Ancient Deceptions

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Bethany Gooding started out before dawn the next morning to make the long drive to Salmon, Idaho. She had no idea what she was going to find there, or if anyone in the town remembered the strange events of some three years earlier, but she knew she had to try.

Her thick blond hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, and she wore black, ripped skinny jeans, a snug pink T-shirt, and sandals with heels. She told her parents she was going to the University, and probably wouldn’t be home until late. Her mother frowned, as usual, at her clothes. But Bethany had won that fight a few years earlier.

The two-lane highway was little traveled, and went from the flat, relatively fertile land around the Snake River where the Gooding farm was located, to climb high into the mountains as it skirted the edges of the Bitterroot range between Idaho and Montana. She hadn’t realized until she was near Salmon and drove past the Sacajawea Cultural and Interpretive Center that the woman who had helped Lewis and Clark find their way to the Pacific Ocean was a Lemhi Shoshone and born in that area.

The town of Salmon was small and old. The highway went right through the main street and most of the buildings showed their age. The brick ones seemed to be in the best shape, the wooden ones the worst, and none looked new. Off the main street she did see a number of attractive, older homes.

She was headed for the Lemhi County Sheriff’s office. She had learned that Sheriff Jake Sullivan had been a part of the group that had been lost in the wilderness while searching for Rachel and her classmates.

She entered the office to find an older woman sitting at a desk. “Hello,” she called out cheerfully. “Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Sheriff Jake Sullivan,” Bethany said.

The woman took off her glasses. “Oh, I’m sorry. Jake’s out of town at the moment. But Deputy Mallick is filling in. I’m sure he can help you.”

“Oh, no, that’s all right.”

“You hold on, there, dearie.” The woman got up and knocked on the door then stuck her head in. “Dez, some little gal is looking for Jake. You should talk to her.”

“Really?”

The woman faced Bethany, leaving the door open. “You can go in now.”

She stepped into the office. The man seated at the desk slowly looked up, but when he saw her, his blue eyes widened and he jumped to his feet. He was tall and kind of lanky. He wore a gray shirt with a silver and gold badge and an embroidered Sheriff’s Department patch on one sleeve and an American flag patch on the other. “Can I help you, miss?”

“Well, I’m not sure. I was hoping to speak to Sheriff Sullivan,” she said.

“I’m afraid he’s kinda taken off for a few days.”

“A few days?”

“I’m Deputy Mallick. In charge… for now,” he said a bit shyly. “Why don’t you tell me what this is about?”

She looked him over. She liked his looks, his curly light brown hair, and eyes the color of the expensive blue china her mother kept on a high shelf in the dining room glass cabinet—the ones she was saving for a special occasion that never seemed to come. But he did seem young to be in charge of a sheriff’s station.

Bethany wasn’t sure where to start. “Well…”

“Is something wrong?” Mallick asked. “Some crime committed, or something?”

The man sounded almost hopeful that something had happened. Maybe sitting in this dark office wasn’t exactly the most exciting way to spend one’s day. “No, at least, I hope not. I wanted to ask Sheriff Sullivan about something that happened near here about three years ago.”

Mallick’s pleasant expression became a scowl. “The disappearance?”

“Yes. That’s it. Were you here then?”

He sat back down, leaving her standing. His scowl deepened. “I take it you’re a journalist or a magazine writer or something like that.”

She was stunned. “Not at all.”

He folded his arms, his eyes cold. “Then why are you here asking about those days?”

“Because my sister was involved.”

His brow furrowed, and he looked at her closely. “Your sister?”

“Rachel Gooding. Did you know her?”

He put his hand to his chin and rubbed it a moment. “Yes, I knew Rachel. In fact, I saw her just last summer.”

“That’s great!” She stepped closer to his desk. “And I guess you also know Michael Rempart. I need to learn about him, about all that happened.”

Mallick looked troubled. “People died. Students, even a professor—Michael Rempart’s brother—who led the field trip.”

“I understand that,” Bethany said.

Mallick nodded, then stood. “This might be a long conversation. Would you like to go next door and have some coffee while we talk?”

Bethany was surprised that the deputy opened doors for her and even paid for her coffee. The boys she was meeting these days, even those at Brigham Young, wouldn’t have done that, or would have asked if it was “all right” before presuming to be gentlemen. She couldn’t help but smile at the man.

He smiled back.

She sat while he got their orders, including almond croissants for them both. She was grateful to eat something after her long drive. As they shared a small table, she explained that she was looking for her sister. She knew Rachel had gone to Japan, but after that she had disappeared. Michael Rempart seemed somehow involved, but she knew nothing about him or what had happened in the past. She wondered if the past had played a part in Rachel’s disappearance.

