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look at the lie of the land.  He knew that there would be police at the scene, but did not let that concern him.  He had made the decision that he would investigate, and so was now involved and committed to finding out what had gone down, should the girl remain missing or turn up dead.
    Parking on the verge a couple of hundred yards from where he could see a cruiser sideways on, blocking the trail, Logan climbed out of the truck and ambled up to it.
    “Help you?”  a deputy said, climbing out of the vehicle and approaching him, his intense gaze taking in Logan’s features and appearance in general.
    “Doubt it,”  Logan said as he looked past the cop, up the trail to where he could see several more cops spread out, moving slowly, working a grid pattern as they searched.  It was obvious that they were looking for a body.  They had already decided that the chances of finding Tanya alive were against the odds.  It was a small town.  Outlying properties had already been checked, although it went without saying that if the girl had had an accident and made her way to the nearest house, farm or ranch, then the police would have got a phone call.
    “Just who might you be, sir?”  Deputy Earl Dempsey said.
    “Just a concerned citizen,”  Logan said.
    “Your name,”  Earl pushed.  He was just a little disconcerted by the stranger.  The guy was six-three or four, maybe two-hundred fifty pounds, and none of it appeared to be fat.  He used full eye contact, and was already standing inside what Earl considered to be his space, within arms’ length.  But Earl had no intention of backing up.
    “I’m Logan.  Staying at the Pinetop Motel.  Clifton Marshall and his son are worried over Tanya going missing.”
    “And so you thought you’d come out here and see how we were doing.  Right?”
    “That’s about the size of it.”
    “Well thank you for your concern, Mr. Logan, but I’d appreciate it if you went back to your car and left the scene.”
    “You mean scene as in crime scene?”
    “Ah, no, I didn’t say that.”
    “But that’s how it sounded.  Do you think that the Marshall boy has murdered Tanya?”
    “Jesus!  We’re looking for a missing teenage girl, and…I have nothing further to say on the matter.  I suggest you go back to the motel and leave this to us, Mr. Logan.”
    Logan said nothing.  Just stared at the deputy for a few more seconds, then turned and headed back to the pickup.  He had made up his mind that Tanya Foster had been abducted on the highway, or murdered by Ray or an unknown person.  And he knew that the sheriff would be thinking the same, and would initially be looking at Ray Marshall as his only suspect.
    Driving back to the Pinetop, Logan decided that until something broke, there was nothing he could do.
    “Anything?”  Clifton said, approaching the pickup when Logan got back and parked at the front of the house.
    Logan shook his head.  “There are cops searching the area around where Ray and the girl were parked up.”
    “What do you think happened?”  Clifton said.
    “Nothing good,”  Logan said.  “This isn’t somewhere like New York City that people can vanish in of their own choosing.  And I don’t think that Tanya had any plan to run away from home, which means that she didn’t make it back to town because she couldn’t.”
    “The lawyer phoned me.”  Clifton said. “Told me that Ray is giving the sheriff an official statement, and then he’ll be free to come home.”
    Logan had been back in his room for less than ten minutes when Clifton knocked on the door.  He looked ashen.  Had bad news written all over his face.
    “What?”  Logan said.
    “They found Tanya.  She…she’s dead.  The sheriff is holding Ray for questioning.  And they say that drugs were found in his car.  This is turning into a fucking nightmare, Logan.”

CHAPTER FOUR

    Logan drove Clifton into town to meet with Kate Donner, because the man seemed in no fit