Free Wrong Turn by Diane Fanning Page A

an incoming call. At seven thirty that morning, he decided he’d waited long enough. He picked up his phone and called the cell of the Special Agent in Charge at the Salt Lake City office.
    ‘Do you know what time it is, Lovett?’
    ‘Seven thirty or so,’ Jake answered, puzzling over the question as he spoke.
    ‘That’s on the east coast, Lovett. Out here, we have what we call Mountain Time and it’s just five thirty – the sun hasn’t even come up yet.’
    ‘I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about the time difference. Did I wake you?’
    ‘No, Lovett. I’ve been awake all night, sitting in the ranger station overlooking the campsite where we’ve narrowed down the location of Rogers.’
    ‘Why don’t you go in and get him?’ Jake asked.
    ‘Listen, Lovett, I don’t know how you handle things out east but out here in God’s country, we place a value on women and children and kind of think we ought to protect them.’
    ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
    ‘At the campsite, there’s a woman and two small children. We were hoping to avoid turning all three of them into hostages. So we’re waiting for him to come out of the tent for a morning whiz or a bit of early fishing. You got a problem with that?’
    ‘No, of course not. Sorry to have bothered you. You will keep me posted on any developments?’
    ‘Don’t call me. I’ll call you.’
    Jake hung up, disgusted with his western colleague. He had to keep busy. He got dressed and drove to his office. On route, he called Lucinda and updated her on the latest in the hunt for Rogers. ‘You sound distracted, Lucinda.’
    ‘I am, Jake. I’ve got two things bothering me. One is an anomaly I found in the Sherman case files last night but I can hardly think about that now because of the other thing – Charley is missing.’
    ‘Anything I can do? Do you think she’s been abducted?’
    ‘Honestly, Jake, I think she’s up to something and we are going to find her safe and sound before we know it. But, in the meantime, no matter how unlikely, I can’t help but worry that something else is behind her disappearance, or that whatever she’s gotten into this time, she’s not going to come out of it unscathed.’
    ‘Let me know if you need my help at any point. I’m following the developments out in Idaho but aside from that I’m at loose ends – nothing that can’t be dropped to help you and Charley.’
    ‘Thanks, Jake. Let me know when Rogers is in custody.’
    Arriving in his office, he asked one of the agents to keep an eye out for any mishaps involving a young girl that might possibly be Charley. ‘It’s not official. We’re not involved in the case but if we can find out anything to help them locate the girl, I don’t think anybody will mind where the information comes from.’
    At his desk, Jake pulled out Rogers’ file and once again went through it looking for any small item he could have overlooked that could point the search for the fugitive in the right direction. Finally, at nine his cellphone rang. It was an agent in the Pocatello satellite office. ‘Sir, I’ve been asked to give you a call and let you know we picked up Rogers. He’s being transported in as we speak. You will receive an update after the completion of his interrogation.’
    ‘The woman and the kids – are they OK?’
    ‘They were still in the tent asleep when we left. They don’t even know we were there.’
    ‘What about Rogers?’
    ‘Scraped up a bit when he tried to resist – but nothing all that serious. He keeps insisting he is not Mack Rogers but he sure looks just like him. As soon as he gets into the station, we’ll get his fingerprints for confirmation.’
    ‘Can you let me know as soon as that’s happened?’
    ‘I don’t know. I was told we’d call you after the interrogation.’
    ‘Ah, c’mon . . .’ Jake pleaded.
    ‘OK. OK. I’ll call once the prints are checked. But keep it to yourself, all right?’
    ‘You got it,’ Jake said.