Books by Linda Conrad

by Conrad, Linda

  “Then what?”

  The devilish memory came fast and furious, but she kept the unwanted thoughts from showing on her face. “The Brotherhood made up a whole new identity for me. So I could hide in plain sight.”

  “Why? Why hide at all?”

  “I’d seen the Wolf in his human persona. I even went with Louis once to the Skinwalker mansion hideout.”

  “Whoa.” Cisco reached out and took her hands in his. “That’s scary.”

  “Yeah, it was. I guess finding me became the Wolf’s top priority. He didn’t want anyone not controlled by the Skinwalker cult to have that much information about them. He sent people looking for me.”

  “Did he? Did they find your hiding spot? What happened?”

  The worst thing imaginable was what happened. But she wasn’t ready yet to say the words. Wasn’t ready to give up that one last thread of her sanity.

  So she told him what she could. “It took them about a year to find me, to come upon a foolproof way of bringing me out into the open.”

  With a sigh and a wish to change the past, Sunnie gave him the most basic information. “They hurt me when they caught up, thought they’d killed me. And I died.”

  Stunned, Cisco tried to get her to tell him how it had happened. How the hell the Skinwalkers had managed to find her. But whatever those memories were, they seemed too difficult for her to think about, let alone say aloud.

  Taking a breath, he went to find the station attendant for more coffee and to pay whatever they owed. Coming back to her with two steaming cups, Cisco decided she needed to get at least the ending of that story out. Plus, he was curious about the practicalities.

  He handed her one of the cups and sat down. “I’m guessing since you’re sitting here alive and—” he hesitated, tried to find words that wouldn’t push her away “—and in gorgeous form, you didn’t really die but only appeared to. How’d you manage it?”

  “The Brotherhood helped me.” She blew on the coffee and waited for it to cool. “Dr. Ben and his wife healed my wounds in secret. And in the meantime the rest of the Brotherhood held a funeral service. They actually put a box into the ground supposedly holding my remains. As far as the rest of Dinetah knows, I’m dead and buried.”

  “So that’s why you’re going by a different name now. What was your name before?”

  She only smiled at him in the sad and resolute way she had done several times before. “It doesn’t matter. The person who carried the name is gone for good. What you see when you look at Sunnie Begay now is what matters.”

  He didn’t believe that was strictly true. There had already been glimpses of the person she’d been before. So much so, at times he’d thought she must have a split personality.

  “Will you ever go back to nursing?” he asked.

  “I doubt I’ll have the opportunity.”

  Well, that comment hadn’t said much. It sounded as though she might want to go back but didn’t think such a thing would be possible for some reason. Did she believe the Skinwalkers would win the war in the end?

  He wouldn’t push her for more answers. Not now. All he could think of at the moment was taking her home and keeping her out of sight.

  “The storm’s letting up,” she said. “If we can get a few more miles down the road now, it’ll be easier to reach Raven Wash Clinic. It seldom snows much on the plain. And even when it does, it’s never as deep as it gets up here in the mountains.”

  “I don’t think it’s strictly necessary for us to continue the plan of going to the clinic,” he muttered. “Let’s just go back to your place.”

  She shook her head. “We can’t go back by the mountain roads. Not with this storm. The only other way to reach my apartment takes us right past the clinic.”

  “You mean we’ll have to go the long way around to Window Rock, like we did the last time?” He couldn’t imagine her surviving the trip in this frigid weather.

  “Maybe we’ll come up with another idea,” she said weakly. “But first you get your sutures removed.”

  This time it was Cisco who absently shook his head. But as he helped her off the stool and tightened the blanket around her body, he reminded himself to have patience. She’d been lied to, had her whole life turned upside down and finally had been attacked and buried in a phantom ceremony. It seemed clear she’d made herself much tougher in order to stand up to the strain.

  But he had a good idea that deep inside she wasn’t as strong as she pretended to be. And he vowed to get to the bottom of this special woman’s secrets.

  The rest of the trip down the mountainside was uneventful, but the winds still blew bitterly cold. Cisco couldn’t have been happier to see the sign for Raven Wash Clinic. He pulled into the lot and escorted Sunnie inside.

