She lifted a smooth eyebrow at me.
“Something you wish you could do full time?” Might also give me some insight into their home life and whether or not Sparrow made regular contact.
She nodded easily as her gaze took on a faraway look. “I always imagined owning a boutique someday.”
“There’s still time,” I said, lifting a shoulder.
“We’ll see.” Her jaw ticked as if she thought I was full of bullshit.
“What about you?” she asked as she wrapped the presents in white butcher paper. I had the urge to buy all the wares from her table so that she could follow her aspiration. “You enjoy your work as a Marshal?”
“It has its ups and downs. But bringing justice can be intoxicating.”
Right then a small voice called from the entrance. “Momma.”
Joaquin bolted from a lady’s hand and charged toward Meadow’s arms.
Her son was adorable, with his brown curls and the same inquisitive eyes as his mother.
The woman whose hand he held walked toward them, smiling and shaking her head.
Meadow kissed Joaquin’s cheeked and looked up at her friend. “Thank you for watching him.”
“Anytime,” the woman said before shooting me a quick sidelong glance.
Joaquin squeezed her neck and played with her braid, gazing at her with adoring eyes. I looked away attempting to clamp down that well of sympathy that arose in my gut. “Momma, Sunny got to talk to her daddy from the desert.”
“Wolf called on a break from an internet cafe.” Her husband must’ve been military. I held my tongue. It was none of my business anyway.
“Maybe daddy will call from a desert too and I can talk to him?”
Meadow’s shoulders stiffened and she avoided looking my way.
“We can talk about that later,” she said in a tight voice. “Go play in the field out back. I’m almost finished here.”
He took off into the grass behind the tent to bounce a rubber ball he had dug from his pocket.
“I’ll call you later.” Her friend patted her shoulder before exiting the tent.
Meadow pretended as if I hadn’t just witnessed that whole exchange. “How would you like to pay for your merchandise, Mr. Flores?”
“I have cash,” I mumbled feeling something I haven’t in a long while—compassion. “And you can call me Alex.”
She nodded and took my money, handing me singles in change that she pulled from a large coin pouch. Her fingers trembled when they brushed against mine as color rose on her cheeks.
“Meadow,” I said her first name, even though she hadn’t invited me to, but I didn’t want to play games. Her eyes latched onto mine. “I’m not . . .”
“You’re not what?” she said in a soft voice. “In town for the reason I think you are?”
“I’m just here to do my job,” I said, averting my gaze and forcing myself into official business mode.
She cleared her throat and adjusted herself in the chair. “I guess that means I’ll see you around.”
3
Meadow
I packed up my supplies and headed back down the dirt road to our home. Each day the gravel crunched beneath my tires, I told myself our living arrangement was only temporary, that we’d explore other parts of the country, and maybe even settle someplace else in the near future. It was a pipe dream for sure, but kept me going during rough and lonely times.
I’d grown up in this trailer park and was currently raising my son here. Not that I didn’t have a happy and loving childhood, but some days had been difficult. Especially the year with zero running water. I may have been young, but I remembered explicitly how miserable this end of the reservation had been, until Chief Red Hawk got fed up waiting on government assistance and made some changes of his own.
“You hungry, Joaquin?”
“Yes, momma,” my sweet boy said. “Can I have peanut butter and jelly?”
“Of course.”
As I helped him out of his booster seat, my mind wandered to Alex Flores. My suspicions had been confirmed, he was in town to inquire about Sparrow, and my spine tingled with fear. What the hell had Sparrow gotten himself involved in?
No matter what it was, I was not turning on him. He was Joaquin’s daddy and he needed him around, no matter how little that had been lately. Not when his brief phone calls made his whole face light up.
My allegiance had nothing at all to do with the money. No matter how much that helped, it was too irregular for us to count on solidly anyway.
Of course I was wounded by the choices he’d made that drove us apart. He had lied to me, said he wanted us to have a future, and I stupidly believed him. That was seven years ago and I had done plenty of growing up since then. I was no longer in love with him and stopped believing in happily-ever-afters, at least for me.
Sparrow had been there for Joaquin in the early days of his life, even as many in this community ostracized me. He had married Gloria and eventually left town as rumors of their toxic relationship came to a head.
Even back then I had questioned where he was getting the money to support both of our households. The rumor was that the garage where he’d worked fixing cars had become a chop shop for stolen parts. Others said there were more than parts being sold there. The business had been under investigation and had changed ownership in recent years.
As we walked up the three steps to the door, I noticed how it swung open a hairsbreadth on it’s own. Had I forgotten to lock it this morning?
I grasped Joaquin from behind to keep him away from the entrance. “Wait.”
My entire body tensed as I looked over my shoulder and around the lot, noting anything suspicious, but all I saw were the swings and slide in the park beyond the field and the same rundown cars on blocks that had been there all winter long.
“What’s wrong?” Joaquin’s tiny voice asked, sensing something had changed in my tone.
I couldn’t show him my fear, not if it meant he’d be frightened every time we arrived home.
