by Cindi Myers
His cell phone buzzed, and he checked it but didn’t recognize the number. Frowning, he answered the call. “Hello?”
“Jake, you have to come quick.” A female voice sobbed out the words.
He gripped the phone tighter. “Sophie? Is that you?”
“Jake, you have to come. Mom fainted again, and it’s really bad. I’m afraid she’s dying!”
* * *
CARMEN GRIPPED THE armrest and tried to brace herself as the pickup truck jounced down the rutted road, yet with every bump she was thrown to the side or bounced in the air. “Wrecking your truck isn’t going to get us there any faster,” she said through gritted teeth.
Jake’s grim expression didn’t change, but he did let up on the gas a little. “I tried to get Sophie to call an ambulance,” he said. “But she said Mom made her promise not to. If I have to, I’ll put Mom in the truck and drive her to the hospital myself.”
“How did Sophie manage to call you, anyway?” Carmen asked.
“She got Starfall to drive her to the café out by the lake, and she used their phone. She and Starfall are on their way back to camp now. I guess I owe Starfall for agreeing to take her. The poor kid was panicked.”
“Maybe Starfall is trying to score points with you.”
He glanced at her. “You’re kidding, right? She hates me now that she knows I’m a cop.”
“She knew you were a cop when she stole your badge, and that didn’t stop her from pursuing you.”
He shook his head, grinning.
“What are you smiling about?” she asked.
“You’re jealous.”
“I am not!” Just because the idea of Jake and Starfall together made her see red didn’t mean she was jealous. She merely hated to see him taken in by such a manipulative woman. “I know Starfall doesn’t do anything unless there’s something in it for her.”
“Maybe she likes my sister. Did you ever think of that?”
Carmen pressed her lips together. Sophie was certainly likable, but she didn’t think Starfall had ever paid much attention to the girl. Better to let Jake think everyone loved his sister and wanted the best for her.
They arrived back at camp moments after Daniel Metwater. The Prophet turned to meet them, his expression guarded. “Have you decided to take my concerns seriously?” he asked.
“I’m not here for you,” Jake said as he strode past Metwater. “I got a call from my sister that my mother fainted again.”
Metwater hurried after Jake, with Carmen close behind. Asteria met them on the path. She grabbed Metwater’s hand. “You’re needed,” she said and pulled him toward camp.
Jake put a hand on her arm to stop her. “Where’s Phoenix?” he asked.
Asteria gave him a puzzled look. “She’s in her trailer, I guess.”
“What do you mean, you guess?” He looked as if he wanted to shake her. Carmen laid a pacifying hand on his arm, and he released the other woman. “Sophie called me in a panic. She said Phoenix fainted again.”
“She did. But she’s fine now.”
“What did you need me for?” Metwater asked.
“There’s someone here to see you. He’s waiting in your trailer.”
Metwater froze. “Who is he?”
Asteria glanced at Carmen and Jake, then back to Metwater. “He’s a...a business associate. He was here once before.”
Metwater turned to Jake and Carmen. “You have to come with me,” he said.
“I have to see my mother,” Jake said.
Metwater grabbed his arm. “You have to protect me.”
“Protect you from what?” Jake shook him off. “Who is your visitor?”
“I think it’s that German—Altbusser.” He glanced at Asteria, and she nodded.
“You said yourself he isn’t the killer,” Jake said.
“Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he’s an assassin, sent to kill me.” Metwater’s voice shook, and his eyes were wide with panic.
“Then don’t talk to him,” Jake said. “I have to see my mother.”
Carmen hesitated, debating staying with Metwater or going with Jake. Jake looked back at her. “I need your help,” he said. The worry and fear in his eyes won her over. Metwater’s danger might be all in his head, but Jake had real reason to be concerned for his mother.
Sarah met them at the door of Phoenix’s trailer. “She’s better now,” Sarah said. “At first we were so worried because, after she came to from this last fainting spell, she wasn’t herself. She was running a fever and out of her head, talking nonsense. That’s when Sophie insisted on calling you.”
Jake moved through the trailer’s small living and kitchen areas to the bedroom. Phoenix lay on her back in the middle of the bed, her arms folded across her chest and her eyes closed. Carmen bit back a cry—for a moment the older woman looked as if she was laid out for a funeral.
“Mom, it’s me, Jake,” he said softly. Carmen glanced at him and felt a tightness in her chest. In that moment, the scared boy showed beneath the surface of the tough, courageous man.
Phoenix opened her eyes. “What are you doing here, son?” she asked.
“Sophie called and told me you were sick.”
“She shouldn’t have done that.” She tried to prop herself up on her elbows but fell back with a sigh.
Jake sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. “Mom, you need to see a doctor,” he said. “Fainting like this and being this weak isn’t right. Sarah said you were delirious when you came to.”
“I’m just tired, that’s all,” Phoenix said. “And I wasn’t delirious. Sarah exaggerates.” She looked past him to Carmen. “Hello, dear.”
“Hello, Phoenix.” Carmen drew closer. “I talked to my aunt this morning,” she said. “She’s a nurse at the Ute tribal clinic. She thinks you could just be anemic. It’s easy to fix, but you need to see the doctor to make sure you get the right treatment.”
