Books by Linda Conrad

by Conrad, Linda

  Dropping Snow to the floor, she watched the cat slink away into the darkness. He looked as if he was on the prowl. Hunting for intruders, perhaps.

  Teal took a quick look around. Was this the work of burglars? Or a kidnapping?

  She stopped, listening for any sound. No sounds except for the ticking of a clock, unseen off in the kitchen. But the scent of Lucas was strong here. It was strong in her dreams, too. Would she ever really be free of the smell of him?

  As she searched for some clue as to what had happened, Teal realized what she had been seeing. The walls and pedestals were bare. Someone had come in and stolen all of Lucas’s artwork.

  Oh, God. Had he caught them at it and tried to stop the thieves? He was an artist, for heaven’s sake, not a cop. Why hadn’t he called for her help?

  In a growing panic about his welfare, she made her way through the darkness. Stepping as quietly as possible through the jumble of furniture on the floor, Teal checked the bedrooms and kitchen. No sign of Lucas anywhere. And no real sign of a struggle. No blood.

  As she entered his studio, she heard a distant bass voice, seeming to come from outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Somewhere nearby, a man was chanting in Navajo, and the voice was being carried by a wailing wind.

  Her whole body began to shake with terror. Where was Lucas?

  Lucas squatted down on his heels and hung his head. It was done. Things would be better now for Teal. He was positive.

  “Oh, Lucas. You’re here. Are you all right? What’s been going on?”

  He’d taken too long. Damn. He hadn’t wanted her to know about this. Hadn’t wanted her to see…

  “Answer me, please. Are you injured?”

  He felt as though he’d run two Iron Man competitions in one morning, and he knew he looked worse than that. Shaking and dripping with sweat, he refused to look up at her.

  “Everything is fine, Bright Eyes. No problem.”

  “I was worried. You were late coming for me and I walked over to see why, and I found…”

  “I’m sorry I worried you,” he interrupted. “And I wish you’d waited for me. It’s dangerous to be out walking at this time of night.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her bend to pick up a frame. A broken frame that he’d pitched atop the stack of others.

  Coming up to his full height, his knees almost gave out on him. He felt that he was falling apart. But the worst was over. All that was left now was to drive her away from the danger.

  She turned, with the distorted frame in her hand and a horrified expression on her face. “What’s been going on out here? Who did this?”

  “It’s nothing. Are you ready to go?”

  “Go? Not until you explain. I want to know what’s happened to thousands of dollars worth of your artwork.”

  Standing there and glaring at him as the first rays of dawn swept over the cliff behind him, she was definitely the most beautiful woman that had ever lived. If he was still any kind of artist, he would paint that image. It was the face he never wanted to forget.

  How could he have taken so much from her? She’d offered him the warmth of her smile, the boundless energy of her company—her entire life force. She had nearly died due to his mistake, and yet she’d stuck with him through everything.

  And now her career was pretty much ruined, too. He didn’t know a lot about the FBI’s method of promotion, but he was positive she was going to be out of the loop for a long while.

  The destruction he’d taken all night to accomplish might be of some help. But Teal was going to have to work harder and smarter to overcome her career setback.

  “I said it’s nothing, Bright Eyes. The decision to destroy the sand paintings was a long time coming. I never should’ve painted them in the first place.”

  “You did this? Ripped apart the frames and scattered the colored sand around the yard. All that work, gone?”

  He wanted to take her hand, wanted desperately to hold her close. One more time.

  But he couldn’t. One whisper of her body any closer than five feet from his and he’d be done for. A puddle of useless emotion.

  Instead he sighed and tried to soothe her. “In Navajo mythology, witchcraft is a metaphor for anyone who goes against the Way. Anyone who chooses riches over balance. Anyone who lets greed tip them off the scales of harmony.

  “I was a shaman. A healer for the People. I should’ve known better than to make and sell sand paintings. It’s okay for those artists who aren’t Singers and don’t also make sacred drawings. But I knew the right way and ignored it. I broke the taboos.