“Nothing sweetie,” I said, gentling my voice and twining my fingers through his hair. “I must’ve forgotten to lock the door.”
“No, you didn’t,” he said, looking up at me with his wide and trusting eyes. “I watched you slide the key in this morning, remember?”
Joaquin had been sleepy and leaning against my leg. He was a pretty observant kid, so for him to remember that detail sent my stomach into a free fall.
“Oh shoot,” I said, attempting a change of subject instead. “Would you mind going back to the car and getting my wallet, sweetie? I think it fell under the front seat.”
His face contorted into a puzzle but soon cleared. “Okay, Momma.”
He darted past me down the steps to the car.
Before I pushed open the door, a brief thought flitted through my mind about contacting Alex for help. What the hell was I thinking? That he was going to keep me safe?
Besides, it wasn’t like I knew how to get ahold of him. Which was for the best.
Alex was in town to uncover all of our secrets long ago buried. And Sparrow wouldn’t like that one bit. A shiver stole across my shoulders. I stared at the doorknob for any clues as to why it wasn’t locked.
I tapped the door open with my finger and stood back. From my vantage point, nothing seemed unusual or out of place. I stepped one foot inside and called out to an empty home, given the stillness that was followed by an echo.
Nothing appeared to be stolen from the living room area. But it was clear that somebody had been there, I realized, as a quake travelled up my spine. The junk drawer in the kitchen, where we kept our documents and receipts, had been pulled open, as if thoroughly searched, for what I didn’t know.
Same with the nightstand, I noticed, as I stepped down the hallway toward my open bedroom door. Who had been here and what had they been looking for?
Could it have been Alex? He was law enforcement, so he’d have to do everything by the book, wouldn’t he
? Maybe I was just fooling myself, thinking he might’ve been a stand-up guy.
What about that one man who had been around a couple months back looking for Sparrow? I’d seen him with my ex before, toward the end of our relationship so many years ago. He seemed satisfied with my answer at the time though—that Sparrow hadn’t been around in weeks.
Joaquin came bounding through the door. “Momma, I couldn’t find your wallet anywhere.”
“I ended up finding it in my purse. Silly Mommy,” I said and he smiled big.
Then he plopped himself on the kitchen chair and flipped on the television to the PBS channel that I allowed.
I grabbed the peanut butter from the cupboard remembering how I needed to buy another jar when there was a tap on my door. I stiffened.
Then I heard my neighbor, Jayden’s voice.
“You sell a lot today?” she said, peeking her head inside.
I smiled when I saw her brown inquisitive eyes. “I did pretty well.”
“Cool,” she said, winking at Joaquin. “Still working tonight?”
“Yeah,” I sighed. About once a month, I was required to work second shift. The casino was definitely family friendly and since I had a child, they tried to keep me on days. Childcare wasn’t available evenings, so Jayden and I had a system to help each other out. Still, it made me wish my parents were still alive, so that I had more options.
“Bring Joaquin when you’re out the door.” She waved at him. “You and the girls can make popcorn and watch a Disney movie.”
Joaquin beamed as she turned to head down the steps.
“Hey Jayden?”
She twisted toward me, her brow creased, most likely from the sound of my voice, which had gone down a register. I looked back at Joaquin and then followed her out on the stoop. Jayden’s newly highlighted hair was pulled up in a messy bun—the way she always wore it, especially on days she had to work—and her deep chocolate eyes zeroed in on mine.
“You haven’t seen anybody around here today,” I said. “Knocking on my door?”
She lowered her voice. “You mean like Sparrow?”
I hadn’t considered it could be Sparrow. Maybe he had let himself in and was looking for something. But what? No, I think he would’ve told me if he was coming to town.
“It’s probably nothing, but my door was open when I came home,” I shrugged and feigned a calm response. “I must’ve forgotten to lock it.”
“Probably,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’re always running late.”
As well as ignoring that niggling feeling in my gut that told me no good could come of this.
4
Alex
I met Shane at the casino bar for a drink to make my presence known in a more casual way. I didn’t want anybody to be suspicious of me being back in town. It was better if the employees who might’ve remembered me from the Nakos case thought I was only here to visit an old friend. At least for now.
“What’s up, man?” Shane said, already seated at a table. His leg rested across his knee and he held a beer in his hand. He looked relaxed, more so than this time last year. Dakota had certainly had a hand in that. But more than that, Shane hadn’t exactly enjoyed working in our division, not in the same way I did. I wouldn’t exactly call it passion, more like an innate calling.
I was good at my job, about the only thing I was decent at. Up to this point, I sucked at relationships, and since I pretty much had my ass handed to me in the last one, had steered clear of them.
Maybe Meadow and I had more in common than I would’ve thought.
There’d been nobody on official record that she’d had a relationship with since Sparrow. So maybe she was a free agent, had only dated briefly, or was still hung up on him. Somehow the idea of that made my chest pinch uncomfortably.
More than likely, she was probably just trying to provide a decent life for her child as a single parent. She had said as much to me in the tent the other day.
I flagged the server down to order a beer and then asked Shane about the casino, as I took the empty seat across the table from him.
