Missing in Blue Mesa Page 5

  “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.

  “We’ll spread out and check things out,” Marco said.

  “I’ll see if Metwater is home,” Ethan said. He headed for the motor home and rapped on the door. It opened quickly. Asteria scowled at him. “If you’re looking for the Prophet, he’s not here,” she said. “He’s with the others, searching for Hunter.” She frowned at Michelle. “Why did you bring the cops here? Why aren’t you searching for your boy?”

  Michelle shoved past Asteria, into the motor home. “Was Hunter here?” she asked. “Did you see him?”

  Asteria looked confused. “What do you mean? Of course he wasn’t here.”

  “Daniel Metwater threatened to hurt him,” Michelle said. “He was near the shower shack before I went in. He must have seen his chance and snatched my baby to frighten me.”

  Asteria took a step back until she was pressed against the wall. “You need to leave,” she said. “The Prophet told us you were crazy and I didn’t want to believe him, but I see it’s true.”

  Ethan put his hand on Michelle’s shoulder—she practically vibrated with anger, and he was sure if he hadn’t been there to hold her back she would have launched herself at Asteria. “Where is Metwater now?” he asked.

  Asteria didn’t take her eyes off Michelle as she answered, “He and the others are searching the woods just outside camp past the shower shack. We thought Hunter might have wandered into there—he’s barely crawling, so he couldn’t have gone far.”

  “Let’s go.” Ethan led Michelle toward the door. “Maybe they’ve found something.”

  That bit of hope got her moving. But when they were outside, she glanced over her shoulder, back toward the motor home. “She would lie for him,” she said. “But I can’t believe she would do anything to harm Hunter. She loved him.”

  “Maybe she really doesn’t know anything.” He put a hand at her back. “Show me this shower shack.”

  She led him across the clearing, past a cluster of tents, to another narrow path that cut through thick underbrush. Halfway along, she stopped. “Metwater threatened me here,” she said, halting a few dozen yards down the path, where trees closed in on either side. “He must have cut through the underbrush and been waiting for me.”

  “Did he follow you after he talked to you?” Ethan asked.

  “He started walking back toward camp, but he could have turned around when he was out of sight.”

  They continued to a wooden hut, open at the top except for a platform, on which sat a blue plastic barrel. The door to the hut was open A bearded young man was inside, painting the walls a light blue-gray. “What are you doing?” Michelle demanded.

  He stopped in mid-brushstroke. “The Prophet told me to paint in here,” he said.

  “Why aren’t you out searching with everyone else?” she asked.

  “He told me it was more important to paint.”

  “Were there any paint marks on the walls before you started?” Ethan asked. The young man must have been working for a while—all four walls were mostly coated with paint.

  The man scratched his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t pay any attention. Anyway, I’m almost finished.”

  Ethan nudged Michelle. “Let’s find Metwater,” he said. He could hear voices now, perhaps a sign the searchers were nearby.

  “That’s the same color paint that was dumped on me,” she said. “Metwater must have ordered it painted to hide the evidence.”

  “Maybe.” The voices grew louder and they emerged into a second clearing, this one empty of dwellings, but full of people. Ethan spotted Metwater right away—with his long, dark hair and all-white clothing, he stood out amidst his ragtag group of followers. “Metwater, I want to talk to you,” he called.

  Metwater raised his head and fixed his gaze first on Michelle. Ethan couldn’t read his expression. When his gaze shifted to Ethan, Metwater looked calm—too calm. “I understand a child went missing from camp,” Ethan said as he and Michelle approached the self-appointed Prophet.

  “His mother reported him missing,” Metwater said. “We haven’t found any sign of foul play—and no sign of the child.”

  “He’s missing because you took him,” Michelle said.

  Metwater turned away from her to address Ethan. “Officer, could I have a word with you? In private?”

  “You’ll be all right here for a moment, won’t you?” Ethan asked Michelle.

  She gave a stiff nod, then looked away.

  He walked a short distance away with Metwater. “This is far enough,” Ethan said, turning so that he could keep an eye on Michelle. She looked very vulnerable and alone standing there, arms folded and shoulders hunched, hair falling forward to hide her face.

  “I’m guessing she came to you with a wild story about my having kidnapped her child,” Metwater said.

  Ethan said nothing.

  Metwater sighed. “I don’t blame Starfall,” he said. “She’s had a very hard time of it since her partner left. She’s not well liked in camp, though I’ve done my best to make her feel a part of the Family. Some people simply aren’t emotionally equipped for bonding.”

  “What are you getting at?” Ethan gave him a hard look. “You don’t think her son is missing?”

  “Hunter isn’t here,” Metwater said. “But I don’t think any of our members are responsible for his disappearance. I’m certainly not.”

