Fatal Intent - Jamie Jeffries Page 0,21

home, if I drive?” she asked.

Jesse answered. “I can. We can take my truck.”

“Come on, then. If she isn’t there, there’s no more time to waste.” Alex remembered vividly how close to death she’d come while being held in a small RV. Granted, the weather wasn’t quite as hot in early June as it had been in late July, but the heat could still be deadly. If her calculations were correct, Dawn had gone missing at least four days ago, possibly a little longer.

She followed him out of the building at a trot and climbed into his old pickup on the passenger side. She didn’t know Jesse well. None of them, really. She was an outsider to the group, even though she was sympathetic to their cause. Dawn going missing gave her a stronger bond, because of her own experience. Someone had to find her.

While they drove, she sent Dylan a message. He’d be home from work by now, probably even have the kids in bed and trying to have a relaxing evening. This was a different county from theirs, and she knew none of the law enforcement people here. She was hoping Dylan could get hold of Lt. Wells and ask for a referral to someone in Pinal County in case they needed a search party. At the same time, she held out hope that they’d find Dawn safe at home and nursing a summer cold or something.

When she finished her text and received Dylan’s reply that he’d do what he could, she turned to Jesse.

“Forgive me if this is none of my business, but isn’t Dawn your girlfriend?”

“I wish,” he answered. “I used to think so. But once she got involved in this, she didn’t seem to have time for me anymore. I hang out with this group in case she wants to see me that way again.”

His voice was so flat that Alex wondered if he’d given up hope. She put her hand on his arm. “Don’t give up on her,” she said. What if Dylan had given up on her when she was being such a pill about her career?

Jesse smiled a sad, sweet smile. “Never,” he said.

They got to the rez at a little after nine, which wasn’t ideal. Ordinarily, Alex would never knock on the door of a stranger at that time of night, but this could be an emergency. She knocked, with Jesse standing just a bit behind her.

When the door opened, a short, stout Native man appeared. His expression was one of annoyance until he spotted Alex, and then it turned to puzzlement. Alex could read his thoughts. What was a white girl doing knocking on his door at this hour?

“Mr. Redbird?” she queried. “I’m a friend of Dawn’s. Is she here?”

Visibly startled, he started to reply when a question from the inside of the house interrupted him. He spoke over his shoulder in Spanish. Alex recognized only a couple of words, but understood him to be asking the person inside where Dawn was. In a moment, a woman who had to be Dawn’s mother appeared at the door.

“Who wants to know?”

“I’m Alex Ward,” she said. “This is Jesse, another friend of Dawn’s. Is she here?” she asked again.

The woman’s face changed, warmed. “You’re Alex Ward? Well, come in Alex. Dawn has told me you are a supporter. Jesse? Are you the Jesse my daughter dated for a while?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered. He didn’t seem to know where to put his hands, and settled for holding one out to Dawn’s father, who shook it.

The two were ushered inside the small but comfortable home, and when they were seated, Dawn’s mother asked, “What’s this all about?”

Alex understood now that Dawn wasn’t here and tried to think of a way to soften the blow that their daughter was apparently missing. Jesse had no such diplomacy.

“Dawn’s missing,” he said. “No one’s heard from her since Sunday. Is she here? Sick maybe?”

The looks of shock on her parents’ faces evidently made him see his mistake. Alex hastened to intervene. “Mr. And Mrs. Redbird, if Dawn isn’t here, we need to report her missing right away.”

Mrs. Redbird burst into tears and collapsed against her husband. “I knew this would happen! What she’s been doing, it’s made her a target! It’s those Patriots!”

Alex was busy texting Dylan that they’d learned Dawn was in fact missing. She alerted to the word Patriots. “What do you know about the Patriots, Mrs. Redbird?”

EIGHT

Despite the fact he’d never met the girl Alex