  Warm and almost cozy inside the sterile rooms of the clinic, the place suddenly seemed welcoming—rather more like home than he remembered from the last time they’d been here. He let a nurse settle them into an examining room while she chattered away to Sunnie.

  Instead of the stench of medicine and sickness, this afternoon the smells of sage and herbs and of food cooking somewhere unseen pleasantly took their places. He breathed in deep and got a light whiff of the aroma of cinnamon. Odd for a western medical clinic. But perhaps not so odd for a Navajo medicine man’s clinic.

  It occurred to him then: the smell was very like the special scent that sometimes surrounded Sunnie. He’d never been able to place it before.

  Cinnamon. Not a usual southwestern United States spice. But the slightly sweet, mostly tart scent fit her perfectly.

  The nurse left and returned in a few minutes with herb tea for both of them. “Dr. Wauneka says the tea will warm you. Drink it—his orders. He’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

  Cisco sat on the exam table and watched Sunnie sipping her tea. Her skin had already begun returning to its natural silken bronze color. Her eyes had finally lost that glazed look.

  He came to an immediate decision. They would not be spending much more time in her open-topped Jeep. It was too dangerous in this weather, no matter that she’d said it was a popular vehicle on the rez and good for a disguise.

  “Ya’at’eeh.” Ben Wauneka opened the door and spoke as he entered. “What can I do for you two in such a storm?”

  Sunnie set down her mug. “Cisco’s here to have his sutures removed and the wound checked.”

  The doctor raised an eyebrow at her remark. “I’ll bet you’ve removed at least a thousand sutures in your career. Why come all the way here? Why not just do it yourself?”

  “I tried to tell her….”

  “Lucas Tso said the wound might be infected,” she interrupted. “We came to have you check it over.”

  Ben stepped to Cisco’s side and gently pulled back the dressing on his forehead. “Lucas Tso is seldom wrong, but in this case, it’s healed properly. No signs of infection.” Ben turned his head to Sunnie. “Perhaps Lucas had the idea you needed to come in to the clinic for some other reason, cousin.”

  Sunnie looked flustered. It was an interesting view of such a sleek, tough woman.

  “Get a sterilized tray from the cabinet behind you,” Ben told her. “We’ll have those sutures out in no time.”

  While he waited for Sunnie to tear open sterile wraps and arrange the tray, Cisco spoke to the Brotherhood doctor. “You heard about the body of the old man we found?”

  Ben nodded as he took a pointed scissorlike instrument from the tray.

  “We also just got ourselves caught in deep snow up in the mountains. It’s time for us to stop riding in Sunnie’s open Jeep. Do you happen to know if my car’s been repaired? Is the garage still open at this hour so I can check?”

  “Hold still, will you.” Ben held Cisco’s head steady with one hand and began snipping the medicinal threads with the other. “Actually, I heard from Junior Gashie this morning. He’s had to order a new window for the driver’s-side door. No one nearby stocks glass windows like the one that was shot
out. He wanted to ask you first, but I guaranteed he would be reimbursed.”

  “Thanks. Yeah. I’ll take care of it. But how much longer will it be?”

  “A few days. A week at the most.” Ben dropped a few tiny threads onto the tray and let the scissors drop out of his hand onto it, as well.

  “Is there a car rental office near here? I don’t want to take any more chances with our safety out in the open.”

  Sunnie piped up then. “Speak for yourself. I’m fine in the Jeep.”

  “Oh, yeah, you’re just fine turning blue and getting frostbite. You’re done riding around in the snow, sugar.”

  Ben turned to her. “Frostbite? Let me see.”

  “I’m fine. He’s exaggerating.” She bristled and backed away from the doctor. “Nothing’s wrong with me.”

  With a quick, resigned shake of his head, Ben turned back to Cisco. “There’s a rental agency in Farmington. But I’ve heard they’re usually low on cars this time of year. Certainly there won’t be any four-wheel-drive vehicles to rent anywhere around here.

