turned under the MRJ logo onto the Johansson ranch. Behind him trailed two squads and an ambulance. He drove deliberately, eyes scanning the pastures, the bison, and the driveway. Everything looked ordinary, until he noticed a white object on the ground up ahead. As he passed a parked van with tinted windows, a woman ran from the house clutching something wrapped in a blanket to her chest. Was she the one who called in the report? Max frowned. Why did she hang up on 911? The dispatcher had only sketchy information to give him, and that made Max nervous. All he knew was that a nameless woman claimed someone needed medical assistance and that there were dead bodies.
The woman looked frazzled. As his car approached, she ran erratically, weaving back and forth. Max worried about what she might have hidden in the blanket she carried. He watched her hands warily for signs she might drop it and expose a gun. Then he recognized her.
“Naomi Jefferies,” Max whispered. “What’s she doing here?”
Max considered bumping Stef on the radio and asking her to tell Clara that one of her mothers was on the scene. Instead, he slammed on his brakes as Naomi made a sharp turn and jumped nearly in front of the car. The car jerked to an abrupt stop, and he lowered his window. As she bent toward him, he realized she had a crying baby bundled in the blanket, one who looked small enough to be a newborn.
“Naomi, what the heck is going on here?” Max asked.
“They’re dead!” Naomi shouted over the baby’s screams. Her eyes bulged with fear, and her lips quivered. “Everyone but the baby. And Jacob, but he could be dead by now, too. Please, help him. Please, Max! Hurry!”
“How did they die?” he asked. When Naomi stared at him as if she didn’t understand, he explained, “What did you see?”
“Blood. Lots of blood.” Indicating the white object that Max now realized was a bedsheet, she screamed, “A child dead under there, and I’m pretty sure there are others. I think that Jacob’s throat has been cut.”
Max pointed at the squad’s back seat. “Get in!” he shouted. “Now!”
“Why… no… no… Drive up there. Help Jacob. He’s…” She pointed at the house again, her hair fanned wildly out around her face and her eyes bright red from crying. Max noticed what appeared to be blood on the front of her skirt.
“Quick! Get in my car, before you get us both shot.” When she didn’t move, he shouted, “Naomi, now!”
“He’s gone,” she said. “There’s no one…”
“Who’s gone?”
“Whoever did this. Max, there’s no one on this ranch alive but the baby and Jacob,” she said, sobbing. “And he could be dying while we’re out here arguing.”
“Get in.” For the third time he shouted, “Now!”
Finally, Naomi did as he instructed, scurrying into the back seat. Once she slammed the door, Max pulled forward and parked. The ambulance stayed at the gate, per protocol, while the other squads moved in behind Max in the lead car.
“Aren’t the paramedics coming to help Jacob?” Naomi asked, swiveling to look out the back window. “He’s—”
“They don’t go in until after we clear the scene. Someone could be hiding,” he said. She turned back around and stared at him as he explained, “Naomi, if you hear shots, you duck. And you don’t get out of this car, not for any reason, until I tell you it’s safe. Understand?”
Naomi’s face contorted and Max thought that perhaps she finally comprehended that they could all be in danger. Instead of answering, she gave him a quick nod. He looked out and scanned the sheet, seeing for the first time a section folded over, exposing two small legs. A fist tightening in his chest, Max bumped dispatch on his radio.
“We potentially have a live scene. Send more backup. Alert the medical examiner and the CSI unit,” he said, and then he slipped his gun from his holster and warily opened the door.
The four deputies backing him up stayed low and made their way toward him as Max clambered out of his car. Once they reached him, he jerked his head to the right then the left. “One takes the front, the other around back. Two of you stay with me,” he snapped. “I’m going to make sure that no one is hiding under that sheet, and then we’ll head inside.”
As instructed, one deputy ran to surveil the back door, while his partner positioned himself with a view of the