“This guy comes out of nowhere and suddenly has possession of the woman?” Ink said. “Doesn’t make sense. Maybe the house didn’t blow by accident. Pretty clean way to fake a couple of deaths, if you ask me. Or maybe he planned to take us out.”

Smart kid, Harlan thought.

The other three men exchanged glances. Harlan grabbed a few more photos.

Sirens sounded in the distance.

Ink pulled himself out of the car and slammed the door closed. “Get in the vehicles.”

He took a small object out of the pocket of his black cargo trousers, leaned down and stuck it inside a wheel well. Straightening, he raced back to one of the black SUVs and leaped into the passenger seat. The man who answered to Ash was already behind the wheel, cranking the engine. He sent the big vehicle hurtling back down the drive to the main road. The other two followed close behind in the second SUV.

The wail of the sirens grew louder.

“Olivia,” Harlan called. “We’re done here.”

He raced through the trees and into the clearing. Circling the burning house, he went to Olivia’s SUV, crouched beside the rear right tire and felt for the tracking device. When his fingers brushed against it, he pulled it free and tossed it aside.

He was in the driver’s seat when Olivia burst out of the trees. She saw that he was already behind the wheel and yanked open the passenger side door.

“Keys,” he said.

She tossed the fob to him and slammed the door shut. He got the SUV in gear and stomped on the accelerator. The tires spit gravel.

When he reached the main road he stopped long enough to listen for the sirens. They were coming from the right. The men in the SUVs had gone in that direction.

He turned left and hit the accelerator again. Hard.

Olivia glanced back at what was left of the Sefton house. “Our dream home?”

“Guess not.”

“Where are we going?” Olivia said.

Her air of cool control rattled him. Shock, he decided. That would account for her unnatural calm. The panic attack would come later. He made a mental note to be prepared for it.

“We’ve got to get off the grid for a while,” he said. “I need time to do some research. These mountains are your backyard. Got any suggestions?”

“Fogg Lake,” Olivia said. “The Foundation has a team on-site mapping the old Bluestone lab that was recently discovered there. Plenty of security. Most tech, including cell phones, won’t work in the area because of the high level of paranormal radiation leaking out of the caves, but there are landline phones, so you can still make and receive phone calls.”

“Sounds like a plan.”