Books by Linda Conrad

by Conrad, Linda

  “What? But…but—”

  He held up a hand, indicating she should hear him out. “The reasoning seems to be that having too much for yourself must mean you are not taking care of your relatives. Not always true, I know. But it’s a firmly held belief, at least among the elderly and other traditional thinkers.

  “I know of a Navajo man who became a rodeo circuit star,” Michael added as an example. “He was making lots of money, had lots of fame. But his guilt drove him to quit and come home.”

  “There are several really wealthy Navajos in the world,” Bailey argued. “Like my father.”

  Michael nodded. “Luther Howard has always tried to stay out of the limelight, though, and has done everything he can to take care of his mother’s clan.

  “But he doesn’t live in Dinetah, Bailey. Leaving is where he first turned his back on tradition. I’m guessing your father doesn’t feel the least bit guilty about his money, either.”

  Bailey managed a smile. “I doubt it. But are you trying to tell me that I should give up all my money if I want to live in Dinetah and get along with everybody?”

  “No, not at all,” Michael told her. “In fact, the Brotherhood would be grateful to become the recipients of a new foundation. We could use a lot more technical equipment, for one thing. And I think the time may be coming when a few of us will need indefinite leaves of absence from our jobs in order to fight the Skinwalker war full-time. Extra funds would make that a whole lot easier.”

  “I hear a but in the middle of all you said.”

  Michael’s smile was wide this time. “Smart woman. It’s okay if you have the money to take care of the Dine and use it for that purpose. It’s just not okay to flaunt it. If you’re going to reside here in Dinetah, you should try to live life in the same way as your neighbors.

  “Not necessarily by herding sheep or weaving rugs,” he added with a chuckle. “But in living quietly. The People do not live in huge mansions. Or wear designer labels.”

  She looked down at her Gucci suit and her Prada heels.

  “I hadn’t given clothes any thought. This is what I own.”

  “You don’t own jeans?”

  “Sure I do,” she said with a shrug. “But they’re all designer label, too. I guess I can buy some regular jeans, and maybe my workout shoes would do until I can find out what everyone else here wears on their feet.”

  “Good idea. I have a feeling that Hunter would also appreciate seeing you in more casual clothing.”

  “You think?” Bailey wasn’t so convinced. She didn’t believe Hunter noticed what she wore at all, he was so wrapped up in his own troubles. “Living quietly and setting up a foundation will be easy for me,” she told Michael. “But I want to do more for the Brotherhood. I want to fight. There must be something—”

  “You can’t be a warrior, I’m afraid. The Brotherhood members are all medicine men. What do you know how to do?”

  “Nothing. But I’m smart. I can learn anything. And I’m tough. I put myself into rehab when things got bad, and I made it out to the sober side.

  “And I lived through being kidnapped and having Skinwalkers after me. Those things should count for something.”

  “They do. I have one suggestion.”

  “I’ll try anything.”

  Michael’s expression turned serious. “Ben Wauneka was talking to me the other day about starting a counseling program for methamphetamine users—mostly for our young men who would otherwise be easy targets for Skinwalker recruitment. Once they become addicted, the young people will follow anyone who promises them more meth. It’s an easy Skinwalker lie to pretend their powers are exactly like a meth high. Think you would be interested in setting up a program to keep young Navajos from the dark side?” he asked.

  “Definitely. It would mean a lot of work, but I know counselors back at my old rehab center that would be willing to advise us on the best way to go.”

  The two of them discussed how a center would work, and who at the Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health might be willing to help set it up on the rez. Bailey was so thrilled to find something she was qualified to do in the Skinwalker war that she almost forgot all about the gaping hole in her heart. The one Hunter’s rejection had caused.

  Almost. But the dull ache stayed put, lying in wait for her quiet moments, no matter whatever else she thought or did.

