Good thing she’d found her apartment in this quiet neighborhood. While she’d lived in a city for years, she’d never gotten quite used to all the noise. Returning to Wyoming last week for the funeral had made her realize that she’d missed the sounds of nature and actually seeing stars at night. It had been a long time since she’d spent any time away from the city.
She shrugged. What did it matter? That part of her life was over. It had been over since the day she’d left the Rez eight years ago, and she hadn’t looked back. When she was growing up, she’d wished for a different life than always getting dragged into the mountains by her grandfather to learn how to live and survive using the “old ways”, as he’d called it.
No matter how often she’d told Kunu that she didn’t want to live in the past, he hadn’t listened and continued with his teachings. Looking back on it now, her grandfather had not only taught her how to survive in the wilderness, but the lessons she’d learned in the mountains had also honed her skills to survive in the city. Her outdoors training had sharpened her mind and taught her to pay attention to her surroundings, and it made her a better cop.
When she reached the intersection where her quiet street met up with the busier main street, she flagged down a taxi. While waiting for one to pull up to the curb, her eyes roamed up and down the sidewalk. People were in a hurry, as usual, and no one seemed to pay any attention to things going on around them. Everyone was too absorbed in their own affairs.
She glanced across the street. Her eyes immediately fell on a man standing at the curb, looking at her. He was dressed in a buckskin shirt and fringed leather pants. His long hair blew in the breeze, and the sun caught in the silver strands. There was no question that he was Native American.
He continued to stare, and even from a distance, his eyes held her rooted to the spot. Adrenaline rushed through Kendra, making her stomach turn and her limbs go weak. A cab stopped along the curb in front of her, obscuring her view. Kendra stepped forward, craning her neck to see across the street, but the man was gone.
“Did you want a ride or not?” the cab driver called, leaning across the front seat and peering through the passenger window. “I don’t have all day.”
Kendra looked up and down the sidewalk, but the Native American-looking man seemed to have vanished into thin air. A slight shiver rolled down her spine, and goose bumps formed on her arms.
“Hey, you plan on getting in?” The cab driver’s impatient question finally brought her eyes around to him. She met his glaring stare with a firm look of her own.
“Chill out.” She pulled the door open and climbed into the back of the cab, looking through the window at the spot where she’d seen the old man standing. Several people walked up and down the sidewalk. It could have been anyone. Kendra scoffed. At least it hadn’t been a wolf or a bear standing there.
“You gonna tell me where to go?” The cab driver’s high-browed look matched the sarcasm in his tone. No doubt he thought she was some street bum, which was an easy assumption to make. Her black tank top, black leather jacket, the torn and worn jeans, and leather boots were part of a look she’d adopted years ago while living on the streets of L.A. Along with her raven hair and darker- than-average complexion, her clothes made her blend in nicely with the people on the streets. It had its advantages. No one ever suspected her of being a cop.
Kendra fumbled in the pocket of her leather jacket, and removed a crumpled piece of paper. She leaned forward and stretched her arm out, showing the driver the address she’d scribbled on the paper last night. The guy looked at it, then glanced over his shoulder at her, and his brows shot up. His eyes assessed her while chewing gum that gave him the appearance of a cow chewing cud.
Kendra stared right back at him. “You gonna gawk, or drive?”
The driver shook his head then straightened, and pulled away from the curb. “You better have money to pay me when we get there.” He glanced at her through the rearview mirror again.
“Only if you mind your own business and do your job.”
Kendra ignored him while looking out the window, scanning the sidewalk again to find the Native American. She blinked and shook her head. Had she imagined seeing him? No one passing him had paid him any attention, and he certainly stood out. A chill ran down her spine. All the things that had happened in the last couple of weeks were playing tricks with her mind.
She slumped back in her seat and closed her eyes, making a fist around the piece of paper with Matt Donovan’s address written on it. Tomorrow was her first day back on the job. Hopefully some distractions with chasing the bad guys would get her mind off the events of the past week. Heck, of her entire past. Kunu had really messed her up good with all his talk about ancestors and reconnecting with family and the spirits.
The drive to the Donovan residence took a little more than thirty minutes. Thankfully, the cab driver had kept his mouth shut the entire way. Kendra had kept her eyes closed and her mind clear, or else it would have been cluttered with images of bears, wolves, her grandfather, ancient elders, and Matt Donovan. When the cab came to a stop in front of the house, Kendra nearly jumped out of the vehicle. She leaned in the passenger-side window.
“Can you please wait here and give me a ride back to town? I should only be a few minutes. If I’m in there longer, I’ll let you know.”
The driver shook his head and scoffed. “I don’t fall for that one, especially from someone who looks like they’re about to skip town. Pay up first.”
Kendra sighed. She reached into the back pocket of her jeans.
“Wait here until I come back,” she repeated, more slowly and firmly this time while holding her badge under the driver’s nose. If the guy hadn’t been so rude from the start, she would have paid him, but she was not going to give him the satisfaction of thinking he had the upper hand by being a jerk to a helpless customer. Showing her badge, even if she had to resort to using it off-duty, usually got people to take her seriously.