  “For forgetting them, I deserved to be punished. But I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you.”

  “Oh, Lucas.” She reached out and took a step in his direction.

  He backed up, keeping the distance he needed. Teal would forgive him anything, he knew. The girl in his dreams loved him and if he asked, he knew she would stay.

  But he wouldn’t ask.

  “Lucas, let me help you. Maybe together…”

  “No, Bright Eyes. I’d give my life to be the guy you needed. That fellow who’s been appearing in your dreams. But that’s not the real me.

  “For you I’d try to change,” he went on. “But you’re the strong one. Now be strong enough to do what’s best for both of us.”

  Right then, Snow appeared at the open studio door. He captured everyone’s attention in an instant with a sorrowful but loud meow.

  Both humans turned to him. Lucas chuckled, then realized what the cat must want.

  “Take Snow with you, Bright Eyes.”

  “With me? To Durango, you mean? I couldn’t.”

  “Yes, you can. He loves you and wants to go. He’ll be miserable here without you. Don’t you hear him begging?”

  “But Lucas, he’s your friend. You’ll be losing your companion.”

  “You need a friend in your new place more than I do here. Take him and I won’t worry so much about you being all alone.”

  He stepped over and picked up the black lump of fur with one swipe. “I think his old carrying case is still around here somewhere. Take him, while I go find it.” He plopped the cat into her arms and turned away.

  From behind his back, he heard her whispering to Snow. Then heard the words he knew would be seared into his consciousness for all eternity.

  “Oh, Lucas. I’m so sorry.”

  They’d left the Mustang Gas, Convenience and Deli store at Teec Nos Pos behind ten minutes ago. Teal was already out of coffee and trying not to think about facing her new life without Lucas.

  Why was she leaving a man she’d only now decided she loved? Yes, she remembered she had a job. But wasn’t finding some compromise with Lucas every bit as important as the FBI?

  He needed her. And come to think of it, she needed him, too. She didn’t want to be just one of the guys anymore. He was the first person who’d ever made her really feel like a woman.

  And besides that, she had to admit living with him on the reservation would never be boring.

  Looking out over the buff-colored sand and rock toward the shimmering pale blue of Ute Mountain in the distance, Teal was finding it hard to stay still. Was it only leaving Lucas that was bothering her? It seemed like that should be enough to ruin her day, since it was probably going to ruin her entire life.

  But something else was nagging at her subconscious. She couldn’t put her finger on what. Somehow, her cop’s instincts were acting up. How odd.

  She turned to check on Snow in his carrier in the second seat. The cat was quiet but not asleep. His ears were perked up, his eyes wide and unblinking.

  Shooting a quick glance at Lucas in the driver’s seat, her heart sank once again. How would she ever be able to go on with a life that didn’t include him?

  “Why aren’t we driving to Durango through Ship-rock and Farmington?” she asked, instead of saying all the words that were at the tip of her tongue. “Why go this back route?”

  “I want t
o get you north of the San Juan River as fast as possible. Off the reservation. It’ll be safer if we go through Cortez.”

  “You believe the Skinwalkers would hunt us down in your SUV?”

  “They know you know about them, Teal. And you could make trouble for them, too—maybe in Washington. I don’t think they’ll be happy to have you outside their influence.

  “Here in Dinetah, the Skinwalkers have the People cowered,” he continued. “Too afraid to say anything about them. The evil ones can’t be thrilled about an FBI agent who knows of their existence and is getting away.”

  “Oh, well…”

  Another couple of cars sped past them going west, back toward Teec Nos Pos. At that very moment, the highway curved around a huge boulder. Up ahead she could see the bridge at Four-Corners that would lead them away from the Navajo reservation and Arizona and into the Ute reservation and Colorado.

  A chill lifted the hairs on the back of Teal’s neck. A gray cloud moved overhead and blocked out the morning sunshine.

