“It could be one of your other friends; Donnie, Julius or even—”
“It’s not them, Derrick. I’m trying to tell you that!”
They finally pulled into the entrance of El Morro and Darrius’s nervous eyes searched the entrance for his white truck. The place was almost barren with the exception of a few campers, a Ford Escort and a Jeep Wrangler. His hands balled into nervous fists. “Drive around a bit, and then let’s get to those ruins.”
Derrick did as he was told. From what they could see of the grounds from the truck, the place remained barren due to it being a workday. At the entrance to the ruins, Derrick took extra caution in driving around the rugged terrain. Deeper into the ruins, they got out and walked carefully, not trusting the road under the pressure of a Chevy Silverado.
They looked over the landscape, walking as far as safety would allow them. All they saw were jagged cliffs, crumbling stone homes and mountain peaks. There was no sight of a white four-by-four or a silly girl with a camera in hand.
Desperation was now settling into Darrius’s heart. He sank to his knees and sifted dirt through his fingers. His voice was so low Derrick could barely hear him. “She’s got to be somewhere, man! I’m getting very bad vibes here, and I don’t know what to do about it.” He looked hopelessly into his brother’s concerned eyes. “I know she’s somewhere in danger. I can feel it in my spine, and it’s melting through me, settling into my heart. I’ve got to find her.”
Derrick knelt beside him, sifting dirt as well. “This is a large state to be looking for one single woman. I say if we don’t find her soon we go for help. We know officers who will search before the twenty-four hour waiting period, especially since you’re so worried. First, think about where else she may be. We haven’t been everywhere, you know.”
“She liked town quite a bit, loved the shops on Coal Avenue, but what’s the danger in those places?”
“She may not be in danger, Darrius. The calls may have been a mistake or something.”
“Will you stop with that? Who is the one who picked up on vibes when Dad fell from that second floor landing at the plant five years ago and couldn’t call anyone? He was alone there, but I knew what happened. I felt it! Who is the one who—”
“I get it already! You’re psychic! Now will you settle down?”
“No. Something’s wrong, Derrick.”
A fleeting hush came over the brothers, then Darrius stood to his feet, saying, “God, no! God, no!”
“What?” Derrick asked.
“Red Rock! Why didn’t I pick up on this before? She could be dead up there.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“We’ve got to get to Red Rock. Justine’s there.” He pulled Derrick by the arm as he walked towards the truck.
Derrick pulled away and got behind the wheel. “Why would she be there?”
“Because I told her not to. It’s just her way. I know and accept this about her. I just hope she hasn’t gone where I specifically told her to stay away from.”
“The other side?”
“You got it!”
“We’d better go.”
The idea of her being on or near the jagged reaches of Red Rock made Darrius both nervous and mad. He hated the fact that she may have gone up there to see the ruins. Yet, fear for her was a much stronger emotion. He knew she was there. He wanted to yell to Derrick to drive faster, but getting upset would only make matters worse.
Derrick glanced at Darrius at times, seeing the worry etched on his face, the stiffness in his body, his mind running a mile a minute. He cleared his throat and tried to take his brother from a temporary hell. “Why would she be there? Would she dare take pictures of the Navajo and the ancient Anasazi lands there?”
“I don’t think so. If anything, she would shoot landscape. At the very worst, she would simply view the forbidden places. I think she respects the land and legends too much to take pictures and exploit the place. I know her.”
“Yet you love everything about her. Am I right?”
Darrius stared at his brother with a look of fright and desperation. “Yes.”
“Then why did you think she would be at El Morro near the ruins when you told her not to?”
“As I have already told you, investigation is a part of her. She wouldn’t have taken pictures, and I told you that already. But if she is on those cliffs at Red Rock, I’m mad about it. I told her of the danger, and I hope she listened. Somehow, I don’t think she did.”
Twenty minutes later, at record speed, they turned onto the entrance of Red Rock. For the first time in Darrius’s life, the winding road leading to danger seemed exactly that—danger. And he could feel life draining away up there. He pointed ahead. “Go up there.”
Derrick looked at him. “You know the danger all three of us could be in if we do this. We may not be able to save her even if we do make it to the top.”
“When…when we make it up there, now get going.”
Derrick shrugged and drove on. “Must be love to make a man want to end his life.”
“It’s more than that and you know it. If she’s up there, I’ve got to save her.”
They soon reached the top and, sure enough, Darrius’s four-by-four awaited them. The driver’s door was open, and the motor was still running. Darrius quickly ran to the vehicle, shutting the engine off and looking inside for any evidence. Nothing. He and Derrick looked around the immediate area and then ventured to the other side. The pounding of his heart almost deafened him as they both curved along the hills leading to Navajo land.
Moving on, they entered rocky terrain, and Darrius was getting scared—not scared for himself, but scared of what he might see on the other side.
Now leading the way with Derrick behind him, he treaded closer to the flat sections hanging above the steep drop-offs. All along, he shook his head, not being able to believe Justine would go that far—if she had. Then where was she? For the first time in his life, Darrius wanted to be wrong, wanted to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was his mind playing games with him.
They both looked around the cliffs and hills, seeing nothing but brilliant sunshine and reddish-brown giants that were thousands of years old, at least dating back to the Mesozoic. Not a trace of anything. As Derrick turned to go back to the truck, he spotted a black bag on one of the cliffs near old ruins and pointed. “What’s that?”
“Where?” Darrius asked, almost with too much enthusiasm.
“To the left of us, but about twenty-five feet up. Don’t you see it?”