  “What do you think happened?” Ethan asked.

  “I think Starfall hid the child away to draw attention to herself and to make trouble for me.”

  Michelle’s distress over her son hadn’t been faked; Ethan was sure of it. No one was that cold. “What makes you say that?” he asked.

  “I told you, she has been under a lot of strain. All these wild fantasies about me harming her or the child.” He spread his arms wide. “I live in a camp full of women and children and I’ve never laid a hand on any of them. Why would I? What would I gain from harming any one of them?”

  If Ethan could discover the answer to that question, he would be one step closer to the truth. “She says you have a locket that belonged to her late foster sister,” he said.

  Metwater’s expression hardened. “She’s a liar, Officer. Spend enough time with her and you’ll lear
n that.”

  “We’ll talk more later,” Ethan said, and moved back to Michelle’s side. The raw hope in her eyes at his approach sent a physical ache through him. He would have given a lot to be able to share good news with her at that moment. “I’m sorry,” he said. “He says he doesn’t know anything.”

  “He hasn’t had time to take Hunter very far away,” she said. “He must be somewhere nearby. Maybe someone is hiding him in one of the trailers. We should look now, while everyone is gone.” She moved past him, headed back down the path toward camp. But she had taken only a few steps when a clamor rose behind them.

  Together they turned to see a tall, bare-chested man with red hair running toward Metwater, something in his hand. He showed Metwater the item and they exchanged a few words. Then Metwater turned and motioned Ethan and Michelle over.

  “What have you found?” Ethan asked.

  “It’s a child’s sock.” Metwater turned to the redhead. “Show him, Eugene.”

  Eugene opened his hand to reveal a small white sock—white except for a reddish brown stain dampening the heel.

  “That looks like Hunter’s sock,” Michelle said. “The one he was wearing.” She reached for it, but Ethan stopped her. “Where did you find that?” he asked Eugene.

  “Not far. I can show you.”

  “What’s that on the heel?” Michelle asked. She leaned forward for a closer look.

  “I believe it’s blood,” Metwater said. “Very fresh, and quite a lot of it.”

  Ethan wanted to throttle him for taking such pleasure in shocking Michelle. But he didn’t have time for that now. “We don’t know what it is right now,” he said. “Or where it came from. It might not even belong to Hunter.”

  But his words were too late to provide any comfort. Michelle blanched dead white, and with a keening wail she slumped to the ground.

  Chapter Five

  Michelle was making a habit of waking up in Ethan’s arms. Under other circumstances, it wouldn’t be a bad way to return to consciousness. But before she had time to enjoy the pleasant sensation of being cradled in his strength, the memory of that bloody sock flooded back, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from wailing.

  “Take it easy,” he said, supporting her into a sitting position. She was on the ground, Ethan beside her and people standing all around her. She recognized people from the camp, as well as some of the officers who had come into camp with them.

  “I’m fine,” she said. She had to be. She had to keep it together for Hunter. Gripping Ethan’s arm, she pushed herself to her feet. “I want to see where they found that sock.”

  She thought Ethan might argue with her, but instead, he turned to Eugene. “Show us where you found it,” he said.

  “Uh, sure. Over here.” Eugene led the way and half the camp fell in alongside them, including Metwater.

  “You people all have to stay back!” one of the officers—the good-looking Hispanic guy named Marco—said. He and the other two men—Simon and Michael—herded the crowd back. Ethan, Michelle and Metwater kept following Eugene, who stopped in a brushy area maybe one hundred yards from the edge of camp. The ground all around them was trampled and dusty.

  “It was hanging on a branch here,” Eugene said. “Or anyways, really near here. I didn’t mark the exact place.”

  Ethan knelt and examined the ground. “No sign of blood anywhere around here,” he said. He stood and took out an evidence bag, dropped the sock in and labeled it.

  Michelle longed to hold that sock, to cradle it in her hand, to put her nose to it and see if her son’s scent still lingered. But she couldn’t do that. That little sock was evidence now. But evidence of what? She refused to let herself dwell on the possible answers to that question.

  Marco and Carmen joined them. “We need to get these people out of here and get a crime scene team in here,” Carmen said.

  “And we need to conduct our own search for the missing boy,” Ethan said. “Starting with the camp.”

  “I can’t allow you to search our homes without a warrant,” Metwater said.

  “We’re talking about a missing baby,” Ethan said. “If you don’t want to cooperate, I promise you we can get a warrant.”

  “What are you hiding, Metwater?” Marco asked.

  “You’re wasting your time,” Metwater said. “While you’re conducting a useless and intrusive search of the camp, the real kidnapper will be getting away.”

  “So you’re willing to admit now that Michelle’s son is missing?” Ethan asked.

