53
Colcord cast his fly rod and watched the line unfurl over Brush Creek, the dry fly setting itself down perfectly in the slow eddy behind a rock. It was Saturday, and he was waiting for Cash, who had demanded to meet him somewhere secluded. That morning, when he had stepped outside and seen the gorgeous sun filtering through the elm outside of his house, his thoughts had immediately turned to Brush Creek Pavilion. It was a good feeder stream, with plenty of brown trout. Plus there was nothing like some fly-fishing to get his mind off the crazy mess the Shrouder investigation had now become. He shivered.… The Shrouder. He hated the nickname the press had given the killer—it didn’t even make sense, since all evidence pointed to a group of four—but somehow they’d all begun using it. It reminded him of Reno, pallid and ghostly and dressed in that creepy white nightgown. He breathed in the crisp air, letting the familiar gurgle of the stream wash over him and drown out his thoughts for a second.
And it was a perfect place to meet Cash, with no chance of anyone knowing.
“Really?” he heard Cash say from behind him.
The wind riffled the stream. He smiled without turning around and started reeling in the line.
“Really what?”
“No fish yet? I thought you were good at this.” She sidled up to his left and watched him for a beat in silence.
“Catch and release,” he said. She looked haggard—hair unwashed, dark circles under her eyes.
“Colcord, I did something that you’re not gonna be too happy about.”
Colcord wasn’t surprised. He already figured Cash would have continued investigating on her own. It just wasn’t in her personality to quit something, even if Holmes had ordered her to. Plus, she had been close to Reno, and it was clear to Colcord she was on a crusade of sorts, maybe even headed over the cliff. He wondered what kind of boundaries she’d crossed this time.
“What did you do?”
“I had the relic’s DNA sequenced.”
Colcord swore and finished reeling the line in and leaned the rod against a tree. He should have guessed that.
“Damn it, Cash. You’re gonna get yourself fired.”
“Not unless you tell Holmes.”
“Of course I won’t, but Jesus.” He crossed his arms. “Well, what did you find out?”
“Dr. Strickland said the results don’t make sense—probably contamination.”
“Okay. No surprise there. So you risked your job for nothin’.”
“But he also said some of the DNA looks artificial. He said it resembled synthetic DNA, apparently impossible, even with today’s technology. He also confirmed it’s two thousand years old. That’s what made him think it was contaminated.”
“But you think differently?”
“Well, what if it isn’t contaminated? What if itreallyis artificial?”
“I’m not sure I see where you’re going.”
“What if the reason Devotio is after Paradox is to keep something hidden? Maybe something to do with a man living two thousand years ago with artificial DNA and everything that entails.”
Colcord looked at her. This was absurd. She looked exhausted and sounded crazy. “So what’s your answer? That John the Baptist was a clone or something?”
“I don’t know. But listen to this. I went up on Dome Peak. Where they saw the lights? To see if the killers might have left anything behind. I found some footprints—the big one—and also a groove in the rockand some trees that looked like they’d been knocked down and broken. Like something maybe did crash there.”
“Something?Pleasetell me you don’t think it was a UFO.”
“It’sUAP—fuck, now I’m talking like them. Look, I don’t know what to think. I just want you to keep an open mind.”
“I’m listening, but you’re not making sense.” Colcord felt frustration tensing his shoulders and tried to relax. He had to nip this in the bud. Cashhadto stop this crazy talk before she destroyed what was left of her career.
“I think there may be something to this artifact. What if Grooms really did find something up in the mountains? Maybe alien, maybe not. The important thing is,they thinkit’s alien. Everybody wants it—Castillo, Paradox, and Devotio. Something that threatens the foundation of the church. Those lights in the mountains were people searching for the crash site. They killed Reno to get the relic, to suppress the DNA evidence. They all believe the alien artifact is real, Devotio and Paradox, and they both want it. Devotio to suppress it and Paradox to reveal it to the world.”
Colcord felt heartsick seeing this breakdown. She really was going off the deep end. “Cash, you’re not making sense. I think you need to go home, get a good night’s sleep, and revisit this in the morning. Okay? I’m saying this to you as a friend.” He laid a palm on her shoulder to ease the tension.