Phoenix’s lower lip trembled. “But what if it’s not just anemia? What if it’s something worse?”
“Then you’ll get the right treatment for that.” Carmen took Phoenix’s other hand. “You’re a very strong woman. Think of all you’ve overcome already. You’re not going to let something like a little illness stop you.”
“I don’t feel so strong lately,” Phoenix said.
“Please, Mom,” Jake said. “If you won’t go for yourself, do it for me and Sophie.”
“You need to go to the doctor, Mama.”
Carmen and Jake turned and saw Sophie standing in the doorway of the bedroom. Her face was pale, and she had obviously been crying. But now she looked angry. She glared at her mother. “You scared me. I thought you were dying, and there was nothing I could do. I don’t want to lose you.”
She choked back a sob. Jake stood and started toward her, but Phoenix managed to shove herself into a sitting position. She held out her arms. “Come here, baby,” she said.
Sophie ran to her mother and buried her face against her shoulder. Phoenix stroked her hair. “It’s okay, sweetie,” she murmured. “You don’t have to get so upset. I’ll go see someone at the clinic in town.” She looked up at Jake. “You can make the appointment for me. And I want you and Carmen both to go with me.”
The request startled Carmen. After all, she wasn’t family, or even particularly close to Phoenix. “Are you sure you want me along?” she asked.
“Absolutely.” A hint of a smile curved her lips. “Someone has to keep Jake from getting upset about something and flying off the handle. You seem to have a calming effect on him.”
Her eyes met Jake’s, and she could tell he was thinking the same thing she was—that calming wasn’t the word she would use to describe the effect they had on each other. Ravenous or incendiary might be better terms, considering the way they had gone after each other on the bluff on her family�
��s ranch. Her face felt hot just remembering their lovemaking. She usually wasn’t so reckless, but after a morning spent facing other people’s expectations of her—her mother’s and Rodney’s and even Aunt Connie’s—she had wanted to revel in the freedom of being with someone who had no expectations.
Jake accepted her as she was. To him, she wasn’t the beauty queen or the tough cop or the obedient daughter or niece. She was merely herself. Someone he freely admitted he wanted to be with, someone with no ulterior motive or guile. He might be skilled at deceiving people, but she was pretty sure he wasn’t being deceptive when he said he liked her and was attracted to her.
Somewhere between that first kiss and her crying out her climax, Jake Lohmiller had touched more than her skin. He had touched her heart.
Chapter Twelve
Jake told himself he ought to feel good about getting his mother to agree to see the doctor, but he couldn’t shake off the pain of seeing her so frail and helpless. He didn’t want to have to deal with that, so he tried to push the memory away. Time to focus on work—something he was better at controlling.
“We should stop by Metwater’s motor home and see what Werner wants.”
“I want to talk to Starfall first,” he said. “It won’t hurt Metwater to see that we’re not at his beck and call. And we can see Metwater's motorhome from her tent. Werner won’t leave without us knowing about it.”
“What if Metwater is in real danger?”
“If I thought that was true, I would have been over there before now,” he said. “But he hasn’t given us one scrap of evidence to prove there’s a real threat.” He glanced around them. “Tony is supposed to be watching Werner, so he’s probably around here somewhere. He’ll act if there’s trouble. And Metwater always has a couple of young guys hanging around as muscle, and we know he owns at least one gun. I think he can look after himself for a few more minutes. So he can wait.”
He headed toward the white tent Starfall shared with Asteria. Carmen followed. He couldn’t tell if her silence meant she agreed with him or if she was only putting up with him because this was technically his investigation. She wasn’t a person who wore her emotions on her sleeve, which he liked most of the time, but it did make it tougher for him to read her.
Starfall stepped outside, her baby in her arms, as the two officers approached. She said nothing, only glowered as they drew near.
“Thank you for helping my sister and my mom,” Jake said. “I really appreciate it.”
Her expression softened. She shifted the baby to one hip and some of the stiffness went out of her posture. “Is Phoenix going to be okay?” she asked.
“I hope so,” he said. “She agreed to let me make an appointment at the clinic in town.”
“What about Sophie?” Starfall bounced the baby. “She was pretty upset.”
“She’ll be okay, too.”
“She’s a tough kid. Like her mom.” She sent him a sideways glance. “And her brother, I guess.”
“Have you talked to Werner lately?” he asked.
The guarded expression returned. “I don’t know anyone named Werner.”
“Yes, you do. The German who asked you to collect cactus for him?”
“I don’t see that it’s any of your business who I talk to.” The Starfall he knew best was back, all tough attitude and pout.
Jake ground his teeth in frustration. He couldn’t tell her Werner was on his radar as a lawbreaker; he might have said too much already. And his original plan to pay Starfall for information about the German wasn’t going to work, either. She didn’t strike him as the type to resist the temptation to double-cross. She would take his money, then turn around and sell any information he passed on to Werner for more money. Better to let her go on working for the German and keep an eye on her to see what she led him to. “I was wondering if he needed any more cactus,” he said. “I saw some good specimens near where I was camped before. If you’re still selling them to him, you might look there.”
