Diablo Mesa(48)

Nora felt awful. Skip had managed to screw up—again. She could see Tappan was beside himself but controlling it well.

“Okay. All right. We’ll address that later. Skip, can we reach this area by jeep?”

“Yes. You drive across the mesa top to the watchtower, and there’s a way down. We marked the watchtower on the map with GPS coordinates.” Skip paused. “There’s something else, though. On my way back, once I’d given up waiting, I saw some lights in those hills. I don’t know if it was Dr. Bitan or somebody else.”

“Lights?” Tappan was silent a moment. Then he turned to the group. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll outfit three jeeps with water, food, and first aid, and head out at first light. That’s only an hour from now. We’re going to search the entire area marked on this map. Understood?”

He issued some more rapid, specific orders. Then he turned to Nora. “You stay here with Skip and get him cleaned up and bandaged. We’re taking walkie-talkies, and we’ll be in contact in case we have questions for him. Skip looks worse than he’s letting on. And after you’ve taken care of your brother, I want you to get on the sat phone to that FBI contact of yours, report a missing person, and ask her how we should proceed.”

“Right.”

He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Thank you, Nora.” He turned. “Okay, everyone, let’s get these jeeps loaded, gassed, and ready to roll.”





30



I’M FINE,” SKIP said irritably as Nora tried to wipe his bloody nose with a damp cloth. It didn’t look broken, but it was pretty scraped up. His palms were also skinned, a fingernail torn, and there was a bad abrasion on one knee. Mitty lay on his bed, utterly wiped out.

“Does that hurt?” she asked, moving Skip’s fingers to see if any were broken.

“No,” he said, wincing.

“What happened?”

“Like I said, I slid down a steep slope. What I really need is a shower.”

“All right.” Nora stood. “After you do that, I’m going to put some antibiotic ointment on those scrapes and bandage you up.”

“Fine.” Skip groaned as he eased himself from the sofa and limped into the bathroom. A moment later she heard the water come on.

The time was six o’clock. Was it too early to call Corrie on a Monday morning? Probably not—she had a sense Corrie was an early riser. She went to the sat phone and dialed.

After several rings, she heard Corrie’s voice. “Hello?”

Instantly, Nora could tell something was wrong. “Corrie? Are you okay?”

After a long silence, Corrie spoke. “Not really.”

“What’s happening?”

Another long pause. “Agent Morwood died in a fire.”

“What?”

Another unsteady silence. “There was a fire in the forensics lab late Friday night. He was there for some reason. Killed by smoke inhalation.”

“Oh, Corrie, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m still processing it.”

“What a shock. He was a good man. Do they know how the fire started?”

“They’ve launched an investigation. Everything seems to have gone wrong—the fire alarm didn’t work, the sprinkler system failed…It’s totally fucked up…” Her voice trailed off.

“Are you…going in to work today?”

Another long silence. “They tried to give me the week off, but I’m going in anyway.” She paused, then said: “I imagine there’s a reason you called at six in the morning. I don’t mean to burden you with my problems. What’s up?”

“It’s no burden. I had huge respect for Morwood.” Nora hesitated, but decided to go ahead. “It’s true: we’ve got a little problem out at the dig site, and I was hoping to get your advice. But this obviously isn’t a good time.”

“A good time?” Corrie laughed hollowly. “It’s the perfect time. I could use the distraction. The only way I’m going to get through this is if I bury myself in work.”

“Understood.” Nora swallowed. “One of our scientists, Noam Bitan, went missing. He might be lost. He was way out in the middle of nowhere, wandering around in some hills, and he didn’t return. We sent out search parties this morning and maybe he’ll turn up. But Tappan asked me to check with you to find out what to do if he doesn’t.”

“Whereabouts did he disappear?”

“We think in an area called the Horse Heaven Hills. Northwest of Dead Lake.”

“I have no idea where that is. Is it still in Chaves County?”

“I think so. Is this something the FBI would handle?”

“Only if it connects to the double homicide I’m working on, which seems unlikely. Because it’s outside of a town jurisdiction, it would be handled by the county sheriff.”

“Who’s that?”

“I’ve no idea. I can call Sheriff Watts and find out. It would probably be smart to loop him in, anyway. He’s in Socorro, a few counties to the west.”

“You want to report it right away, or wait until we’re sure Bitan’s missing?”

“Best to report it ASAP,” Corrie said. “If he turns up in a few hours, no harm done. Just to reassure you, the vast majority of missing-persons cases get resolved within twenty-four hours when the person reappears. Let me contact Sheriff Watts and find out who you should deal with. I’ll call you back.”