“No use worrying until we know why,” Troy offered.
“Is there something special about those dates?” Wes asked.
“We checked. We compared your electronic calendar, phone records, travel records, expense receipts and were able to identify at least two witnesses to your whereabouts on each date. We found no pattern or commonality. And nothing of interest,” Mike said, “except...”
“Except what?” Wes asked. His emotions were trying to get the better of him.
“The training center is in the middle of a large missing person web dating back five years. The dates correspond to some of the disappearances and four on Cabe’s list.”
“Some? How many total?”
“A girl went missing on all the dates they asked about. We looked deeper and found thirty-two more. All traveled to or from the Leesburg area for a night out. Cabe Baldwin’s file identified some of them from each group.” Mike handed Wes the folder. “Also, all the women owned a home, lived near or worked at a farm with horses.”
“Why me?”
“Ian and Kieran are reaching out to contacts to see if they can find out more information about that, but nothing so far. Some of the records are protected.”
“Protected?” Wes opened the folder. “We aren’t the only farm with horses in the area.” He flipped through a set of photographs. With each turn of the page, his color turned from white, to gray, to a pale green.
Mike jumped up and grabbed a trash can. “Let it go.”
His latest cup of coffee hit the bottom of the pail. “My God.” A series of X’s were carved in each young woman’s back, likely from a well-controlled whip.
Eleanor has two of those X’s.
Kip placed a bottle of water in his hands and sat next to him. “Small sips.”
“Now what?” Wes held his head in his hands.
“I spoke with Ian, Kieran and Martin. We want you to run an investigation from here.”
“Why, because I can control a whip? Or because I know horses?” His tone turned angry.
“Both, and you reside in the area, and from our point of view, you’re a damn good investigator.” Mike placed his hands open against his knees.
“Mike, come on. Drop the shoe,” Troy demanded.
“Eleanor West.” Mike swallowed hard. “Tate told you we found women’s prints in the car. Two belonged to the EMTs on scene. Technical analysis popped an authorization denied alert. I gave permission for the override. The odd prints belong to Belinda West. We matched them to her nursing license. Twins don’t have identical prints.”
“Lindy…her twin. She called out that name in her sleep the night I brought her home. And I saw a picture of them in her suitcase. How old is the print?”
“That’s an unknown. It was found under the dashboard,” Mike said.
“If she was there, why didn’t she help her sister, and did you get a hit on the male print?” Kip asked.
“Negative on the male print. When we went back to double-check Belinda’s print, the records were frozen. We confirmed a twin sister on Eleanor’s application and subsequent background check and interviews. Eleanor admitted Belinda and she were taken on their twenty-fifth birthday. Belinda was a nurse, and you know Ellie’s training. Fifteen months ago, Eleanor was found hypothermic in a barn,” Mike said.
Wes circled his hand, asking for more information.
“Damn it, Mike. You’re still sandbagging us. What did you know? When, from the start?” Troy exploded. “I spent my morning researching that damn charm that led me to the Divine End and their leaders Malachi and Dinah Drake. They are Eleanor and Belinda West’s, or should I say Drake’s, parents, aren’t they?”
“You knew about her family and her kidnapping and didn’t give me a heads up? Damn it, we work on trust. You hamstrung me.” Wes finished the water and crunched the empty bottle.
“Wes, your report was right. The concussion made her slip. She almost told you her birth name—Drake. We provided a pertinent resumé to Pete and the training center. None of her education background nor skills and experience were made up. Kieran insisted we close the gap on the missing four years and her childhood for her safety,” Mike said.
“Who has the new restriction on her background?” Kip asked.
“We are checking. The Marshals had Belinda and Eleanor under protection since the girls were fourteen. Their surnames were changed to West. Eleanor provided evidence that the Divine End was moving weapons. Best we can tell, in retaliation, the parents tried to kill them. They were in Witsec custody after that until they were about twenty. The night of the girl’s twenty-fifth birthday, they disappeared. Fifteen months ago, after Eleanor was discharged from the hospital, according to our unofficial search, she returned to Witsec’s radar. According to the FBI, she stopped cooperating. Officially, Witsec won’t admit they ever protected her. FBI denies any investigation, and then there are the Drakes. We are coming up empty.” Mike shrugged. “Ian postponed a trip to Israel to handle this.”
