LITMIR.BIZ

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SUV rounded another bend and the compound seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was a larger building than she’d expected in such a remote place, and much more sophisticated, too. Usually survivalists built small, and used the materials they found in their immediate vicinity. Not this group.

      The compound looked more like an aboveground bunker than a house. Windows were barred as if they lived in the city instead of the wilderness, and there was a tower at the center, rising high in the air, that Evelyn hadn’t seen until they’d gotten close. But if anyone was up there, they would’ve seen her and Jen coming for miles—a single set of headlights approaching through the darkness.

      Evelyn peered through the windshield, squinting at the rooftop. “Are those...?”

      “Solar panels,” Jen broke in. “Yeah. Judging from the chimneys, they have a couple of fireplaces. And I know they’ve got some massive generators, but they’re not hooked up to the grid at all. As far as we can tell, they have no electricity and no internet. They’ve even rigged their own system to bring in water. They’re totally off grid.”

      What a way to live, Evelyn thought but didn’t say. Then again, there were plenty of cultists who lived without electricity while their leader had excessive luxuries.

      And this group was supposedly made up of survivalists, so maybe they really didn’t need modern comforts.

      The compound was nestled at the base of a steep, curved peak that would prevent anyone from approaching on either side. The rest of it was surrounded by a tall, chain-link fence, topped with barbed wire. But the gate at the entrance hung open.

      “Well, this is kind of weird,” Jen said as she drove in.

      “What is?” Evelyn asked, sitting straighter.

      The group had cut down trees to put up the fence and to keep anyone from scaling a tree to hop over it; inside they’d left the environment alone. There wasn’t much more than a few scraggly pines, but they were still big enough for someone to hide behind. No one emerged. She didn’t see anyone at all. A nervous shiver crept up Evelyn’s spine.

      “Usually they meet me at the gate,” Jen said, her tone wary.

      “How often have you come here?” And how clearly had she advertised her suspicions?

      “Just three times.”

      That would make her interest obvious, Evelyn figured. But where was everyone?

      “Maybe BAU was right about the Kool-Aid,” Jen joked. Her voice held no humor.

      She parked close to the compound, took out her cell phone and started to call someone. She had her door open and was hopping out of the vehicle before Evelyn could suggest they wait.

      Swearing, Evelyn followed. Even if Jen had made her suspicions obvious, she knew the people better than Evelyn did. They’d talked peacefully with her in the past, so theoretically they wouldn’t overreact to having her return.

      Regardless, Evelyn didn’t like it. Not the open gate, not the stillness of the place, not Jen’s stubborn insistence that there was danger here.

      Cold air stung her throat as soon as she slammed the car door behind her. Either because it was later now, or because of their elevation, it felt another twenty degrees cooler up here. In the Montana wilderness, she needed more than a wool suit and a pair of low heels. She’d taken barely five steps when her fingers started to throb from the cold.

      Still, she unbuttoned her suit coat for quicker access to the SIG Sauer P226 strapped at her hip.

      Jen followed the set of thick tire tracks that ran off the hard-packed trail and into the looser dirt. As she stepped around the corner of the building, she called out, “Hello?”

      Evelyn picked up her pace to follow when she heard Jen exclaim, “Hey, I know you!”

      Then Jen walked around the corner again, this time backward, with her hands up and held out to her sides.

      Evelyn reached for her weapon, but before she could unholster it, a man came into view.

      He was nothing more than a big blur of angry features and camo, because all she could focus on was the modified AK-47 aimed directly at Jen.

       2

      “What are you doing here, Agent Martinez?” the armed man demanded, his voice a deep, harsh rumble.

      Next to her, Jen jerked at the news that Butler knew her last name. Then she tried to recover, and her voice was surprisingly calm as she took another step backward, both arms up and out. “Just a friendly visit. Nothing more, Ward.” Ward Butler, Evelyn realized as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The leader of the Butler Compound. The man Jen suspected of being a homegrown terrorist.

      Standing there now, holding an illegally modified weapon, wearing a thick, scruffy beard and dressed in camouflage and a skull cap, he looked like one.

      “Drop that,” Butler barked, ignoring Jen’s conversational tone entirely.

      Jen’s eyes went to her phone. The readout was lit up, probably because she was on the line with whoever she’d started to call in the car.

      “Drop it now!” Butler yelled, his voice echoing across the compound.

      As the phone fell from her hand, Butler casually redirected his AK-47 and shot it, midair, blasting the phone to pieces.

      Instinct made Evelyn lurch backward, and she went for her weapon.

      Before she reached it, the AK-47 was pointed at her.

      “I wouldn’t do that,” Butler warned. “Hands up.”

      As Evelyn raised her arms, they started to tingle. Because of the cold or because she’d seen how good a shot Butler was, she wasn’t certain.

      Although Jen’s boss certainly suspected she’d come up here, he probably wouldn’t expect her back at the office for hours. Maybe not until tomorrow.

      And no one knew where Evelyn was.

      “Let’s try this again, Agent Martinez,” Butler said slowly, a sarcastic emphasis on the word Agent. “What are you doing here?”

      Most cult leaders were charismatic. Narcissistic sociopaths, too, but they had to be able to conceal that. They had to exude enough charm to get a group of people to give up everything they owned and follow them.

      Not this guy. As far as Evelyn could tell, he was a hundred and eighty solid pounds of pure menace.

      She didn’t have much experience with cults, but Butler was setting off all kinds of alarm bells. If he was a cult leader, where the hell were all his followers?

      “I’m at the end of a shift, Ward,” Jen said. “I’m taking my new partner on the rounds.” She lifted her shoulders and gave a little smile. “You know, to meet all the neighbors before we head back to the office.”

      Butler turned toward Evelyn, looking at her with a disgust he didn’t bother to hide. “You’re the newbie in the Salt Lake City office?” he asked, skepticism dripping off every word.

      “That’s right,” Evelyn replied, uncomfortable with Butler’s tone. Had he mentioned the field office to let her know he was familiar with how the Bureau worked? Or was there more to this?

      Jen put a little steel in her voice when she said, “There’s no need for this to get ugly.”

      A sneer crossed Butler’s face. He didn’t move his gaze from Evelyn as he told Jen, “You made it ugly.”

      The force of his hatred had Evelyn stumbling back on her heels, and Butler’s sneer turned to a tight smile.

      But instead of saying another word to her, he looked at Jen again. “This is private property. Trespassing without announcing yourself isn’t very smart.”

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