“How so?”
“Tyler Hudson is one of the most influential people in the country,” Falk says. “I met him years ago when he first started working with government contracts. I didn’t like him from the moment I saw him. Everyone knew he was shifty, but no one ever stood up to him. His money always talked louder than anything anyone ever said about him. Then I heard about this young woman who found something, dug in, and reported it. Then she didn’t just report it, but when he tried to take her out, she escaped and reported him again. She had enough sense to go straight to the hospital and get his DNA collected. She never backed down even though she knew her life was in danger. That’s impressive, Hannah.”
“It feels more stupid to me now.”
“It wasn’t. It was brave. Incredibly fucking brave. I haven’t heard of courage like that outside of combat.”
“What else was I supposed to do?” I ask. “Just let him get away with it? I didn’t really think about who he was. When I found the pictures…I couldn’t just let that happ
en, could I?”
“A lot of people would. In fact, a lot of people did.”
“I saw their faces,” I say. “I saw how scared they were in the pictures. I knew what he planned to do to them.”
“So did others. He didn’t act alone.”
“They all planned to profit from it.”
“Do you really think they were the only ones who knew what was going on?”
“No.” I take a deep breath. “I think there were others. Jillian in accounting—she must have seen the discrepancies before I did.”
“But you did something about it.”
“When I was in college, I took a class in modern crisis.” I stop for a moment and twist my fingers together underneath the edge of the sleeping bag, remembering. “It was offered by the philosophy department. I did a paper on human trafficking. I talked to a family whose daughter had disappeared when they were traveling. They never heard from her again, and it tore the family apart. The couple got divorced, and their younger daughter ended up on drugs. She even tried to kill herself. That was all I could think about. What if one of those girls had been her? Not exactly her, but someone just like her. All those girls got back to their families.”
My body shudders, and I close my eyes. The memories of the family—my family—flood back into my head.
“And you were abducted later and nearly met the same fate in store for those girls.”
“It didn’t happen, though. I got away from them.”
“That’s how I know you are strong enough to deal with all of this. You’re going to have to be. It’s going to get worse.”
I roll to my back to try to see his expression, but in the dark, I can only see the outline of his face.
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it, Hannah.” Falk props himself up on his elbow, and some of the light from the fire filters through the tent and creates eerie shadows on his face. “The women and children are gone. We know the men on the surface are all dead. We know those people who were underground survived. Who do you think is more likely to have been underground, men or women?”
“Men, I suppose.”
“You’ve become a very rare asset, Ms. Savinski. If I’m right, and I think I am, that makes you valuable. People act very differently when they think there is something valuable around them.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that we’re in a unique situation and that people do things you don’t expect them to do when they feel their survival is at stake. Those guys out there may seem like they’re friendly, but that can change in a heartbeat.”
“Is that why you didn’t want me to talk to them?”
“In a sense, yes.” Falk clears his throat. “I don’t want you to get too friendly with them. I don’t want you to give the impression that you are available. At some point, someone’s going to take advantage of that.”
I narrow my eyes as I take in what he’s saying. I am the only woman in this group. Chances are, we’ll find other survivors, and chances are those survivors are going to be additional men. At some point, mob mentality takes over.
“Like what Hudson was going to do with those girls.”
“A lot like that, yes.”