“I need to get up on the Mesa and I need you to help me.” Jason announced solemnly as Mark sat there with a look of bemusement on his face.
“What do you want me to do about it, take you up there tonight and get grounded for the rest of my life?”
“No, but if you take me in the morning you can be back by the time your third class starts and your folks won’t ever know the difference.”
“And what am I supposed to tell them when I come home from school without you tomorrow?”
“Just tell them that my dad got back from his assignment and he showed up at school to get me. You can say we had an emergency and left to go back to California and nobody will ever have to find out. Please, Mark, it’s really important and I wouldn’t ask if there was anybody else.”
The look in Jason’s eyes was so compelling that Mark found he couldn’t turn away from his new friend, no matter what the consequences.
“Okay, we’ll leave in the morning when it’s time to go to school and we’ll take my bike so you’ll have some wheels. Now, tell me what’s going on,” Mark demanded.
Jason was grateful that Mark was going to help him either way, but he didn’t want to leave him completely out of the loop in case there was trouble later on.
“You’re going to think this is crazy, but you know that woman who’s missing, the one with the two little girls?” Jason reminded his friend, who just nodded and waited for him to finish.
“Well, my dad thinks she’s at a cabin up by one of the lakes, and so do I. But the police haven’t found her, I guess, or we would have heard about it. My dad’s up there now and I think he’s staking out the place.”
“So you want to go up there and back him up. Is that it?” Mark interrupted in total disbelief. “This isn’t some TV show where you go around ‘staking people out and backing them up’ you know, that just sounds ridiculous!” Mark admonished his friend with a fling of his hands to show how disgusted he was with the whole idea.
“I told you you’d think it was crazy, but it’s really happening and I don’t want my dad up there alone if something goes wrong.” Jason was obviously worried. He must have gotten through to Mark with the seriousness of his tone that he would find a way to do what he wanted, even if he didn’t have Mark’s help.
“Well, it’s your ass if you and your old man get caught sneaking around on somebody’s property. Aw, what the hell. I really hate my morning Biology class anyway.” His face lit up with a grin at the thought of skipping school to do something this exciting.
Jason hadn’t realized how tense he’d been about asking Mark for help, and now he was so relieved that he flopped back onto the bed and took several deep breaths to steady himself. He knew that even if there wasn’t really any danger involved, his dad was going to kill him for showing up on that mountain. Jason crossed his fingers, thinking that with just a little luck, his dad would never even need to know he was there.
*****
Ben was drenched in a cold sweat, his heart pounding so hard he could feel his whole body vibrate from the percussion. The dream had come to him so often and with such clarity that he wasn’t sure any more what was real and what was fantasy. The moon had been full this time in his dream, a detail he hadn’t ever noticed before. Wasn’t there going to be a full moon tonight? Ben was sure that this new element was significant.
Combined with the bizarre behavior of the teenager last night, there was no longer any doubt in his mind. He was convinced now that something would be happening out at Land’s End, and it would be happening tonight.
Ben was becoming more and more concerned about Jason turning up in the dream. He assured himself that his son was safe with Mark and his family and that nothing could happen to him there. He had made sure that Jason was out of it, but just in case, he would call today and make sure he was still where he was supposed to be.
The first thing Ben intended to do was to go to the authorities here, and he would do whatever it took to get their attention. And if that didn’t work he would go there alone to stop those two psychos from hurting someone. If they hadn’t already.
Crawling out of bed, he looked out at the pink tinged sky, the sun just beginning to rise over the tops of the highest trees. He started a pot of strong, black coffee and showered while he waited for the pot to boil. It was going to be a long day, made even longer by the fact that he was exhausted after last night’s extended joy ride.
Not wanting to take any chances on getting caught, he had waited for a long time after the boy went back inside the cabin. Then he had carefully made his way back through the trees to his own cabin and fallen heavily into bed sometime after midnight.
After taking some time to work out a strategy, Ben drove the Jeep back to the small town of Mesa and parked in front of the municipal building where the local law enforcement offices were located.
A white 4x4 SUV with a red and blue light bar on the top pulled in to the space next to him. The driver was a tall blonde deputy who would have looked more at home pumping iron on the beach, but his gaze was alert and intense as he eyed Ben walking toward the front door.
“Is there something I can help you with?” The uniformed man asked from the sidewalk.
Ben responded to the deep baritone voice that rang with a note of authority by turning around and walking back toward the man.
“I hope so, Officer. I’m here to talk with someone who might be looking into the whereabouts of Maeve Tidewell.”
Dennis Clark looked steadily at Ben for a moment and then motioned for him to follow. They entered together through the front door and passed another uniformed deputy who was manning the desk, then sat down in a small office to the left of the main lobby.
“You must be Ben Drake,” Clark stated. He offered no introduction and leaned casually back in his chair, waiting for Ben to confirm his identity.
Ben acknowledged the assumption by way of a sharp nod, thinking that two could play the same game.
