“I guess like he said.” She bit her bottom lip and glanced at Metwater. “About an hour?”
She was lying, but there wasn’t much Ethan could do about it now. Confident Simon had Metwater under control, he holstered his Glock and took out a small notebook. “Give me your contact information and then you can get dressed and wait for us outside,” he said.
He waited until the young woman had gathered her clothing and left the room, the sheet still wrapped around her. Then he turned to Metwater again. “Get up and put on some pants,” he ordered.
With a sneering look, Metwater scooped a pair of loose-fitting white trousers from the floor and tugged them on. He tied the cord at the waist. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“What happened between you and one of your followers—a woman called Starfall?” Ethan asked.
The expression in Metwater’s icy brown eyes never changed. “What about her? If she’s gotten into some kind of trouble, that’s her problem, not mine.”
“Not very sympathetic for a man who claims to be the head of a family,” Simon said.
“We witnessed her coming out of this motor home less than half an hour ago,” Ethan said. “She was bruised and bleeding. She fainted.”
“I don’t know why she would be here.” Metwater looked around, found a shirt and pulled it on, but didn’t button it.
“I didn’t ask if you knew why she was here,” Ethan said. “What happened while she was here? How was she hurt?”
“I have no idea.”
“Where were you when she was hurt?” Simon asked.
Metwater shrugged. “Since I don’t know when she was hurt, or even if she was hurt, I can’t answer that.”
“Where were you thirty minutes ago?” Ethan asked.
“I already told you—I was here with Miss Hartford.”
“So you admit you were here, in this motor home, at the time Starfall was hurt,” Ethan said. “Yet you don’t know how she was hurt?”
Metwater’s smile held no warmth. “I was otherwise occupied. With Miss Hartford.”
“Is Miss Hartford one of your followers?” Simon asked. “I don’t remember seeing her around before.”
“She’s an aspiring disciple,” Metwater said.
“We’re going to question Ms. Hartford,” Ethan said. “Are you sure she’ll confirm your story?”
“She will.”
Ethan fought the urge to knock the smug look off Metwater’s face. “Did you have an argument with Starfall?” he asked.
“No.” His smile faded. “Does she say that we did?”
“She’s too upset to question right now,” Ethan said. He wanted to keep Metwater off guard as much as possible.
“She’ll confirm we didn’t argue,” Metwater said. “Unless she lies. She sometimes has a problem with honesty. It’s something we’re working on.”
“I’ll find out the truth,” Ethan said. “And I’ll make sure the person who hurt Starfall is charged and prosecuted.”
“Knock yourself out, Officer.” Metwater stood. “But now it’s time for you to leave. Expect to hear from my lawyers.”
Ethan took a step toward Metwater. If this so-called Prophet thought Ethan was going to be intimidated by empty threats, he was in for a rude awakening.
“Come on.” Simon’s voice snapped Ethan out of his rage. “We’re wasting our time here.”
Ethan turned and led the way out of the motor home. “I wanted to deck him, too,” Simon said when they were outside. “But it wouldn’t be worth the hassle the suits would put you through later.”
Ethan nodded and took a deep, calming breath. “We should talk to Ms. Hartford,” he said.
“She’s long gone.” Simon looked around at the empty campground. The only light was from the few dying embers of the bonfire, and a thin glow of gold showing at the entrance to Asteria and Starfall’s tent. “We’ll track her down tomorrow.”
“I want to check on Starfall one more time,” Ethan said.
Asteria met them at the door of the tent. “She’s sleeping,” she said, in answer to Ethan’s unvoiced question. “She was pretty shaken up, but I think she’ll be okay. She’s pretty tough.”
“Did she tell you anything about what happened?” Ethan asked.
Asteria tucked her hair behind one ear. Deep shadows hollowed her eyes and she looked exhausted. “She wouldn’t say anything. She got angry when I asked her about it.”
“Has Daniel Metwater ever hit any of the women in camp before?” Ethan asked.
Asteria gaped at them, wide-eyed. “No! He would never do that! It isn’t possible.” She smoothed back her hair. “I should go to him now. He’ll be very upset about your accusations, and he’s expecting me. I was on my way to him when all this happened.” She waved a hand toward the cot where Starfall slept.
She started to move past them, but Simon put out a hand to stop her. “What do you mean, Metwater is expecting you?” he asked.
Defiance shone behind the fatigue. “I was going to spend the night with him. I often do.”
“If he was expecting you, what was Sunshine Hartford doing there?” Simon asked.
“Sunshine? Do you mean that girl who’s been hanging around here?” Asteria furrowed her brow. “I thought I saw her at the fire circle tonight, but she wasn’t with the Prophet.”
“She was with him a few minutes ago,” Ethan said.
“She was with him in his bed,” Simon added.
Asteria stared at him. “What?”
“He told us he and Ms. Hartford had been together for the last hour,” Simon said.
“That can’t be right,” she said.
“Why can’t it be right?” Ethan asked.
“Because...” She bit her lower lip, then shook her head. “Just, because.” She looked back toward the cot. Starfall lay on her side, the blanket pulled up past her ears. Only the tumble of her brown curls showed against the white of the pillow.
Simon touched Asteria’s elbow, turning her attention back to him. “Why can’t it be right?” he asked.
“He was supposed to be alone!” The words burst from her, and her eyes shone wetly. “Not with Starfall or Sunshine or anyone else. He asked me to come to him.”
“Maybe he had something else in mind for tonight,” Simon said.
She shook her head. “No. He isn’t like that. You don’t know him at all or you wouldn’t say something like that.”
“Maybe you don’t know him that well, either,” Simon said.
She stepped back into the tent. “Go away and leave us alone,” she said. “You’re not welcome here.”
“We’ll leave for now,” Simon said. “But think about what’s happened tonight. If Daniel Metwater would lie to you about being alone tonight, what else has he lied to you about?”
Ethan gave her a hard look. “And what are you going to do to stop the lying?”