by Aimée Thurlo
Thomas looked at the ground, kicking at stones with his boot, but didn’t answer him. Instead, he continued. “I’ve been trying to get Theresa Redwing to help me uncover the truth behind the theft. She was an administrative assistant at the Center during that time. But so far she refuses to get involved. She’s afraid she’ll lose her job.”
“There’s another possibility,” Eden said. “Maybe she was involved in the theft, and the last thing she wants is for any of us to uncover the truth.”
“You’re way off base with that one,” Thomas said sharply. “Theresa is an honest woman. It’s just not in her nature to steal.”
“It’s your nature that bothers me,” Nick said roughly. “The real question is how much money do you owe the casinos, and how far you’d be willing to go to get yourself off the hook.”
“Look, nephew, it’s true that I’ve never been a model citizen, but there’s one thing I wish you’d believe. I stole that diary to right a wrong. Of course if in the process I ended up earning some extra cash from the tribe, you shouldn’t begrudge it. Everyone has an angle, nephew. Everyone, even the missionaries at the pueblo.”
Based on everything he knew about his uncle, the man wouldn’t have recognized the truth if it came up and bit him on the nose. Yet, despite all that, this time Nick believed him.
“We need to talk some more, but not out here,” Thomas said, cocking his head toward the men who’d returned and were driving slowly past the lot on a parallel campus road. “There are passages in that diary I’d like to point out to you. Let’s go to Black Raven Ranch. That’s where the diary belongs anyway.”
“Plus, you know that they wouldn’t trespass onto our ranch. Our name carries a lot of clout at the pueblo.”
“There’s that, too. What do you say, nephew? You wash my back and I’ll wash yours.”
Nick glanced at Eden and saw her nod. He knew she wanted to be in on this, too. And she deserved to be. Her courage had never faltered, nor her loyalty to the people she cared about.
“Let’s head back to the pueblo,” Nick told Thomas. “You lead the way. You’ll be safer with us behind you.” He’d watch their backs. It was what he did best.
He glanced at Eden and gave her a nod of encouragement. He would take care of her. Keeping Eden from harm had become as vital to him as the beat of his own heart.
Chapter Thirteen
As they drove north up the interstate, Eden found her gaze continually drawn back to Nick. He was moody right now and silent, but it was the kind of silence that held no peace, only disquiet. His face was hard and cold, like a statue made of bronze.
“I know you believe everything my uncle told us, but be careful, Eden. He can’t be trusted.”
“Are you warning me, or reminding yourself?” she asked gently.
“Both,” he admitted after a pause. “He’s my uncle and although I’d like to hate him, I can’t. He’s blood, Eden, and that’s a tie I respect.”
“Your uncle has hurt you badly with all his lies, but you still want to believe him,” she observed.
“So I guess that makes me a fool,” he answered wearily.
His eyes were strangely vulnerable as they settled on her for a moment. He was reaching out to her in the only way he knew, not admitting a need for her, but letting her sense it. Nick wanted her comfort, and everything feminine in her responded.
She reached for his hand. “You’re not a fool, Nick. You’re a man who cares deeply and relies on his instincts to guide him. That’s a winning combination.”
He shook his head. “I’ve learned one thing as a cop. Hope only distorts reality.”
Eden felt the loneliness that bled outward from his wounded soul. She wanted to touch the core of emptiness that lay at the center of his heart, soothe it, and ultimately heal it. But their love held the power to destroy them both and demanded she hold back. The ultimate proof of her feelings for Nick wouldn’t require surrender, but strength to build walls between them so they could survive what lay ahead.
AT BLACK RAVEN Ranch, Thomas honored his word, showing them the passages that he’d spoken about. They were as difficult to understand as he’d predicted.
After Thomas left, Nick sat alone with Eden in the den, studying the passages. “One thing’s clear. My mother was heartbroken when your mother died. She felt that she should have done something more for her, and that somehow, she should have protected Isabel.”
“But she never says from whom.”
Nick knew what she was thinking. Eden was wondering what part his father had played in everything, and if his mother had believed that Isabel had needed protection from him. But he couldn’t accept that as the truth. “I think the sentences farther down the page refer to where Isabel hid the artifacts, but it’s impossible to know for sure.”
Eden read them aloud. “‘In a forgotten land, the heart of the forgotten dwells.’ That doesn’t tell us anything. It could simply be your mom’s way of referring to the pueblo and my mother.”
“Maybe,” Nick admitted. “But I suspect it’s more than that. Have you noticed that Mom generally used that stylized language whenever she wrote about Isabel’s troubles?”
“Do you think she was afraid that your father would find and read her journal? Maybe that was why she was deliberately vague.”
Nick exhaled softly. He didn’t like to admit it, but that was precisely the sort of thing his father would have done. His jealousy was legendary. Yet, even though he had nothing to go on except his gut feeling, he was just as sure that his mother had written in code simply to keep her word and protect Isabel’s secret.
Before Nick could speak again, Jake came into the room. “I saw your Jeep outside, brother.”
