Missing In Blue Mesa

Carmen made a snorting noise. Sunshine gave her a sharp look. “Go on,” Carmen said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“After the message, the drummers started up, and the Prophet led us in a chant. Then he began to dance. It was mesmerizing.”

“What do the rest of you do while he dances?” Ethan asked.

“We chant. And sometimes the Prophet asks other people to dance with him.” Her cheeks glowed pink. “Last night he asked me to dance with him. I was so excited I couldn’t even feel my feet touch the ground.”

“How long did you dance?” Ethan asked.

“Not long. We went around the fire and when we reached my place in the circle, the Prophet kissed my cheek. Everyone was watching and I felt so special.” Her eyes shone with the memory. Metwater certainly had her under his spell.

“What happened next?” Ethan prompted.

“The chanting and dancing went on for a little while longer. Then the drums quieted and the Prophet gave us his blessing. Then everyone left the fire circle and went to bed.”

“Where did you go?” Carmen asked. “Did you go with the Prophet?”

“Not right away. I stood around talking with some of the other women—Sarah and Moonglow—and a guy named Alex.”

“What did you talk about?” Ethan asked.

“Nothing in particular. I wanted to know more about what it was like to live in the Family. I want to join, but the Prophet says they aren’t taking any new members right now. Apparently, they had trouble with some cops pretending to be interested in joining and using that to spy on the group. Can you believe that?”

Ethan’s eyes met Carmen’s and he suppressed a smile. She had lived with Metwater and his followers for a couple of weeks last month, by pretending to be a prospective member. Her undercover work hadn’t revealed any evidence of criminal activity in the group, but it had led to contact with a Fish and Game officer tracking smugglers. Carmen had helped with the case and now she and the Fish and Game cop were engaged.

“So you didn’t go to Metwater’s motor home with him right away?” he asked Sunshine.

“No. I stood around and talked for a while. I was thinking I should probably go back to my car when the Prophet walked over and asked me to come back to his motor home with him.” She blushed again. “Just like that, he singled me out. It was amazing.”

“Did you see anyone or talk to anyone on your way to the motor home?” Ethan asked.

“No. He took my hand and practically dragged me back there with him.”

“What happened when you got inside the motor home?” Ethan asked. “What did you see?”

“Nothing, really. He had all the lights turned off. He took me to his bedroom and told me to undress. He started undressing, too. We got under the covers and started making out. And then you interrupted.”

“That doesn’t sound like it would take an hour to me,” Ethan said.

“I don’t see why the time matters so much,” Sunshine said. “The important thing is that we were together and I didn’t see anybody else—certainly not a hurt woman. I mean, I’m sorry she was hurt, but the Prophet wouldn’t do anything like that. He loves women.”

“He certainly loves to use them,” Carmen said.

Sunshine stood and brushed off her skirt. “Can I go now?” she asked.

“Yes, you can go,” Ethan said. “I’ll take you back home.” He dug in his pocket for his car keys but stopped when the front door of Ranger Headquarters burst open.

Starfall staggered inside, her face pale as death except for the bruising along her jaw and around her mouth. She stared at Ethan with haunted eyes, and when she spoke, her voice was a ragged gasp. “Hunter...my baby...he’s gone! You have to help me get him back!”

Chapter Four (#u6340eaef-e5e7-554b-8f25-e033b5cc8ce4)

Panic clawed at Michelle’s throat and clouded her vision. Every breath burned and her pulse pounded in her head. My baby’s gone. My baby’s gone. My baby’s gone!

A steadying hand gripped her arm and a man’s firm but gentle voice cut through the clamor of her thoughts. “Take a deep breath. I’m going to help you. Sit down over here and tell me everything that happened.”

Ethan Reynolds led her to a chair and someone brought her a cup of water. She drank it and struggled to control her breathing. “My little boy, Hunter, is missing,” she said. “Daniel Metwater took him, I know he did. He threatened to hurt him and now he’s done it.” She choked back a sob.

Ethan sat in a chair across from her, his knees almost touching hers, his hand firm on her shoulder. “Michelle, look at me,” he said.

