The Ties That Bind

by Andi Marquette

  He returned to the table and we sat around for another half-hour or so, chatting and getting caught up on the more mundane aspects of our lives. Around midnight, River announced he was tired. He made the mud room his bedroom, as Sage predicted he would. Kara retired to the office and Sage and I waited our turns for the bathroom. By the time we snuggled together in bed it was almost one.

  "Thanks for today," Sage whispered against my ear. "You always remind me of possibility."

  Though I was tired, the warmth of her breath made me think of staying up a bit longer. "You're welcome. But thank you." I buried my face in her neck, remembering the first time we'd made love, and the way magic still crackled in the air between us. "You are the sexiest woman I've ever met," I whispered.

  "I was just thinking that about you." She ran her fingers down my neck and chills inundated every inch of my skin. "How quiet do you think you can be?" she asked in a tone of voice that rendered me helpless.

  "I'll figure something out."

  "That's what I was hoping you'd say." She got out of bed and closed the door. I saw her remove her T-shirt in what outside light managed to squeeze around the blinds. She slid into bed next to me. "Now. Where was I?"

  I STOOD NEXT to Chris as she picked the Ziploc bag off the dining room table and looked at the letter inside. River had put it, unfolded, in a large freezer bag. Her brow furrowed. "Okay," she said, half to herself and half to me. "It's basically a 'sorry to bother you with this, but someone might try to kill me' letter." She turned the bag around so she could look at the last paragraph on the back.

  "But why would he send it to River?" I asked. "I mean, why not go to the police in Farmington?"

  "Roughneck culture," River answered. He was slouched in the chair next to Sage. "Guys like that--you're a wuss if you go to the cops."

  Kara sat across from Sage, watching River.

  Chris nodded slowly. "Good point." She turned her attention to two smaller Ziplocs, each containing a Polaroid image. Bill had, indeed, gotten the names of his children tattooed on the undersides of his forearms. Sage on the right, River on the left, in small gothic script. We needed to get this stuff to Simmons so that she could put it in better bags.

  "The autopsy report might be useful," Chris said, looking at Sage then at River and they both seemed to understand what she was implying, which was to find out if Bill's killer had tried to remove the tats to hinder identification.

  "How can we get it?" Sage's voice sounded tight, but her jaw was set.

  "Let me have Dayna call the DA in Farmington. The Medical Investigator's office issues the reports to the jurisdiction where the crime occurs, but you and River have the right to request a copy from here. You have to do it in writing and it might be faster to get a copy through professional courtesy. But file your own request, too, so everybody's ass is covered. I'll e-mail you the information you'll need."

  "Will the detectives handling the investigation have a copy?" I had a thought.

  "Yeah." Chris put the baggies with the photos back on the table. "Make sure you get those to Simmons soon," she said.

  I nodded. "So maybe they'll let her and River have a look at the report?"

  "My money's on Simmons," Chris said. "Ask her first." She picked up her bottle of iced tea and shook it. "Have you heard from the lawyer?" she asked Sage.

  "No. He's checking with Tonya to see when it works for all of us to meet."

  "He might not set anything up until after the weekend," I said.

  Chris pursed her lips, thinking. "Dayna's not an estate lawyer, but she must know a few. It might not be a bad idea to have one in the wings. Just in case. Shit like this can get complicated."

  River muttered something and stood up. He went into the kitchen. I heard him clump through the laundry room and go out the back door. Chris caught my eye, a question in her expression.

  "Dad shit," Sage answered. "He's pissed that Dad put all this on us."

  Chris nodded in understanding. "Brings up a lot of baggage, something like this."

  Sage sighed, stood, and went into the kitchen. I knew she was going to see where River was, though she'd leave him to his solitude. He could be prickly, but whether that was because he spent so much time away from people or because he just was that way was a question open for debate. She returned a few moments later and slid into her chair.

