“On a binge tonight?”
Donny’s lips spread in a small - contrite grin. He knew he’d been caught. “Well I’m too old to have to worry about my health.”
Mya cleared her throat. “I see.”
Donny held the screen door open so she could come inside. “What are you doing out. I thought you were in bed.”
“No, Jen had my car. I was with Trent,” she told him, her eyes straying to the TV program he’d been watching. It was another of his shoot-em-up cop shows that he was so fond of.
“Girl, you didn’t listen to a thing I said about the skinwalkers, did you?” he frowned.
“He wanted to show me something,” Mya said, taking a seat on the little couch.
Donny dropped the bag of potato chips on the coffee table before sitting down. “Well at least you’re still alive. That’s something I guess,” he said before plopping down in his recliner.
“Did it concern the Sinapu?” he asked, a hint of anxiety in his voice.
“A little, but mostly it was about me.”
“Oh?” Donny picked up the remote and muted the TV.
After hearing the alarm in his voice, Mya felt her nerves start to short circuit. What if there was something to what Trent had told her?
“He said that my mom wasn’t really my mom. That my mother was some girl named Lucy.”
One look at Donny’s face and Mya felt her heart drop into her stomach.
“It’s true!” Donny nodded. “I don’t know about the girl, but you were adopted. This is something your parents should have told you a long time ago.” His voice shook with anger. “I told them over and over again that they had to tell you this stuff before you came here.”
Mya was at a loss for words. She was too numb to even think. It was like everything about her life had been a lie, and she had no idea who she really was.
Taking a deep breath, Donny looked into her eyes. “We never knew who your parents were, but the people around here … they believe that you were fathered by a Tchin'dih. They think that you are here to destroy the guardians.”
“Am I?” she asked in a soft voice.
“To say that you were fathered by a demon is a far stretch, but everything you have been doing is feeding the rumor mill. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, you are putting yourself in danger because the people believe it to be true.”
“How did I end up with my mom and Steve?” Mya stood up. She was too antsy to sit in one place.
“You were only a couple of weeks old when you were brought in as a foster child. Joan took care of you, hoping that they would find you a home, but …” His words faded.
“But what?”
“They couldn’t place you because of what everyone thought you were. Joan didn’t want them to send you out of the area … she’d grown too attached to you. When she found out that they planned to send you to Santa Fe, she decided to adopt you herself. Then her husband was killed.”
“My dad,” she muttered. At least he was the man she’d always thought of as her dad. “Was he really killed in a car accident?”
Donny nodded. “Yes, but she believed it was orchestrated somehow. Joan began to get real paranoid. It was Steve that helped get the two of you out of here.”
“If she was afraid of being here, why did we come back?”
Donny shrugged. “Once she’d been gone from here long enough, her fears started to fade and she began rationalizing it all. After a few years she came to the conclusion that it was all nonsense.”
“But you don’t think so.” Mya stopped pacing.
“I don’t know, but what’s important is that the Sinapu want you dead, as do many of the people on this reservation. At first I thought it would all be okay, but now I’m no so sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“The people haven’t forgotten like I thought they would, and now that you’ve been chumming around with David Bray, you also have the Sinapu worried. I think that the people are starting to pay attention to the old tales.”
“What are these tales?” Mya’s voice shook, her frustration and anger bubbling to the surface. “What exactly is it that I’m supposed to do? I could only get bits and pieces out of Metzger … so why don’t you tell me?”
Donny shook his head. “You have to remember, these are just stories.”
“So … tell me what they are.”
“You are supposed to be fathered by one of the demons that inhabit the skinwalkers. Your destiny is to lead the alpha of the Sinapu priests astray so that he will abandon his duty. When that happens, the skinwalkers can go after the heart of the people.”
“Really! If this leader already knows this, can’t he just … I don’t now … ignore me or something? And what is this heart?”
“He will not be able to resist you because you are witched … and will witch him. He will fall in love with you and will not care about anything else, not even his duty to the heart.”
“Well we know the part about falling in love isn’t true,” Mya suddenly felt exhausted. She’d been on an emotional roller coaster for weeks and desperately needed some down time.
“Isn’t it?” Donny arched one brow. “If you think about it … I think you’ll see that it is.”
“Who is in love with me?”
“He is.”
Mya’s heart was beating so fast she could feel the blood pounding in her head. “David?” she whispered.
Donny nodded.
“I doubt that.” She shook her head.
To Mya, the thought of David Bray being in love with her was too good to be true. Just thinking about him could set her head spinning, and to be near him was like a narcotic, and she had to admit she was already addicted. That was one mark against their story. He was the one that had enchanted her.
“Well that’s why you need to stay away from him. The other Sinapu are afraid that he will fall in love with you, and they will kill you before they let that happen.”
“What is the big deal about this heart? What is it?”
