She was quiet for a time. “I thought I was going back there. To the house in the woods. That’s where he was bringing us, wasn’t he?”
“I don’t know. But the important thing is he didn’t. And he can’t hurt you anymore.” Clare brushed aside Shanna’s hair.
“You’re hurt.”
Clare glanced down at her arm. A paramedic had cleaned and dressed the cut, but the small bandage had come loose while Shanna dozed. Clare patted it back in place. “It’s fine. Doesn’t even hurt. Do you want to sleep some more?”
“I want to, but I don’t think I can.”
Clare gazed at her sister, wanting to ask the question she’d been holding back since the police had placed them in the back of a cruiser and whisked them here in a glare of red strobing light. Did you ever see that man before? She knew what Shanna would say. Knew the only person she’d seen in her years of seclusion was Rainier. But if only she recognized the twisted man, even from a picture, it would close the endless loop of thoughts circling her mind.
As she was about to ask the question, the door opened and Hughes strode inside. “How we doing?” he said, settling himself on a chair near the interview table.
“Okay. Getting stir-crazy in here,” Clare said. “Shanna’s doing a little better though.”
“Are you?” Hughes asked.
“Yes,” Shanna replied in a small voice.
“That’s good. Very good.”
“The deputy who was on duty, did he . . .” She could still see the splash of blood leading beneath the hotel door, could still smell its coppery tang. “Did he have a family?” Clare asked slowly. She didn’t want to know, and had to at the same time.
“A wife. No children.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too. On a number of levels.” He cleared his throat. “Okay, here’s what we know so far. The guy’s name, at least the one he went by to check into the hotel, was Daryl Julius Saint. The ID he had on him was of the same name. No hits so far in the criminal database, but we’re still running his prints. From what we can tell he ambushed Deputy Thorenson in the hallway and dragged him into his room. Then he made his way down to your room. Maybe now that Shanna’s able to tell us, we can figure out what happened from there.”
Shanna swallowed and Clare gave her an encouraging look. “When the woman stopped us in the hall, Clare sent me up to our room. I was using my key when the man . . . he came up behind me and pushed me into the room. He said I had to be quiet otherwise he’d kill me. He made me sit on the bed and he told me to wait, that Clare would be along soon and we’d all go somewhere together.”
“He didn’t say where?” Hughes asked.
“No.”
Hughes was quiet for a time, then shifted his attention to Clare. “And you’re absolutely sure it was the same man from Oregon?”
“Yes. He was disguised before, trying to look like a homeless person.”
“And you never saw him prior to that?”
“No.”
“He must’ve been watching you, waiting for just the right moment when you were apart.”
The thought sent a shudder through her. “What about Brynn Johnson?” She’d conveyed her concerns about the reporter to Hughes as soon as they were safe, stressing the fact the woman had approached her only moments before Saint had made his appearance.
Hughes paused. “I’m afraid that wasn’t Brynn Johnson you saw in the hotel.”
The room was silent as what he said sunk in. “What do you mean that wasn’t her?”
Hughes tapped his fingertips on the tabletop. “When we went to Ms. Johnson’s residence this morning there was no answer at the door. One of my deputies spotted what looked like blood on the floor through a bedroom window.” Hughes stopped, glancing up to meet Clare’s eyes. “We found her body in the basement. It appears she’s been dead for several days.”
The internal vertigo enveloped her again and she thought she might be sick. “That’s . . . that’s not possible. If she was dead then who. . .”
“We don’t know. Someone who knew you wouldn’t recognize Brynn Johnson by sight. Someone who wanted to keep tabs on you right out in the open.”
“Oh my God.”
“My theory is she’s working with Rainier and Saint. I’m guessing her showing up at the hotel last night was specifically to get the two of you separated so Saint could strike.”
Clare put an arm around Shanna, who stared blankly at the floor. “This was all planned. Everything. From the moment I got on the plane.”
Hughes sat forward, resting his arms on his knees. He looked old then, much older than he had when she’d first laid eyes on him at the hospital only a few days ago. “My theory is when Shanna escaped they were already watching you, since you saw Saint outside your home. After that they were frantic to try and get the both of you, given that they murdered an innocent woman just to assume her identity. I want to apologize since I didn’t believe we had anything beyond Rainier to worry about here, but that’s obviously not the case. I know you felt strongly about it so I sent a couple men out to Steven Parson’s camp this morning to ask a few more questions. They brought a picture of Saint as well, so we’ll see if anything happens there.” She wanted to say something then, to tell him about what she’d witnessed at the camp in the middle of the night, but couldn’t get herself to form the words. By the time she’d worked up the courage the moment had passed and Hughes had moved on. “In the meantime, we’re getting you both out of here.”
“Where?” Clare asked.
“A safe place. Somewhere no one would know to look.”
“I won’t leave. Not until you find my son,” Shanna said. Her voice had gained some strength and she sat straighter, her shoulders pulled back as if ready to be challenged.
“Don’t worry, the place isn’t far away. And we’ll be taking all the precautions available until everything is sorted out. I know you mentioned your boyfriend was flying in today, but for now the fewer people who know where you’re at, the better.”
“No, I want Eric with us when he gets here.”
“Until we know more it’s not a good idea.”
Clare shook her head. “He’s not a risk.”
“He may not be, but if someone’s been watching your house they might be keeping tabs on him. He could lead someone right to you.”
She started to argue again but felt Shanna touch her arm. The beseeching look in her sister’s eyes said everything. As much as she longed to see Eric, Hughes was right. It might put them at a greater risk. Slowly she nodded. “Okay.”
“As soon as he’s here I’ll meet with him and figure out a way to reunite the two of you,” Hughes said. “Deputy Wilt will be stationed with you first and I’ll be calling in a favor to a close friend who used to be a state police detective. He and I and Wilt will be the only people who know where you are. I trust the two of them implicitly. You’ll be safe.”
The turbulence of the last few days caught up with her then. Her life had never been steady by any stretch of the imagination, but now she felt completely untethered, drifting amidst a dangerous sea in a storm without land in sight. Only the tightening of Shanna’s hand in her own kept her from completely breaking down.