Page 60 of High Country Escape

“Mira is the one who sent me here. She said I had to help my brother. And she’s right.” He crossed his arms. “So you’re stuck with me.”

“Just get out of my hair.”

He was dimly aware of Carter leaving the room. All his attention was focused on a search for the court transcripts from William Ledger’s original trial. The website for the court was no help, so he went back to the newspaper coverage of the trial. He was able to read dozens of articles, all of which referred to Ledger’s captives as “Mary” and “Alice.”

Many of the stories were written by a reporter named Andi Wentworth, with theSan Antonio Star. Dalton pulled up a current issue of the paper and searched. He sat up straighter when he spotted Wentworth’s byline, then found the number for the newsroom. Moments later, he was speaking to a woman with a broad Texas drawl who identified herself as Andi Wentworth.

Dalton introduced himself as a friend of Roxanne Byrne’s. “You probably know her better as ‘Mary,’” he said. “The girl responsible for William Ledger’s arrest.”

“I remember her,” Andi said. “Such a brave little girl.”

“I’m calling you because we’re trying to find Alice,” he said.

“Why are you looking for Alice?”

“You know that Ledger is out of prison now?”

“Yes. I wrote a piece for the paper when he was released.”

“Roxanne has had a couple of unsettling encounters with someone we believe is William Ledger. Threatening encounters.” He took a big breath, prepared to spill everything, if it would persuade this reporter to help him. “Roxanne is missing now. I’m afraid William Ledger may have kidnapped her again.”

“Wait? What? Say that again. I need to write this down.”

“I’ll tell you everything,” he said. “But I want something from you.”

“What do you want?” she asked.

“You covered Ledger’s original trial,” he said.

“Yes.”

“Did you know Alice’s real name?”

“That name was never released to the public.”

“Yet you recognized Roxanne’s name. You knew she was Mary.”

“The first name. She had a different last name.”

“I need to know Alice’s name.”

“Why?”

“Because when William Ledger was in prison, he had a woman named Betty Josephs visiting him. That’s not her real name. As far as I can tell, she didn’t even exist until 2022. I think Betty was really Alice. I believe Ledger got in touch with her somehow and she’s helping him.”

“Why would she help him?” Andi asked. “He...he tortured those girls.”

“She was with him for several years before he kidnapped Roxanne,” Dalton said. “I don’t know much about psychology, but I can see how that would warp someone. And she lured Roxanne to Ledger’s house originally.”

“Okay, so you think he got to her again, she changed her name to Betty and started helping him again.” He heard the rapid click of a keyboard in the background and pictured her typing furiously. “And she somehow ended up where you are now? Where is that?”

“I’m not saying until you tell me if you can help me.”

“Give me a minute, okay? I’m going to put you on hold.”

An instrumental version of a song that had been popular when his parents were teenagers played over the phone as Dalton waited. A few minutes later Andi was back on the line. “Your story about Roxanne Byrne missing checks out. In a town called Eagle Mountain, Colorado.”

So much for thinking he could keep the information from her. “Do you know Alice’s real name?” he asked.