  Teal opened her mouth to say she didn’t like the way things were beginning to feel. But just then a scrawny-looking dog darted out from behind the boulder and ran into the road. The animal made it as far as the opposite lane a few yards in front of them. Then it stopped, turned and stared directly at their oncoming SUV.

  She heard Lucas mumble something about a coyote under his breath, then felt him press down hard on the brakes. By the time she looked straight ahead again, an old Navajo woman carrying a child had stepped out into the road directly in front of them.

  The next few seconds were a blur of motion. Lucas swerved the SUV slightly, but there was no place to go. To the left the coyote still stood in place on the road. Straight ahead was a disaster waiting to happen.

  Teal screamed and automatically reached over to help him pull against the wheel, trying to force the SUV to make a sudden change in direction. Lucas was yelling something about Skinwalkers as he jammed the brakes. To their right was the huge boulder.

  Dragging the wheel to the right anyway, she hoped like hell their vehicle would miss both the boulder—and the old lady and the kid.

  It did. But with a cloud of dust and a rumble of tires against gravel, the SUV left the road still moving too fast.

  Her heart jumped into her throat as they careened down a steep embankment. She threw Lucas a quick look and saw him desperately standing on the brakes, fruitlessly working to stop the SUV’s forward motion.

  With a gasp, a whoosh and a sickening thud, the SUV hit the water, landing right-side-up in the San Juan River.

  And sinking fast.

  A strange, misplaced notion had Teal thinking how lucky they’d been to land in a spot with deeper water. Downstream, sandy island tops stuck up out of the water’s flow, blocking the river and causing little eddies toward each bank. Landing on one of those islands off the steep cliff from the road would’ve probably killed them instantly.

  To flash her into the moment, the SUV’s front seat filled with water almost immediately. She didn’t have time for any other thoughts. Icy fingers of river water lapped at her chest.

  Reaching for her seat belt, Teal fumbled with the catch. Oh, God. Now was no time for her to be klutzy.

  Her fingers were so cold after fifteen seconds in the water that they were already numb. She could barely move.

  “Let me,” Lucas yelled as he reached over with his hunting knife and slit the seat belt in two.

  She was free. But now she had to figure out a way to get out of the SUV. Fast.

  Through the rising water, she felt Lucas grab her arm. “Keep back and watch your eyes,” he hollered, his mouth only inches above the top of the water.

  Teal blinked and heard a cracking noise. When she looked up, Lucas had managed to reach over her and crack the glass of the passenger-side window with some kind of sharp tool. Then he was shoving hard at big unbroken glass pieces, still hanging by a thread.

  “Go,” he urged as he pushed one last time.

  The force he used did the trick, but instantly the front seat filled—over her head and closing in. It covered her with muddy, cold water.

  A blinding pain in her temples from the icy water seared straight through to her mind. A flare of memory from the last time she’d been over her head in water by surprise spurred her out the window and to the surface of the river.

  Gasping for breath, Teal swam for the nearest bank. Thank heaven she’d learned to swim since the last time she’d nearly drowned at age eleven.

  She reached the shore and put her feet down into the mud, sinking up to her ankles. A small crowd had gathered on the bank and a man reached his hand out to help her.

  “Is there anyone else in there?” he yelled.

  Teal turned her head back to see the top of the SUV sinking fast beneath the water. There was no sign of Lucas! And none of Snow, either!

  Where was Lucas? And how could she have fled the scene without remembering to save poor Snow, who’d been locked in his traveling cage?

  Omigod. She’d saved herself and never given a thought to…

  This nightmare could not be a repeat of her father’s death. She would not allow it to happen. It would surely kill her this time.

  She let go of the bystander’s hand and pulled herself free of the mud by diving back into the water. Half the way back to the SUV she saw Snow’s head breaking the ripples as he began swimming toward her. His little paws were treading water like mad. Lucas must have gotten him out of his carrying case. Thank heaven!

  Reaching him in an instant, she grabbed the cat by the scruff of the neck and gave him a huge shove toward the shore. That should get him close enough for the bystanders to reach.

