Wild Country

by Anne Bishop

  He’d talk to Ellen and “Ed” Tilman and emphasize the need for caution. And he’d talk to the folks living at the Prairie Gold farms as well. And he’d talk to Jana tonight and see if she knew anything more.

  “Do you have one of those guns that shoots colored bullets?” Virgil asked.

  For a moment, Tobias couldn’t think of what the Wolf meant. “You mean a flare gun? Yes. I keep one in the truck.”

  Virgil looked at the horse and rider, then focused on Tobias. “Fire says if you shoot a colored bullet into the air, the terra indigene will know there is danger and will come to help.”

  Gods above and below. “Appreciate that.” And he hoped he would never be in a position to send up a flare because he didn’t want to consider which terra indigene would come to help.

  When Virgil continued to lean in and stare at him, Tobias said, “Something else?”

  “Rusty can’t have meat?”

  “Sure she can, but she’s been fed puppy kibble up to now and you don’t want to change her diet too fast.”

  “Kibble instead of meat? Have you tasted kibble?” Virgil bared his teeth, and Tobias had the unpleasant experience of seeing human canines change into Wolf fangs when those fangs were inches away from his face.

  “Can’t say I have.” Obviously Virgil had—and hadn’t liked it.

  He had to be careful not to agree with Virgil too much, or the Wolf, already dominant, would run roughshod over Jana. Or try, anyway.

  “The pup is adjusting to a new home and a new pack. Better for her to have familiar food for a while. Better for Jana to be able to give Rusty something she can provide.”

  Virgil’s ears shifted to Wolf, as if to better hear the words. Since he hadn’t backed away at all, Tobias found it . . . unsettling.

  “Rusty is Jana’s first dog, her first puppy,” Tobias said. “She needs to learn, same as the pup, and the learning will go down easier if the teaching is . . . soft. You understand what I’m saying?”

  After several very long moments, Virgil nodded. “It is good the Wolfgard can help her learn with the dog puppy. That way Jana will know what to do when the two of you mate and have pups of your own.”

  “That’s a thought.” Oh gods. This felt like the Wolf version of a shotgun wedding. Or at the very least, an older brother wanting to know a man’s intentions toward a sister. “I’d better be going. I have to deliver mail and supplies to the Skye Ranch on my way home.”

  Virgil stepped away from the pickup, shifted back to Wolf form, and headed for Bennett at an easy trot.

  The horse and rider had disappeared, but Tobias still drove past the spot slowly before he put his foot on the gas and made up time driving to the Skye Ranch.

  He’d met Jana a handful of days ago. They’d shared a couple of rides, a couple of kisses, and a movie night with friends. Sure, he was attracted to her, and a day ago, he wouldn’t have turned down an invitation to become better acquainted in the physical sense. But wanting to know someone wasn’t the same as being ready to marry. If Virgil thought that one thing automatically led to the other, Tobias was going to have to think hard about what he was willing to offer Deputy Paniccia.

  Then again, there was that spark between them, and he liked thinking about that just fine.

  CHAPTER 24

  Windsday, Messis 22

  Before heading for work, Jana took Rusty for another emergency run to the potty spot. She’d surely like to give Virgil a whack on the head for letting the puppy gorge on food she wasn’t used to eating. But if Rusty dribbled poop on the office floor because she couldn’t hold it long enough to reach grass, well, Virgil might get the message.

  “Unsupervised kid in a candy store,” she muttered. “It all goes in just fine, but coming out?” She glanced at the pup curled on the passenger-side floor. “Light meals for you, kiddo. That’s what your auntie Barb recommended this morning.”

  When she reached the office, she called Move ’Em Out Bookstore and asked John Wolfgard to find her a stack of old newspapers as a preventative measure. Then she went next door to the land agents’ office and arranged to escort Dawn Werner to the newly restored shopping center in order to make a list of the stores that were potential employment opportunities.

