The Night Is Forever

Mason cleared his throat and said, “Hell, Dustin wasn’t even around when Marcus Danby died.”



Callahan stepped into their group, looking shy and young—and yet speaking with a soft calm that belied his years.



“We need to get these kids out of here.”



Vine spun on him but held his temper. He let out a long breath and Dustin realized the man was frustrated.



“Fine. We’ll get the kids out of here,” Vine said. He looked at the boys again, his eyes narrowing. “And not one of you saw anything?”



Joey spoke up. “I saw Aaron get out of his bedroll, but I was still half-asleep. I didn’t jump out myself until I heard Mariah scream. Then...we stood around with Mama Cheever—Sandra—waiting.... Drew, Olivia, Dustin and Mariah came back from the woods and that’s when we noticed Aaron wasn’t with us.”



Frank Vine studied him suspiciously. “So everyone knew where everyone else was—except for Aaron?”



“Yeah,” Drew said, gesturing around at all of them. “Sandra’s not here now because she went in the helicopter with Aaron, but I was with her, so I know exactly where she was. I mean, all of us were here, except for Mason, who was searching in the bushes, and Dustin and Liv—who rescued Aaron.”



“I’m not sure where everyone was when Mariah first screamed,” Dustin explained. “But when we found Mariah and returned to camp with her, we did know. That’s when we discovered that Aaron was missing. None of us necessarily knew where everyone else was before that,” Dustin said.



“Nor do we know if anyone else was in the area,” Olivia added.



Mariah suddenly started sobbing again. “Aaron!” she wailed. “Oh, my God, Aaron.” She sank onto the ground and Olivia crouched down beside her. With everyone upset, Brent began to cry, as well. Dustin went to him, trying to offer some comfort. Brent was extremely susceptible to the emotions of others.



“It’s all right,” he said soothingly. “Aaron’s gone to the hospital. They’ll see what they can do for him there. He might be fine by tonight, Brent.”



“I like Aaron,” Brent told him between sobs. “I liked Marcus.”



“I know,” Dustin murmured.



“All right, let’s move along,” Frank said. “Jimmy, get these people moving. Who’s in charge now?” he demanded.



Drew cleared his throat. “Um—Olivia. If Aaron’s out of action, Olivia is in charge.”



“Liv,” Frank ordered, “get your stuff packed and take these boys back to the Horse Farm. I’ll get on the horn and see that someone from Parsonage House shows up and that Brent’s mom knows to come for him.”



“Have them ride back as they are—don’t pack up. Leave the campsite as it is. There might be something here that can give us some explanation...or at least a hint,” Dustin said.



“This is my jurisdiction,” Frank Vine told him. “You’re not going to find anything that might cause a man to walk to a stream and fall in. You want to investigate? Fine, walk down to the stream. Olivia, you get the others packed up and out of here!”



Short of doing something that would land him in jail or get him shot, Dustin was afraid his options were severely limited. So he took the risk of sharing the one piece of information he’d hoped to hold back—until he had the lab results, anyway.



“We need to look for a dart gun,” he said bluntly.



“What?”



It wasn’t just Frank who stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. Everyone did.



“Ask Joey. We heard something whizzing by us in the woods the other day. Later I was out here walking and found a dart.” He decided this might be their only chance to discover the truth; he had to get Frank to at least consider the possibility. Coincidentally, he’d be able to observe the others’ reactions....



“I think Marcus Danby might have been hit by a dart, one that might have been tipped with horse tranquilizer. It would have knocked him out—and then heroin could’ve been administered. And down at the stream, Aaron could have been hit with a dart, causing him to nearly drown when he pitched forward. Someone could’ve put together a cocktail of acepromazine and barbiturates—just enough to knock someone out. Something that would dissolve quickly and not show up in the standard blood tests done at an autopsy.”



They all looked at him incredulously. “That’s kind of a stretch, Mr. Agent Man,” Vine said. “You’re kidding me, right? Someone’s running around with a dart gun? This is twenty-first-century Tennessee! We’re not in Africa or worrying about some ancient tribe on a Pacific island.”



“I’m talking about drugs and tranquilizers readily available on any farm in the area,” Dustin said.



“Still...” Frank protested.



“I found a dart in the woods.”



“Why didn’t you report it?”