  Hunter pulled his SUV to the side of the gravel road, right around the bend from Bailey’s grandmother’s homestead. For several weeks now he had tried to avoid the growing certainty that seeing Bailey was the only way he could continue living his life.

  He and Lucas had spent days talking about many things. They’d had discussions about each of their strange dreams of Hunter’s dead father, but neither came up with a reasonable explanation. In the end, they could only decide that both of them would remain open to the truth.

  They also talked about Hunter’s fears of not being able to control his anger. And about his anxieties concerning the wide differences between his and Bailey’s lives.

  Lucas’s words had helped him see past the clouds of fear, and helped him see himself more clearly.

  Hunter had also heard from Michael about Bailey’s wanting to help the Brotherhood. He’d been surprised and humbled to hear of her strength of purpose.

  Finally, he sat alone and remembered how proud he’d been of her stance against the Skinwalkers, and of how she’d fought so hard to save the baby.

  Miserable and so lonely he thought he might die, Hunter had at last made a decision. He knew she was a strong, amazing woman. Today might be the day to find out if she also had a generous and forgiving spirit. He thought she did. At least, he hoped so.

  Taking a deep, cleansing breath, he put the SUV in gear and headed off to find out what she thought.

  Bailey thought she heard someone calling her name. She stopped reading aloud to her grandmother for a moment and lifted her head to listen.

  “Yes, child, a person has arrived for a visit. His spirit calls to yours, not to mine.”

  “Do you really hear that noise? It seems so far away. How can you tell whether it’s a man or woman? It’s probably just the wind.”

  “The voice is in your heart, Granddaughter. I didn’t hear anything. Go accept your destiny.”

  Bailey sighed. It had been a couple of days since Anali had spoken any words at all, and longer than that since she’d recognized the faces of her loved ones. This afternoon the older woman knew Bailey, but was imagining things. Her illness must be growing much worse.

  “I’ll just finish this chapter for you first.”

  Her grandmother shook her head and put her hands over her ears. “Go now.”

  “All right. I’ll check. But if no one is there, I’ll come right back inside and finish this for you.”

  Bailey set the book down and went to find her grandmother’s nurse. Her father had brought in a house trailer and put it behind the cabin so that the full-time Navajo nurse he’d hired could live close by.

  Between Bailey and the nurse, her grandmother was getting good care and would be able to stay in her home until the end. But it was heartbreaking for Bailey to see someone she loved deteriorating.

  “There is a young man in an SUV, waiting to be invited inside,” the nurse said when Bailey found her.

  “Oh?” Bailey went off to see who had come, wishing she could be more like a real member of the Dine. A Navajo raised here would’ve been aware that someone was waiting.

  When she saw the visitor, she stilled. Her feet refused to carry her any farther.

  Hunter got out of the SUV and walked in her direction. “I understand you’re living here and caring for your grandmother. I was wondering if you might be available to go for a drive.”

  “That should be okay. Anali’s nurse is with her now.”

  He helped Bailey climb into his SUV, and they drove off through a part of the Lukachukais Mountains that didn’t seem familiar to her. When they rounded a curve,
she suddenly recognized where they’d been heading.

  “I remember this place,” she said. “You brought me here once a long time ago.”

  Hunter nodded and pulled the SUV to a stop. “It’s my favorite place. The one where you can see to all four states of the Four Corners.”

  She got out and went over to the edge of the cliff. “It’s still as beautiful as it ever was.”

  “And you’re still as beautiful as ever, too.”

  She turned around and found him standing a few feet away. Those dazzling steely eyes of his were clouded by an internal struggle of some kind. Bailey tried not to get her hopes up.

  “I’m glad you seem happy and healthy,” he said. “I also like the new look.”

  She’d totally forgotten about the work jeans and flannel shirt she had on today. “I like it better, too. At least it’s more comfortable. But my mother had a fit over my appearance the last time she was here to visit.” Bailey shrugged. “She got over it.”

  “You don’t leave the reservation even to see your mother?”

