Rikovsky flashed another picture up on the screen, a photograph of a man with a cadaverous face and dark, brooding eyes. “Armed with the detective’s information, Faith got in touch with Rhonda. She was relieved to find that Rhonda had kicked her drug habit, and she was initially impressed with Rhonda’s new husband. He seemed to have a steadying effect on Rhonda. When Rhonda wanted Samantha back, this time Faith and her husband made no objections.
“However, the more she got to know him, the more troubled Faith became about Jed Foxe. In Faith’s opinion, he was a whack-job, a fanatic who believed that the country was going in the wrong direction, and that he was going to be the man to set everything right again. Faith realized that her sister’s addictive personality had found a new focus. In Faith’s view, Jed Foxe had become Rhonda’s new drug of choice.”
The CBI man paused and placed his finger tips together before resuming his briefing. “Jed Foxe and a band of like-minded followers established a group called ‘The True Sons of the Founding Fathers’. That was their official name. Unofficially, however, they referred to themselves as ‘The Colony’. They believed that the current Constitution of the United States is invalid, and that the first Constitution the founding fathers ratified should be operative instead.”
Dawn interrupted Rick at this point. “The first Constitution? You mean The Articles of Confederation, right?”
“I’m impressed, D.C.,” Rick responded. “Nobody else who worked on this case, including myself, realized at the time that our current Constitution was the second one adopted. But you minored in history at college, right? So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you knew about it.”
“Yeah, we studied about it in depth in my advanced American History course,” Dawn affirmed. “The first Constitution, ‘The Articles of Confederation’, was ratified by the Second Continental Congress, and was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789, when the present Constitution went into effect. So Jed Foxe and his group actually wanted to go back to it? I guess they didn’t realize that it was abandoned because it didn’t work very well.”
“Yeah, I read up on it after I got this case. It was a very inefficient way to run a government. The states were all sovereign entities, correct? They abided by the laws passed by the central government only if they felt like it.”
“True. And the central government also lacked any power to tax, which made it almost impossible to keep it up and running. And there was no judicial branch under the Articles,” Dawn said.
“Yes,” Rick continued. “And no independent executive – no president either. Which suited Jed Foxe just fine. He had no use for a president, or even any kind of local government. He and his group bought a parcel of land up north in Larimer County, not far from the Wyoming border, and declared themselves to be a sovereign state. They refused to pay taxes until they were taken to court. In order to avoid prison, they agreed to pay taxes, but under protest. As time went by, they became more and more isolated.
“At first, Jed’s followers came and went as they pleased, and Faith Hartingen visited as often as she liked. It was important to her to maintain a relationship with her sister and her niece. Then, one day when she showed up for a visit, she was met by her brother-in-law and told that she was no longer welcome. Faith begged and pleaded to be allowed to see Rhonda and Samantha, but Jed told her to turn around and get off his land, or he would have her arrested for unlawful trespass.
“The people in the local town noticed that the group members came to town less and less. The women and girls began to wear long, old-fashioned dresses. When the townspeople tried to talk to the children, their parents would interrupt, forbidding them to speak.
“Then, one day, out of the blue, Samantha Hartingen showed up on her Aunt Faith’s doorstep. At this point, it had been almost a year since Faith had seen or heard from Samantha. After hearing her niece’s story, Faith Hartingen got an attorney and immediately went to the police.
“Samantha told her story, of how she and many of the other children in the group had been abused. The police listened to Samantha, and finding her story credible, sent her to the hospital for a physical examination.”
Rick paused for a minute. “I’ll provide copies of the medical reports for you. It’s enough to make you sick.” Clearing his throat, Rick continued, “After the medical reports came back, the police felt they had enough probable cause to get search and arrest warrants. But since Jed and his group were living in an extremely remote location, the County Sheriff called in the CBI for assistance. Our people raided the ranch, arrested Jed Foxe and Rhonda Hartingen, and detained many of the male members of the cult for questioning. They also took the women and children in for physical examinations. Some of the women, and many of the female children, showed signs of abuse. Most of the women denied the abuse, but a few spoke up and confirmed Samantha’s story.
“There was also a large cache of illegal weapons discovered on the site. In addition, there was evidence of credit card and welfare fraud, as well as theft. The group had developed a highly efficient auto-theft ring, it turned out.”
“Auto-theft? How did they work that, from such a remote location?” Ralph Sokoto questioned.
“The boys in the cult were instructed in the techniques of breaking into and ‘hot-wiring’ cars from a very young age,” Rick replied. “They would be taken out in groups to some of the larger cities by some of the older men as soon as they could legally drive. The teenagers boosted the cars and then drove them back to the ranch. Foxe and his cronies had a chop shop set up in one of the old barns on the place. They systematically dismantled the stolen cars and resold the parts for a heathy profit. Those profits were the cult’s main source of income. Interestingly enough, most of the women were unaware of this.”
Noritaki snorted. “Figures,” she said.
Rick flashed a smile at her and picked up his briefing where he had left off. “Jed Foxe and several of his followers were tried, convicted, and sentenced to long terms in prison. Rhonda Hartingen, who was complicit in most of the crimes committed, pleaded diminished capacity and received a lighter sentence. Shortly after she began serving her sentence, she was diagnosed with ALS. She died not long after. Samantha, meanwhile, was adopted by Rhonda’s sister and her husband.”