“It’s doing well,” he said. “Everybody pretty much bounced back after our suspect was taken into custody.”
He was referring to the case we had worked on together, where the bad guy turned out to be a member affiliated with this community. Dakota’s father had been slain in the horrible ordeal and she and her mother had taken over running the casino.
“You got any new leads on your case?” he asked as my drink arrived.
“None so far,” I said, after taking a sip from my bottle. “Charlie is following up on a lead in New Mexico, so I’m waiting to hear from her.”
Shane leaned back in his chair. “You’ll be sticking around until then?”
“Yeah,” I said, looking around the huge casino past the blackjack tables, which were packed full; to the slot machines, with every seat occupied.
The entertainment tonight was Dakota’s brother, Kai, and according to Shane, some pop star from the nineties whom he was recording with in his studio. Word was that she’d be heading on tour soon and it was all props to Kai for helping her develop her new sound. Pretty damn cool.
“We’ve checked into Meadow’s background,” I said, gliding my fingers along the condensation on the cool glass. “But I’m not entirely sure she knows anything more about her ex than what’s already in black and white.”
As if on cue, I spotted her in the far corner of the large room yanking out the vacuum cleaner. I kept from biting my lip because I didn’t want Shane to know how stunning I though she looked even in her cranberry colored work shirt and tight jeans, with her hair pulled back from her slender neck.
“I know how that goes,” he said, not seeming to notice where my attention had been drawn. “What about Gloria?”
“About the same.”
“Dakota and Kai grew up here so maybe they know something,” he said. “But Sparrow isn’t from the reservation, just from the local school district.”
“Yep, I’m well aware,” I said. “I figured I’d ask you first if you wanted to be present if or when I needed to question Dakota.”
“If she wants me to be.” He appeared so laid back, even though I knew how protective he could be of Dakota. It was an amazing transformation to witness. He seemed so sure of himself and his relationship. Something to aspire to, I supposed.
As we watched the band for a few minutes, Dakota stopped by to catch up before heading home. She pecked Shane’s mouth, asked me about work, and told me to tell Charlie hello. She was a gorgeous and resilient woman, one whom I’d admired. She and Shane had been college sweethearts who had reunited last year.
“Okay if I stop by this week to ask you some questions about a possible lead?” I asked her.
She looked at Shane before answering. “Is this about Sparrow? Unfortunately, I hear everything through the rumor mill around here.”
Just then her gaze narrowed on another woman carrying a broom out of a service closet with purple hair. I could only see her profile but she looked familiar. I probably recognized her from last year, though I didn’t remember the hair and wouldn’t be able to place her name. I wondered if she was the person Dakota was talking about, who was feeding the rumor mill about Meadow. Especially since it seemed they worked in the same department. Some type of protective instinct took hold and I needed to cut it out because I was going to get myself into trouble.
“It might be a sensitive topic,” I said, as Dakota bit her lip. “But I’ve got to do my job.”
“Has Meadow been forthcoming . . . scratch that, none of my concern,” she said in a rush and I was glad that she had come to that conclusion on her own. “She’s a great employee, one of our best, and her business is her own.”
She kissed Shane’s cheek before she stood up and said her good-byes. She was a poised and intelligent woman. Shane was definitely a lucky guy.
“Gotta take a leak,” I said, before I got all sappy and started w
eeping in my beer about how lonely it could get on the road. Especially not having somebody to come home to. But I also supposed it was for the best. My job involved travel and sometimes I had to leave at a moment’s notice to follow a lead.
How much fun would I be in a relationship anyway? Still, Shane was able to make it work with Dakota. I didn’t think he traveled as much any longer, and maybe when I got to that point, if I ever did, I’d ask him how he managed it.
I headed toward the restroom in the opposite direction of Meadow. The idea of seeing her in this enclosed space made my skin prickle. Especially after just having those immediate thoughts about a relationship. What in the hell was wrong with me? Or maybe it was just the idea of being intimate with somebody again. Somebody like her.
I passed by the craps table remembering how I’d read that Sparrow liked to gamble but that billiards was his thing. Apparently he had racked up a lot of debt at the nearby pool hall. Craps was his casino game of choice. It had probably been too long to hang around that table and have anybody remember him, but it was likely to be different story at his former local haunt.
As I exited the restroom, I noticed that Meadow was directly in my path, plugging a vacuum into an outlet. I decided not to say anything unless she made the first effort. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable in her place of employment.
“Alex,” she said in a tight voice as I passed, giving her a wide berth. I turned to look at her, wondering where the resentment was coming from. I hadn’t done anything to her, hadn’t even questioned her yet. In fact, she could’ve simply chosen to ignore me if she wanted to.
I kept a safe distance. “What’s up?”
Have you . . .” she looked around as if to make sure nobody was listening. “You know what? Never mind.”
As she made the motion to turn the machine back on, my fingers landed on her arm. When she flinched, I realized I must’ve startled her.
“Sorry,” I said, removing my hand. “Just say whatever it was that was on your mind. Looked important.”
Three Sacred Words (Golden Arrow #2) Page 2
