Missing In Blue Mesa
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“So you didn’t see him at all?”
“No. I waited a few seconds, then turned and left. I must have caught my foot on the step on my way out.” The cop, Ethan, hadn’t believed that lame story for even a minute, but Asteria was buying it the way the former socialite would once have snagged a coveted designer gown in her size.
“Did you see anyone else?” Asteria asked. “Either in the motor home or on your way there?”
Someone else? That was an interesting development. “Who?” she asked.
“Did you see Sunshine?”
“Sunshine?” Starfall tried and failed to match a face to that name.
“The girl who’s been hanging around lately.”
Ah! The girl who had been shamelessly flirting with Metwater. Starfall saw where this was going now. “No, I didn’t see her,” she said. She hadn’t seen anyone but Metwater and his fist.
“I knew those Rangers were lying,” Asteria said. “They told me that when they questioned the Prophet about what had happened to you, he told them he was with Sunshine. They were just trying to upset me so that I would tell lies about the Prophet.”
If you’re sleeping with a guy, it’s probably okay to call him by his first name, Michelle thought, but she kept quiet. Asteria—the former Andi Matheson—had bought Metwater’s line about being a holy seer one hundred percent. She was his favorite follower—and also his wealthiest—and she couldn’t even see the connection between his favoritism and her money. “What kind of lies did they want you to tell?” she asked.
“That he hit you. Which is ridiculous, because you know how much he hates violence.”
Right. “I’ve heard him say several times that he hates violence,” she agreed. Though he had had no trouble trying to beat her brains in last night. She still wasn’t sure how she had managed to break free and run for the door. If the two Rangers hadn’t been standing right outside, would he have pursued her and maybe even killed her?
She set down her coffee mug, suddenly sick to her stomach. “I need to take a shower,” she said. Some of the men had built a shower shack at the other end of camp. Water came from a plastic barrel that sat on top of the shack. The sun heated the water, and the plastic showerhead had an on-off switch that allowed the person showering to control the flow. It wasn’t the Ritz, but it wasn’t bad.
“Do you want me to watch Hunter while you do that?” Asteria asked.
“That’s okay. I’ll take him in with me.” Hunter liked to sit on the floor and play in the puddles that collected around her feet. Until she was sure she was safe, she wasn’t going to let the baby out of her sight.
She finished the coffee, then collected a towel, soap and shampoo, and picked up Hunter. “Let’s go take a shower, buddy,” she said, bouncing him on her hip. He giggled, dimples forming on either side of his mouth. Smiling in return, she headed toward the shower shack.
She had just turned onto the path to the shower when Daniel Metwater stepped out in front of her. She stumbled to a halt, heart racing, searching for a way out. But the woods grew close to the path on either side and Metwater blocked the way forward. She could turn and run, but he might be able to catch her.
She stood, frozen, as he approached and put a hand on her shoulder. “I heard you had a bad fall,” he said, gaze focused on her bruises. “Are you all right?”
The absurdity of his words, and the false concern in his voice, shocked her out of her fear. She stumbled back, wrenching away from him. “No, I am not all right.” She checked to make sure no one was close enough to overhear them. “And I didn’t fall. You and I both know it.”
“As long as no one else knows.” He wrapped his hand around Hunter’s arm. Now if she tried to pull away, the baby would be hurt. “I meant what I told you,” he said. “If you want Hunter to stay safe, you won’t say a word about this—or about that locket—to anyone.”
She wanted to spit in his face—to tell him that she was going to expose his brother as a murderer and him as a fraud. But she couldn’t do that. She had to protect her son, and find a way to keep them both safe until she could get the proof she needed. “I know how to keep my mouth shut,” she said. “I haven’t told anyone about what I know, and I’ve been here for months.”
“Make sure you don’t.”
She left, wanting to run but forcing herself to walk. She could feel his gaze boring into her back all the way to the shower shack, and when she reached the shack and glanced back, he was still watching, the hatred in his expression making her tremble all the way to her toes.
* * *
SUNSHINE HARTFORD VIBRATED like a terrified rabbit. Her left leg bounced and her upper lip twitched as she stared, wide-eyed, at the trio of officers gathered around her at Ranger Brigade Headquarters. Ethan and Agent Carmen Redhorse had picked her up at her apartment in Montrose and brought her in for questioning, thinking if they could rattle her a little she would be more likely to confess the truth.