  “But I have another idea. My wife has been out in the desert collecting herbs and medicinal plants for the last few weeks, getting ready for the real winter to set in. She had to stop collecting today when the storm came up. For the next few weeks of cold weather, she’ll be spending her days inside the Plant Tender’s cabin, putting together salves and special herb mixes for the medicine men. She won’t need her four-wheel-drive SUV and I’m sure she’d be happy to let Sunnie use it.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t ask her to do that,” Sunnie exclaimed.

  Ben turned his head and put a hand on her shoulder. “It will be Tory’s pleasure. Let us help you, cousin. You can pick up the SUV at the Plant Tender’s cabin in the morning.”

  Cisco saw what might’ve been the flame of embarrassment on someone else as it added color to Sunnie’s face. Then it lit a fire in her eyes. She didn’t want anyone’s help, he knew. But taking anything from the doctor and his wife seemed especially hard on her.

  Too bad. Cisco was determined to keep her out of the elements.

  “We’ll take the SUV, with thanks,” Cisco said as he slid off the table. “Now I have another question. Is there somewhere close where we can get rooms for the night? It’s colder than freezing hell out there. There’s no way I’m going all the way back to Window Rock in the Jeep tonight.”

  “The closest motels are in Farmington, I’m afraid,” Ben told him. “But if Sunnie can stomach another offer…”

  Ben took her by the shoulders. “You look exhausted. In my professional medical opinion, you need to keep out of the open for tonight. Go stay in the mobile home up the road—the one I maintain for nights when I’m working late.”

  “I know the one,” she said. “But you might need it.”

  Ben smiled at her. “I’m leaving in a few minutes to spend the night at home with my beautiful wife. We haven’t seen much of each other lately, what with my patient load and my work for the Brotherhood, and I intend to snuggle down with her in front of the fire for a long winter’s night. Take the mobile home.”

  Sunnie relented after a moment. “All right. Tell Tory we’ll be at the Plant Tender’s cabin first thing to borrow the SUV.”

  Ben heaved a deep sigh and shrugged. “Yeah, she’ll be at work before dawn. But you don’t need to be there quite that early. Wait until the sun’s up and it’s warmer before you make the trip.”

  When the doctor left and Sunnie had his keys in hand, Cisco turned to her. “Where’s the Plant Tender’s cabin?”

  Sunnie’s eyes were full of storms, her shoulders slumped with fatigue. “Back up in the mountains. Back the same way we came down.”

  The minute Sunnie stepped out the clinic door into the last light of dusk she felt the shadow of evil creeping around the parking lot. She tensed and stopped, focused on hearing a high-pitched buzz that would mean the Skinwalkers were nearby. She found nothing unusual. Nothing in the darkness to see. Nothing but silence reached her ears.

  Then she realized there really were no sounds. None of the normal nocturnal noises of the remote high desert. Where were the night birds and insects? What had happened to the winds?

  Chills ran down her arms that had nothing to do with the weather. “Let’s go. Ben’s mobile home is close. Just turn down the gravel road over there and it’s less than a few hundred yards. Directly below Blue Bird Ridge.”

  “What’s up?” Cisco asked. “You look like you’re ready for an attack. What do you know that I don’t?”

  “Nothing. I don’t…well, things don’t feel right, okay? Just get in and drive. We’ll be there in minutes.”

  Cisco was already wrenching the door open and starting the engine. “I’ll take your word for it. Get in!”

  He hit the gas and screamed out of the parking lot on two wheels. The Jeep wasn’t the most stable vehicle on earth, but Cisco handled it like an expert.

  Under his capable hands, the Jeep sprinted around the corner, and gravel sprayed from the tires in a fantail. Sunnie was just about to call herself a foolish neurotic and relax when a huge black SUV loomed out of the darkness and was on their tail in an instant. Cisco flipped the gun out of his coat pocket and dropped it in her lap.

  “Use it if you get a chance—if they get close enough,” he said without looking at her. “When we get there, I’ll take over. We’ll need cover.”

