Fatal Intent (Desert Heat Book 3) Read online

  “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 was so concerned about, Dylan had a weird sense of déjà vu as he called Lt. Wells and told him what Alex needed. Wells said he’d take care of it. Dylan went back to get Davi his second glass of water, a delaying tactic the kid had recently become fond of. Dylan’s idea was to get Davi as many glasses of water as he wanted and hope it would come to an end when Davi wet the bed. So far, Davi was winning. The kid must have a bladder like a camel’s hump.

  Dylan couldn’t help but worry that Alex was putting herself in the path of danger again. The girl was relentless when she thought she had a story, and her last text had mentioned the Patriots. He’d told her to stay away from them, hadn’t he? She had to know how violent they were. In fact, she’d said she did, but did the fact that one of her friends had maybe become one of their victims mean she’d go after them with an investigative piece? He had to prevent that at all costs.

  It was only ten, and he knew for a fact he’d find Paul Ward at Jen’s bar, so he gave him a call.

  “Hey, Dylan, what’s up?” Paul said. Then he snorted. The old man must be a little drunker than usual, which wasn’t very drunk at all. Maybe Dylan had misunderstood the joke.

  “Paul, are you with Jen?”

  “Naw, we’re just friends. What can I do for you, son?”

  Yeah. Drunker than usual. This wasn’t going to work. “Nothing, just wanted to say hi. Your daughter bakes a mean birthday cake, did you know that?”

  “Yeah. Always did a bang-up job on mine. Hers, too, when her Nana wasn’t around. Say, it’s almost her birthday. Think you could get her to come home for it?” Paul wasn’t slurring his words, but his manner was definitely more open than usual. It amused Dylan to find Paul this way. The older man wasn’t nearly the stick in the mud he’d thought him so many years ago, and Dylan liked it when he called him son.

  “I’ll do my best, sir.”

  “Good. Hey, come on down, I’ll spot you a game of pool.”

  “I’ve got the boys, remember? Can’t leave them alone.” Dylan wouldn’t have played pool with Paul anyway. He was getting a reputation as a shark.

  “Oh, yeah. Give the little fellas a hug from me, will ya?”

  “I will, Paul. Be safe going home.”

  Dylan managed to end the call before Paul came up with another meaningless subject. He thought about what he could do, but with the boys asleep, he could hardly go join in the search. Would Alex expect him to? Then he thought about the search dogs from Sells that had been involved in the search for Alex. He called Wanda.

  “Tia Wanda, I’m sorry to call so late. Did I wake you?”

  “No, Dylan. I don’t sleep much these days. What can I do for you?”

  Wanda had lost her husband to a cartel mix-up about six months earlier. Dylan’s heart broke when he heard she wasn’t sleeping. He’d give anything to turn the clock back and save Hector. But he couldn’t do that, and there was a girl he might be able to help.

  “Could you send those guys with the dogs from Sells to Casa Grande? Alex has a friend in trouble. Been missing for more than four days.”

  Wanda’s voice became more animated as she answered. “How long have they been searching?”

  “They just figured it out today, Wanda. The search is just getting started. It’s a Pima girl that leads that activist group Alex has been covering for the student paper.”

  Wanda gasped. “Dawn Redbird?”

  “Yeah, that’s the name. Do you know her?”

  “I knew her parents when she was a little thing. I know her by reputation. Dylan, the Patriots are involved, I can feel it. Yes, I’ll call Sells. Can you get there to help Alex? I’ll come over for the boys.”

  Dylan could hear Wanda bustling around as she spoke, but his heart had stopped when she, too, mentioned the Patriots. So it was true. He trusted Wanda’s gut feeling, and his concern for Alex was growing by the minute. What if it had been a Patriot who’d harassed them in the coffee shop? What if Alex was the next target? His priority shifted from the Pima girl to his love in a heartbeat.

  “How fast can you get here?” he asked Wanda.

  “I’ll be there in five,” she said. “I’m on the way now.”

  Dylan threw a change of clothes and a couple of changes of underwear in an overnight bag and went to check on the boys. Both were sleeping soundly, only stirring a little when he kissed their foreheads. He didn’t know when he’d see them next, but Wanda would take good care of them in the meanwhile. He had to go and take care of the woman he hoped would be their mom someday.

  He greeted Wanda a moment later as they passed in the entryway. “They’re asleep. Don’t let Davi out of your sight at bath time. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” After this hurried speech, he kissed her on the cheek and rushed out.

  It would take an hour and a half to get to Casa Grande. The search dogs would get there half an hour after that, if they were lucky. He sent Alex a text that he was coming.

  A few minutes later, his phone beeped and he risked a glance at the return text. “I love you.”