  "All right, here's what we know," I said, needing to feel like I was doing something, that we weren't all spinning our wheels. "Something was going on at Ridge Star. It was enough to spook Bill--" I used his given name, hoping that it might help Sage distance him. "And because of the macho world of roughneck culture, he decided not to go to the police and instead wrote a letter to a son he hasn't spoken with in ten years."

  "Farmington's still got kind of a small-town mentality," Chris interjected, falling into the exchange with me. "Could be the local cops have connections to the local crew bosses. Whistle-blowing could get your ass kicked. Not that I'm proud to admit that about law enforcement," she finished.

  "I don't get why he'd tell an estranged family member," Kara said, looking at Sage. "Doesn't he have friends up there? And why wouldn't he tell his girlfriend?"

  "Maybe he didn't want to put her in the line of fire." I ran a hand through my hair.

  "So he'd rather put his kids there?" Kara's tone was skeptical.

  "Wouldn't be the first time," Sage said, distaste in her tone.

  Something flashed into my mind. "If whatever he was worried about was that much of a threat..." I shared a look with Chris, and in her eyes I saw my own fears echoed. "Then wouldn't whoever took him out there to the Rez want to know whether he told anyone else?"

  I felt Sage's eyes on me and I turned, locking my gaze to hers. That son of a bitch.

  "All right, let's not go there." Chris set her bottle back on the table. "Whatever happened seems to be related to what he knew about Ridge Star. Kase? I know you haven't let them off the hook."

  I shifted, uncomfortable. Sage started laughing and I relaxed. "Okay, I did poke around a little."

  "That's my girl," Sage said and I heard pride in her voice. Kara laughed as well and Chris grinned.

  "They have a shitty safety record, but that's not unusual for the industry. Three deaths since 2000, and they settled a lawsuit about one of those in 2004. They had three major safety violations within four months in the last year. But--" I gestured widely, like I sometimes did, "so what? Bill worked this industry all his freakin' life. He saw all kinds of shit. Why wouldn't he just go to another rig? Why would seeing shit like this bug him enough to send a letter to a son he doesn't talk to?"

  Chris crossed her arms. "True. Why not just pack up and move on? Or, more intriguing, why didn't Ridge Star just fire him?"

  "I don't know. Maybe he really had something on Ridge Star and if they fired him, he'd go public with it. Given their safety record, he might've had some ammo." I reached for the Ziploc with the letter and read the front again, through the plastic. Bill's handwriting was a scrawling cursive slanted toward the right, with not much space between letters. "I just wanted you to know that if something happens to me, it's because something's going on at Ridge Star and this time I have to let someone know."

  "This time," I said aloud. "He said that something's going on at Ridge Star and this time, he has to say something. He's compelled to say something. Why? Why this time?"

  "Maybe he was tired of running. He had a girlfriend, after all, and they seemed serious." Kara took a sip of Diet Coke. Chris looked at the bottle longingly and I went to the kitchen to get her one.

  "Anybody else want anything?" I called. After a chorus of "no thanks," I returned to the table and handed Chris the beverage.

  "Psychic," she said, taking it.

  "Nope. The way you were looking at Kara's, I thought Dayna might be in trouble."

  Sage laughed and Chris grinned as she unscrewed the cap. Sage's cell phone rang from the kitchen, where she'd left it. She went to answer it and I pic
ked up the Ziploc again and continued reading.

  A good friend of mine got hurt really bad in january and now he can't work then three guys got hurt bad in march and then two guys got killed, one in june and another two weeks later in july. RS covered it up, so only the familys know there was more deaths out there. One guy had to climb a rig with no safety harnes, the company man said if he didn't, he'd get fired and he has two kids at home. The other guy was working the platform and he was guiding pipe to the well but a cable snapped in the rig and the pipe fell on him. The guys had been trying to get RS to fix the cables for days and inspections said the cable was bad--

  "Kase, is Monday at three okay to meet with the lawyer in Farmington?" Sage was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, holding her cell phone against her thigh.

