Native Born

by Jenna Kernan

  “Agent Walker, here.”

  Tully skipped the pleasantries and got right to business.

  “We pulled a partial from the rifle casing on the roof in Tucson and got a match.”

  Cassidy stuck a finger in her opposite ear to better hear the results. This caused both brothers to shift their attention to her. Clyne and Gabe moved in.

  “Who?” she asked.

  “Johnny Parker.”

  “Parker?” She raked her nails through the hair at her temple as the pieces still did not fit. “Should I know that name?”

  “He’s the brother of Brett Parker. Your case. Kidnapping.”

  Brett Parker. That name she knew immediately. Johnny was the kidnapper’s brother. She turned to Clyne to see his brow furrowed.

  “Why would Johnny Parker want to kill Clyne Cosen?”

  “He wouldn’t. Cassidy, we don’t think Cosen is the target. He’s after you.”

  Cassidy clutched the phone as she reeled from this new information.

  “Me?” she asked.

  Clyne moved beside her. Gabe returned to his desk, his attention fixed on her. Cassidy pressed the phone to her ear.

  “Not Cosen?” She shook her head at Clyne.

  “We think Johnny Parker picked you up at the Tucson rally. He might have guessed that there would be a strong FBI presence and got lucky. After all, you were right up there on stage.”

  “How would he know me?”

  “We aren’t sure. He could have been in court any of the times you testified. Our guys are looking at court surveillance video now.”

  “The truck. In the garage in Phoenix. Forrest said—”

  “I know. He told me. But someone picked up that truck in Black Mountain. He knows you are up there. We need you to get to the safe house. Hare is in custody and Forrest is en route to you. He will meet you there. We’re sending our people to you.”

  “All right.” A burst of terror bolted through her. “Wait! My daughter!”

  Her eyes locked to Gabe. He picked up his desk phone and started pushing buttons.

  “He couldn’t have her location,” said Tully. “It’s not possible.”

  Cassidy pressed a hand to her forehead. “It is possible. I didn’t go to the hospital after the shooting. I went home to my daughter.”

  “What?” Her boss’s voice was a roar.

  Gabe dropped the handset back to the cradle and headed out the door, scooping up his gray Stetson as he passed the coat rack. Cassidy followed him out with Clyne on her heels.

  “And last night. I was at the Cosens’. He could have followed me. He could know where she is.”

  “Hold on.”

  She didn’t listen and instead broke into a run. She could hear Tully shouting orders to his staff. Then he came back on.

  “We’re bringing her in.”

  “She’s not at home.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Here on Black Mountain Reservation. Cosen residence. They won temporary custody.” She followed Gabe out the squad room, passing him as she ran down the hall. Clyne reached the door first and shouted that his car was closer.

  Donald Tully spoke again. “I’ll call their police chief.”

  “He’s already on his way to her. I’m en route,” she said.

  “Cassidy. No. Get to the safe house, now.”

  “En route,” she said.

  “You’re the target! You might draw him right to her.”

  Cassidy froze, phone pressed to her ear and stared at Clyne, who with his longer legs had beat her to the car and stood with the door open.

  “Go to the safe house,” ordered Tully. “We’re coming to you.”

  “No! My daughter. I have someone for protection.”

  “Who?”

  She looked at Clyne, who nodded his consent.

  “A US marine sharpshooter.”

  “Are you talking about Clyne Cosen? He’s not protection. He’s a civilian. Cassidy, I need you—”

  She hung up.

  “Get in,” said Clyne.

  Cassidy shook her head. “You have to get to her. Amanda. Jovanna, I mean. There is someone after me, but they could have followed me to her.”

  He closed the door. “What about you?”

  “I’ll go right back into the station.”

  Clyne swept the parking lot and street with his gaze and then pinned it back on her.

  “All right.”

  Cassidy did something she had never done. Something she knew was against every rule in the book. She removed her personal weapon and offered it to Clyne butt-first. He looked at it as if she had offered him a live rattlesnake. He gave a rapid head shake as he backed away. Then he turned and retreated to his SUV. She watched him pull away and then slipped her weapon back into its holster. She withdrew her cell phone and dialed her daughter.

  “Hi, Mom.” Her daughter’s voice rang like a musical instrument. “What’s up?”

  “Where are you?”

  “At Grandma’s house.” Her voice was more hesitant now as she picked up the note of panic in her mother’s voice.

  “Inside?”

  “Yes. Mom, what’s going on? Is it the Child Protection people again?”

  “Put Grandma on.”

  There was a pause and she heard Jovanna speaking. Then Glendora came on.

  “Hello?”

  “Glendora. It’s Cassidy. Gabe and Clyne are on their way. There is a current active threat against Jovanna. Get to a back bedroom and lock the door. Get on the floor, away from windows. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Go.”

  She heard Glendora speaking to Jovanna. And, bless her heart, her voice was calm and even as she gave instructions. A few moments later Glendora spoke.

  “We’re locked in. Gabe is calling on my phone,” said Glendora. “Here.”

  There was a brief pause and Jovanna came on again.

