Page 59 of Shadow of Death
It was midnight.
“Carey? Yes, yes, no, it’s fine. I told you to call at any time at all. But...”
She listened as Carey spoke. All Hunter could hear was the hysteria in the young woman’s voice.
“We’ll be right there.”
Amy threw the covers off and looked at Hunter.
He was already getting out of bed, waiting for her to explain.
“She’s gotten a text from Hayden.”
“And what does it say?”
“Carey, help! They’ve got me!”
11
There was a fine line they had to maintain with work. Caring for those who were victims and keeping the distance needed to carry out their investigation with cool heads and complete professionalism.
Amy knew how distraught Carey was feeling, and she had to put a check on her own sympathy.
She spoke with Carey, assured her there were things law enforcement could do. And there were things they could not do.
By the time they arrived at the offices, an agent had collected Carey’s phone and provided her with another. The tech team had already done everything necessary to track the location of Hayden’s cell phone when she had sent the text to Carey.
And it was startling to say the least.
Andy had beaten them in. He headed over when Hunter called him to tell him about the text from Hayden.
Andy was good, just as his people were good. No matter what the hour, they could get things moving.
“I’m not sure what the heck this means, but it seems Hayden—or someone with Hayden’s phone—texted from the middle of the Everglades. The Florida Everglades,” Andy said.
Amy looked at Hunter.
“All right, so this is all relating back to the beginning,” he said.
It was beyond surprising, but maybe, it wasn’t.
“Or it’s possible someone has her phone, and it’s a hoax,” Andy suggested. “I mean... I know you two started this in Florida. Hunter, you were in the north of the state before joining Amy in the Everglades. But the killings now have been here—and at a high rate. Do you really think Hayden has been taken to Florida? There is a sound possibility that whoever has her knows about the two of you and sent or had someone bring the phone to Florida. Apparently tracing the phone took a bit of time, because the phone is in an area of the great old River of Grass where getting any kind of a signal is a task.”
“It is possible it’s a ruse, of course,” Amy said. “But it is also possible it all relates, and that our real puppeteer is in Florida. We know someone was communicating with Mateus by cell phone.”
“The man’s followers claim he can talk to God via a cell phone,” Hunter said dryly. “I mean, why not, right?”
Andy shook his head. “I don’t want to see you two having to hop around on airplanes for nothing, especially since... Hayden may already be dead. But the decision of what you two do really belongs to your boss, Garza. You’re on loan out here with us, just as Amy is on loan from the FDLE. But between the pits and the cliffs, we have a ton of dead here,” he added quietly. Then he reminded them, “Carey should have been dead. You two happened upon her before starvation and the elements could take her. Magda Kenward should be dead. You managed to stop a man from stabbing a knife through her heart. You’ve been important here—the work here has just begun. I know I’m big on reminding all my agents and all those working here for any amount of time that we rely on each other. It’s a conceit to think others can’t handle a situation. But at this office, your insight has saved lives.”
“Thanks, Andy. We’re all happy, and you know that and feel that, when things work out for the victim or victims. But I’m thinking Garza will need to be kept in the loop. Anyway. Did we find out anything more about Mateus?” Hunter asked.
“We hit the national databases, and we have information on Mateus. There’s nothing criminal in his record. He was born Leonard Filmore in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Orange County. Only child, parents deceased. You’ll love this—he was a karaoke host through his early twenties, and then disappeared off the face of the earth. That’s what we’ve gotten so far. We also identified Brother Martin. He was born Martin Black in Houston, Texas. He does have a record. Assault, bar fight, so it appears. The other bar customer apparently hit a sore spot with Martin by suggesting he’d been thrown out of his house at eighteen for being worthless. That’s from the notes the detective wrote on the case. Martin was charged in the matter, but when it came to court, he was released fortime served. After his release, he disappeared.”
“The family has been notified of his death?” Amy asked.
Andy nodded, looking over at Hunter. “I guess he was a poster child for the kind of person who needed to obey any order, no matter how heinous, from a charismatic leader. An agent from our LA office went out to his parents’ home. Father practically slammed the door on the man, telling him Martin had been dead to them for years.”
Amy watched Hunter nod thoughtfully.