But Ethan hadn’t intended to frighten her so badly she couldn’t speak. “You don’t have anything to worry about, Miss Hartford,” he tried to reassure her. “You haven’t done anything wrong. We only want your help in drawing a clear picture of what happened last night at Daniel Metwater’s motor home.”
“A woman was injured.” Carmen leaned toward the young woman, her voice soft but firm. “You can help us find who hurt her.”
“I... I was with the Prophet,” she stammered. “You saw me there.”
“How long had you been with him?” Ethan asked.
“He told you. We had been there an hour.”
“Yes, that’s what he told us, but that can’t be right, can it?” Ethan tried to keep his tone conversational, nonaccusatory. “Was the bonfire even over that long?”
She squirmed like a kid who had to go to the bathroom. “I didn’t have a watch with me.”
“Did you hear or see anyone else in the motor home while you were there?” Ethan asked. “Maybe someone in another room?”
She shook her head. “No. When you’re with the Prophet, it’s as if no one else is around.”
Out of view of Sunshine, Carmen rolled her eyes. “Did he say anything to you about anyone else?” Ethan asked. “Did he mention anyone by name?”
“He said if I saw Asteria, I had to pretend I hadn’t been with him,” she said.
“And you were okay with that?” Carmen asked. “Lying to another woman?”
“It wouldn’t be lying, exactly,” Sunshine said. “And I would be obeying the Prophet. You can’t be a good disciple if you aren’t obedient.”
A classic manipulator’s line, Ethan thought.
“Did you know that lying to the police is against the law?” Ethan asked.
“The Prophet answers to the highest law. I’m sure he wouldn’t ask me to do anything harmful.”
“So you admit you’re lying,” Ethan said.
Her expression clouded. “I haven’t seen or spoken to Asteria,” she said. “So I haven’t had to lie about anything.”
“What about how much time you spent with Metwater?” Carmen asked. “Are you lying about that?”
She wrinkled her nose, and her voice took on a strident edge. “I told you—I don’t wear a watch. I wasn’t keeping track of the time. He said it was an hour, so it must be an hour.”
“All right,” Ethan said. “Take me through the sequence of events last night. When did you arrive at camp?”
“The fire circle is always at dusk, so I got to the camp a little before—about eight thirty.”
“What next?”
“I walked into camp. The bonfire was going and a lot of Family members were already there. I found some women I knew and stood with them. We waited about fifteen minutes and then the Prophet came out.” A smile transformed her from sulky teen to beautiful woman. “He was wearing a loincloth and had painted his face. He was beautiful.”
“And he does what at these fire circles?” Every cult had its rituals. The researcher in Ethan was curious about Metwater’s rituals.
“First, he gave us a message about how we should live. He talked about sharing—about how the rest of the world lives in an economy based on hoarding, but in the Family, everyone shares, and that makes everyone better off, instead of only a few people.”
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
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.”
“What did you do when you discovered Hunter was missing?” Ethan asked.
“I pulled on my clothes and ran out of the shower, calling for him. I thought maybe he wandered off. I stopped everyone I met and asked if they had seen him, but no one had. Then I went to Metwater’s motor home and pounded on the door. I screamed that I wanted my baby. He said he didn’t know anything about my baby and I needed to stop being so hysterical.” She could have killed Metwater in that moment. She had tried to push past him, to search for Hunter, but he had two of his bodyguards hold her back. “I accused him of taking Hunter and he told everyone I had lost my mind. After that no one would help me, so I came here.” She slumped forward, head in her hands. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“We’ll help you.” Ethan took one hand and gently pulled it away from her face. “We’ll put out an Amber Alert for Hunter. Everyone will be looking for him. We’ll search the camp and we’ll question Metwater. We’ll find your son.”
She nodded. If they acted quickly, maybe Metwater wouldn’t have had time to take Hunter away somewhere.
“All those articles you had collected about David and Daniel Metwater,” Carmen said. “The ones I found in your trunk—they were because of your sister?”
Michelle stared at the other woman for a moment, before she remembered that Carmen had, indeed, searched her trunk—and she had discovered the item Michelle had been using to blackmail the Fish and Game officer Carmen was now engaged to. “I didn’t know you had seen the articles,” she said.
“I didn’t read them all,” Carmen said. “But I looked through them enough to see they were all about Daniel and David Metwater. I thought maybe you were trying to blackmail him, too.”
“I wish,” Michelle said. “I saved every article I could find, hoping it would give me some clue as to what really happened to Cass that night. The local police wouldn’t believe she had been murdered, so they weren’t doing anything about it. It was up to me.”