  Dawn should have been safe to go on her own within the town’s boundaries, but the men who had attacked the people at the ranch were still out there, somewhere. Besides, most of the terra indigene didn’t know Dawn, and anyone watching her check out the stores might think she was doing something sneaky like those people who were looking at the empty houses the other day. But all the Others knew that Virgil’s human deputy wore a shiny on her shirt that could be seen from the air, so Jana’s presence would make it clear that Dawn was a resident of Bennett on official business and not a snack.

  She just hoped the Elders knew what the badge meant.

  * * *

  * * *

  When Zeke made a “come here” motion, Abigail reluctantly crossed the street. Thank the gods there was an official salvage business now and nobody else had to help sort through the possessions in the houses—unless that help was a kindness to a neighbor.

  Since the salvage van was parked in the driveway of a house where people were hustling in and out, she didn’t think Zeke was waving to her just to be friendly.

  “Good morning,” she said.

  “Morning, Abby. You and Kelley heading out to work?”

  “Yes. We were just leaving.” Since Kelley now viewed the sweet Abigail persona with suspicion, she kept hoping he’d leave altogether so that she could play the brave abandoned wife and garner sympathy from her new neighbors.

  “Ask him to wait a few minutes, okay? A few of us camped out in these houses last night in order to work past dark. We have all the jewelry sorted in three of the houses—at least we’ve got what looks like costume jewelry sorted from the nicer things. We need Kelley to assess the good pieces and assign values for all of it so that the costume jewelry can be sold.”

  “All right, I’ll tell him.” She took a step back, as if even the mention of jewelry was a source of pain.

  Zeke didn’t comment, but she had a feeling that he thought he knew the reason for her reacting that way.

  The reason walked out of the house carrying a banker’s box.

  “I think a lot of the paper in this box can be shredded,” Dina said. “If the attorney assigned to handle this street keeps the last couple of statements, that should be enough to confirm what was in the account.”

  Zeke gave Abigail a sharp look. “Something wrong?”

  Everything. The dissonance surrounding this woman was so strong, she would draw negative things to everyone on this street. And Abigail’s carefully tended protection stones would be completely overwhelmed by that dissonance, leaving her vulnerable to something more than a broken marriage.

  “The pendant.” It was a slice of rose quartz in a gold frame that gave it the look of an old oval mirror. At the top was a spill of leaves and vines that held chips of turquoise. It was exquisite workmanship, but the stones created a strong dissonance with Dina’s personality.

  Dina deposited the box in the van before turning to confront Abigail. “What’s your problem? I didn’t lift it from one of the houses. It was on display in the jewelry store, as part of the store’s original inventory. I saw it, liked it, and bought it. So what?”

  Dina was smart and had a sharp-edged sense of humor—and she and Abigail had disliked each other on sight. Just not compatible. Would never be friends. And now Kelley’s not-so-subtle attraction to the woman was an actual reason to dislike Dina—if sweet Abigail hadn’t been so hurt by the “gold girl” on Zeke’s team leading her husband astray.

  Abigail would have been amused that Kelley was planning to leave her because she had “played him,” but he couldn’t see that Dina was doing the same thing. If she didn’t say an
ything, he’d get what he deserved when he moved in with the bitch, but if she didn’t say anything, whatever trouble came would touch all of them.

  Which meant revealing her little secret to more people.

  “What about the pendant?” Zeke asked, sounding impatient.

  “It’s not in harmony with Dina,” Abigail replied. “It’s a beautiful piece, but it doesn’t fit who she is, and instead of bringing her good fortune, it will attract a darkness to her that will cause pain and sorrow.”

  Dina gave her a cold, hostile look. “Bullshit. The only thing wrong with this necklace is that Kelley put it aside for me and not you.” She walked back into the house.

  Zeke fixed his eyes on the van. “Dina was out of line, saying that to you.”

  “You mean saying without saying that she and Kelley are having sex?” Abigail said.

  Zeke winced.