  "Yeah. That's fine." It'd give Sage and River time to go to the OMI and release Bill's body. "Kare?" I glanced at my sister.

  "Sounds good."

  Sage smiled at us both in turn then retreated into the kitchen.

  "What are you thinking, esa?" Chris pulled a chair out from the table and sat down.

  "I'm still hung up on why he would suddenly give a shit about safety violations, after all his years doing this kind of work."

  "Let's focus on what we know. He did give a shit about it. We're not sure why yet, but he did, as evidenced by his letter."

  Kara leaned forward, listening. I flashed her a grin. "Aren't we exciting?"

  "Actually, I've never seen you work," she said. "It's cool."

  Chris smiled and took a drink of Diet Coke. "Feel free to jump in. It's not like we have a monopoly on bullshit."

  I poked Chris in the back.

  "Okay," I said, getting back on track. "Bill cared. And the two guys who died recently aren't the only ones who have died while working for Ridge Star. I found violations going back to 2000, as well as a wrongful death lawsuit. If we include these two latest victims, there are at least four men who have died while working for this company. Not to mention numerous safety violations. Which leads me to surmise--"

  "Shitty management," Chris finished. "Whether willful or not remains to be seen." She leaned back in her chair.

  "Bill specifically mentions the violations and the deaths." I picked up the letter. "And he specifically says that he has to let someone know. He also specifically says that if something happens to him, it's apparently because he did just that. So he's fingering Ridge Star."

  "We need to go to the site," Kara said.

  "Uno momento." Chris let the front legs of her chair meet the floor. "Too dangerous. We don't know for sure whether Bill was right about any of this. He might have been using and he might have been having delusions. He may have died because he was drinking, got in a fight at a bar, and locals rolled him on the Rez."

  "If that's what happened," Kara pressed, "then why would going to the site be dangerous? If Bill's death had nothing to do with Ridge Star, then Ridge Star has nothing to hide."

  I tugged on my earlobe, my gaze bouncing from Chris to Kara. "I want to know more about why Ridge Star put a lid on the deaths of these last two guys. And I think we might be able to get that info from Shoshana's uncle."

  "Okay, hold up." Chris was watching me, worry in her eyes. "Kase, you're not law enforcement. You're not even a PI. What the hell are you proposing here?"

  "Just some digging around. For context," I hedged.

  "If a crime has been committed," Chris said slowly, for emphasis, "then the proper officials will investigate."

  "Investigative journalists do this kind of shit all the time. I'm gathering information." I came across as defensive and I saw it reflected in Chris's expression.

  "Kase," she started.

  "You know I don't just barrel into situations." I ran my hands through my hair then sank them into my front pockets.

  Chris sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. Kara shifted her gaze to me. "Why do you want to do this?" Chris looked up at me.

  "I don't. But Sage wants to know what happened."

  "What if there are no answers?" Chris's tone was brittle. "What if you'll never know for sure?"

  "Then we won't. But at least we'll know that we tried." I watched Chris start to slip into cop mode with me, and even though I recognized it for what it was, it always made me feel very small and very young. Even with me standing and her sitting, Chris was imposing. Kara physically scooched down in her chair and dropped her gaze to the table.

  "Here's the deal, K.C. I'm not supportive of what you're up to with this. If Bill was murdered, then you're dealing with people who are willing to kill others, which means they won't give a fuck about killing someone else. And you know exactly how I feel about you messing around with situations like this."

  I nodded, as if I was a kid again, getting lectured by the cop on the beat.

  "But you're right. There's nothing wrong with doing some research and gathering some information. But so help me, if you start poking around and hit the wrong people, I will kick your ass just as hard as theirs for messing with you."

  I nodded again.

  She relaxed. "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

  "Chris," I said, thoroughly chastised, "if something's scary or freaky, I'll back off and let law enforcement handle it."

  "Is that a promise?"

  "Hell, if she won't, I will. You're scary," Kara announced. "K.C., if you fuck up and Chris has to kick your ass, I'm going to let her."