  Picking the gun up and removing the safety, she twisted in her seat to sight the SUV that followed right on their bumper and prepared herself. “I can use a gun as well as you. Just get us there. Ben will have a protective shield around his home. All we have to do is drive into it.”

  She heard a ping. Then heard another. Oh, hell. The evil one in the SUV was shooting at them, probably trying to blow the tires and stop them before they reached safety. Standing up on the seat, Sunnie braced her knees on the seat back, aimed and fired.

  “What the hell? Get down and buckle up!”

  “I hit ’em,” she screamed over his loud cursing. “They’re backing away some.”

  Cisco reached up, grabbed her one-handed by the waistband of her jeans and threw her back into the seat. “We’re here, little Miss Sniper. Give me back the .38. Now!”

  Chapter 10

  T he two of them were still arguing over his weapon as they passed through the shield and unlocked the door to Ben’s house. Ducking inside, they slammed it after themselves. Cisco couldn’t remember being as scared for anyone in his entire life. He’d been positive she was about to die.

  As the fear receded, anger took its place. Good old-fashioned anger that was much easier on his sensibilities.

  He hadn’t liked having that much adrenaline pumping through his body on someone else’s account. So much dread of losing something he hadn’t yet found.

  He set the .38 on a table, pitched his cap and coat and rounded on her. “Were you trying to commit suicide out there just now?” he asked as coolly as he could manage.

  Sunnie flicked on a soft light, turned her back to him and slipped out of her own coat. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “What?” The rage hardened his voice as he reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “You expected to die. You want to die?”

  She yanked free of his grip. “If I can take one or more of them with me, I’ll gladly die for it.”

  “Not with me along, you won’t.” He stepped in front of her, kept crowding her when she tried to move away.

  “Is this how you convince people to turn themselves in, Bounty Hunter? Bully them?” She shoved at his chest. “Well, it won’t work on me. Move out of my way.”

  “No. You’re not hiding this time. Stand still and listen.”

  He grabbed her arm, swung her up close when she tried to shake him off. Her next move was lightning-fast. Sunnie cracked him hard in the belly with her elbow, and as his breath expelled, she stomped on his foot, then used her back to leverage him up and over her body.

  The shame hit him almost as hard
as hitting the wood floor did. He didn’t normally manhandle women. And this was his second go-round with Sunnie. But as he rubbed against the pain in his gut and looked up into her face, he saw it radiant with the heat of battle. The slender but sturdy woman was not in the least afraid of him, only madder than hell and ready for a fight.

  Well, fine. She could damn well join the club.

  When she turned slightly to walk away, he grabbed her hand and pulled. At the same time he swept his leg around to knock her off her feet. As she tumbled, he positioned his body under hers and rolled with her so that he was on top and she was pinned beneath him.

  “First you want to use me for bait,” he growled. “Then you don’t care if I die alongside you—just as long as a Skinwalker or two dies with us. Nice.”

  “You’re not my concern. Killing Skinwalkers, killing the Wolf—that’s all that matters.”

  “Like hell. If you think that, you’re nothing but a monster like they are.” He held her arms down and got right in her face. “You matter,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “What’s there between us matters.”

  She closed her eyes and turned her head. For a second he thought she might cry. He’d much rather she give in and talk to him. He backed off slightly. But he hadn’t counted on a fake-out.

  “There’s nothing between us,” she roared, flipping him off her and jumping to her feet. “And don’t call me names. You have no right. No damned idea what you’re talking about.”

  Cisco heard the guilt in her voice, even as her anger shimmered and bounced off her words. “I have a right,” he groaned, preparing himself for round two.

  Springing upright, he made a dive for her. The two of them crashed into a coffee table and fell backward onto the couch.

  “I don’t need this.” Her teeth were gritted, her hands fisted. “I don’t need you. Back off.”

  “You need to shut up.”

  Frustrated and pushed farther over a civilized edge than he could remember, Cisco crushed his mouth to hers. The electric shock of her kissing him back, along with the half-formed fantasy that gushed in to replace the anger, had him lifting his head to look down at her in amazed wonder.