“What happened to the other children? The children of the ones who were sent to prison?” Dawn clarified.
“Most of the children were returned to the custody of their mothers, or, like Samantha, were taken in by other family members. However, a few were put into foster care,” Rick responded.
“And Samantha? How did everything turn out for her after her aunt and uncle adopted her?”
“Samantha finished high school. She went to college, got her degree, and found herself a good job. Shortly after that, she fell in love and got engaged to be married. Then, three years ago, she walked out of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, got into her car, drove off, and disappeared. Because of our past connections to the case, the CBI was called in to investigate. We found the car, abandoned. Inside, we found traces of blood and evidence of a struggle. We also recovered a bullet from the scene. But we never found any trace of Samantha Hartingen.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Until today.”
“When you discovered that one of the bullets our perp shot at Officer Jordan matched the one you found at the Hartigen crime scene,” Dawn finished for him.
“Yes. Our first new lead in three years.”
“During your original investigation, did you figure that ‘The Colony’ was tied in any way with Samantha’s disappearance?” Prentiss inquired.
“We looked into the cult connection, but later dismissed it and began focusing on the boyfriend as the chief suspect,” Rikovsky responded.
“Why didn’t you think that the cult had anything to do with Samantha’s disappearance?” Dawn asked.
“We investigated extensively before we gave up on that angle,” Rick replied. “We discovered that those who weren’t impris
oned had selected new leaders, who had promptly relocated ‘The Colony’ to Mexico. They’re still there, by the way. We didn’t turn up any evidence pointing to any member of that group. Besides, my superiors thought the boyfriend was good for it.”
Dawn consulted the file Rick had given her. “Jason Gamarel?” she said.
Rick flashed another photograph on the screen, this time of a young tough, seated on a motorcycle. He was wearing leather, and tattoos covered his massive forearms. He stared into the camera unsmilingly, a red bandana covering his hair, a pair of dark sunglasses shielding his eyes.
Gesturing at the screen, Rick said. “That’s him. Gamarel’s a rough character. He’s been in trouble a time or two. A couple of neighbors reported that he and Samantha hadn’t been getting along very well, and that they had heard a loud argument between the two lovebirds shortly before Samantha disappeared.”
Dawn looked at Rick speculatively.
“You said that it was your superiors who were convinced that the boyfriend was good for it,” she pointed out. “What about you?”
“I had some doubts,” Rick admitted. “But I wasn’t in charge back then, so I didn’t push things. I wish now that I had.”
“What made you think that your superiors were wrong about Jason Gamerel?”
Rick paused for a beat before responding. “A couple of things just didn’t fit,” he admitted. “For one thing, even though he had a violent temper and had been in a lot of fights with other men, there was never any evidence that Jason had laid a finger on Samantha. And when we questioned his first wife, who had divorced him after they had only been married for a year, she stuck up for him. She said there was no way that Jason had anything to do with it. Now there’s somebody whose testimony had weight with me.”
“Why?”
“She said he had cheated on her, and she hated his guts, but no matter what had happened between them, she couldn’t picture him harming a woman. He had a code about it, she claimed. According to her, Jason had been brought up to believe that physically abusing someone who was weaker than him made him less of a man.”
After listening to Rick’s explanation, Dawn said, “One thing is for sure. The man who shot Jordan was not Jason Gamarel. According to the case notes, Gamarel is six foot four inches tall. That doesn’t fit the description of the man we’re looking for. Officer Jordan himself placed the man who shot him at about five foot ten.”
“Like I said, I’ve always had my doubts,” Rikovsky admitted. “But who knows? Maybe Gamarel has an accomplice.”
Dawn took over from Rick and proceeded to bring her own case board back up on the screen.
“In any case,” she said, “here’s the important thing: the bullet found at our crime scene came from the same weapon that was used in the Hartingen abduction. That ties the two cases together.”
Dawn drew a new spoke onto the wheel radiating out from the perp and pasted Samantha Hartingen’s photo there. Then she stood back. “Now we have four women up there. One is dead, two are missing, and one is in the hospital fighting for her life. We need to find out everything we can about them. Somewhere in their histories, there’s a thread linking each of them to the perp. We need to find that thread and tug on it until we reel him in.”
She turned and faced the team. “Sok – keep working on the hair, fiber, and fingerprint reports. See if we can find our thread there. Vettakor – continue combing through NCIC, NIBRS, and the other databases for anything you can find on crimes similar to the ones we’re working on. Noritaki, carry on with the missing persons’ reports. At some point, somebody somewhere has got to notice that our victim in the hospital is missing and file a report. Prentiss, I’d like you to take over working the phones and liaising with the State Patrol and the police working the missing persons case in Pueblo.
“Meanwhile, if he’s agreeable, I’d like to go with Special Agent Rikovsky and re-interview the original suspects and witnesses from the Hartingen case.”