Annie followed him in, then placed Noelle in the playpen. “What’s going on, you two?”
“We got the diary back,” Nick said, and explained. “Thomas had it. Now the trick will be deciphering it. Take a look at the passages Thomas marked and see if you can make anything out of them.”
Jake studied the earmarked pages. “Not all the passages are cryptic. Some are pretty straightforward. Here she mentions that Isabel telephoned, asking about Eden.” He continued reading, then looked at Eden. “I never knew that your father was told to produce the artifacts by a certain date or the tribal council would press the BIA to suspend him. And they were going to expel him from the pueblo, too. That must have practically ripped his gut out because he had a wife and you, his daughter, to think about. Without a job or a place to live, things would have been really rough.”
“It wasn’t long after that entry that my parents were found dead,” Eden said in a strained voice. “Nobody ever found out who’d shot them.”
An uneasy silence descended over them as they each weighed the information in their own minds.
Jake finally spoke, his voice strong. “I don’t know if this aspect had occurred to you Eden, but some of your enemies may pressure the council to give you the same ultimatum that was given to your father. Either find the artifacts by a certain time, or leave the pueblo with your son forever.”
“I’d never considered that, but I’ve got to admit I wouldn’t put that past Samuel Runningwater. He wants me out.” Eden shook her head. “If that did happen, I’m not sure how I’d cope with it. That would mean that by coming back here, I robbed my son of his birthright, and destroyed the very thing I wanted to preserve—our ties to this pueblo.”
As Nick glanced at Eden, the look on her face nearly destroyed him. Her pain was real, but there seemed to be nothing he could do to help her.
As they stepped off the porch, they heard the crackling of breaking glass. Looking toward the sound, they both saw a figure darting away from Nick’s Jeep and into the shadows of the adjacent brush.
“Stop right there!” Nick sprang after the man, but by the time he reached his Jeep, the person had disappeared completely, running down an arroyo.
Jake came charging out the front door, yelling at Annie to stay in the hous
e. “What’s going on?”
Nick’s face was cold and hard. “Someone came onto our ranch to deliver a message,” he growled. Brushing the glass away from the shattered driver’s-side window, he reached in and picked up the note that had been left on the seat. Nick held the paper by the edges as he unfolded it, then opened the door so the dome light came on. “If even one print can be lifted off this, and we can match it, I’ll arrest the scumbag.”
“What’s it say?” Eden asked, her voice taut. “Is it about Thomas?”
Nick considered lying and telling her that it was, but then decided that it would only make things worse. He glanced at Jake, then read it out loud. “If you value your life, stay out of the teacher’s way. Let her find the artifacts or face the consequences. If she fails, she’ll have to answer to us.”
Eden drew in a breath. “Do you think it’s Torres again?”
Nick shook his head. “This isn’t about running you off the pueblo, Eden. This is about the artifacts. They want you here, and from what I’m getting, they want you to find the artifacts for them.”
“But who are these people?” Jake demanded. “Who would risk coming here to issue a threat?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure going to find out,” Nick snarled. Anger raged inside him. They’d brought the battle here to him and challenged him right in his own home. He looked at his brother and saw the same outrage etched on his features. “They won’t get away with this.”
Jake nodded once. “See that they don’t.”
“Eden, I want you to move into Black Raven Ranch with Christopher,” Nick said. “There are others here all the time. You’ll never be left alone again.”
She considered it, then shook her head. “No, Nick. There are people living around my home, too. This isn’t a matter of a person who wants to run me off the pueblo anymore. They’ve concluded that they need me to find the artifacts. That means they won’t harm me, not unless I stop searching.”
Nick’s black eyes swung to her. “If you change your mind, let me know. The offer will stay open.” He checked his watch. “I’m going to see if Torres will take my shift this afternoon. I’d like to check the farmhouse today. Things are heating up too fast not to actively pursue that lead right away.”
As soon as Nick made the necessary arrangements, they got underway. Nick could feel her desperation and her need to find answers. It drove him as well. His job was to protect the innocent but, so far, he’d only been able to barely avert disaster. He was itching for a fight—the kind where only one man would remain standing.
As he looked at Eden, his determination to find answers grew. This wasn’t about his duty as a cop. This battle was personal.
It didn’t take long before they arrived at the farmhouse. Once there, it took them almost three hours of searching through crumbling walls and loose flooring before it was evident to both of them that nothing was there.
“Take me home, Nick,” she said, dejected.
Failure echoed in her voice and ripped a hole through him. “Don’t give up, Eden,” he said. “The fight’s far from over.”
Yet when he looked at her, he saw naked sorrow in her eyes. The need to turn the tide in their favor drummed through him.
Silence hung between them like an oppressive veil as he drove across the pueblo back to her home. He prided himself on being tough but, when it came to Eden, he was anything but that.
More than anything he wanted to give free rein to his feelings and pursue this woman that was meant to be his, but too many things made that impossible. He still firmly believed his dad was innocent but, if he was wrong, then he’d have nothing to offer Eden or her son except the same shame that she was fighting so hard to erase from her life. He wouldn’t gamble with their futures. Before he could offer his love to her, he had to make sure that he’d be giving her something worth taking.