  Chris started laughing and I exhaled, relieved. "I promise. I won't do anything stupid and if it looks like things are going to go that way, I'll back off and get help."

  Chris stood and pulled me into a hug. "I worry," she whispered.

  "I know. Thanks." I hugged her back, remembering the last time trouble found me, behind a tattoo shop on east Central, and Chris had been there, like the Lone Ranger, to save me from a confrontation with a couple of neo-Nazis. Farmington was a long way from Albuquerque, though, and if something went wrong...I tried not to think about that. Chris released me just as Sage emerged from the kitchen, River following her.

  "Here's the plan," she announced.

  We all waited.

  "River and I have to be in Farmington by three Monday afternoon. We'll go to the Medical Examiner's office before we leave. Then we're thinking we'll take two cars, since there'll be four of us and that might be easier to coordinate. I think we should get a couple of motel rooms and stay the night, since I don't know how long the meeting will take. Besides--" she arched an eyebrow. "We can check in with the detectives and maybe poke around, as my sweetie likes to say." She blew me a kiss and I grinned.

  "Sounds good." I glanced at River, whose expression betrayed nothing but his demeanor seemed more at ease.

  "Yep. I'm in," Kara said.

  "Okay. I'll check with Dayna and see who she can scare up that does estate law. Sage, I'll e-mail you the info about requesting an autopsy report--"

  River's eyes flicked to Chris and I thought I saw a scowl coming on but it passed.

  "And I'll see if Dayna can get a courtesy copy from the Farmington DA for you. But check in with Simmons. They're going to want to see the letter, anyway, so you'll have a reason."

  "I'll call her. Thanks, Chris." A note of relief coursed through her voice.

  "No hay problema. All right, I have to go get ready for Saturday with la familia. Kase, call me."

  "Will do. Gracias, mujer and say hi to Dayna."

  "De nada and you know I will."

  We all said our goodbyes as Chris left. I glanced at my watch. Almost three. "Dinner?"

  "Let's grill," Sage answered. "I'll call Jeff, see if he wants in on the fun."

  "Do we need anything from the store?" I picked up Chris's empty bottles. "River? Did you want a beer with dinner?"

  "Nah, I'm good. Iced tea is fine."

  "Kara?" I raised my eyebrows at her in a question.

  "We still have a bottle of wine. That should be fine."
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  I nodded. "Okay. River, if I'm really nice to you, will you do that marinade thing?" I batted my eyelashes at him.

  "Sure." A warm, slow smile pulled the right side of his mouth up. "I'll get right on that."

  "See? I knew we needed more testosterone here." I bumped him as I passed him on my way into the kitchen. Sage caught my eye and mouthed "thank you" to me. I winked at her and rinsed the bottles out.

  Chapter Ten

  I SET THE two bags of groceries on the hood of my car and unlocked the driver's side door so I could flip the switch for the rest. As I put the groceries on the floor of the back seat, I heard my name. I looked up to see Melissa Crown, my ex, headed toward me.

  "Hey," I said in greeting as she approached. I gave her a brief hug and stepped back. "It's been a while. How are you?" Dumb question. From her smile and relaxed demeanor, she was in a good space. And today she hadn't had any lawyer things to do because she was dressed in khaki shorts and a loose blue tee. A baseball cap graced her head, giving her a cute sporty air.

  "Good. About to do some shopping at the Co-op," she said, gesturing at the natural foods store across the street that I'd just left.

  "Don't panic," I said with pronounced gravity. "It's organic."

  She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Did Megan call you yet?"

  "No--is she in town?"

  Melissa shook her head. "Oregon. Classes start soon. She likes checking in with you."

  "I appreciate that," I said, leaning against my car.

  "So does she." Melissa took her shades off and propped them above the bill of her cap. "How are things with you?"

  "Good, for the most part." I told her about what had happened with Sage's dad, leaving the supernatural aspects out. When I finished, she pursed her lips.