CHAPTER 82 MATT

82

Matt

THE DEVICE WAS SMALL, secured with double-sided foam tape. Just a black box about an inch in diameter with a rubber nub on the side, most likely some kind of antenna. No lights or anything else to indicate it was on, but clearly a microphone, and that meant somebody was listening.

He didn't realize both Gabby and Addie were staring at him until he looked up.

Matt showed them both what he found and held a finger over his lips.

Gabby silently mouthed, Stu Peterson ?

Matt shook his head.

He couldn't be sure, but he doubted it was Peterson.

Then a terrible thought popped into his head, one he didn't want to be true. He motioned for Gabby to hand him her phone and set it on the table between them with the texts from Riley still on the screen. He gave Gabby a solemn look and raised his voice. "We can't stay here. I think we should load everyone in my car and make a run at the fence. Hit it as hard and fast as we can and try to get through."

He'd barely finished the sentence when three dots appeared on the phone screen indicating someone was typing. The dots remained there for nearly half a minute, then vanished.

Whoever was listening was also on the other end of Gabby's phone.

The realization that she hadn't been texting with her daughter hit Gabby a moment later, and her eyes welled up with tears. When she reached for the phone, Matt shook his head and held up a single finger, then he typed— Who is this?

The three dots appeared again, then disappeared. When nothing happened for nearly a minute, Matt leaned close to the bug and spoke loudly. "Quit the bullshit. I know you're listening. Who is this?"

On the floor, Josh craned his neck. "Who the hell are you yelling at? What's going on?"

Matt held up the lampshade and pointed at the small device.

The three dots appeared on Gabby's phone again and hung on the screen for an impossibly long moment, disappeared, then came back again. When the next message appeared, Addie let out a soft gasp. Stay in the house, or we cannot help you. You're already dead.

Gabby glared down at the phone as the words sunk in, then managed, "Where's my daughter? How'd you get her phone? Do you have her?"

Three dots, then— Dead.

"You're lying," Gabby spat back. … all dead. Soon you

No dots. Nothing.

The three of them stared at the small screen, waiting for the rest of that sentence, but nothing came. When more than a minute ticked by, Matt typed WHO ARE YOU?!? again, but only received Message cannot be delivered when he hit Send.

"Fuckers," Addie muttered.

Matt reached for Gabby's arm, but she shrugged him off. His heart was pounding a mile a minute, but he did his best to keep his voice calm. "They lied. What reason would they have to hurt a little girl?"

A loud bang came from behind him. Matt swiveled around in time to see Josh smash the phone receiver against the radiator for a second time. The plastic broke into several pieces, and he fished through them, found the round microphone, and held it up to the light. There was another bug attached to the two wire leads, clinging to the back.

Matt quickly glanced around the room.

How many more were in Ellie's house?

How long had they been there?

Gabby didn't care who was listening. "They got a fence up around town in under a day, and they're shooting anyone who tries to leave. That's who has my daughter! For all we know, they snatched her right out of your office." She glared at the small microphone. "You hurt her, and I'll fucking kill you. I'll kill every last one of you!"

From upstairs, music blared impossibly loud. All four of them jumped. The volume somehow increased, and that was followed by a louder pop! , then silence. Matt didn't know the song but recognized the language—German.

"That was ‘Die Fahne Hoch,'" Josh said in a low voice. When nobody responded, he added, "It means ‘raise the flag.' It was the Nazi anthem during World War II. My dad was a history buff, used to drill that crap into my head."

"It must have come from the shortwave radio," Addie said. "That girl I was talking to. Sounded like it blew the speaker."

Matt's head was spinning, trying to make sense of all this. "Go check," Matt told her.

"You go check. I'm not going up there."

Outside, the faint sound of an engine quickly grew louder. Matt returned to the window just in time to see Stu Peterson park and climb out of his truck. Several others jumped out the back and quickly ran around the sides of Ellie's house, all of them armed.

Peterson came about halfway down Ellie's driveway, then cupped his hands around his mouth. "Matt. I don't want to hurt anyone. Send out the girl, and we'll be on our way!"