by Aimée Thurlo
“Stay in the car,” Daniel said, almost as if reading her mind. “I’ve got him.”
The driver following her slowed. She could see him behind the wheel now, but he had a cap low over his eyes, and sunglasses. As he headed straight for her, her mouth went completely dry and her heart began to pound. Slowly, he veered to his right, apparently hoping to slip around the front of her truck.
Holly let off the clutch and inched her pickup forward to close the gap. Ducking down, she gripped the steering wheel hard. If he crashed into her, her air bags would deploy and those, she prayed, would keep her from getting hurt.
Holly heard sliding tires, flying gravel, and braced herself. There was a thump and rumble, but the crash never came. As she peered up Holly saw the sedan flash by in her rearview mirror.
The guy had faked her out, cutting behind her pickup and dropping a tire into the ditch. His car fishtailed, gravel flew, then picked up speed again.
“He got past me, Daniel,” she said, speaking into her Bluetooth. “I can back around and try—”
“No. Just get out of your truck. When I come by, jump in and we’ll go after him together,” Daniel said.
Holly climbed out, keys and phone in hand, and waited as Daniel eased past her truck. When he slid to a stop in the middle of the road, she raced over and jumped into his SUV.
“Seat belt,” Daniel ordered, already on the move as she reached for the buckle. Once he heard the click of the buckle, he pressed down on the gas pedal and the force threw her back into the seat.
They were hundreds of yards behind the man now, but the terrain was pretty flat and he was still within sight.
“I called the tribal P.D. as I was running for the SUV. With luck, they’ll have a roadblock set up along the highway,” he said, giving her a quick once-over. “You okay?”
“Yeah. All I have to do now is stop shaking,” she said with a quick smile.
“You’re doing fine. You kept your cool and are safe. Now let’s go catch him.”
Daniel’s SUV slid around a corner at high speed, but remained in control. Although the car ahead was raising dust like never before, they were still gaining ground.
“He’s not headed for the highway anymore,” Holly said. “That road just circles back to the housing development.”
“Yeah, I know. Hang on.”
They closed to within a hundred yards, then suddenly the sedan ahead hit its brakes, swerved and slid onto a narrow irrigation ditch road. On one side was a steep drop to a fence line, and beyond, a fallow field. Opposite it was a deep but empty irrigation ditch.
“Why take the ditch road?” Holly asked. “If he goes any faster now, he’ll lose control and maybe flip the car.”
“I’ve never gone this way. Do you know where it leads?” Daniel asked, concentrating on his driving. The dirt road was narrow and bumpy, and if he hit a big rock or a fallen branch, they’d wreck for sure.
“It makes a ninety-degree turn up ahead, intersects the highway, then picks up again on the other side,” she said. “There’s a culvert underneath the road.”
“He’s likely to be T-boned if he tries to cross the highway.”
“Or take out some innocent driver. He’s going as fast as he can,” she said.
“Yeah, good point. I’d better slow down. Maybe he’ll back off the accelerator, too, if we stop closing the gap. We can’t risk getting somebody killed,” Daniel said, looking over at her as he took his foot off the gas pedal. “Damn. Wish I had a siren.”
Holly nodded.
The highway was just ahead, and through gaps in the trees lining the road, she could see cars racing past, unaware of the oncoming danger.
Gripping her seat, her eyes fixed ahead, Holly saw the driver hit his brakes at the last second, slide sideways and lean on the horn. The sedan slid out into the asphalt, all the way into the inside lane.
The loud squeal of brakes rose into the air as a big delivery truck skidded into view from the left. Blue smoke from hot rubber and screaming brakes flew everywhere like a cloud. The truck slid sideways, then slowly tipped over onto the passenger side and slid another hundred feet. Sparks flew like fireworks as metal raked the asphalt.
Daniel braked to a stop, skidding but still maintaining control. Cars to their left slammed their brakes, fighting to slow down to avoid hitting the truck.
Holly looked down the road to her right and watched the man who’d come after her disappear to the east. “Luck always seems to be on his side,” she said in a shaky whisper.
Daniel jumped out of the SUV, then, noting that the oncom ing traffic had come to a stop, raced over to the delivery truck and helped the driver open his door, like a hatch, and climb out.
Another driver had parked his pickup, flashers on, and was already trying to guide traffic around the blocked lane. Holly escorted the man from the wrecked truck to the side of the road, then waited as he contacted his employer.
Soon the wail of a siren rose in the distance and Holly could see flashing emergency lights coming from the west, in the direction of the reservation town of Shiprock. While she was watching Daniel and the other driver direct traffic, her cell phone rang.
“What’s going on?” Martin Roanhorse asked. “I heard someone was tailing you.”
She updated him as she watched a white tribal police department SUV weave its way around stopped cars and over to the scene. “Whoever was following me is long gone,” Holly added, “and his license plate was covered, maybe with tape. It’s a dead end.”
“That settles it. I want you and Daniel back in my office as soon as you’re free.”
Holly hung up and slipped the phone back into her jacket pocket. Her hands were still shaking, but her fear was slowly giving way to anger. She’d never purposely harmed anyone in her life, yet for some unfathomable reason, a very crazy person was coming after her. If he was hoping she’d panic and do something stupid he was in for a surprise. This wasn’t her kind of battle, but she was a fast learner.