A small smile finally broke through the rigid façade and Clark leaned forward to rest his elbows on the edge of the grey metal desk.
“Detective Worth filled me in on your suspicions, which I did follow up on by the way, and he also told me to keep an eye out in case you decided to do a little detecting on your own.”
Ben could see that Clark was not about to give anything away regarding the findings of his investigation, or his own concerns, which the guy would have to have if he was any kind of cop at all. Regardless, Ben was not just going to go away without some sort of assurance he was being taken seriously.
“What did you find out, if you don’t mind my asking?” Ben asked the question respectfully, keeping his tone polite.
“We found a man and his son who are, by all appearances, spending the winter in a rented cabin. A search of the premises failed to turn up any evidence of Miss Tidewell or her two children,” he replied succinctly.
Ben wasn’t buying the official sounding response and he could tell that the deputy didn’t really intend for him to.
“Look deputy – Clark,” he made a big production of leaning over to read from the name plate that rested on the corner of the cluttered desk. “I know that you have a job to do and I’m not trying to cause you any trouble. But I was up there at the cabin last night and I saw some things that I think you should know about.”
Clark studied Ben for another full minute before he nodded for him to continue.
“There’s an out building behind the house and I watched the boy go in with another man. The thing is, I’m almost certain he came out alone.” If anything would get him into trouble the next part would, but there was something solid and sensible about Dennis Clark that gave Ben the feeling he could be trusted.
“I went inside the shed and there was no one else there. So my question is, what happened to the other man?”
Ben was hoping that Clark would come to the same conclusion he had, that there must be a hidden cellar beneath the old shed where a nut case migh
t keep a kidnap victim.
“We didn’t see any sign of a basement or cellar at the Ralston place yesterday, but I know there’s at least one. Ralph was always putting up canned sauces and fruit for winter. He told me more than once that he was glad for the abundant storage. I didn’t see anything while I was there though.”
Ben was aware of the exact moment that Clark realized his oversight. He was probably giving himself a quick mental kick for not doing so sooner. Ben decided it couldn’t get any worse if he told him the rest.
“The kid left late last night and went out to Land’s End.” Clark’s gaze came back to him with a look of surprise. “He did some things out there that seemed really off to me. Maybe things that have a direct correlation to this case.”
Dennis Clark looked at Ben as if he were reading his mind. “So you just happened to be at the Ralston cabin last night and then you just happened to be out at Land’s End to witness the strange behavior of a sixteen year old kid.”
“You were there last night.” Ben made it a statement rather than a question. Clark was probably wondering why he hadn’t spotted Ben from where he must have been hiding in the woods. Funny, Ben hadn’t spotted Clark either.
Ben sat, arms crossed over his chest, and waited, knowing Clark expected him to defend his actions with an explanation or an apology.
“If it makes you feel any better, we had a patrol out there watching the site last night. The kid never went back and neither did his father.” He could see that Ben was putting two and two together so he hurried to explain. “We’ve been keeping an eye on them for the last twenty four hours and there’s been almost no activity, except of course for the trip out to the rim.”
Ben was coming to feel a certain level of respect for the hard-nosed deputy, and he felt positive now that his instincts had been accurate.
“I think it will be tonight.” And then at the look of confusion that crossed Clark’s face, he hurried on. “I mean something out at Land’s End. Tonight is a full moon and I think this whole thing is just weird enough that we shouldn’t ignore the possibility.”
Ben didn’t want the deputy to think he was completely off his rocker, so he didn’t add that he had seen that moon very clearly in his dreams last night.
“You need help.” The statement was out of Ben’s mouth before he could stop it. Then he decided he didn’t have anything to lose and went on. “It’s my understanding that this is a very small department. Just an acting Sheriff, you, and one other deputy. There’s no way you can handle this without more men.”
“I’m going to have to ask you to stand down from this.” It wasn’t a request but a politely phrased order. “I absolutely cannot have a civilian involved in any kind of law enforcement operation.” Clark held his hands up to fend off the argument that was coming at him from across the desk. “We have other resources, Ben. It’s not as if we’re up here alone. If need be, we’ll call in patrols from the valley. But I will assure you that we’re going to do everything we can to find out what, if anything, is going on over there.”
Ben looked Clark squarely in the eye and tried one last shot. “I just hope you find out before it’s too late.” And then he turned and walked quickly out of the office.
“Ben,” Clark stopped him as he reached the door. “Where are you staying up here? I’ll need to know.”
Ben thought for a minute before he answered. “I guess there won’t be any need for me to stay at all.”
*****
“Hey Dennis, who was that?” Jameson came around the corner with a fresh cup of coffee in one hand and a donut in the other.
Jameson had lightened up a lot since their visit to the Ralston cabin and his self-confidence seemed to have grown. The deputy was clean shaven and his uniform looked crisp and new. He never looked like he had a rough night and he could be counted on for a chipper greeting no matter how early in the morning his day started. Clark tried to over look the annoying quality considering that he was starting to actually like the guy part of the time, and motioned him to sit down.