Mallick appeared stunned that Bethany knew so little about what had happened in the wilderness north of the Salmon River. She wanted to hear all about it, and after checking with the office secretary that nothing was going on, the two finished their coffee and then walked through the small city park down to a tributary of the Salmon that flowed through the town. As they walked, she learned his name was Desmond, but everyone called him Dez. He was twenty-eight, had never found the right girl to marry, loved his job, and was a believer but not a churchgoer. She told him a little about herself, her large family, and her job at the BYU library.

When they found a pretty and secluded spot by the water, they sat and Mallick told her what he remembered about the disappearance and deaths that happened in the area. Bethany was horrified at how long and deadly the episode had been.

He didn’t have a lot to say about Michael Rempart, other than that the guy seemed strange. “But then, last year, some odd things started up again in Salmon,” he said. “Deaths of ranchers. Ones that looked like they might have been done by animals, but when studied closely, were not. Some were unaccounted for, but others were done by men. We even lost a deputy.”

“I’m so sorry,” Bethany said. She had never come face-to-face with sudden, tragic death and couldn’t help but wonder how this man, after losing a colleague, could still put on his uniform and come back to work each day. She doubted she could ever be so brave and found herself regarding him with new respect.

“Now that I think of it, Jake mentioned that the girls—your sister and Ceinwen—thought Rempart should come here to Salmon to help with whatever was troubling us. They tried tracking him down, and finally located his assistant. I’m afraid I can’t remember his name, but I can find it back in the office. Seems to me, Rempart was in Japan.”

“I was wondering about that,” Bethany said. “That would explain why my sister suddenly went there.”

“But then,” Mallick said, looking at her sadly, “a few weeks or so later, Rempart, Ceinwen, and the assistant came back here. Rachel wasn’t with them. Jake asked but … God, what was it? I think they said she was ill. Some kind of virus or something, and they left her in Japan but she was well taken care of.”

Bethany gawked at him as her anger flared. “She was sick? And they just left her there? Why would they do that?”

“Hey, it’s all right.” He took her hands. “I’m sure they wouldn’t have left her if they thought it would hurt her. They all seemed to really care about her. Even the strange Michael Rempart, I think, has a real affection for your sister. She’s a nice person.”

Bethany couldn’t help but search his face for a sign he was lying. But all she saw was compassion, and maybe a little something more. Or was that wishful thinking? She realized they still held hands and eased hers away. “Thank you. Is there anything else you can think of?”

She could see him hesitate, and that scared her. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” he whispered. “Nothing I can explain, anyway.”

She thought for a moment. “Since we’re talking about things we can’t explain, I’ll confess something to you about Rachel. She was always smart and bookish and did well in school. But she was no genius. She was just Rachel. But after she came back from having been lost, she was a different person. She learned things quickly, too quickly. I watched her read, and she’d go through book after book in no time. It was as if she could barely turn the pages fast enough. And she’d remember everything she’d read. It was freaky. I didn’t get it and tried to ignore it. I told myself Rachel had learned the power of concentration. But it also scared me, and worried me. Maybe that’s another reason I’m desperate to find her. I don’t know that she’s still my sister.”

He studied her. “And you’re thinking that’s why she hasn’t come home?”

She nodded.

“One more thing.” He held her gaze. “If you decide to investigate more about your sister’s disappearance, don’t trust anybody or anything.”

Anything? An odd word to use. But instead of questioning it, she froze at his intensity, then simply nodded.

“And now, let’s go back to the station,” he said. “I’ll find those phone numbers for you. Are you sure you want to drive back to Idaho Falls tonight? It’s a long trip, and it gets dark early this time of year.”

“I’ll be fine. I still live at home, and my folks would have fits if I stayed out all night.”

He smiled. “Got it.”

At the office, he was able to find a phone numbers for Michael as well as his assistant who he now gave a name—Li Jianjun. He wrote out the information she needed, then they exchanged phone numbers in case he thought of anything more, or she had more questions. Finally, there was nothing left but for him to walk her to her car.

“Drive safe,” he said. “And don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.”

She opened her car door but before getting in faced him once more. “Thank you for all your help today. I really appreciate it.”

He hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “Say, if you ever want to come up this way just to see the sights, maybe go up to the main part of the Salmon River and see it—it looks like a picture postcard—just let me know.”

“I’d like that.” She was beginning to feel foolish the way she kept smiling at him but she couldn’t help it.

He smiled back, but then his expression changed as he added, “Promise you’ll be careful.“

A sudden feeling of dread struck her. “I will. I promise.”

She quickly got into the car. He stood back a bit, but she noticed that he continued to watch her as she drove out of town.