Her eyes lit up. “Thanks. I may walk over there tomorrow and check them out.” She shifted the baby again. “Maybe you’re not so bad—for a cop.”
“Yeah,” he said. “For a cop.”
He turned to walk away. “Hey, Soldier Boy,” she called after him.
He looked over his shoulder at her. “What?”
“I hope your mom gets better soon.”
The tightness in his chest returned—the pain that he had felt when he’d seen his mother lying in her bed, looking so small and frail and helpless. For all the mistakes she had made and the bad things she had done, his mom had always been so full of life and energy. He did love her. At times, he had thought he hated her. But he had never been afraid for her, the way he was now. “Thanks,” he said. “I hope so, too.”
He headed toward Metwater’s trailer, Carmen beside him. She didn’t have to say anything—just having her there with him made him feel calmer. “Thanks for telling Mom about what your aunt said,” he told her. “I think it helped.”
“Maybe.” She glanced at him. “This can’t be easy for you.”
“Life with Mom has never been easy.” He shrugged off the memories. “But that’s in the past. I just want to make the future better—for her, but especially for Sophie.”
“You’ve already helped your mother and sister, by coming back into their lives,” Carmen said.
“I hope that’s true.” He couldn’t be sure. “I was away for too long,” he said.
“My grandfather always said guilt was a prison you built yourself.”
“Is that some bit of tribal wisdom?” Jake asked.
“I don’t think so. I think he read it in a magazine or something.”
He laughed, surprised that he felt so much better. “Mom was right about you,” he said.
She looked wary. “What about me?”
“You know just how to handle me.”
A pink flush warmed her skin, and he wondered if she was thinking of the way she had handled him earlier.
She was the first to look away. “Let’s go talk to Metwater and his visitor,” she said.
Asteria admitted them without comment. Metwater sat in his recliner, stiffly upright, while Werner sat on the sofa beside him. Jake was thankful he was in civilian clothes today. He only hoped Metwater wouldn’t blow his cover by revealing he was a cop.
Werner started to stand, then sank back onto the sofa. For once, Metwater looked relieved to see the officers. “These are a couple of friends,” he said by way of introduction. “Mr. Altbusser is an associate of mine who is in the area on vacation and stopped by to say hello.”
Jake nodded to Werner. “Mr. Altbusser and I ran into each other when I was camping not far from here,” he said. “How is your vacation going?”
“I may have to cut my visit short,” Werner said. “But I appreciate the Prophet giving me another audience before I had to leave. I am very interested in his experiment in cooperative living here in the desert.”
Jake supposed that was one way to describe what Metwater was doing out here in the wilderness. “Why do you have to shorten your visit?” he asked.
“A business crisis I must see to.” Werner waved away the question. “I have already asked Mr. Metwater, but I will ask you, too. I was hoping to meet up with a friend of mine who I understand is also visiting in the area, but so far I haven’t been able to find him. Perhaps you have seen him.”
“Who is your friend?” Jake asked.
“He is a Russian. Taller than me, and broader. His name is Karol Petrovsky. We worked together once upon a time. I only just heard he was in the area.”
At the mention of the Russian, Metwater paled. Jake ignored him and shook his head. “Sorry, I haven’t seen him. He sounds like the kind of guy I would remember.”
“Yes, he is very memorable.” Werner shrugged. “I
f I do not find him, then perhaps it was not meant to be.” He stood and offered his hand to Metwater. “I will not take up any more of your time,” he said.
Metwater let the German take his hand, then Werner insisted on shaking hands with Jake and Carmen as well, before one of the bodyguards escorted him from the motor home.
As soon as Werner was gone, Metwater leaned toward Jake and spoke in an urgent whisper. “Did you hear him? This Russian must be the killer who’s after me.”
“Not every Russian is a member of the Russian mafia,” Jake said.
Metwater glared at him. “You can’t think this is merely a coincidence.”
“Life is full of coincidences,” Jake said. “But we will keep an eye out for this Russian. If the man was a friend of Werner’s, he might be involved in the same smuggling operation.”
“Was that all Mr. Altbusser wanted?” Carmen asked. “To ask about his friend?”
“What else would he want?” Metwater asked.
“Maybe he wanted to recruit more of your followers to find cactus for him,” she said. “Maybe he even offered you a cut of the profits.”
“I have better things to do with my time than dig up plants.” He stood. “If you’re not going to help me, you can leave.”
That was fine with Jake. “Call us if Werner visits again,” he said. “Or if you spot any Russians—mafia or otherwise.”
He and Carmen left. He was silent until they were back in his truck. “Starfall won’t be happy if she finds out she has to compete with other people for payment from Werner,” he said.
“I’m guessing if Werner did make an offer, Metwater won’t go for it now,” Carmen said. “He’s too afraid of Werner’s friend, the Russian.”
“There’s something else about this whole setup that bothers me,” Jake said.
“Only one thing?”
“One other thing,” he said. “Where is Tony?”
“Tony?” she asked.
“He’s the Fish and Wildlife agent who took my place. The man who’s supposed to be shadowing Werner? I didn’t spot him anywhere around camp.”
