We weren’t about to drive right up to the campsite. Daniel parked a half mile away. Derek wanted to leave Rae there, bound and gagged, and I think we actually might have, if we’d had anything to bind her with. Instead, she walked in front of Derek, who warned that if she made any sudden moves, he’d put her down. We knew he meant “put her down on the ground.” Rae didn’t seem so sure. He didn’t clarify.

We’d just started down a path to the campsite when Maya’s phone chirped with a text. She frowned at it and showed us.

10:55. Moreno: Stay where u r.

10:56. Maya texted back: What?

It took about ten seconds for a reply. When it came, it was one word: STAY!!!

“Huh,” Daniel said.

“Yep, that’s my reaction, too,” Maya said. “It could mean he’s realized Luke is a traitor. Or that he’s seen someone staking out the campsite. Or that he wants us to think that, so we’ll trust him when we catch up.”

“Isn’t this guy supposed to be your head of security?” Rae said.

Maya nodded.

“And you don’t trust him?” Rae said. “Maybe that’s a sign things aren’t as good as you think.”

“Things are exactly what we think they are,” Maya said as she pocketed her phone. “We’re in the safest possible situation, which, for us, means we still have to suspect the worst of everyone over the age of eighteen, however much we might like them.”

“And you’re okay living like that?”

“It’s the only way we will live. Which is kinda the long-term goal.”

When we neared the camp, we split up. Derek took Rae. Maya and I stuck together. Daniel looped around the other side, to circle in from that angle.

“Up?” Maya said as she scanned the trees.

I nodded.

Being a part-time wildcat, Maya’s a first-rate climber. As for me, it was one of the few physical skills I was good at even before I went on the run—my small size and a few gymnastics trophies made me a natural. Up we went, shimmying into a tree as close to the camp as we could get. Then, we did something I never would have dared before—moving from tree to tree. I’ve had practice, though, goofing around with Maya, and we managed to position ourselves right over the camp.

Maya and I texted the guys to let them know where we were, and then we silenced our phones against the inevitable replies. At a noise from below, we peered through the canopy to see Moreno perched on the same table I’d sat on earlier. He had a beer in one hand and a trail guide in the other. A fire blazed in the pit, the only source of light in the dark campsite.