Cold Betrayal

“Jane Doe is Enid’s mother?” Sister Anselm’s shock was audible. “However did you learn all this?”

“Last night, after David Upton left the hospital, he drove up to Colorado City and rescued two of Enid’s friends.”

“Agnes and Patricia, the two Brought Back girls?” Sister Anselm asked. “Enid spent the whole night muttering about them, saying that they might be in danger, but I thought it was just the meds talking. I didn’t pay that much attention.”

“David did,” Ali answered. “They’re the ones who gave Enid Irene’s number. They must have been worried, too, because when David showed up and offered to bring them here, they didn’t hesitate.”

“But how did they get Irene’s number in the first place?”

“Someone from here in Flag—someone who knew Irene—offered Irene’s information to Agnes when she showed up at a grocery store in Colorado City with a crop of fresh bruises showing. When Patricia and Agnes took off a few weeks later, they had Irene’s number with them. They never got this far, but they kept the number. When A

“You said someone on the Outside was helping A

“A boyfriend most likely. At the time she was married to Richard Lowell, the guy who’s now in charge of the compound. She evidently had a relationship on the side with someone who wasn’t her husband—maybe even with someone outside the cult—and was afraid of what her husband would do to her if he found out about the affair.”

“That’s why she ran away—because she was carrying another man’s child?”

“So it would seem.”

“Should I tell Enid? She’s sleeping right now, but she’s improving.”

“No,” Ali answered. “Don’t tell her anything yet, not until we know for sure that the Kingman Jane Doe is A

“How do we ascertain that,” Sister Anselm asked, “especially since the evidence box in that case has gone missing?”

“The box may be missing, but Jane Doe and her baby aren’t. They’re right where you left them in a common grave in Holy Name Cemetery in Kingman, Arizona.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“We have a possible ID,” Ali answered. “Bishop Gillespie is the one who paid Jane Doe’s burial expenses. If we can’t get a court order to have the body exhumed, maybe his previous involvement will give him leeway to request an exhumation.”

“It’s a Catholic cemetery,” Sister Anselm mused. “He might be able to make that work, but won’t he need a court order? How would he get one of those?”

“I’ll check with my new BFF, Governor Dunham. She’s busy with pla

“Wait,” Sister Anselm interjected. “Did you say raid? What raid?”

“How long have you been gone?” Ali asked. “It turns out a lot has happened.”

She spent the next ten minutes telling Sister Anselm everything that had transpired, ending with her long conversation with Governor Dunham.

“So you’ll be going to Colorado City tonight?” the nun asked when Ali finished.

“Yes.”

“I wish I could be there, too,” Sister Anselm said.

“But you can’t. We need you to look after Enid. Let other people handle the rest of it.”

Once off the line with Sister Anselm, Ali spent the next fifteen minutes on hold with the governor’s office, waiting to be put through to Virginia Dunham. By then more than an hour of Ali’s four-hour naptime window had evaporated, and she had yet to make it back to the Crown I

“Yes, Ali,” Virginia Dunham said finally. “Sorry to leave you on hold so long. I was trying to clear up the tour bus situation. For arrestees, I’m bringing along a Department of Corrections bus that’s used to transport prisoners back and forth for court dates. I’ve also hired two motor coaches. They’ll be available to handle the transportation needs of any residents who wish to leave the compound immediately. The coach company was giving my chief of staff fits about possible liability issues. I’m afraid I had to get involved and kick a few asses to make it happen.”

Ali couldn’t help smiling at that. Governor Dunham was definitely living up to her advance notices.

The governor listened patiently while Ali laid out the most recent wrinkle in The Family’s complex history.

“It sounds to me,” Governor Dunham said when Ali finished, “like you’re using the Kingman Jane Doe thing to go after Sheriff Alvarado again. You really don’t like the man, do you?”

“Liking has nothing to do with it,” Ali asserted. “And it’s not just the sheriff. There are things inside his department that don’t pass the smell test, Amos Sellers being a prime example. His being a deputy and The Family’s bounty hunter at the same time isn’t right. In fact, it’s a conflict of interest. I’m worried that Sellers may have been personally involved with what happened to A

“Let’s cross one bridge at a time,” Governor Dunham cautioned. “I can see that having DNA evidence constitutes a new lead in the Kingman Jane Doe case. No matter what the fallout is from tonight’s raid, I owe you an enormous debt for bringing this ungodly mess to my attention. So please let Sister Anselm know there’s no need for her to involve Bishop Gillespie in this matter. My attorney general has a cold case unit that operates statewide. I’ll turn this exhumation issue over to him, but not today, mind you. My whole team, including the AG, are up to their asses in alligators at the moment. You’ll have to trust me on this.”

“I will,” Ali said. “Thank you.”

“See you at six?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ali said. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

On the way back to the Crown I

B. may have called ahead, but getting let back into the hotel room wasn’t easy. The discrepancy between B.’s last name and Ali’s was noted and required a detailed explanation. Ali could tell by the disapproving frown on the clerk’s face that she was better off claiming their having married recently for the name difference. She had a feeling that the gray-haired woman behind the counter would not approve of someone who had no intention of ever changing her name.

Once Ali managed to talk her way into the room, she was sorry. The bed hadn’t looked all that inviting early in the morning, and nothing had changed in the intervening hours. The faded flowered bedspread was well beyond its expiration date, and even from a distance the lumps in the worn mattress were clearly visible. Ali turned off her ringer, placed the phone on a charger, and set the alarm on her iPad for five-fifteen. Then, slipping off her shoes, she lay down on top of the covers and pulled her coat over her to keep warm.

With so many pieces about to be set in motion, she more than half expected to toss and turn. Instead, she fell asleep instantly. When the alarm went off, she awakened from a dreamless sleep, rested and ready for action.

She and Sister Anselm had started this, and now was the time to finish it.