  Then she turned around to find Lucas. Oh, please, don’t let him die. He must’ve stayed to rescue Snow.

  Teal’s chest swelled, more from pride in the man than with the air she was taking in order to dive back under the water. Lucas had sacrificed himself for her safety—and for the cat she loved.

  It was just like him to do that. It had been just like that for her father, too.

  No-o-o.

  She ducked under, but found she couldn’t see anything in the murky water. Lifting her head, she checked the river one more time. Where was he?

  Back under she went, determined to find him. She fumbled to the SUV’s side without being able to see and realized Lucas’s inert body was stuck half-in and half-out of the passenger window. She felt around and found where his shirt was caught on a broken piece of glass.

  With a scream lodged in her throat and her lungs desperate for air, Teal vowed her nightmare would not end this way again. She ripped at the glass and cut her hands in the process. But it didn’t matter. The damned glass would not stop her. Nothing would.

  Then in the next instant, Lucas’s body was free—and now was rapidly sinking deadweight. Refusing to consider the implications of that, she took him in the lifesaving headlock she’d learned back at a Quantico pool. And she swam for his life.

  “Lucas?” Teal’s voice sounded rough, gravelly as it faded in and out of his conscious mind.

  Raising a hand, he felt the warmth and silkiness of her cheek under his fingers. “Bright Eyes.”

  He was sure he’d been dreaming. But when he blinked open his lids, she was there.

  Remembering now that she’d pulled him out of the water and had brought him around using CPR, he tried to find a memory of what had happened to him since then. It was hazy, and all he really recalled was being sheltered in the refuge of her arms as an ambulance’s wail seemed to signal they were racing through the Dinetah countryside.

  “Shush,” she whispered. “Don’t try to talk. You’re in the Farmington hospital, and you’re going to be fine. The doctors say you only have to stay overnight. Then you can go home.”

  There was a strange twinge in her voice that worried him. Was she trying to say goodbye again? By tomorrow she would have to be in Durango. He remembered that much.

  He wasn’
t sure he could stand it, losing her now. Seeing her walk away. Not since she’d saved his life. Not since he’d discovered how his life would be worthless without her.

  At that very moment when he’d pushed her through the broken SUV window and watched her swim toward the surface, he’d known for sure. And for that moment, he had believed.

  The two of them were meant to be. In dreams, in life, or even in death.

  Now he lay still and silent—and wondered, trying not to succumb to too much despair. Was this the end? He tried to focus.

  Her face came into view through a watery film that clouded his eyes. “Don’t go, Teal.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I don’t mean…” A cough interrupted his words and he swallowed hard against the emotion that seemed to be clogging his throat.

  He was ready to beg. To plead with her if necessary. They had to have their chance. The opportunity to change their destiny.

  “Hush,” she said on a soft sigh. “Don’t say anything. I have something to say to you anyway.

  “I almost lost you.” She hurried the words out. “It made me realize I’d been wrong. Wrong to think I could ever be happy apart from you.

  “I can’t, Lucas. I can’t ever leave you. I know you thought you were doing me a big favor, protecting me from Skinwalkers. But how can you protect me if I’m miles away?”

  She stopped, sniffed once, then raced ahead. “I’m not going anywhere. Not ever. I’ve resigned from the Bureau. Neither you, the FBI nor the Skinwalkers can make me leave the rez. If you won’t let me stay with you, then I’ll live with your grandmother. Right down the road. I’ll drive you crazy pestering…”

  He reached up, placed a finger against her lips and let his hopes soar. “It’s okay, my love. I’ve realized I can’t live without you, either. I don’t want to be the lonely guy nobody pays attention to anymore. I want to share my dreams, my whole waking life—with you.

  “Marry me. Love me.” His voice faltered, became a whisper that hurt his throat. “Without you, I don’t make sense. Please, love me.”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks, surprising him. “Oh, Lucas. I’ve loved you for forever. Of course I’ll marry you. Just try to stop me.”