Page 61 of Wild Sentinel

Music thumped in the background, filtering through the speaker.

"Any of what?"

Autumn was silent a moment.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on.”

"I know where Brooke is. She's hiding. She’s scared shitless. So am I. They’re trying to get to me so they can get to Brooke. I don't know what to do. I can't go home. I can't stay here.”

"Where are you right now?”

“I’m at Nomad.”

“What’s Nomad?”

She told me.

I took a deep breath. "Okay. Sit tight. I'll figure something out. We're in the middle of a situation right now. I need to call you back."

"Okay. But please, hurry. I'm frightened."

It was tempting to wipe my prints from the gun and the shovel and get the hell out of there. The construction crew would find the bodies in the morning, and the West Beverly PD would have to sort it out. But I had a bad feeling it would come back to haunt us if I did that.

Against my better judgment, I called the local FBI office.

Soon, the site was crawling with feds.

JD and I raised our hands in surrender, our badges on full display. Flashlights slashed the darkness as special agents swarmed, wearing windbreakers with yellow lettering.

With half a dozen weapons aimed at us, the supervisory special agent checked our IDs. "I want to know exactly what happened here."

They split us up and asked questions. It was standard procedure. I gave them the full story.

The SSA was in his mid 40s with close-cropped blond hair, brown eyes, and a tired face. "Want to tell me what you’re doing all the way out here investigating a case?"

"It's complicated, but here goes," I said, then proceeded to give him all the details about the string of murders and disappearances tied to RSS. I tried to make it not sound like a batshit crazy conspiracy theory.

I'm not sure I was successful.

"Hang tight," Special Agent Hawthorne said after I told him my story.

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need to get across town to talk to a potential witness who may be in danger.”

His brow wrinkled, and he looked at me like I was crazy. "You're not going anywhere."

"At least send special agents to check on her.”

Hawthorne looked irritated. "Like I said, sit tight."

He ambled away and conferred with a few other agents, one of whom had interviewed JD.

The LA County medical examiner arrived and began evaluating the situation.

The feds managed to track down the construction foreman and get him on site. He didn't look too pleased about it. He let them into the temporary office.

JD and I were detained, but we weren't in handcuffs. Professional courtesy. I pulled out my phone and called Autumn, but she didn't answer. I sent a text. It was almost 4:00 AM.

There was no reply.