When Rick nodded, Dawn continued, “For right now, let’s go with the assumption that the same person who shot Jordan, killed Zoe Ballentine, abducted her friend Kit Blakewood, and put our unknown victim in the hospital is the same individual who is responsible for the disappearance of Samantha Hartingen. Since she’s the first known victim, the possibility that she had a personal connection with the perp is all the more likely. Special Agent Rikovsky and I will make trying to find that connection our first priority, while the rest of you follow up on our other leads. Let’s get to it, people. There’s no time to waste.”
Chapter 22
“We can take my car,” Rick said abruptly as he and Dawn walked out of headquarters.
“Fine. You go ahead and take yours. I’ll follow in mine,” Dawn fired back.
“Take two cars? That doesn’t make sense. And your lieutenant said she wanted us to work together on this, D.C.” He raised his eyebrows. “Unless, of course, you’re nervous about it?”
“Nervous about what?”
“Sitting close together in a car. Just like the old days.”
“The old days are dead and gone, Rick. I’m not at all nervous about working with you. I want to take my own car because you never know – we might want to split up later and work on separate leads.”
“To be honest, I don’t see that happening, D.C.”
She shrugged. “If you really think so, I have no problem with us riding together. Lead the way.”
Across the street in the parking lot, he led her to a big four-door sedan. He got into the driver’s side and waited while she seated herself in the passenger side. After she’d buckled up, he started the car, and they were on their way to interview Jason Gamarel, the last man known to have seen Samantha alive.
Sitting next to Rick, Dawn braced herself. When they had been together previously, she’d always been aware of the sexual heat between them. The air had seemed to sizzle and crackle with it. That long, muscular male body beside her. She’d had to sit on her hands sometimes to prevent herself from reaching over, feeling those rock-hard muscles, running her hands through that crisp hair.
Now, she was relieved to find, she felt nothing. No attraction, no chemistry at all. How did we end up here? she thought.
They had met at a CBI seminar, she and Rick. Her second year on the job, and she’d been taking an advanced course on criminal investigative techniques. She’d been sitting in the classroom, waiting for the instructor. In her mind, she had been picturing someone quite different. And then Rick had walked in. Six feet tall, light brown hair cut ruthlessly short, piercing gray eyes, and shoulders that an NFL linebacker would have envied. His eyes had met hers briefly, and she had felt something like an electric shock pulse between them. Then his eyes had gone cool and flat. He’d barely glanced at her for the rest of the two-day course. She decided that she had imagined that immediate spark, that connection.
After the seminar was over, she was on her way to her car. She had just unlocked the door when she sensed someone behind her. Turning, she’d met his eyes again, and the spark was back.
Rick had flashed her a million-watt smile and confessed, “I’ve spent the last forty-eight hours trying to come up with a good pick-up line, but now I can’t remember any of them. So I’m going to go with an old stand-by. Can I buy you a drink?”
Wordlessly, she’d inclined her head, and he’d climbed into the passenger seat.
It had gotten serious very, very quickly. She’d fallen, and fallen hard. Soon, they were talking about marriage, juggling their careers, spending the rest of their lives together.
It hadn’t worked out. All those dreams had been shattered, and she’d been much more guarded in future relationships. Until Ty had entered her world, and changed it utterly.
She came out of her musings to realize that Rick was giving her an assessing glance. “You grew your hair out,” he commented.
Dawn shrugged. “I wore it short for a long time. I just decided it was time for a change.”
N
ot true, of course. The truth was she had changed her hairstyle because she’d realized that Ty liked long hair. He’d never said anything, but she knew. So she grown her hair out and figured out how to pin it up so that it looked professional for work. All for him. Because he liked long hair. Given what had happened at the hospital, maybe she should get it cut again…
Rick glanced sideways at Dawn. “Do you remember Kauai , D.C.?” he ventured.
“Vaguely.”
“Just vaguely?”
“Yeah, Rick. It was a long time ago. I like to live in the present, not in the past. And the trip to Kauai is part of the past. A very, very dead past.”
Her heart was beating hard, and she had to concentrate to keep her voice even. For she did remember Kauai – all too well.
They had planned the trip for months. And it was everything they had dreamed of. Breakfasts on the veranda overlooking the ocean. Blue skies, palm trees, romantic walks on the beach, perfect weather. The hotel they had stayed at had an incredible pool. They had floated down the lazy river, with its hidden caves and waterfalls. They’d basked in a hot whirlpool made out of lava rock. They’d spent hours in the saltwater lagoon. Later, they had sipped mai tais on the beach, watching the sunset. Lovely days and nights filled with romance. Just the two of them.
One night, when they were walking on the beach in the moonlight, Rick had spontaneously taken her hand and whirled her around. She’d never forget that night, dancing on the beach in the moonlight, the tropical breeze caressing her cheeks, gently lifting her hair. And the man she’d loved, looking at her hungrily, stopping and kissing her as if he’d never get enough of her.
She’d been so much in love, it had hurt. And it was going to last forever. They would be married and live happily ever after. But then they had come home from paradise. And she’d discovered that the great love of her life had a wandering eye and feet of clay.
When the Wolf Prowls: A Cimarron/Melbourne Thriller - Book Three Page 13