  “Zeke, talk to her. This has nothing to do with Kelley. I promise it doesn’t. But I have a feeling that every time Dina wears that necklace, something dangerous will get a little closer until it catches up to her.”

  “Look at where we are, Abby,” Zeke said. “We run the risk of something dangerous catching up to us every single day.”

  She’d tried to warn him, and he didn’t believe her. Wasn’t that perfect? When trouble came, no one could say she hadn’t tried to warn someone.

  Zeke raised a hand in greeting. Abigail turned and hurried across the street, passing Kelley. “I’ll wait in the car.”

  She watched Zeke and Kelley go into the house. She watched Kelley and Dina come out—and saw Zeke take the box Dina held, stopping her from walking over to help Kelley pack the boxes into the car. It was Zeke’s discomfort more than anything else that told her the sweet Abigail persona was still working with everyone but Kelley.

  * * *

  * * *

  Parlan answered his mobile phone, pleased the erratic service hadn’t affected this little town. He hadn’t heard from anyone all day, and when the clan was scattered as it was now, communication became essential. “Hello?”

  “Dalton’s likeness is on a poster in every post office and train station,” Judd McCall said in a low voice full of fury. “Wanted for questioning in the robbery of a ranch house and the assault of two people.”

  Parlan stopped breathing for a moment as his own fury washed over him. “Dalton said the girl got a glimpse of him but couldn’t know who . . .”

  “The drawing might as well be a photograph, and the poster has his name. I don’t know who did the drawing, but putting a name to the face didn’t come from the girl at the ranch.”

  A face without a name meant very little. Appearances could be changed. But having a name on that poster just when he was putting together a deal to play the respectable family con put the whole clan at risk.

  “Do you think one of our past business associates saw the drawing and provided the name?” Parlan asked.

  “No. Even the crazy ones aren’t that crazy. And the boy knows better than to tell a whore his real name.”

  “Whore,” Parlan said softly. The word reminded him of another possibility. But he didn’t need to say it. Judd would have come to the same conclusion. “Dalton will have to lay low. Lawry too for the time being. Have you heard from Cooke and Webb?”

  “No, but I did hear about a way station being robbed and one of the workers being shot. So I can guess where those two were a day ago. What about you?”

  “I’m staying at a hotel tonight, but I’ll be on the train again in the morning. I have a line on a business proposition. If my backers seal the deal, we’ll have a base of operation and the clan can assemble again.”

  “What kind of business proposition?”

  “Running a saloon that has a professional gambler in residence.”

  “How much are you going to have to lose to make this happen?” Judd asked.

  “Oh, I’m not going to lose. I’m going to make this happen by winning very big—and then forgiving the debts in lieu of the marks being the frontmen when it comes to dealing with government officials and the law. That will keep my name off the deed—at least initially.” Once he’d established himself as a respectable businessman, he’d ease the frontmen out of the business, one way or another.

  Judd laughed. “I’ll keep heading south, picking up what I can.”

  “Keep a sharp lookout.”

  “Always do. Where should I look for you?”

  “In Bennett,” Parlan said. “I’ve been told by my fellow passengers that there are a multitude of opportunities there for men with ambition.”

  “A working town probably has working law officers,” Judd said.

  “Officers who don’t see the value of cooperation can be replaced. I’ll get a feel for the town and find out whose strings can be pulled and whose strings need to be cut.”

  “See you there.”

  Parlan ended the call and stared out his hotel window.

  Abigail had escaped his control and eluded him for more than three years. It would serve her right if betraying her brother to the authorities, whatever they might be, would be the very act that would cause her to stumble back into Judd’s waiting hands.

  CHAPTER 25

  Thaisday, Messis 23

  Responding to the frantic knocking on the front door and Rusty’s equally frantic barking, Jana dropped her toast and rushed through the house. Anyone knocking on her door at that hour of the morning and in that way wasn’t outside to tell her something good.