  Bailey shook her head. “I’m needed here. Mother doesn’t really mind coming to see me. It keeps us all out of the media spotlight.”

  “You’ve changed, Bailey.” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared.

  “Just on the outside.” She began to fidget under his scrutiny. “What was it you wanted, Hunter?”

  “I’ve thought a lot about what you said the last time. About my refusing to allow anyone to love me.”

  Bailey felt the spark of hope jumping to life.

  “You were right,” he told her. “I didn’t want you to be in love with me. I tried to stay away from you, but that didn’t work out. I had to come for you, anyway.”

  She smiled, but his expression was so serious that all the humor rushed away.

  “I would’ve come for you eventually, even without the Skinwalkers,” he admitted. “Whether my brain wanted it or not. I need you. I need you to help me stay in the present. To keep breathing. I always have.”

  She opened her mouth to say something, but the words refused to come.

  “Lucas helped get my head straight,” Hunter admitted. “I’d thought you were the sun and far out of my league. But now I see differently.”

  What was he waiting for? He should be walking over here and kissing her senseless. Her knees were growing too wobbly to hold her.

  “Will you give me another chance? You need me, too. Like the sun and moon, we go together. The earth is not capable of existing without both of them, and neither are we. We—”

  “Yes.” She flung herself into his arms.

  Laughing and crying, he crushed her lips with his own.

  The light and the dark were meant to be together. And now they would be—here in Dinetah. Forever.

  Epilogue

  On a sunshine-filled day in late October, two meetings were being held in Dinetah.

  The first in honor of two clans. The Big Medicine Clan had come to join with the White Streak People of the Many Cliffs area in celebrating the Blessing Way ceremony.

  Hunter had completed placement of a big double-wide mobile home under the cottonwood trees behind Anali’s cabin. He was making a home for himself and Bailey on her clan’s land, the same way the male members of the Dine had done throughout history.

  A few other Navajos had been invited. One—Hunter’s former supervisor, Captain Earnest Sam—had just been named the acting director of the Department of Public Safety. He’d been helpful to the Brotherhood when the old Director’s death needed to be explained, and they now trusted him completely. Captain Sam was aware of the growing Skinwalker war and would be a good ally for the Brotherhood.

  From her wheelchair, Bailey’s grandmother sat in silence and watched as the medicine men blessed the house under the tree her grandfather had planted in her name.

  Bailey watched her grandmother’s face light up with goodwill, while a tear leaked from the corner of her eye. The woman’s time had come and gone. It was the Navajo Way.

  Then Bailey turned and looked to the man she loved. A new woman’s time was now at hand.

  Far away, but still on the land between the four sacred mountains, another meeting was taking place.

  The Navajo Wolf was furious. For nearly two months he’d been searching for the map. The Dog had betrayed him, hidden the map and then died.

  He’d deserved to die for his trickery. But now the precious map was gone.

  The Wolf gathered his new lieutenants. “Stop working on everything else,” he growled. “Do nothing except search until we locate where the map is hidden. We must have it.”

  His men did not know, and the Navajo Wolf would not tell them, that the map was the key to their survival.

  Without it, they were doomed and would cease to exist. Then there would be a time in Dinetah without the Skinwalkers. A time of peace.

  The Wolf would have those scrolls, even if he had to destroy all of Dinetah. Nothing would keep him from his destiny.

  SRS 1457 Shadow Surrender (03-2007)

  Summary

  The situation on the Navajo Reservation is growing worse. The Skinwalkers are still strong and dangerous. The Brotherhood fights to defeat the Skinwalkers and bring harmony back to the People.

  FBI Agent Teal Benaly is new to the force and her first assignment is to investigate an abandoned vehicle found on the Rez, and discovered to have a dead body inside. Medicine man and artisan, Lucas Tso gifted with the Sight, had a vision of a mystery woman in danger. When he encounters Teal, just in time to save her life, he is stunned. She is the very woman he's dreamed about for many years, but had never met... until now. He knows his destiny is entwined with Teal's.