“No one knows what it is except the guardian priests, but it is what keeps us safe … it is what makes us live.”
“So this is all over some ridiculous superstition. My real mother was probably raped and murdered over a superstition.” The lump forming in Mya’s throat made her words weak.
“Ancient beliefs … or superstition … whatever you want to call it. It can be a powerful thing for those that believe. You need to keep that in mind.” Donny stood up and gently placed his hand on her arm. “You must also realize that it is his duty to kill you … if …”
“Who … David?” She cut him off.
Donny nodded.
Now she felt even more wretched. It was one thing to be feared by everyone around you, but something else when the only man you cared about, also wanted you dead.
Mya shook her head. “I don’t believe it … I don’t believe he would do that.”
“That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to say. If he doesn’t … they will, but either way you are in danger.”
“I’m going to find him and ask him about all of this,” she said, making the mistake of voicing her thoughts aloud.
“No way!” Donny’s voice turned hard. “That’s the last thing you need to do. Stay clear of David Bray and Metzger. Both of these guys are dangerous. In fact, I think it would be a good idea if you returned home early. It would give things a chance to settled down.”
Ignoring what he’d said, Mya blurted out, “Trent said the killers were skinwalkers and that they were killing to keep people from warning me.” Regardless of her personal troubles, they were still working a homicide investigation.
“When we were at the place that Trent said I was born, a wolf crashed through the door. He wouldn’t admit it, but I think he believed it was a skinwalker. He killed it.”
Donny’s face went ashen. “He killed a wolf?”
“Well yeah … it was attacking us.”
Donny was heading for
his bedroom before she’d uttered her last word.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I have to get dressed. If I don’t get to Metzger before they do … he’s as good as dead.”
Confused, Mya stared at the dark hall where he’d disappeared. “Damn it Donny! What are you talking about?”
“They will kill him.”
“Who?” Mya asked, bringing her fingers up to rub the sides of her head, hoping to ease the pain that was ripping at her brain at that moment.
She wasn’t surprised when Donny didn’t answer her. Nothing about this place made any sense at all. Maybe Donny was right … maybe she should go home.
But there was a haunting feeling deep in her heart telling her that if she left now, she would never see David Bray again. That was something she wasn’t ready to accept.
* * *
As soon as she opened her eyes, she felt stabbing needles of pain as the light pierced through her skull. She quickly squeezed her eyes shut and the pain began to fade.
Mya pulled the blankets over her head, hoping that she would fall back to sleep. It was too late. Once she was awake, it was nearly impossible to get back to sleep. But she was tired - so tired that her eyes were burning.
If only she could keep her head from chattering then maybe she could doze off again, but that wasn’t going to happen. The events of the night before were plowing through her brain like a freight train.
She’d stayed up until the wee hours of the morning waiting for Donny to return, but she’d finally given in and went to bed when she could no longer keep her eyes open.
Throwing the blankets off, Mya jumped out of bed and went to the living room. Jen was in the kitchen cooking breakfast.
“It’s about time sleepy head,” Jen looked up from the bacon she was frying.
Mya didn’t answer, instead she went to the window to look for Donny’s patrol car. He still wasn’t back. Leaving the window, she grabbed her purse from the coffee table and starting digging through it. “Where’s my phone?”
“It’s on the kitchen table,” Jen told her. “It rang and I tried to answer it, but …”
Mya snatched up the phone and looked at her missed calls. The call Jen missed was from Donny.
Mya dialed his number and waited impatiently while it rang.
Finally he answered. “Mya … why didn’t you answer earlier?”
“I was still asleep. What’s going on?” she asked, breathlessly.
“We have Metzger in custody. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Mya couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You arrested him for shooting a wolf that was attacking us?”
There was a slight hesitation before he replied. “They are endangered Mya. You can’t shoot wolves.”
“Bullshit! It was attacking us.”
“I know but,”
“Never mind,” Mya interrupted. “I’ll be down at the station in a little while.”
Mya hung up the phone and glanced up at Jen. Her friend stood by the stove with one hand on her hip, glaring at her. “You can’t be serious! I’ve made breakfast and you’re leaving already?”
“Sorry,” Mya apologized. “It’s a long story but I have to go help this guy. He kind of saved my life last night. The least I can do is bail him out of jail.”
Jen shook her head. “You are taking all of this way too seriously Mya. Look at yourself … you’re fried.”
“I know,” Mya sighed. “I know this hasn’t been a great visit for you, but I promise we’ll make up for lost time … as soon as I can get this all worked out.”
“What worked out? Those murders?”
“Among other things,” Mya said, already back in her room and searching for some clothes. For some reason she didn’t feel like telling her friend what she’d learned about her parents and herself - at least not yet.