Her gaze drifted to Daniel, who was talking to a uniformed Navajo officer. Soon the officer nodded, and Daniel came over to join her.
“I just got a call from Martin,” Holly said. “He wants to see both of us.”
“Ready when you are.”
As they drove back to the plant, Daniel glanced over at her. “Martin can be hard-nosed about security matters. Don’t be surprised if he downgrades your clearance until this matter is settled.”
Surprised, she stared back at Daniel. What he’d said was logical, but until now, she hadn’t even considered that disastrous possibility. If Martin restricted her access, she’d be unable to continue her work at the facility. In essence, she’d lose the account, and at the worst possible time. Every cent she had was tied into her fledgling company. She couldn’t afford to forfeit a contract.
She’d been worried about being forced to accept protection, but that no longer seemed like such a bad alternative. Holly took a deep breath. Part of her job entailed persuading people to open their minds, and that’s exactly what she’d have to do now. Her livelihood depended on it.
Chapter Six
Daniel dropped Holly off in Martin’s office. “I’ve got something I need to do. I’ll catch up to you in a few minutes.”
She nodded, her eyes still on Martin, who was finishing a phone conversation. “I’ll be here.”
He watched her a moment longer. The incident had rattled her more than she’d admitted, but he had no time to dwell on that now. While still at the accident scene he’d received a call from his brother, Detective Preston Bowman of the Hartley Police Department.
He’d known all along that his brother would eventually investigate the incident with Holly since it had happened on his beat. So when Preston had insisted they meet for coffee at the plant, he hadn’t hesitated.
As Daniel went into his office, he saw his brother was already there.
“You made good time,” Daniel said.
“I had a meeting at the trib
al police station. I was in the area.” Preston gave his brother a long, thorough inspection. “You look beat.”
“No, just angry.”
“I received the report detailing the assault on Holly Gates.” Preston studied his brother with a laser-sharp gaze. “Be careful, Dan, you can’t just jump in every time somebody needs to be rescued.”
“This is just business.”
“You sure? From what I’ve already heard here and there, she’s a looker.”
Daniel refused to make eye contact. He hated the way Preston could read him so easily.
“The woman works here. I’m just lending a hand.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sell that to someone who doesn’t know you.” Preston sat on one of the chairs and waited.
“So what did you want to see me about?” Daniel asked, refusing to sit. He stared at a painting of Shiprock on the wall, wishing he had a window to distract him.
“Just wanted to know how things are going. Gene’s staying at your place?”
“Yeah, for now. I’m glad he took the job of taking care of the paperwork associated with Hosteen Silver’s trust. The old man had nothing except for the house and cabin, but there are still a million things that need to be handled.”
“Yeah, I hear you. Paperwork—it’s never ending.” He paused for a long time, then stood and walked over, putting his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “We need to get this woman out of your head for a minute and talk family.”
“She’s not in—” Daniel said, looked at Preston, then shrugged. “Okay, yeah, maybe a little.”
“Gene told me about the note Hosteen Silver left in the safe-deposit box. I thought those final request letters Hosteen Silver left each of us would be it, but obviously I was wrong,” Preston said, taking a seat again. “Do you still have a copy of the note?”
“Yeah. The original’s still in the box. Have a look,” Daniel said, then pulled it out of his pocket. “I’d like your take on this.”
“This is the story about Changing Bear Maiden, Coyote’s wife, but there’s a question mark over the entire text,” Preston said. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why save and protect such a well-known account, and more importantly, why the question mark? To Hosteen Silver these weren’t legends—they were a way of explaining the world. Everything had its purpose.”
“I think he was trying to send us a message, something he wasn’t quite sure about, that only we should see. Unfortunately, I’m drawing a blank,” Daniel said.
“Me, too,” Preston said at last, handing it back.
“It was left there for a reason,” Daniel said.
Preston nodded. “I agree. We’ll have a family meeting once everyone’s home and figure it out together. In the meantime, keep thinking.” Preston walked to Daniel’s coffeepot and found it empty. “What’s a guy gotta do to get a cup of coffee around here?”
Daniel reached for the doorknob and cocked his head. “Come on.”
They walked down the hall, side by side, then Preston poked Daniel in the ribs. “Can’t wait to meet this Holly woman, Dan. She’s got you all turned around inside.”
“Yeah, right,” Daniel muttered as they approached the small coffee bar at the cafeteria.
Preston shot his brother a look and chuckled. “Oh, yeah. You’re going down, bro.”
HOLLY SAT IN Martin’s office, searching her mind for a way to convince him. The fixed look on his face told her she had her work cut out for her.
“Your problem is a lot bigger than I originally thought,” Martin said. “The person after you is persistent enough to pursue you in broad daylight. That could end up affecting security here at this facility.”
“Nobody can say for certain that today’s incident was related to what happened outside the café last night,” Holly said. “More important, it didn’t happen here.”
“I’d like you to consider taking a leave of absence. We need your services, but not if there’s any chance that you pose a risk to operations at this plant.”
