Missing In Blue Mesa

“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.”