“So you decided to join Daniel Metwater’s family,” Ethan said.
“Yes. I called myself Starfall because I didn’t want to risk Metwater recognizing the name. Cass and I weren’t related by blood—her family took me in as their foster child when I was a teenager, but Cass might have mentioned me, so I thought it was safer to assume a fake name. A lot of the people who join his family do that. Asteria did it. She used to be some wealthy socialite.”
“Do you mind if I call you Michelle?” Ethan asked. “At least when Metwater isn’t around?”
She nodded. “I’d like that. Since he took my baby, I don’t want to have anything to do with him.” She sat up straighter. “And I don’t care if he knows who I really am now. I’m not going to let him get away with this.”
“Neither are we.” Ethan’s expression was grim. “I promise you—neither are we.”
* * *
HALF AN HOUR later Ethan glanced over at the woman who sat in the passenger seat of his FJ Cruiser. Starfall—Michelle—was still pale, the bruises around her mouth from where Metwater had hit her last night a painful-looking purple. “You hanging in there?” he asked.
She nodded and turned toward him. “What do you think he’s done with Hunter?”
“I don’t know.” It wasn’t the answer she wanted, but it was all he had to give her. “Would Hunter have gone with him willingly, do you think?”
“Probably. He’s a friendly boy, and he’s never had any reason to be afraid of anyone or anything. I made sure of that.”
“What about his father?”
She stiffened. “What about him?”
“Is it possible he would take the boy? That happens sometimes with custody disputes.”
“No.” She shook her head, curls bouncing. “He’s been out of the picture for months now. He was a mistake.”
“Still, he might decide he wants his son.” Ethan couldn’t imagine having a child who wasn’t a part of his life. “What’s his name? We can check his whereabouts.”
“It’s Greg Warbush. The last I heard he was in Seattle. But you’re wasting your time looking for him. He wouldn’t take Hunter. Greg was never even interested in him. He even said he wasn’t sure Hunter was his.” She shrugged. “Maybe he was right.”
Ethan tried not to let his feelings show on his face, but his expression must have betrayed something, because she said, “I was in a bad place after Cass died. She was the only family I really had—the only person I was close to. I went off the deep end, drinking and sleeping around. I snapped out of it when I found out I was pregnant. I didn’t want my kid growing up the way I had—unwanted. I straightened up and tried to make it work with Greg, but I guess when you start out that way, the relationship is doomed.”
The way she said that word—unwanted—as if it was just another fact in her life—sent a chill through him. Ethan’s parents had always been there for him. He couldn’t imagine living a life where the only person you cared about—the only person you thought cared about you—was a foster sibling.
“Is there anyone else who might want to harm you or your son?” he asked. “Someone with a grudge against you? Someone who is angry with you, for whatever reason?”
She sighed and tilted her head back to stare up at the ceiling. “I’m sure you’ve talked to Officer Redhorse. If you have, you know I’m not the most popular person in camp. I’m not the kind of person who gets close to other people, and I’ve done things to make enemies.”
“What kind of things?”
“I find out people’s secrets and use that to get them to do what I want.” Her eyes flashed, defiant.
“You mean blackmail?”
“Nobody in camp has any money. And most people don’t have big secrets, either. But if I need a guy to fix my car and he says no, I’ll snoop around until I catch him doing something like siphoning gas out of the Prophet’s ride and I’ll threaten to tell unless he make the repairs I need. I’m not saying I’m proud of it, but I do what I have to do to survive.”
Part of him could admire her resourcefulness, even if he didn’t approve of her methods. “By your silence, I can tell you don’t approve,” she said. “But don’t worry. I promise I won’t try to scam you.”
“I think I’m smart enough to spot a scam,” he said.
“Did I mention that I’m very, very good?”
Her teasing tone gave him hope—she was holding it together under horrendous circumstances. That told him more about her strength than any show of force. “Thanks for warning me,” he said.
* * *
ONLY A COUPLE of vehicles sat in the parking area outside Metwater’s camp. Ethan parked his vehicle, and two other Ranger units slid in beside him. Task force members Carmen Redhorse, Simon Woolridge, Marco Cruz and Michael Dance fell in behind Ethan as Michelle led the way up the trail through the woods. She was practically running as she neared the compound. They emerged into the clearing and the first thing that struck him was the silence. No children played, no one lounged in front of the camps, no groups stood around talking. “Where is everyone?” Michelle asked, looking around.