Manhunt On Mystic Mesa

Ryan started toward the pair, but Ethan stopped him. “We’ll get back to those two later. In the meantime, let’s talk to a few of the faithful.” He nodded to Jana. “Mingle with the women and see what you can find out. Even if these people didn’t have anything to do with your sister’s disappearance, they might have seen or heard something.”

“All right.”

The two officers moved away, leaving her standing by herself. She tried to ignore the nervous flutter in her stomach and headed toward a group of women who stood in front of a large white tent near the motor home. At her approach, they all turned as if to retreat into the tent. “Please, don’t leave,” she called out. “I’m not a police officer. I just want to talk to you.”

“You’re with the police.” A severe-looking woman with curly brown hair addressed her in a scolding tone. “You want to hassle us, the way they always do.”

“I don’t want to hassle anyone,” Jana said. “I’m only trying to find my sister.” She turned her phone toward them to show a recent photograph she had taken of Jenny, who was smiling broadly and looked so young and happy and alive. It didn’t seem real that she could have simply vanished.

“We don’t know her,” the pregnant blonde who had been with Metwater when Jana and the others had arrived in camp said, not unkindly. “We can’t help you.”

“The archaeological dig where she worked is very close to here,” Jana said. “Did you know anyone else from there?”

The women exchanged glances. “We didn’t know anyone,” the oldest of the trio, with white-blond hair and pale eyes said.

“But you know something about them you’re not telling me,” Jana said. She hadn’t missed the significance of the look between them.

“We visited them a few times,” the pretty blonde said. “They showed us some of the pottery shards and other artifacts they found.”

“Who showed you?” Jana asked.

“Not your sister,” the brown-haired woman said. “We never talked to her.”

Jana slumped, trying to hide her disappointment.

“We saw her, though,” the older woman said. “She was with that reporter.”

“Eric?” Jana asked.

“Yeah. That one.” The brown-haired woman’s sour expression left little doubt of her opinion of Eric Patterson. “They were arguing. Pretty loudly, too.”

“What were they arguing about?” Jana asked.

The pretty blonde shook her head. “We couldn’t tell, but she was pretty upset. At one point she shoved him.”

“What did he do?” Jana asked.

“Nothing,” the blonde said. “He was pretty calm about the whole thing, but she was really worked up.”

“Did you overhear anything at all?” Jana asked. “Could you guess what she was upset about?”

All three women shook their heads. “They were standing too far away,” the older woman said.

“I saw her one other time,” the brown-haired woman said. “I went by myself a few weeks ago to try to sell some stuff I had found to the head guy.”

“What kind of stuff?” Jana asked.

“Some arrowheads and spear points, but he said the items I had weren’t worth anything. A woman who looked a lot like the picture you showed us was with him when I got there. They looked pretty friendly.” She smirked.

“What do you mean, ‘friendly’?” Jana asked.

“They were kissing,” the brown-haired woman said. “Going at it pretty hot and heavy, too,” she said. “When I showed up they broke it off and the girl hurried away.”

“But I’m sure Professor Eddleston is married,” Jana said, trying to absorb this new information.

“He was wearing a ring,” the brown-haired woman said. “So maybe instead of thinking the Prophet had anything to do with your sister’s disappearance, you should check out her professor’s wife.”

Chapter Four (#u4c111fe1-4b95-562e-beaf-7ee15f9d5e1d)

Ryan and Ethan’s questions to Metwater’s followers turned up nothing of interest. Most people the two officers approached turned away, disappearing into tents or trailers or slipping into the surrounding trees. Others were polite but responded to all questions with bland comments about the weather. No one would admit to having seen or heard of any of the missing women, or the mysterious Easy. “We’re wasting our time here,” Ryan said, turning away from an affable redhead who, when asked about the missing women, commented on the mild temperatures for this time of year.

“Metwater probably coached them on what to say to us,” Ethan said. “Non-confrontational, but also completely unhelpful.”

“I’d almost prefer confrontation.” Ryan looked around and spotted Jana with a trio of women across the camp. As he and Ethan approached, the women hurried away. “Are you ready to leave?” he asked.

“Yes.” Not waiting for a response, she turned and walked ahead of them to the parking area. She was standing by Ryan’s cruiser when he arrived, and said nothing as they climbed into the vehicle and drove away.

“Something bugging you?” he asked, after another long minute of silence.

“Hmm?” She glanced at him, worry lines creasing her forehead.

“You’re being awfully quiet. I thought maybe you were upset about something.”

She looked away again, gaze fixed on the horizon. Ryan focused on the rough road, giving her time. He hoped she would trust him enough to share what was on her mind, whether it related to the case or not. “If you had asked me two days ago if I was close to my sister, I would have said yes. We were as close as two people could be,” she said after a moment. “But now I feel like I was just lying to myself. I don’t know Jenny at all. I’m asking people questions about her that I think I know the answers to, and the person they’re describing to me is a stranger.”

“Maybe it’s not that you didn’t know your sister, but that other people see her differently,” he said.

“I didn’t know about her engagement to Eric Patterson.” She half turned to face him once more. “And just now, one of Daniel Metwater’s followers told me she saw Jenny kissing Jeremy Eddleston.”

That was a twist Ryan hadn’t seen coming. “When did they see this? And where?”

“Last week. At the dig site. They said it was a very passionate kiss.”

“Maybe they misinterpreted. Or even if they didn’t, it’s not that unusual for coworkers to become involved.”

“Eddleston is married,” Jana said. “And he’s old enough to be Jenny’s father. Why would she become involved with an older, married man—one of her professors?”

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, her obvious distress making him want to reach for her—or to shake the person who had upset her so much. “From what little I’ve learned, your sister does strike me as smarter than that,” he said. “But young people do make mistakes.”

“She never said a word to me about being interested in Eddleston,” she said. “But then, she wouldn’t, would she? She would know I wouldn’t approve.” She faced forward once more, hands knotted in her lap. “Should I ask him about it? Or will I only make things worse if I confront him? Jenny would say I’m interfering—that it’s none of my business.”

“I’ll take you back to your car, then I’ll talk to him,” he said.

“No. I want to go with you. I want to see his face when you confront him with this.”

He stifled a groan. Did they have to go through this again? “I can’t have you there when I question a potential suspect,” he said.

“Why not?” she asked. “He’s more likely to let down his guard with me there, don’t you think? And I’ve already proved I can be useful to you, haven’t I?”