She looked into brown eyes so full of concern and compassion that a fresh flood of tears filled her eyes. “I know it’s hard, but you have to be strong,” he said. “The more information you can tell us, the more we’ll have to use to find your baby. And we will do everything in our power to find him.”

He was right. She had to be strong. And she was strong. She wouldn’t have made it this long if she wasn’t. She took a deep breath and began. “I was in the shower,” she said. “We have this shower shack, with a plastic barrel of water on the roof. The sun warms the water and there’s a showerhead with a switch you can turn on and off. I took Hunter into the stall with me. He likes to play in the water and I wanted to keep an eye on him.” She had only turned away for a second...

“What happened then?” Ethan prompted, once more pulling her back from that awful abyss of panic.

“I had just turned on the water and was wetting my hair when someone dumped a bucket of paint over the side of the stall. The top is mostly open and I know there was some paint sitting around—the plan was to paint the shack, but no one had gotten around to it yet.” She was rambling, filling in too many details, but she couldn’t stop herself.

“Who dumped the paint—do you know?” A woman’s voice this time. Michelle turned her head and recognized Carmen Redhorse—the cop who had lived with them for a while. She and Michelle hadn’t exactly gotten along—Michelle had tried to scam the cop Carmen was now engaged to.

“I don’t know who threw the paint,” she said. “I couldn’t see anything. That was the problem. I had paint all over me—in my hair and in my eyes. I screamed and I was trying to wash it all out. I was worried about it drying that way, in my hair and my eyelashes. I turned the water on full blast and grabbed the shampoo. I couldn’t see or hear anything. By the time I got it all rinsed out, Hunter was gone. Someone must have reached in and grabbed him while I was blinded. Either Metwater or someone he ordered to take Hunter.”

“Why do you think it was Metwater?” Ethan asked.

“Because he said he would hurt Hunter if I didn’t keep quiet about what happened last night, and about what I knew about his brother.”

“So he is the one who hurt you last night?” Ethan asked.

“Yes. But I couldn’t tell you about it. I couldn’t tell anyone. I kept quiet, the way he said.” But it hadn’t made any difference, apparently.

“What was that about his brother?” Ethan asked.

She sighed. How could she make this cop understand, when the story was so convoluted? But she had to try. “My sister, my foster sister, Cass, dated Daniel Metwater’s twin brother, David. She thought she was in love with him, but she was worried. She had found out something about him—something bad. She wouldn’t tell me what it was, but she told me she was going to confront him. She thought this bad thing couldn’t possibly be true, that he would prove it wasn’t true and they could go on. Instead, she died that night of an apparent heroin overdose. But Cass didn’t use drugs. I know she didn’t. He killed her so she wouldn’t reveal the bad thing she had found out about him. I’m sure of it.”

“That’s terrible,” Carmen said. “But what does it have to do with Daniel Metwater?”

“Cass had a locket—gold, with a big diamond. She inherited it from her grandmother. She was wearing it the night she disappeared, but when police found her body, the locket was missing. A few days ago Asteria told me Daniel had showed her a gold locket and promised to give it to her baby. It sounded like Cass’s locket. If I could get hold of that, it would help me prove that there was a connection between Cass and the Metwaters. It might be enough to get the police to dig deeper into her death. More than anything, I want to clear her name and prove David Metwater was a murderer. It’s why I joined up with the Family in the first place.”

“So you went to Metwater’s motor home last night to get the locket,” Ethan said.

“Yes. Only he came back earlier than I expected and he caught me looking for it. He was furious. He started hitting me and telling me he was going to hurt Hunter, too. I thought he was going to beat me to death. Somehow I broke free and ran out of the trailer—that’s when you found me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this last night?” Ethan asked. She heard the frustration in his voice—she couldn’t blame him.

“I was afraid of him,” she said. “The way he beat on me, I’m sure he was ready to kill me. And I had to protect Hunter.”

“Did Daniel Metwater specifically threaten to take Hunter?” Carmen asked.

“He said he would hurt him. He said it last night, and again this morning. He stopped me on the way to the showers and he said if I wanted Hunter to stay safe, I needed to keep my mouth shut. I told him I would, but I guess he didn’t believe me.”