“Benjamin Drake, the guy who called in to Detective Worth about those two over at Ralston’s cabin.” Clark explained, and then filled him in on the conversation and asked for his take on things.
“First of all, he’s not the only one who has a bad feeling about those two. I think we should push for a warrant and pick that place apart.” Jameson urged him whole heartedly.
“You know we have no evidence or grounds so there’s no way we could push that through. Have we been able to get in touch with Ralph yet?”
“No, and it shouldn’t be this hard to find him either.” Jameson insisted through a mouth full of cream filled.
“So what’s second?” Clark asked but Jameson just looked at him blankly and tried to swallow the rest of his donut.
“You said first of all, so what’s second?” Dennis reminded him.
“Oh, well I guess there isn’t a second thing. But we should definitely keep an eye out for activity over there and make sure we have a unit out at Land’s End tonight. Just in case, you know.”
“It would be almost impossible to watch the place from every angle out there without being spotted. Any number of things could be happening, but since we don’t have enough guys at one time to cover the woods behind the place and the front too, who knows what we might miss.” Clark was mostly thinking out loud in an attempt to spark some sort of idea about how to proceed. Ben was right, he had to call in reinforcements from the valley, but he would have to have some justification for it.
“I’ll talk to the boss right now and see what I can put together,” he said and then stood up from his chair, signaling Jameson that it was time to get to work.
“Oh, by the way, did you hear about that hiker who was lost in the woods?”
“What about him?” Clark assumed they were talking about the body that had been recovered.
“He showed up down the valley last night. Turns out he wasn’t lost at all, he was just trying out his survival skills and stayed up here longer than he planned.”
“What?” Clark snapped and Jameson just shrugged as he turned and walked away.
If the body from the ravine wasn’t the lost hiker then who the hell was he? And where the hell was Ralph Ralston?
*****
Chapter 26
Mark and Jason backed out of the driveway, then pulled over to the curb out of sight of the front window where Mark’s mother might see them loading the bike into the back of his old beat up Subaru Brat. It was just before seven in the morning and, with luck, they would be at the entrance to Mesa Lakes by eight o’clock.
The plan was for Mark to drop Jason off with the bike and he would ride back in to Lost Lake on the hiking trail he and his dad had used the last time they were there together. Mark had spent most of the morning trying to talk Jason out of going at all, and now he spent most of the drive trying to talk him out of going alone.
“Your dad isn’t even going to know you’re there, so how can he be counting on you to back him up?” Mark asked the question for the third or fourth time. “You might need somebody to run for help if you get into trouble or something. Did you ever think of that?” He had decided that taking part in a covert operation would be a whole lot more exciting than going to class and he was doing his best to convince Jason to include him in the action.
“I need you back in town,” Jason reiterated. “So you can call for reinforcements if you don’t hear from me by dark.”
“Yeah I know, you already said so. But I still think I should stay with you.” Mark was insistent, but Jason stood his ground.
“Then just turn around and we’ll go back because I’m not staying here if you stay too.”
Jason was not about to let Mark get in trouble, or worse. If something bad was going to happen up on that mountain he didn’t want his friend hurt.
Mark finally gave up and pressed the gas pedal to the floor, pushing the Brat up to its top speed of fifty-eight miles a
n hour.
It was after eight o’clock by the time they pulled up to the sign announcing the turn off to Mesa Lake. Jason was at the end of his patience after having to follow a slow moving semi all the way up the narrow winding road and he nearly leapt from the little pickup before it came to a stop on the gravel shoulder.
“Hurry and get back before somebody notices you’re not at school,” he called to Mark as he lifted the bike from the short pickup bed and took off down the trail.
“And thanks!” he yelled as Mark peeled off and headed back to town.
Jason rode as fast as he could, bouncing over the rough uneven ground, going airborne more than once and landing hard enough to jar his teeth.
He was speeding past the rental cabins when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked back and realized his dad’s motorcycle was parked next to one of the small rental units that were nestled back between the thick clusters of tall narrow evergreens. Jason panicked for a second before he realized the Jeep was gone, momentarily thinking that his dad would see him and send him right back to the valley.
Slowing his pace as he neared the top of the trail that looked out over the hidden lake, Jason jumped off the bike, pushing it into a thicket of grayish green sage brush and brown bramble. He looked back as he walked away, satisfied that the bike wouldn’t be spotted easily by anyone who might be passing, then moved into the deep shadows of the trees bordering the road.
Jason crept deeper into the woods and worked his way around to the back of the property, then situated himself behind a low wall of fallen trees where he could watch and listen. The scene looked so peaceful it was almost hard to imagine anything bad happening here. Almost. The illusion of calm serenity could not disguise the sinister aura that hung over the place like a silently floating blanket of fog. Jason figured he just had a case of the heebie jeebies and he tried to shake the chilling sensation, but the feeling refused to be dispelled and stayed with him throughout the morning.