Mya pulled on a T-shirt and was wiggling into a pair of shorts when she heard Jen step into the bedroom.
“Is this about that guy you like?” Jen asked.
Mya shook her head. “No … not really.”
A sly smile spread across Jen’s full lips. “I think you’re going to find it is.”
Jen’s words stopped Mya in her tracks. She had just reached for her brush, but instead she spun around to face her friend. “What?”
Jen shrugged and said offhandedly. “Oh nothing. I was just talking. It’s just that everything you do lately seems to be about him.”
She wasn’t satisfied with Jen’s answer. “What do you know about this?”
“About what?” Jen’s eyes were wide and innocent.
Mya glared at the other woman. “Don’t play dumb with me Jen. I know you better than that. If you didn’t know what was going on, you would be all over me with questions. Who have you been talking to?”
Jen’s smile was tense. “This place is making you way too paranoid girl. Why don’t you go get your friend and bring him back here? We could all have breakfast together.”
Giving up, Mya quickly ran the brush through her hair before grabbing her purse and heading for the door. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, “ she told Jen before leaving.
All the way to town Mya dwelled on her conversation with Jen. She couldn’t get over the feeling that Jen knew something.
But how?
Her friend didn’t know anyone on the rez, and as far as Mya knew, Jen hadn’t been anywhere without her, except for the night before when she’d left with Trent.
Maybe Jen was right. This place was starting to make her paranoid.
* * *
It wasn’t visiting day for inmates, but because Mya worked for the police she was able to wiggle a few minutes out of Marsh, one of the officers working corrections. Instead of the usual visiting procedure, she was allowed to meet with Trent in an interview room. She’d told Marsh that her visit concerned the homicides she was working on, which wasn’t really a lie.
Mya stared at Trent from across the little table, amazed that he could still be wearing such a cocky smile under the circumstances.
“What is it with you? Don’t you realize you’re in jail?” Mya asked, disturbed by his nonchalant attitude.
“No big deal.” He shrugged dismissively. “Right now I’d prefer to be in here anyway.”
“Are you crazy? I’ve come to bail you out,” Mya told him, folding her arms in front of her. “This charge is absurd.”
“Oh don’t be so hard on Donny.” Trent waved away her concern. “Putting me in jail has nothing to do with breaking any kind of law. He wants to keep them from killing me.”
Mya stared blankly with her mouth open.
Trent laughed. “You really are clueless aren’t you?”
“I guess I must be because I’m totally not getting it,” Mya snapped.
“You need to check on you friend … David Bray. See if he’s doing okay.” Trent winked at her.
Mya stood up abruptly. “So you don’t want me to get you out of here?”
Trent stared at her, his blue eyes twinkling with laughter. “Go see David first … then we’ll talk again. You may not want to get me out.”
After leaving the holding facility, Mya went directly to Donny’s office. Locking someone up for defending himself against an animal attack was probably the craziest thing she’d ever heard of.
Donny was just hanging up the phone when she entered his office. The bags under his eyes made him appear worn and tired. He probably hadn’t slept at all last night.
“What’s this all about?” Mya stood in front of his desk, her hands on her hips.
A tired smile softened the haggard look on his face. “Relax Mya. He’s only here for his own protection. He’ll be out soon enough.”
“What are you protecting him from … the skinwalkers?” Mya was tired of everyone talking in circles.
“Maybe,” he said.
Mya pursed her lips tightly together. “I want to bail him out.”
Donny shook his head. “Not
right now. You have other things to worry about. I just got off the phone with your mother. They’re taking the next flight into Flagstaff.”
“So you told them?” Mya asked in a shaky whisper. She had meant to call her mom, but with all the uproar over the wolf, she’d put it off. She wasn’t really sure if she were stalling because of what was going on, or because she didn’t want to confront the truth.
Donny gave her a grudging nod. “It’s their responsibility to set things right with you.”
“When will they be in?” Mya was resigned to facing the nightmare of her past sooner rather than later.
“Tonight … maybe tomorrow. They plan to rent a car and drive from Flagstaff.”
Taking a deep breath, she said, “I’m going for a drive. I don’t know how long I’ll be so if they get here before I get back … I don’t know … entertain them or something. Oh, and you might want to let Jen know they’re going to be here,” she added.
His lips drew downward in a frown. “Where are you going?”
“Just for a ride. I need to think.” Mya felt bad for lying, but she knew there was no way Donny was going to let her go out to the Sinapu village. He just might lock her up too, if that’s what it took.
Chapter Thirteen
For the third time she got David’s voice mail. This time she didn’t bother leaving a message. He probably wouldn’t call her back anyway. She’d been trying to reach him all morning with no luck. While using Donny’s computer to search for missing persons, Mya had looked up David’s phone number, but there had been no physical address.
Bad Moon Rising - Paranormal Romance Page 13