  Now, if he could only persuade her to leave this alone. Volunteer for the search party or the support group, if she wanted, sure. Report the results, even, if she wanted. He needed to make Alex see that it was too dangerous to print one word about the Patriots, though. He had to convince her.

  ~~~

  By the time Alex and Jesse got back to Casa Grande, the Student Union building was closed, but some of the group were milling around outside. After a little debate and a check with her housemates to see if it was okay, Alex invited them over to her house so they’d all be in one place when the police came to interview them about Dawn being missing. It didn’t take long.

  While officers were talking to anyone who had any ideas, especially Jesse, who’d apparently heard from her last, she got Dylan’s text that he was on the way. Now she was anxious to get these people cleared out of the house. As soon as Dylan got here, she wanted to join the search effort.

  Authorities had already established that Dawn had left her parents’ house at about the same time she texted Jesse. The text didn’t mention she was out of town, or wh
en she’d see him, only that she had some plans she’d be presenting at Thursday’s meeting.

  Alex thought it a little curious that Jesse hadn’t raised the alarm sooner, but the police seemed satisfied that he’d had no reason to. He willingly turned over his cell phone and when he was through with the interrogation, told Alex he only heard from Dawn rarely anymore. Dawn got annoyed when he just called to say hi, as if she had no time for anything that wasn’t school or her group.

  Alex believed it. It was the way she’d been with Dylan for a while, after the kidnapping and before the murder in the park. She dropped her eyes when Jesse revealed his hurt at Dawn’s treatment of him. Had Dylan been that hurt? She had to make it up to him, somehow.

  Now, she was elated he was on his way. It had only been four days since she’d seen him, about the same time since Jesse heard from Dawn, she realized. She couldn’t wait to see him again. In a gesture of solidarity with the sad boy in front of her, she patted his shoulder. “It will be okay, Jesse. We’ll find her.” It was a foolish promise to make, but it cheered him up.

  At last, the police had finished their interviews, and everyone was leaving. Jesse asked Alex if she would join the search and she told him her boyfriend was on the way to do exactly that, and they’d see him later. Alex wasn’t sure if Dylan would want to rest first and search in the morning, or get started with the earliest responders. She would wait for him, either way.

  The search area was a nightmare. Twenty-one miles was nothing in a car, on a highway. Searching along the route, which included farmland, rough desert terrain and the outskirts of the city, was something else again. They were going to need a massive amount of manpower.

  There was no guarantee Dawn hadn’t been abducted along the way, the most likely scenario, since her car hadn’t been found abandoned in the time she’d been missing. Alex knew better than almost anyone how easy it was to make someone disappear like that.

  Her housemates had gone to bed despite the crowd in the living room, so as she waited alone after everyone else left, Alex had nothing to do except think of Dawn. Was she afraid? Desperately thirsty? Injured or dead? Did someone have her, doing unspeakable things to her? Alex worked herself into quite a state before Dylan arrived. When she heard his vehicle stop at the curb and the door slam, she flew out of the house and into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

  “Hey,” he soothed, wrapping himself around her like a shield. “Tell me. Did they find her? Is she…?”

  “No,” she managed to say against his chest. “I’m just… I know what she’s going through.”

  Dylan held her even closer. “Let’s go in the house,” he said. “We can join the search tomorrow. Right now, I need to hold you.”

  Alex didn’t intend to be a baby. The panic attacks came rarely now, and she knew what would trigger them and what would help. She should have taken a Valium as soon as she learned Dawn was missing. But she had Dylan’s arms around her now, and that made her feel safer than anything. With a nod, she let him lead her to bed and hold her until she slept.

  In the morning, Alex was calmer. She assured Dylan she’d be okay at home and agreed she probably shouldn’t try to join the search. She would work on her homework and wait for his call.

  NINE

  Alex felt blindly for her phone the next morning, to hear Dylan’s voice when she found it. “Alex, they found her last night.”

  His words broke through the fog of sleep and the calming prescription she’d used to settle herself down after he left. She felt guilty for keeping him from the search last night, knowing that every minute counted. Now her heart was in her mouth.

  “And?” She didn’t want to know, but she did. It had been four days…

  “She’s alive! Severely injured, and she may lose a leg, but they think she’ll make it.”

  Alex’s elation that Dawn had been found alive turned to sorrow as she pictured the dynamic girl crippled by the loss of a leg. “Are they allowing visitors? Where are you?” She was beginning to feel more like herself. It was time to get the story, if Dawn was up to it.

  “I’m on my way home. Stay put, Alex. I know you took a Valium, and you shouldn’t be driving. I’ll take you to the hospital.”

  Grateful for his understanding, Alex ended the call and went to take a shower. As the hot water began to wake her, Alex marshaled her questions in a logical order. Who, what, when, where and how—the classic five interview questions for a journalist. And the why, if Dawn knew. Alex had a strong hunch the why had to do with Dawn’s activism. She could only hope Dawn knew who.

  Alex was just getting out of the shower when Dylan arrived. She quickly braided her wet hair and didn’t bother with makeup. Just minutes later, they joined a group of well-wishers in the hospital’s main waiting room. Dawn was in surgery, but Alex learned the facts from Jesse, who’d been among the searchers last night.

  “Her car was half-hidden under an overpass,” he explained. “You couldn’t see it from the road, and if we hadn’t been searching, no one would have found her in time. There weren’t any roads going there, just a deep gully the road bridged.” He looked haunted, his eyes staring from a gray-hued face. “Why didn’t I raise the alarm earlier?”

  “You didn’t know,” Alex soothed. She now had a glimpse of what Dylan had suffered, the second-guessing and the what-ifs that one agonized over when something like this happened. The normal everyday things that make up a life and suddenly take on a completely new meaning.

  Taking time to rest, to go to work and not notifying the authorities sooner, all simple decisions until the unexpected happens. Even more difficult, the not knowing the grave danger their loved one faced.

  She turned to Dylan and indicated Jesse with a flick of her eyes. Dylan nodded and traded places with her. He was murmuring something to Jesse as she went to talk to others, anyone who might be able to give her some facts.

  Before she’d found anyone who knew much else, a doctor in scrubs appeared. He addressed the group. “Mr. and Mrs. Redbird have authorized me to let Dawn’s friends know of her condition. Anyone here for Dawn?”

  As one, the whole group surged toward him and he took a step back. “Okay, as of ten minutes ago, she was out of surgery and headed for the recovery room. Her status is critical but stable. She is expected to survive. Thank you, and I’ll update you as her condition improves.” He turned to go, but Alex, primed for her reporter role, called out.

  “Doctor! What can you tell us about her leg?” she asked, as he turned back to the sound of her voice.

  “Oh, sorry. Ms. Redbird’s leg was broken and pinned between the steering wheel and the console. I’m afraid we had to amputate just below the knee. We won’t know for certain that will be enough for about twelve hours.”

  Cries and sobs broke out behind her, but Alex went numb. Amputate! Just a few weeks before, Dawn had led her group down seven or eight long city blocks. Who would lead them now? She searched the crowd for Jesse and not seeing him, searched for Dylan instead. There he was. The comfort she felt in seeing Dylan turned to sadness as she took in Jesse’s figure, curled into a miserable ball in the chair next to Dylan.

