offense, but I don’t need your help. My job is to solve this case and find your sister.”
She opened her mouth to argue, then thought better of it. He had agreed to what she wanted, so she might as well stay in his good graces—for now. “Do you think this man—Metwater—had something to do with Jenny’s disappearance?” she asked.
“We don’t know,” Ryan said. “Right now, let’s just say he’s a person of interest.”
“That means he’s a suspect,” she said, her heart beating faster again.
“I didn’t say that. If you come with me, you can’t do anything to interfere with the investigation and you can’t share anything we see or do with reporters. Especially not with Eric Patterson.”
She made a face. “I don’t have any desire to talk to him. Maybe it’s petty, but he rubs me the wrong way.”
He nodded, as if he agreed with her. “When you meet Metwater, maybe you can tell us if he’s someone who would have interested Jenny—would she have followed him into the wilderness?”
She swallowed past the sudden tightness in her throat. “And the more important question—if she did, why didn’t she come back?”
Daniel Metwater and his followers had set up camp in a shady grove near a freshwater spring at the base of Mystic Mesa. Ryan parked his cruiser next to a dilapidated pickup, and Ethan slid his vehicle in next to Ryan’s. “I don’t see anything,” Jana said, climbing out of Ryan’s vehicle and looking around. Though the sun was slipping toward the horizon, casting long shadows from the trees and boulders, there was still plenty of daylight left this time of year.
“It’s up in the trees through here.” Ethan pointed to a narrow path into the underbrush. He led the way, with Jana following and Ryan bringing up the rear.
They had only walked about ten yards when a shirtless man with blond dreadlocks stepped out in front of them. He carried a heavy wooden staff, which would have made an effective weapon. He took in the two uniformed officers and scarcely glanced at Jana, then settled on Ethan. “Is there a problem, Officer?” he asked.
“We have some questions for Mr. Metwater,” Ethan said, and started to move past him.
Blondie stepped in front of them, holding the stick across his body. “I’m not supposed to let anyone into camp without permission?” His voice rose in a question at the end of the sentence and he looked doubtful.
“This badge means we don’t need permission.” Ethan stepped toward him again. Blondie glanced at Ryan, then moved off the path. The two officers and Jana filed by and entered a clearing around which were clustered a ragtag collection of tents, trailers and makeshift shacks. A dozen or more adults, most of them young women, and half-a-dozen small children milled around the area.
A tall man with a sharp, intelligent face looked up from a conversation with an attractive pregnant woman. Dark curls framed classically handsome features, but a scowl wrinkled his brow, and at the sight of the newcomers, everyone around him and the woman shrank away. “Hello, Mr. Metwater.” Ethan addressed him. “Ms. Mattheson.”
“Asteria, you may wait for me in the motor home,” Metwater said. Ryan realized the blonde must be Andi Mattheson. According to the information Simon had given him, she was the daughter of a former senator and perhaps Daniel Metwater’s most famous disciple. Without a second glance at the visitors, she slipped away.
“I thought we had reached an understanding that the Rangers were not to harass me and my family anymore,” Metwater said. “Or did my attorneys not make that clear enough?”
Ryan pulled out his phone, woke it to display the photo of Jennifer Lassiter and turned the screen toward Metwater. “Have you seen this woman?” he asked.
Metwater peered at the image and shook his head. “No. Who is she?”
“How about this one?” Ryan scrolled to a photo of Alicia Mendoza.
“No.” Metwater folder his arms over his muscular chest. “What is this about?”
“Do the names Jennifer Lassiter or Alicia Mendoza mean anything to you?”
Instead of answering, Metwater turned to Jana. “Who are you?” he asked. “You don’t look like a cop.”
“I’m Jana Lassiter,” she said, pale but composed. “Jennifer Lassiter is my sister. She disappeared yesterday, from the archaeological dig near here.”
Metwater turned back to the officers. “So of course you think I had something to do with this woman’s disappearance, even though I’ve never met her or even heard of her.”
Before Ryan or Ethan could speak, Jana stepped between them and Metwater. “Jenny had your blog bookmarked on her computer,” she said. “She had been reading it right before she disappeared. We were hoping she came here to meet you.”
Metwater’s expression softened, and Ryan had a sense of the kind of charm that might persuade people that he had the answers they were seeking. “I’m sorry I can’t help you,” he said. “I never met your sister.” He turned to the Rangers. “What about this other woman? Was she a fan of mine, also? I have many people who are interested in the message I have to share, but my aim is to help, not harm.”
“Alicia Mendoza also disappeared very near here,” Ethan said. “She was traveling through the area with a group of illegal immigrants. It’s possible she became lost and sought refuge in your camp.”
“Many things are possible,” Metwater said. “But she never came here.”
“What about Easy? Has he been around lately?” Ethan asked.
Ryan had to think a moment to remember who Ethan was referring to. Some notes from an earlier interview with the women in Metwater’s camp had mentioned someone named Easy who had been seen with Lucia Raton when she left the Family’s camp.
“I haven’t seen him, no,” Metwater said. “He’s not a member of the Family.”
“But he hangs out here sometimes, we understand,” Ethan said.
“I don’t require visitors to sign in and out.”
“So it’s possible Alicia Mendoza or Jennifer Lassiter were here and you didn’t know about it,” Ryan said.
“It’s possible,” Metwater said. “But not probable.” He glared at them, defiant.
“If you hear anything about either woman—or about Easy—please let us know,” Ethan said.
“We avoid mixing with the outside world as much as possible,” Metwater said.
“Yet you welcome new members.” Ryan looked around the camp—there didn’t seem to be a shortage of people who wanted to join Metwater’s group, despite the primitive living conditions.
“People come to me seeking a retreat from the false atmosphere of so-called civilized life,”
