Strong Light of Day by Jon Land Read Free Book Online

glanced at Tepper, making a mental note of that. “So who would know you were coming out here?”
    â€œMy gosh, all kinds of people. Places like the Village School reserve buses long in advance. Of course, they may provide the itineraries later, closer to the ride in question. But to answer your question, let’s see, the dispatcher for sure, the booking office—heck, pretty much anyone at the company who’s got a computer.”
    â€œLet’s turn our attention back to the events of today, when you came to pick the kids up, and yesterday, when you dropped them off. Did you notice anything that sticks out in your mind?”
    Sara Ann Hoder tucked her hands into the pockets of her smock Caitlin had taken for a shirt, waiting for her to continue. “No, Ranger, I didn’t.”
    â€œOn either occasion, especially yesterday, did you notice anyone lingering about, maybe in a way that made them stand out in your mind?”
    The woman puckered her lips, features squeezed taut as if she were searching for just that, and looked disappointed when she didn’t find it. “No, ma’am. I’m sorry.”
    â€œDon’t be sorry, Sara Ann. You’re doing great here. This isn’t your doing in any way whatsoever. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t something that sticks out, something maybe just a little off, that could help us get to the bottom of things.”
    The bus driver swallowed hard. “You figure something bad happened to those kids?”
    â€œIt’s too early for speculation of any kind, but they’re missing, and that’s bad in itself. What about vehicles?”
    â€œVehicles?”
    â€œIn the parking lot, when you pulled in yesterday.”
    â€œI didn’t pull in then. I let the kids out at a drop-off point, like a staging center.”
    â€œOkay,” Caitlin said, keeping her tone reserved and gentle. “There then.”
    â€œOther vehicles, you mean?”
    â€œYes, ma’am.”
    â€œHmm, let me think some more on that. It’s all I’ve been doing since the kids didn’t show up when they were supposed. Running things through my head, knowing somebody’d be asking me these very questions.”
    â€œTake your time, Sara Ann.”
    The woman buried her face in her hands, starting to break down. “It’s so darn hard. My brain’s all seized up like a bad bearing.”
    â€œThen let’s leave it for now. Try again later. How’s that sound?”
    The woman nodded, sort of. Caitlin tried to look reassuring before she slid away with Tepper in tow.
    â€œAny security cameras, Captain?”
    â€œNot a single one back out on the road, and just four to cover all these grounds, one of which is inside the souvenir shop that just opened.” Tepper ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth, pushing it about as if feeling for something. “Guess shoplifting around here is considered a bigger crime than thirty-six missing students and their chaperones.”
    â€œLet’s go have a look at the campsite where they were last seen.”

 
    10
    A RMAND B AYOU, T EXAS
    The Martyn farmhouse offered a perfect re-creation of the past, specifically life on an 1890s farm. One of the few trips her father had taken Caitlin on was highlighted by a stop in the Amish country of Pennsylvania, featuring an actual working farm and exhibit residence that, like this, was period perfect. No electricity or running water, which was also how the Amish continued to live today.
    The Martyn farmhouse reminded Caitlin of that. Only a bit too staid, perfect, and clean—more like an exhibit lifted out of a museum. The actual farm displays, including various gardens, were scattered through other areas of the grounds that, in Caitlin’s mind, made for the possible routes the perpetrators had used to make forty-one hostages vanish into nowhere. The lone exception was a single interactive field