Chapter One Dee Hightower put her pen down, closed her test booklet and sat back in her seat. She felt good about the test, and it showed in the huge smile that now crossed her face. It had been six long years of online, night and weekend school at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, but with the completion of this final test, she could now relax. In two weeks, she would receive her diploma and then she would start the job search effort to put her new psychology degree to use. She hoped to land a job working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs so she could use her new degree to help her friends and neighbors on the Ute Mountain Reservation, where she had lived her entire life. More importantly, she could quit working at the grocery store in Cortez. It wasn’t like she hated the job—after all, it helped put food on the table and a roof over the heads of her husband, Ronnie, and their three children—but it wasn’t part of her dream. Dee Hightower was going places, and no one was going to stop her. She was the first member of her family to go to college, and she planned to make them proud. Dee gathered up her test booklet, grabbed her backpack and dropped the booklet on the professor’s desk. She had completed most of her classwork over the last six years on the internet, but tonight she’d had to drive the sixty miles from Towaoc to Durango so she could take the test in a classroom setting. She shook hands with the professor, thanked him for being her mentor all these years and headed for her car. It was late, and she hoped to get home before the kids went to bed. She called her husband to let him know she felt good about the test and to tell him she was leaving. Anytime over the last six years she’d had to make the drive, she would check in before leaving campus, so Ronnie wouldn’t worry. He never liked her making the drive alone, especially at night, but he understood that this was important to Dee, and he wasn’t going to stand in her way. Dee said goodbye to some of the classmates she had become acquainted with over the years, thanked them for the invitation to head to a pub downtown for a few celebratory drinks and headed for her car. She started the car, sat back for a minute and took a deep breath. She had finally done it. She was now a college graduate, but instead of feeling happy, a shiver went up her spine, and she felt uneasy. She felt like she was being watched. She looked around the mostly empty parking lot but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. “Geez, Dee. Get a grip. You just graduated college. Take a break and feel good about what you’ve accomplished,” she said to herself. She shook off the odd feeling and pulled out of the lot, never noticing the van that pulled out of the dark space at the far end of the lot. Dee drove through downtown Durango, jumped onto Highway 160 and headed west. She checked her watch. She should make it home just as her husband was getting the kids settled into bed. Focused on the road ahead, she never looked back as she climbed out of the valley. As was her routine, when she reached the small town of Mancos, she sent Ronnie a text to let him know where she was. She still had a half tank of gas, so she didn’t need to stop at the convenience store just inside the town limits. She cruised through town and headed for Cortez, the next town, and then home. She was making great time. *** Ronnie Hightower woke with a start and wiped the sleep out of his eyes. He had gotten the kids settled down early tonight and had a couple of beers while he waited for Dee to get home. He must have fallen asleep on the couch. He checked his watch and saw that it was a little after one A.M. He looked around the living room and didn’t see Dee’s backpack anywhere. He stood up and headed towards the bedroom. Maybe she came in, saw him sleeping and headed for bed so as not to disturb him. He pushed open the bedroom door, and the bed was still made. He pulled out his phone and checked for messages. The last text he had was from nine P.M., which was the one Dee sent from Mancos. She should have been home hours ago. He stepped outside and saw his truck in the gravel driveway, but not Dee’s old Subaru. He dialed her number and listened as it rang and went to voice mail. It wasn’t like Dee to miss saying good night to the kids. Ronnie called his sister-in-law, Jessie, who lived two blocks over, told her that Dee hadn’t come home and asked if she could come over and keep an eye on the kids, so he could head towards Mancos and see if he could find her car. Though the Subaru was old, he kept it running in tip-top shape, but anything could have happened. Within fifteen minutes, Jessie, followed by five pickup trucks, pulled into the driveway and parked next to Ronnie’s truck. Ronnie’s brother Sam and several of his friends parked their trucks along the street. They got out of their trucks and formed a circle at the end of the driveway. Ronnie could always count on Jessie to be ahead of the curve, and she was this morning. She had started calling around, and soon they had a search party formed. By the time they left the house, six more cars and trucks had joined the group. Ronnie told them what he knew; his neighbor and best friend, Scott Sage, a Montezuma County sheriff’s deputy, gave everyone their assignments, and the search for Dee Hightower began. Scott called the sheriff’s office and asked them to put out a BOLO on Dee’s car and to ask the La Plata County sheriff’s office to check the highway between Durango and Mancos. By eight A.M., the searchers started arriving back at the Hightower home, and the news wasn’t good. There was no sign of Dee’s car anywhere. Jessie fed everyone a breakfast of eggs and bacon, with plenty of coffee, and those who could stay gathered around the kitchen table and pulled out their maps. Scott Sage called the sheriff’s office and spoke with the sheriff, who promised to get every deputy and reserve deputy in the county working on the search. Ronnie tried to remain calm as he got his kids ready for school, but he broke down when he called his boss at the Montezuma County Public Works Department. His boss promised to get Dee’s information to all the county road crews and told Ronnie to take the day off and to call if he needed anything. After breakfast and some strategizing, the remaining searchers, augmented by several new additions, headed out again and began working the back roads. The biggest hurdle was that there were a lot of back roads, forest service roads and trails throughout the county, and Dee could be anywhere. Everyone started with positive thoughts, but as the day wore on, those thoughts diminished, and by nightfall, everyone feared the worst. Dee Hightower had vanished off the face of the earth and now joined a long list of missing Native American women.
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Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent Buck Taylor and his team have been involved in some strange cases, but their two most recent cases might be their most unusual, yet. While Buck’s team searches for a missing Native American woman, Buck must cut through the clutter of conspiracy theories galore to investigate the mysterious deaths of several hikers. Human skeletons, dermestid beetles, hidden bunkers and sonic weapons lead the team to two different conclusions. One crime may prove to be the perfect crime and the other reveals a Cold War secret that will send chills up and down your spine.
About the author
Chuck Morgan spent thirty-five years as a construction project manager. He is an avid outdoorsman, an Eagle Scout, and a licensed private pilot. He enjoys camping, mountain biking, and fly-fishing. He is the author of the Crime series, featuring Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent Buck Taylor. view profile
Published on October 20, 2020
80000 words
Contains graphic explicit content ⚠️
Worked with a Reedsy professional 🏆
Genre: Mystery & Crime
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