| |
Driving west on I-70
ROSE STARED STRAIGHT ahead as they drove west on Interstate 70 toward the Rocky Mountains. The peaks and ridges, dappled with white snow against the steel gray sky, were mesmerizing. She wished the circumstances were different so she could enjoy the experiences more. Last time her life had been threatened for her strange, back-covering birthmark. This time she was worried about her sister and murderous unknowns were on her tail. And Lily could already have fallen prey to them for all she knew.
They had decided to forego the twelve-hour drive to Dragoon, Arizona and head directly to Las Vegas in hopes of shaving some time off Lily’s lead. Flying would certainly have been faster, but the airport seemed an unnecessary risk. She wondered if this third rental car would survive or end up wrecked or abandoned like the others. She stole a glance across at Crowley, his face passive as he drove. She’d be lost without him and that bothered her. She would be forever grateful for his help, but preferred to think she could do all of this without him if necessary.
And maybe she could. Sure, she didn’t have Cameron as a contact, but a lot of the leads and information came from her own associates through the museum and her own research. Though she and Jake did make a formidable team. Truth be told, he wouldn’t be nearly so effective without her. Maybe she should stop thinking about how much she needed him and remind herself that they needed each other. But that set off a chain reaction of thoughts she wasn’t prepared to face and she quickly looked out at the view again, eager to shake them off.
They had driven in a companionable silence for a long time when Crowley said, “I just can’t figure out why Lily went nearly all the way to Mexico. Surely it’s not a hotbed of the Anubis Cult.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing. There must be a reason. We’ve learned so far that she’s damned focused and determined. She wouldn’t take a break for sightseeing. Let me see what I can dredge up.”
“Good idea.”
She fired up her phone again and reclined the seat a little, settling in for some detailed research. She pulled a notepad and pen from her bag to keep track of anything she discovered. After only a minute or two, she said, “I don’t suppose she’d visit the JH Smith Grocery Store and Filling Station.”
Crowley laughed. “Well, she might. You know, for groceries or fuel. Is that relevant?”
“It’s the first place listed on the ‘Things to Do in Dragoon’ website. Along with the local cemetery, Texas Canyon, and an art gallery.”
“Dragoon pretty proud of its tourist attractions then?”
Rose gestured with the phone. “It would seem so.”
“I wonder if the art gallery has any Egyptian artifacts,” Crowley said.
Rose looked up the gallery website and perused the images. “It looks like Southwestern artwork for the most part. Let me search a bit more specifically. She opened a new browser window and began looking up various terms along with ‘Dragoon Arizona’. She tried Egypt, Egyptian, Anubis and got no relevant hits. She tried regional stuff, like Cairo, Darshur, Denver, the Denver museum, anything that might cross-reference with their search or anything they’d uncovered so far. Still nothing. On a whim, she tried mummy and immediately got results.
“The Thing,” she read out, then barked a laugh. “Best horror film ever made.”
Crowley frowned. “What?”
She stared at him in disbelief. “You haven’t seen The Thing?”
“A horror film?”
She was a little bemused by his lack of recognition. “Yes a horror film! John Carpenter’s The Thing. Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Richard Dysart?”
Crowley stared at her, slowly shook his head.
Rose pointed, nearly shouted, “Look at the road!”
Crowley swerved back into his lane, grinning a little manically. “Sorry about that.” He glanced over again and she gestured angrily at the road ahead.
“Eyes front!”
“Okay, okay.”
“But seriously, I can’t believe you haven’t seen The Thing.”
“Never even heard of it.”
“Man, it’s truly the greatest horror film ever made. We have to rectify that situation and watch it soon.” Rose couldn’t help laughing, shook her head.
“But why did you bring up The Thing?” Crowley asked.
“Because I saw it here.” She tapped her phone. “But not the 1980s horror film.”
“What then?”
Rose turned her attention back to her research. She smiled subtly. She enjoyed these bursts of passion she occasionally elicited from Crowley; he was often so taciturn otherwise. So pragmatic. She really didn’t know all that much about him, and wanted to know more. But that came with complications.
“It’s a roadside attraction in Dragoon,” she said. “It’s called The Thing.”
Crowley harrumphed. “Disappointing.” He flicked her a grin, then looked forward again.
“They claim,” Rose went on, “that it’s an Egyptian mummy found somewhere in the southwestern US.”
“Bollocks!” Crowley said. “A mummy found there? That’s ridiculous.”
Looking at the website, Rose found herself doubtful too, but the claim was bold as brass. Then again, a lot of places made bold and entirely fictitious claims, especially if they were hard up for tourist dollars and there wasn’t much other industry in the region. The place was clearly a tourist trap. “I agree,” she said to Crowley. “It’s almost certainly codswallop. But there’s no harm in checking. I’d hate myself if I ignored even the most tenuous lead and it turned out to be important.”
“So you want to change direction and go to Dragoon after all?” Crowley sounded as though he was entirely reluctant to do that, and Rose had to agree.
“Not yet,” she said. “Hang on.” She found the phone number and called, bracing herself for a conversation with a complete kook.
It rang a few times and then, “The Thing, Kelly speaking, how may I help you?”
Rose smiled. That had to be one of the more unusual receptions she’d ever received. “Hi, Kelly, I hope you can help me. I’m trying to track down a missing person and I know she was in your neck of the woods recently.” She gave the date they had learned from Cameron of Lily’s visit to Dragoon from her fake credit card. “Her name is Iris Brown. She’s half-Chinese, short black hair, but English, so she has an English accent. Does that ring any bells?”
“Sounds pretty specific,” Kelly said. “But I wasn’t working that day. I maybe could pass the information along to Burt, he was working then. Maybe he can give you a ring?”
“Thank you, that would be really good of you.” Rose read out her phone number and heard the scratch of a pencil as Kelly wrote it down. “While I’m on,” Rose said, “can you tell me about The Thing?”
“Oh, The Thing is truly wonderful, dear. It’s a sight like you wouldn’t believe. A wonder of the world, a thing utterly unexplained!”
Rose stifled a laugh at the woman’s sudden switch into her sales patter. “But what is it?”
“Oh, honey, you really need to see it for yourself.”
Rose knew from the websites she’d already looked at before calling that the thing was supposedly a mummified mother and child. One story said it was purchased around 1950 for fifty dollars, another said it was found in the desert nearby. Numerous theories had sprung up, but Rose hadn’t dug too deeply before calling. “Well, if ever I get down that way I certainly will come to see for myself,” she said. “Out of interest, do you guys have any artifacts related to Anubis?”
A moment of silence hung in the air, then Kelly said, “I’m sorry, a new what?”
“No, no. Anubis. Ancient Egyptian god of the underworld. Has the head of a jackal?”
“Oh no, nothing like that. But you really should come and see all the wondrous things we do have.”
“Thank you, I’ll surely try. And if you could get Burt to call me about Iris Brown, that would be really helpful.”
“I will. I hope you find her. Bye for now.”
“Bye.” Rose hung up, disappointed. She should have known the call would be as good as pointless, but a part of her had hoped it might suddenly crack things wide open. She grew tired of running across the country, picking at one tiny, useless clue after another. It felt like they were on a treadmill, going nowhere fast. “How much further to Vegas?” she asked.
Crowley laughed. “This land is nothing like England. A good eight hours, I’d say. You might as well get some sleep. I’ll wake you when we’re there.”