“You offered me protection this morning,” Holly said, looking over at Daniel, who’d come in just moments ago. “Is that still on the table?”
Martin nodded slowly.
“Then let me take you up on that now. In addition, I’ll ask the security officer to teach me how to defend myself,” she said, but, out of the corner of her eye, saw Daniel shake his head. “Also, I’ll have them recommend locks and safety devices I can use in my home and car.”
“Forget the self-defense lessons. You can’t fight this type of assailant on your own,” Daniel said, his voice calm. “You’d need months of training to be able to neutralize his size, strength and height advantage—not to mention experience.”
“I’m not advocating a long, drawn-out, hand-to-hand battle. All I’d need to do is break loose so I can get help,” Holly said.
“You won’t need combat training if you have security with you at all times, but I like the rest of what you proposed,” Martin said. “It’s a done deal.”
She breathed a silent sigh of relief. At least she still had a job.
“Security is meant to keep you safe, not restrict your work. It’ll be easier on you if you remember that,” Martin said, leaning back in his chair and regarding her for a long moment.
“I will,” Holly answered. “And I really appreciate what you’re doing.”
“As I’ve said before, we need your help here. You deal with the demands of our culture as easily as you do your own. You remember that we don’t shake hands, and in fact, we dislike touching strangers. When you’re speaking to our traditionalist elders, you show respect by not using their proper names. You avoid direct eye contact and you don’t press for quick answers. Most important of all, our investors come from all over the world, and you honor both their ways and ours by maintaining harmony. By protecting you, we’re helping restore the balance that helps all of us walk in beauty.”
“It’s good to hear that my work’s appreciated. Thank you very much,” she said.
“As of right now, I’m assigning Daniel to you,” Martin said. “He’s our best.”
“Just so I’m clear,” she said. “This is only a temporary arrangement until the police catch this lunatic, right?”
“Of course,” Martin said. “Once the threat is gone we can return to our standard on-site security protocols.”
For Martin, it had been purely a business decision, and she had to admit it made sense. Yet having Daniel as her bodyguard posed a danger all its own. He was high-voltage excitement, a walking temptation to anyone still drawing breath.
She nodded, knowing Martin was watching her reaction. “Okay, then. Daniel is familiar with the situation so he and I will work things out together.”
Martin looked at each of them and nodded. “Good.”
As they walked out of Martin’s office, Daniel glanced over at her. “You made a smart decision. You’re not on a level playing field with the guy who’s after you. He’s come at you using two different M.O.s, and he’s shown that he’s not afraid to put himself at risk.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, he really scares me. Of course that’s exactly what he wants, since it gives him a psychological advantage.”
“Take that away from him by considering the odds. He’s outnumbered now—by a wide margin. There are three law enforcement agencies looking for him, so it’s only a matter of time before he’s behind bars.”
“In the meantime, I’ll also have to figure out a way to protect my company so it won’t take a hit. Being able to set people at ease is a big part of my business. That’s going to be hard to do if word of this gets out, or people see I need a bodyguard.”
“Think of it this way. I’m your deterrent. I’ll keep trouble at bay—for you and your business.”
“I know, and I’m grateful,” she answered with an apologetic smile. “It’s waiting around for something to happen that’s going to drive me crazy.”
“I’m not good at that, either. I prefer to be proactive.�
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“Good, then why don’t we team up and push to find answers on our own?”
“I was told to protect you, not do police work,” he said.
“But to protect me effectively, you’ll need to do both, don’t you think? We have to anticipate problems, like you do in your training exercises, and stay ahead of the game. It’s better to force this guy out into the open on our terms than to meet him on his.”
He considered it for a moment, then finally nodded as they reached his SUV. “I’ll tell you what. Let me drive you to wherever you need to go next, and we’ll talk more about this on the way.”
“I was going to ask you to take me to where I left my truck.”
He shook his head. “I’ll have someone I trust pick it up and park it in here inside the fence.”
“Here are the keys, then. Take them to whoever you want, then we can head over to my office in Hartley.”
A few minutes later as they drove down the highway, she took the opportunity to evaluate Daniel from a new perspective—as her private security. The determined set of his jaw and the way his strong hands gripped the wheel were reassuring details.
Yet there was no way she could ever let her guard down around him. That smile, those broad shoulders, that world-class butt, all sparked her imagination and left her yearning for things that were too dangerous to contemplate. To make matters worse, though she was very good at reading people, she couldn’t even begin to figure out what Daniel was thinking.
“If I agree to help you track down the guy who’s after you, it’ll have to be under my terms. When I tell you to do something—do it. No arguments.”
His tone of voice made her bristle. “I stink at taking orders, but I’m happy to listen to requests or suggestions.”
“Then the deal’s off.”
“Whoa! You’re not much for negotiations, are you?”
“Not on something like this. You have your areas of expertise—I have mine. I’ll keep both of us alive, but only if you do what I say and trust my judgment all the way.”
“All right,” Holly said after a beat. “When it comes to security, you take the lead. But when we’re talking to people, let me handle it, okay? We have no legal standing or leverage, so logic and persuasion are the best tools we’ve got.”