She smiled when his eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. “Sure thing,” he stammered.
Kendra pushed away from the cab and headed for the front door of the house. The place didn’t look any different than when she’d been here a week ago with Chief Morris. The lawn was mowed and the flowerbeds well groomed. Nothing out of the ordinary to convey that the owners had tragically died a short while ago, leaving behind a devastated teenage daughter.
Aimee opened the door seconds after Kendra rang the bell. The girl, however, looked different than she had a week ago. The smile and vibrant sparkle in her gaze were gone. Instead, she had dark circles under her eyes. Her blonde hair looked as if it hadn’t been washed or brushed and fell limply down her back and over her shoulders. She’d probably slept in the over-sized t-shirt and sweatpants she was wearing.
“Thanks for stopping by.” Aimee held the door open, and Kendra entered the Donovan home for the second time. The place smelled like a flower shop. Vases with cheery and colorful bouquets filled the entry table and living room. The flowers looked completely out of place, and rather than make the home look bright and happy, were a stark reminder of the sorrow in this house.
“I wanted to come to the funeral, but my grandfather passed away unexpectedly, too.” Kendra clenched her jaw. She had no experience with this sort of thing, and she blurted out the first thing that had come to mind.
Aimee nodded. “Chief Morris told me. I’m so sorry for your loss.” She looked equally uncomfortable.
“Is there something I can get you, or do for you? Anything the department can do?” Kendra mumbled.
Aimee shook her head. “They’re already doing a lot. At least they caught the person who was responsible.”
Kendra blinked, then raised her brows. An arrest had been made? “I just got back to New York yesterday,” she blurted. “I haven’t been to the station. That’s good news.”
“A drunk driver.” Aimee scoffed. She sniffed, and swiped her hand under her nose. “Apparently he told the offi
cers who arrested him that he saw a wolf standing in the middle of the road, and he swerved to avoid hitting it.”
Adrenaline shot through Kendra’s limbs, making her weak and shaky. She let out an uneasy laugh. “A wolf?”
Aimee shook her head. “Crazy, right?” She glanced at the ground, then met Kendra’s stare. “I . . . um . . .wouldn’t have called you, but you’re the last person my father talked about before he and Mom left that evening.” She cleared her throat. “He seemed really eager to talk to you again. He said he had something important to share with you.”
Kendra frowned. “Do you know what he wanted to tell me?”
“No. If he mentioned it to my mom, I didn’t hear it. I heard them discuss something he insisted he needed to give to you. When my dad gets something in his head that’s important to him, he doesn’t let it go.” Aimee smiled weakly. “And you seemed to be extremely important to him.”
Kendra mentally shook her head. What could Matt Donovan possibly have to give her?
“I’ll be right back. I left it in my parents’ bedroom, where my dad kept it. I thought maybe it had something to do with work, and if you and he were investigating a case, I figured you should know about it and have it.”
Kendra nodded and waited for Aimee to disappear down the hall and up the stairs. Nothing came to mind that Matt Donovan might have to give her. Definitely not anything that had to do with work.
She glanced around the living room. The strong imagery of bears was still present in this room, and a chill crept down her spine as if she was being watched. Her eyes again fell on the paintings of Yellowstone that hung on the walls, before landing on the coffee table. A notebook, or journal of some kind lay open to a page that was half-filled with neat handwriting.
Kendra glanced up to where Aimee had gone, then stepped closer and leaned over to read.
* * *
I lost my parents today. I don’t even know what to say, or where to begin. They asked me to go with them for a drive in the country and to check out a possible place to go camping for a few days. I cancelled on them at the last minute because Jana asked me if she could come over. She just broke up with her boyfriend, so I said yes, I’d be there for her. Mom and Dad understood.
The police report says the car spun out of control after trying to avoid another car, and that the brakes had failed. There was no other explanation for why the car would have gone off the road and into the ditch. I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I’m numb at the moment.
Thank you, Mom, for teaching me how to be myself and always follow my heart. For letting me play in the dirt when I was little, and going on crazy adventures with you and Dad. I hope that someday I can be as strong as you are, and as good a nurse as you are. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, now that high school is over. I know now. I want to be a nurse like you, and I want to help people, and I hope that someday my skills will come in handy and I can be useful somewhere. You taught me that, how to be passionate about something and go out and do it, and to always follow my heart.
Thank you, Dad, for all you taught me about living out in the woods, surviving with only the barest of essentials. I don’t know if I will ever put those skills to good use, but if I have to someday, I have you to thank for my survival. You were the best dad, and the best husband to mom. I can only hope that someday I find someone who is half as good as you are.
* * *
Kendra swiped at her eyes. She straightened and stepped away from the table. These words were private, and she was trespassing. From what she’d read, though, it was clear that Aimee had shared a very close relationship with her parents.
Another thing about Matt stood out from reading Aimee’s short journal passage. Kendra ran her fingers through her hair. Matt had clearly been an outdoorsman and knew survival skills. Where had he learned them? It was another link between him and her, but again, what did it all mean?