  “Is that what she told you her name was? Are you sure that’s not another lie?”

  Michelle didn’t know if she had ever hated another man as much as she hated Daniel Metwater at this moment. The power of her rage frightened her. “You’re one to talk of lies,” she said. “Your whole life is a lie. All these people think you’re some great spiritual teacher, but I know the truth.”

  Something flashed in Metwater’s eyes—something very like fear. But the expression was quickly masked. “You will leave this camp at once,” he said. “You are no longer welcome here.”

  “I won’t leave without my son.”

  Ethan put a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go back to your tent,” he said. “You can wait there while we search.”

  “I want to help search,” she said.

  “The best thing is for you to wait,” he said. “I know it’s hard, but I promise we’ll let you know as soon as we find anything.”

  She waited until they were at her tent before she spoke again. “My name really is Michelle,” she said. “I have my birth certificate. And my driver’s license. I can show you.”

  “You don’t have to show me,” he said. “I believe you.”

  She had to look away then, afraid he would see in her eyes how much his words meant to her. She cleared her throat. “What are you going to do while I wait?”

  “One of our team members has a dog who’s trained in search and rescue,” he said. “We’ll get him out here and hope they can pick up a trail.”

  She looked around the tent, at the empty crib, the box of diapers, the baby blanket draped across the end of her cot. “I feel so helpless,” she said.

  “Do you want me to call someone to stay with you?” he asked.

  “No. I’d rather be alone. I’m used to it.”

  He put his hand on her shoulder again, and she gave in to the urge to rest her cheek against it, for just a moment. Then she remembered who this was—a cop she scarcely knew—and she straightened and stepped away. “I’ll be all right,” she said. “Go—and find my baby.”

  When he was gone, she sank onto the cot and picked up the baby blanket. Hunter, don’t be scared, baby. Mommy is going to find you.

  * * *

  “IF THERE WAS a scent here, I know she’d find it, but the scene is too compromised.” Customs and Border Patrol Agent Randall Knightbridge stroked the neck of his Belgian Malinois, Lotte, who sat by his side, panting heavily. The dog and Randall had spent the last hour carefully searching the area from Michelle’s tent to the shower shack to the place where the sock had been found. Lotte had alerted a few times, but every time the trail petered out after only a few yards.

  “Thanks for trying.” Ethan gave the dog a pat and surveyed the stretch of trampled ground extending fifty yards or more past the general boundaries of Daniel Metwater’s camp. “No sign of blood, either, so I guess that’s a good thing.”

  “Lotte definitely would have picked up any human blood,” Randall said. “People walking over that wouldn’t hide the scent from her nose.”

  Carmen, Michael and Marco joined them. “We searched the last of the tents and trailers,” Michael said. “No sign of the missing kid.”

  “We found a few illegal drugs and some questionable IDs, but no sign of an out-of-place toddler,” Carmen said. �
�For what it’s worth, most people seem pretty upset about Hunter’s disappearance.”

  “Nobody is offering up any clues to what happened, though,” Marco said. “No one else was around the shower this morning.”

  “No one will admit to hearing Metwater threaten Starfall or her baby,” Michael said.

  “Her name is Michelle,” Ethan said. “She only used Starfall so Metwater wouldn’t realize she’s related to a woman his brother was dating, who died under mysterious circumstances.”

  “If Metwater took the child, he got him out of here in a hurry,” Marco said. “How much time do you estimate passed between when Starfall—I mean Michelle—discovered him missing and we got here?”

  “About two hours,” Ethan said. “Plenty of time to give the kid to someone else to hide.”

  “Or to kill him and bury the body,” Michael said, his expression grim.

  “We need to get the blood on that sock tested,” Ethan said.

  “I’ll take it to the lab this evening,” Carmen said. “Meanwhile, what are we going to do about Michelle?”

  “I don’t think it’s safe for her to stay here,” Ethan said. “Metwater already beat her up once.”

  “He kicked her out, didn’t he?” Michael asked. “Does she have any family or friends in town she can stay with?”

  “I don’t think so,” Ethan said.

  “We can try to find a place for her at the women’s shelter,” Carmen said. “Though they’re usually pretty full.”

  “The other half of my duplex is vacant,” Ethan said. “Maybe she could stay there.”

  “If she could put up with having you for a neighbor,” Michael said.

  Carmen looked thoughtful. “It might not be a bad idea. She’d be safe, but close by if we needed her.”

  And she wouldn’t have to be alone, Ethan thought. The emptiness in her voice when she had told him she was used to being by herself pulled at something deep inside him. She might be hard and a little prickly, but he figured she had her reasons. He might not be able to bring her son back to her tonight, but he could show her he was on her side.