AS THEY PASSED the Cultural Center on the way to Eden’s home, Nick caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye. He slowed down and parked under the shadow of one of the big cottonwood trees lining the Plaza.
“What did you see?” Eden asked, realizing there was trouble.
“The Center’s been closed for a few hours now, but I just saw my uncle talking to Rita Korman and her brother Wayne outside on the veranda. I’m going to circle around on foot and try to find out what’s going on.”
As he was speaking, Eden saw Rita lead the two men inside the Cultural Center, locking the door behind them. “I’ll go too. We’ll split up and go to each of the outside windows. We’ll need to work quickly to find out which room they’re in, or we’ll never get a chance to listen in on their conversation.”
Nick and Eden circled the building, listening each step of the way. After several minutes they were forced to give up.
“They’re obviously talking someplace where their conversation can’t be overheard. I don’t think that’s by accident either. Something’s going on,” Nick said.
“You could ask your uncle directly,” Eden said.
Nick shook his head. “That won’t work. But trust me, Eden, I will find out.”
“At least we have some other leads we can follow up on right now. Are you going to process that note for prints tonight?”
“Yes,” he clipped. “But you can’t help me with that. Lifting a print, if there is one, won’t be difficult, but matching it will be unless the vandal has a criminal or military record.”
“Seeing Rita just now gave me an idea. I’d really like to know which of the Cultural Center’s employees reported the theft of the mask and fetish to the police. Can you find out? If we can establish the sequence of events that day, we may uncover another lead.”
“I think that’s information I can access through the computer. The department hired some part-time data processors to transfer all the open case files into the system. Of course I’m not sure how far they’ve gotten. Information on the theft at the Cultural Center may not have been entered yet. But let’s go check it out.”
IT WAS LATE, and only the dispatcher was still at the station as Eden and Nick walked inside. Angelina looked up from her romance novel, said hello, then began reading again, ignoring them after that.
Eden sat in the main office waiting as Nick processed the note for prints, but the results were disappointing. Whoever had handled it had made sure to keep his prints off both sides.
Nick then went to the computer terminal at his desk. “Did your father ever read the police files on the case?” Nick asked.
“He wasn’t allowed to do that. No one at the police department trusted him. They refused to even talk to him, much less let him see official documents.”
After about ten minutes Nick turned off his computer. “That case isn’t part of the records that have been entered into our database. That means that all the paperwork pertaining to it is in the portable building out back. That place is a zoo, but we should go now if you’re not too tired. If Captain Mora was here, he wouldn’t let you go inside, but I really could use your help to find the right files. I think it’s high time we both get a look at the official report.”
“Let’s do it. I called Mrs. Chino already and told her it would be a while longer before I could get home.”
Borrowing the key from Angelina, he led the way outside.
Inside the trailerlike building the air was stagnant. “Don’t they ever open the windows in here? Your records are going to be trashed without ventilation,” Eden said.
“The captain used to hire people to come in and clean, but lately funds have been running low. We can’t afford air-conditioning either.”
Working together, they began sorting through the boxes of file folders. Every time Nick bent down to move a box of folders, Eden did her best to avoid looking at him, but world-class buns like his were hard to resist.
“Had enough of a look?” he asked, after placing another box down on the floor.
She coughed. “I was only trying to read the dates on the other cartons ba
ck there.”
“Don’t look now, but your nose is growing.”
Feeling her cheeks burning, Eden avoided his gaze.
With a throaty chuckle, Nick bent down again. He then lifted another heavy box and placed it on the floor before her. “These boxes with the blue labels are for the time period we’re interested in. All the case files inside them are listed under the name of the person who contacted our department or filed a complaint,” Nick said. “It’s a form of duplication we used before we had computers that can do searches using a variety of criteria. Let’s see what’s under K.”
They searched the files together, and soon found what they were looking for.
“Marc Korman reported the theft, but he’s not very involved with the Center these days. He only helps out during the busy season. I don’t think he’s a good suspect,” Nick said.
Hearing footsteps in the gravel leading toward the portable building, Nick stood and walked to the window.
“Captain Mora’s on his way over,” he said with a grimace. “I don’t know what he’s doing here, but there’s going to be hell to pay.”
As they stepped outside, Mora came up to them. His black eyes were blazing as he pulled Nick aside. “What do you think you’re doing bringing a civilian in here? You know the rules.”
“The only cases in here are old ones, and I didn’t think there was any harm—”
He held up a hand, stopping Nick’s explanation cold. “Our department has rules, and all my deputies will follow them. Is there anything that’s unclear to you about that?”
“No, sir.” Realizing that his captain wasn’t in the mood for explanations, he decided that one-syllable answers were his best chance of avoiding even more trouble.
“If you ever pull a stunt like this with an active case, I’ll have your badge.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mora gaze locked with Nick’s. “Now that we understand each other, tell me what you were looking for.”