Kendra glanced around the room again. The thought that Matt might be a relative had already occurred to her. If he had any Native American blood in him, however, he didn’t display his heritage in the house, not the way he seemed to display bears. There wasn’t a single Indian artifact or piece of artwork in this room.
“This is what Dad wanted to give you.”
Kendra spun around at the sound of Aimee’s voice. She took another step away from the coffee table and glanced at Aimee’s outstretched hand. A wooden box?
“What is it?”
Aimee dropped it into Kendra’s hand. “I thought you’d know.”
Kendra held up the box. It was clearly made from wood and appeared to be hand-carved. It wasn’t very big, and fit in the palm of her hand. The one thing that immediately jumped out at her was the carving of a bear on the top half. At least it appeared to be the top. Kendra gripped it to open it, but it wouldn’t loosen from the bottom half.
“Seems to be stuck,” she murmured. Kendra glanced at Aimee. If there was something inside it, perhaps it was best to open it later in private.
Aimee smiled, but it wasn’t the same smile of the girl she’d met a week ago, before she’d received the news of her parents’ deaths. If she was curious about the box, it didn’t show. Kendra stuck the box in her jacket pocket. The urge to leave and figure out how to open the thing gripped her. She took a step toward the girl.
“What are your plans now, Aimee?”
Aimee shrugged. “My parents would have wanted me to go on with my life as before. I’m going to go to nursing school.” A determined gleam passed through her eyes. “And I plan to become the best damn nurse I can be, to honor my mother. Both my parents always said that everything happens for a reason.” She raked her fingers through her hair and shrugged. “I don’t know what could possibly be the reason why they had to die.” Her voice cracked. “But I’m going to continue living for them, the way they loved life.”
Kendra smiled and nodded. Her heart went out to the girl. Kendra had never known her parents, so she’d never experienced losing them. She’d had so little contact with Kunu in the past eight years that his death had been easier to accept. Kunu had refused to talk about her mother or her father, which meant they couldn’t have been good people. Why else would they have dumped her with Harry Swift Elk?
“I should probably go. I left the cab driver waiting outside.” Kendra moved toward the front door. “If there’s anything you ever want to talk about, give me a call. I only met your dad recently, but he seemed like a great guy. I’m truly sorry for your loss.”
Aimee blinked, but it couldn’t hide the tears in her eyes. “He was the best,” she whispered. “I can honor him by continuing to learn wilderness survival every chance I get. It’s something he was great at, and I plan to follow in his footsteps.”
The girl opened the door, and Kendra stepped outside. It was already getting dark. She hesitated, turned to face Aimee, and wrapped her arm around her. She didn’t go around hugging people, but this time, it just seemed right. It was as if some kindred spirit flowed between them. They’d both recently lost someone close to them. Kendra stepped back, then rushed to the waiting cab.
“Get me back to where you picked me up,” she ordered after climbing into the backseat and slamming the door shut. She raked her fingers through her hair, cleared her throat and sniffed, and didn’t bother to look up to see if the driver was looking at her in his rearview mirror or not. Who cared?
Thankfully, he remained quiet as he drove. When he finally stopped the cab in the exact spot where he’d picked her up hours ago, it was dark except for the lights illuminating the city.
Wordlessly, Kendra paid him, leaving a generous tip even though he didn’t deserve it. She stuck her hands in her jacket pockets as she walked down the street toward her apartment building. She wrapped her fingers around the mysterious little box that lay securely in her left pocket.
Taking it out, she examined it again in the dim lighting from the street lamps. The box was definitely something homemade. The carving of the bear on t
op was crude, but recognizable as a bear. She picked up the pace, eager to get home so she could figure out how to open the thing.
Since it seemed to be made of two parts, it was a logical conclusion that it was hollow inside and could possibly contain something. All she needed to do was pry it open with a knife or something, which she hadn’t wanted to do in front of Aimee. The girl clearly had no idea what the box might be or what it contained. Although she’d been close to her parents, there seemed to have been things Matt hadn’t shared with his daughter, and Aimee seemed to respect those boundaries, even if she had been curious about the box. Then again, the girl was grieving, and probably didn’t care much about anything at the moment.
A slight breeze tickled the back of her neck. Kendra didn’t stop, but trained her ears on any sound behind her. The oddest feeling of being watched, or even followed, sent a chill down her spine. She stuffed her hand holding the box in her jacket pocket.
Her free hand reached behind her to her lower back out of habit, but then brought it forward again. She wasn’t wearing her gun. Her apartment building was another hundred yards or so up ahead. If she increased or decreased her pace, whoever was following her would know that she was on to him.
A car drove down the street, temporarily blinding her with its high beams. Kendra cursed and squinted. When her eyes adjusted again, she nearly let out a startled yell. Her grip tightened around the box in her pocket. Someone stood a few yards up ahead. She swallowed. A man with long, silver hair, and wearing buckskins.
“Why are you following me?” she demanded.
The old man’s wrinkled face cracked in a smile. “Natukendra’eh weda. At last, I have found you.”
Yellowstone Legends Page 7