  But threat grows stronger as it becomes apparent the Skinwalkers want Teal off the Rez, killing her if necessary. Now Lucas must use all of his gifts to protect Teal from enemies she knows almost nothing about. What neither realize is that Teal may be Lucas' salvation instead.

  ISBN: 978-1-55254-956-8

  SHADOW SURRENDER

  Copyright © 2007 by Linda Lucas Sankpill

  To Maureen Emmons, with all my thanks for her

  wonderful title suggestion. And thanks to everyone else

  who sent in terrific “SHADOW” ideas! There were some

  great titles there, and your efforts are truly appreciated!

  1

  T he Four-Corners reservation hung suspended in the bluish-lavender twilight that only comes to high desert in early fall. Winds blew down canyons and across bloodred spires of sandstone, spreading the scents of sage, cedar and the pungent odors of smoke and musk.

  Special Agent Teal Benaly’s nose itched as something light and gossamer blew past her face. She never allowed herself to be struck by flights of fancy, most things were easier to deal with in terms of black or white. But when a feather’s shades of sand and desert gray had caught her eye, even in the low light of dusk, it seemed like a kind of message. She dropped one hand from the shale-rock ledge and bent to pick it up.

  Drawing the softness of feathers across her cheek while she stared off into space, Teal let herself forget for the moment the potential dangers of Many Caves Canyon. Instead of thinking about business, her thoughts turned to birds. She’d both heard them calling and seen a few in flight earlier. But why had this particular feather got caught on the breeze and managed to glide by her nose right then? It seemed a strange thing to happen in the stillness of twilight.

  There were so many things about her birth home in Navajoland that currently confused and confounded her. Of course, even as a child she hadn’t known a damn thing about birds. She’d grown up a city Navajo.

  The fingers of her left hand were still gripping the ledge to keep herself from sliding down the one-hundred-foot drop-off. However, she imagined it might be smart to start paying greater attention to her surroundings. Teal stuffed the feather into the back pocket of her heavy khaki pants then grabbed for the granite outcropping with her free hand and held tig
ht with both hands. It was clear, even to a city Navajo, how easy it might be to fall down this steep path and break her neck.

  But there was a job to do here. So she kept moving.

  The call to check out an abandoned truck at the bottom of a ravine had come too late in the afternoon for her to arrive before sunset. She had no idea why a tribal police officer hadn’t been sent to check it out instead of the newest FBI special agent.

  Damn her superiors in Washington, anyway. They knew the last station she’d wanted to be assigned to right out of training at Quantico was the Navajo reservation. Just because she spoke the language—a little. And looked like she belonged here—sort of. It was still not fair to post her to a field office in the one place in the entire world that she hated most.

  Taking a breath, she reminded herself she’d been brought here to the reservation at the Navajo Nation’s request. The Bureau had sent her in to work on a special joint tribal and FBI operation.

  It had been an honor to be given such an important assignment right out of training. But she couldn’t imagine that an old abandoned truck would have anything to do with her job.

  Nevertheless. She had been sent to check out the truck, and check it out she would. Thank goodness a three-quarter moon would soon be helping to light her way.

  As she stood in the growing shadows, straightening her jacket and checking her holstered weapon, something brushed her cheek. Holy hell. Looking around, she saw nothing in the deepening dusk.

  It happened again. Cripes. She let out a shriek and reached for her Glock, but never managed to get the weapon out of its holster.

  All of a sudden, small dark flying things were zipping past her from all sides. Oh. My. God.

  Bats.

  Swiping wildly at the air around her head, trying to keep them away from her face, Teal took both hands off the ledge. And immediately regretted the move.

  The rocks under her feet began to slide—a little bit at first. Then the good rubber soles of her shoes refused to catch hold against the sharp granite surfaces, even as she was trying desperately to keep her balance.