“Was I supposed to report a dart?” Dustin asked with mock innocence. To you? So you could say some kid simply got a new dart gun for his birthday?



“You should report everything to local law enforcement—and that happens to be me,” Vine growled. “Even if you are a federal agent.”



“All right. I know that now. I know you’re open to anything that might be out of the ordinary. So, Deputy Sheriff Vine, why not investigate?” Dustin demanded. “Are you trying to hinder an investigation or carry one out?”



For a moment, he thought he’d gone too far—that Frank Vine was going to order Callahan to put handcuffs on Dustin.



Maybe the man was even in on it. He’d been involved with the search the day Marcus was found dead; he’d been one of the first to arrive at the scene.



Why would a cop do such a thing? An old ax to grind? Maybe Marcus had refused to give him the dog he’d wanted. Murder over a rescue pup? Seemed unlikely. He wondered what other reasons the deputy sheriff might have to obstruct the inquiry.



But to his amazement, Vine seemed willing to listen to him. He looked at Dustin for a long moment, his jaw tightening. Then he looked down at the ground for an equally long moment. Finally he raised his head. “Believe me, I don’t want to hinder an investigation.”



Dustin did believe him. Vine was trying to be a good officer. He just had trouble accepting that something so absurd and devious could be going on.



“Olivia, you get everyone going,” Vine said. “The agent and I are—”



“Wait!” Matt broke in. “Is that legal? Don’t you need a search warrant? I mean, what if you catch a killer, but your evidence turns out to be tainted?” He looked around worriedly. “My, uh, dad’s an attorney,” he added. “Fruit of the poisonous tree, and all that.”



“You have my permission to search all Horse Farm property,” Olivia said. “There. That handles the tents.”



“You can search all our personal property, as well. Does anyone have any objections?” Drew asked. “Matt, I’m pretty sure that if you say it’s fine, it’s fine. There are a lot of witnesses who’ll hear you give your permission.”



“You can search anything of mine. Hell, we have our blood and urine tested all the time. What do I care about a backpack?” Matt said. “Guys?” he turned to the others.



They all murmured that they had no objections.



“Then, Olivia, if you’d please get everyone mounted up? We’ll return everyone’s property later,” Vine said. “Deputy Callahan’s going to ride with you.”



“Wow. I finally got to use my iPod again,” Matt moaned. “And you’re taking it away.”



“We’ll get it back to you by tonight,” Dustin promised.



Olivia helped Mariah to her feet. “We just leave everything?” she asked Dustin.



He nodded, speaking to her privately as the others went to get the horses saddled and ready for the ride back. It was decided that Callahan would be riding Aaron’s horse.



“And stay with the deputy,” Dustin emphasized. “Get the kids back where they belong, and you stay with Callahan. I don’t like you being without me. I’d thought the answer might be here, but...no one reacted when I brought it up.” He shrugged. “So, I just don’t know.”



“You didn’t tell me anything about a dart gun,” she accused him.



“It’s a long shot.” He grimaced. “If you’ll pardon the bad pun.”



She nodded distractedly. “But who could have struck him? We were all at the campsite together.”



“None of us was at the stream when he went down there,” he said. “We didn’t realize Aaron was missing, there was so much commotion over Mariah.”



“You suspected Aaron,” she said. “You thought he killed Marcus.”



“I never put that into words.”



She took a deep breath. “Do you think he’ll make it?”



“He’s breathing, and they can keep him breathing. How long he was out, I don’t know.”



Drew had the kids saddling the horses. All the saddlebags—everything else—was left behind.



A dart could easily be hidden. And even though a dart gun was small, Dustin hoped he could see if anyone was carrying anything that looked suspect. He surveyed the riders and saw cell phones pressed against pockets, but nothing in the shape of a dart gun.



But, he figured, the dart gun could’ve been tossed in the forest somewhere.



When the riders were all mounted and ready to head back, he stood close to Olivia for a moment. She appeared to be calm and in control. She also looked drained and weary.



He wanted to rebuff the whole concept of searching for the dart gun—which he didn’t think he was going to find, anyway. He wanted to head back with Olivia, take a steaming shower and fall into bed with her. He’d never in his life regretted trying to be noble as much as he did now. And he hated the idea that she was riding away while he stayed.