  ~~~

  Dylan had done his best to comfort the boy, but Jesse was inconsolable. Finally, Dylan turned Jesse over to a group of his friends and found Alex. “We need to get out of here.”

  Alex objected, saying she needed to be there to cover the story as it unfolded.

  “Come on, just down to the cafeteria if you insist on staying. I’d like to talk to you in private.”

  Alex allowed him to lead her away from the grieving crowd. In the elevator, he put his arms around her and held her close. As they approached the cafeteria, the smell of institutional food grew stronger and Dylan’s stomach rumbled in spite of himself. He guided Alex through the line, choosing foods he knew she liked and something for himself, before finding a table in a corner where few people were sitting.

  Alex picked at her food, still thinking about Dawn he suppose
d. “Alex, I heard a little more from Jesse after you left. Apparently, Dawn was with it enough to tell the deputies it was no accident. Someone deliberately ran her off the road. Whatever this is, it’s dangerous. I’m asking you, please, not to go digging for anything. Report the facts and then leave it alone. Can you do that?”

  “Who?” she asked.

  “Alex, are you all right?” His question referred to her flat responses and the dull look in her eyes. What’s wrong with her? Was she having a flashback to her own brush with death?

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Who ran her off the road? Did she know?”

  “Jesse didn’t say. He did say her mother accused the Patriots of doing something, even before they found Dawn. You were there, I think.”

  “Yes.”

  “Alex, listen. This is very important. I know you’re aware of how dangerous these guys are. I’m asking you, if you love me, to back off this story. It could get you killed, and I’m not exaggerating.”

  At least that got a reaction. Not the one he was looking for, but a reaction just the same. Her face became animated for the first time since they’d left the group.

  “It’s my job to get to the bottom of it, Dylan. I wouldn’t ask you not to do your job. I’ll investigate this story just as I would any other, and don’t try to manipulate me with ‘if you love me.’ That’s bullshit.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not trying to manipulate you, babe. I believe you’ll put yourself in danger if you pursue it, and I can’t stand the thought. I need you. The boys need you. Please, don’t do this.”

  In answer, she got up. “Go home, Dylan. Thanks for coming, but there’s nothing more for you to do here.”

  Dylan stared after her as she walked away. Did she mean that the way it sounded? He pressed his lips together. All right, if she wanted him gone, he’d leave.

  TEN

  As Dawn’s condition improved over the next couple of weeks, so did Alex’s mood, and she gradually started talking to Dylan normally again. He didn’t bother trying to persuade her to drop the story, but he worried about her getting too close to the Patriots all the same. His schedule didn’t permit a visit to Casa Grande on either weekend, but he talked to Alex daily and managed to talk her into coming home for the weekend before her birthday. He and Paul had a surprise party planned.