  She grabbed Rusty’s collar with one hand as she turned the locks and opened the door with the other.

  “You have to come,” Kenneth said. The burly schoolteacher looked ready to faint. “Maddie cut herself and we don’t know what to do. She’s . . . We don’t know.”

  “Is Evan home?” she asked, then snapped, “Quiet, Rusty.”

  “He’s dealing with the other children,” Kenneth replied. “They . . .”

  They want to lick the blood. Michael Debany had hurriedly told her a few things about dealing with blood prophets if she should cross paths with one, and one of those things was that the Others should not consume cassandra sangue blood because it produced a reaction in the terra indigene.

  “Go home and help Evan,” she said. “Do not let the other children lick Maddie’s wound or any of the blood.”

  “Wounds.” Kenneth sounded devastated. “More than one.”

  Gods. “I’ll be over in a minute. You go now.”

  Yelling for Barb, Jana dragged a now-whimpering Rusty back to her crate and stuffed the puppy inside. Not a kind thing to do, but she could feel the seconds ticking and knew something was very wrong if a girl as young as Maddie had suddenly made multiple cuts.

  “What’s the matter?” Barb asked. “Why are you being mean to the puppy?”

  “Maddie cut herself.”

  Barb gasped.

  “Grab a pen and paper. You have to help me.”

  “Me? Why me? Where are Evan and Kenneth?”

  “They have to keep the other kids away from Maddie. Come on, Barb.”

  Jana ran out the door, trusting that Barb would follow. She stopped outside Maddie’s house, cupped her hands around her mouth, and yelled, “Virgil!” Then she yanked open the screen door and stepped inside.

  Maddie knelt in the middle of the living room, smacking her bloody hands on a sheet of drawing paper and making a strangled sound as if she wanted to scream but couldn’t even get that much out. Kenneth held on to Zane, and Evan had a tight hold on Mace, who kept snarling and saying, “Let me lick it. I wanna lick it.”

  No sign of Charlee, but Jana didn’t ask about her. If the young Hawk wasn’t in the room, she wasn’t an immediate problem.

  Jana dropped to her knees in front of Maddie at the same moment the screen door opened. As Barb dropped down beside her, loo
king white with dread but holding a pen and pad of paper, Jana closed her hands over Maddie’s wrists. “Speak, prophet, and we will listen.”

  Maddie suddenly stilled and stared at her with terrifyingly empty eyes that turned dreamy as the girl began to speak. “Puddle, puddle, red red red. Grandma hair walk her dog. Big water. Bumpy dark.” The girl sighed and slumped forward.

  Jana lowered Maddie to the floor, then looked at the two men and the boys. “You boys go to your room and stay there, or I’ll arrest you.”

  “You can’t—” Mace’s protest was silenced by the savage snarl that came from the other side of the screen door.

  Virgil bared his teeth as he focused on the boys. But Jana saw him quivering and took a moment to admire the strength of will that kept him on that side of the door instead of tearing through it to reach the girl with the bloody hands.

  “Boys,” Evan said firmly. “Go with Dad Kenneth.”

  Zane and Mace allowed Kenneth to herd them to their bedroom, but Mace, the young Wolf, kept looking back as if to be sure Virgil was still there to reinforce the order.

  “Get some water and a cloth to clean up her hands,” Jana told Evan. “We’ll take the papers that have blood on them.”

  “And do what with them?” Barb whispered.

  “Burn them.” As far as she could tell, the drawing paper didn’t hold anything that would help them—not a picture or any other kind of clue. “Evan, do you know what Maddie was looking at just before this happened?”

  Evan shook his head as he began cleaning Maddie’s hands. “We were making breakfast. The children were out here. We didn’t know there was anything wrong until Charlee ran into the kitchen and told us that Maddie had cut herself. I don’t know what she used, what was in the room that could . . .” He glanced around the room. “That issue of Nature! wasn’t on the floor before, and I don’t know where that picture book came from.”