with his phone to his ear.
Hunt fast-forwards again to where we left off.
Luna walks into the frame. She pauses when she sees the van parked too close and looks around the parking lot.
“Smart girl to look around like that. She might not have known something was wrong, but at least she paused,” Luke says softly.
I nod. “After the incident at Farmer Joe’s, I talked to both girls about being more aware of their surroundings. I planned on teaching them more this weekend.”
As soon as she walks around to the passenger side of the truck, she opens the door and leans in. We see Chris walk around the front of the van.
I hold my breath, knowing she’s going to get taken, but nothing prepares me for watching as it happens.
Within seconds, Chris has his arms wrapped around her and a cover over her head. He drags her around the van. The?sliding door opens, and at least two more people pull her in the back before shutting the door. Chris looks around the empty parking lot and walks to the passenger seat.
The whole thing lasts maybe two minutes.
“They’ve done this before,” Luke says.
Hunt pauses the video right before they peel out and shoot at Jess and me. “Yes. As we talked about when we met with everyone for the first time, we do believe they take women and children to keep the gene pool fresh. From what we know, the women who are taken are kept separate until they can be trusted with the rest of the group. The kids are always taken young enough that it’s easy to manipulate them.”
No one says anything for a long minute, letting that sink in.
I knew these people were horrible.
The stories Luna and Jess have told us proved that, but this is a new level of low.
“I’ll be glad to take this group of people down,” I growl.
Hunt grunts his agreement as he presses play, skipping the shooting to see which direction they turn on the main road. “They turn left and travel for at least five miles before the CCTV cameras lose them. It appears while the main city center is equipped, they haven’t been able to install them everywhere.”
“Yeah, it’s a slow project out here.” I look over to some of the other deputies. “Have we been able to piece together anything as to where they might have been going?”
“Can you back that up a little? I know I won’t be able to see the street sign clearly, but there aren’t a lot of houses on that road since it backs up to the protected section of the forest. Stop right there.” A deputy stands to get a closer look. “I think that’s the road right before Old Man John’s house.” He looks around to the other deputies from his department, who lean forward and nod.
“Yeah, which makes sense because he passed away, and his house has sat vacant for several years. His kids don’t want to sell it, but they don’t want to leave their big city lives,” another adds.
Hunt pulls out his phone and calls someone. I hear him ask about satellite pictures before he hangs up. “That’s the best lead we have so far.” His phone dings, and he pulls up photos on his screen. “These are the most recent photos we have of the property.” He clicks and zooms in.
“There are what, four buildings?” I ask.
“Plus a main house. The property is private and secluded. If you don’t want anyone to see you come and go, you could make it happen. We break up a lot of parties out there,” the deputy says, tapping on the screen to show the different entrances.
“If this is where they are, the men will live in the building that’s in the best shape. If Luna is there, she’ll most likely be close to Matthew since he won’t want her to be too far. I believethey moved the whole family here to accomplish whatever Matthew has in mind, so we guess there are roughly thirty people, plus or minus a few,” Thorne says.
I fight to keep my breathing steady. “I think we should start our search there. She’s either there or long gone.” I take a deep breath to calm my nerves.
I look to Hunt for his thoughts. He’s more experienced than I am with stuff like this, and I’m big enough to admit it.
“I agree. The house is perfect for them. If the decedent’s family doesn’t check on it, they can stay there for months under our noses.” He turns to the deputy. “Can we get in touch with the family and get permission to search the property?”
“Yeah, I went to school with the oldest son. I’ll give him a call and let him know what’s going on. He’s who I call when we notify them of the parties we have to break up,” the local deputy answers.