  “Mom, what’s happening?”

  “Just wait there. Your brothers are on their way to you. They’ll explain.”

  “I hear sirens,” said Jovanna.

  Cassidy closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief and when she opened her eyes she realized she was standing in the open on the sidewalk before the parking area. Her gaze flicked about, taking in the numerous places where a shooter could hide. Her hand went to her vest and she recalled she had left it in her hotel room last night in her rush to get to her daughter.

  Cassidy now stood, unprotected and vulnerable to a shooter. She lowered the phone and ran toward tribal police headquarters.

  Chapter Sixteen

  There was no one in the yard and the eerie emptiness of the house gave Clyne a chill. He and Gabe pulled in right behind Kino and Clay. Gabe reached the steps and flew into the house, gun raised, shouting for their grandmother. He cleared the entrance as he heard the reply.

  “We’re here. In my bedroom.”

  Gabe had reached their grandmother’s door and held his gun pointed at the ceiling.

  “You both all right?”

  Clyne stood shoulder to shoulder with Gabe as Glendora replied. From beneath the door came a familiar huffing sound that Clyne recognized as Buster sniffing them from beneath the door.

  “Yes. We’re all fine.”

  “Jovanna?” called Clyne.

  “I’m here, too!” she piped, her voice sweet music to his ears. “And Buster.”

  “You want me to unlock the door?” asked Glendora.

  “No,” said Gabe. “Stay on the floor. I have to check the area.”

  He was on his radio now. Kino and Clay remained outside and Gabe ordered them to scout the exterior for any sign of intruders. Clyne knew t
hat there were no better men for the job. Kino and Clay had been excellent trackers before they went down on the border as Shadow Wolves. Now they were the best on the reservation.

  Gabe looked to Clyne. “Will you take my shotgun?” he asked.

  Clyne felt that cold sweat at just the thought of holding a weapon.

  “Never mind. Just stay here until I get back.” Gabe darted down the hall.

  He watched his brother go and thought of what might have happened. The horrors of the past mingled with the potential threat against his sister. They’d only just got her back. He couldn’t lose her again. Yet he wasn’t strong enough to pick up a gun to defend her. His mind gave all the rational reasons to go down the hall to Gabe’s gun closet, the one in his bedroom. He even made it to the locked cabinet. But he couldn’t open that lock. Oh, he knew where Gabe kept a second key. That wasn’t the trouble. The trouble was one particular gun. He thought he might be able to hold a shotgun. But he knew what else was in there because he’d placed it in Gabe’s care when he came home. His long-range rifle, the one with thirty-six confirmed kills. Three dozen lives. Most of the ghosts stayed away. But some haunted him. Especially the boy who died with a claymore in his hand, the detonation coming just after Clyne squeezed the trigger and before the youngster could throw the bomb at the US forces. Clyne knew he had to take the shot. But the age of the boy made it wrong in his heart.

  Maybe Cassidy was right. He needed to talk to someone.

  “Clyne?” called Glendora.

  He retreated to his grandmother, his palms slick with sweat. “Cassidy wants a report.”

  His mouth twitched. “Tell her we are checking the perimeter.”

  “Okay.”

  In a few minutes Clay appeared. “Nothing. No tracks and no sign of an intruder. Gabe wants Kino and me to get Jovanna to the safe house.”

  “Cassidy?” asked Clyne.

  “Gabe wants you to bring her.” Clay knocked on the door and then spoke in Apache. “Grandma. Open the door.”

  The lock clicked and Glendora peered out at them. She ushered her granddaughter out. Buster pushed past him, hugging Jovanna’s leg as she moved into the hall. Clay took charge of his sister, guiding her down the hall with Clyne covering their back.

  Gabe waited on the front step and Kino held open the door to his police car. Clay scooped Jovanna up as if she were still that two-year-old girl they had lost and ran her to Kino’s police cruiser, ducking into the backseat with her. Buster jumped inside before Clyne had the door shut.

  “Grandma, you’re in the front with Kino,” said Gabe to Glendora.

  “Let me get my coat.”

  Gabe waited and then guided his grandmother across the muddy yard to his brother’s unit. He saw Glendora seated in the front.

  “Luke is en route from Salt River,” said Kino to Gabe.

  “Good. Take off,” ordered Gabe and closed the door.

  Clyne watched Kino pull out, lights flashing but without his siren.

  Gabe looked to Clyne. “Cassidy?”

  Clyne nodded. “I got her.” Gabe swept behind the wheel and Clyne climbed into his SUV. A moment later they were off.

  * * *

  CASSIDY WALKED WITH Clyne up the steps of the safe house. She knew the drab exterior was an illusion. This place had a safe room, supplies and enough communication equipment to make the Apple Store jealous.

  It also had weapons. Lots and lots of them.

  She entered the code and waited for the door to click. Her daughter called to her and leaped off her seat in the dining room. But Gabe got a hold of her arm, keeping her from charging into the open until Cassidy got Clyne inside and the door shut and bolted.

  Buster greeted them first, and then Gabe let Jovanna go. Cassidy met her daughter halfway across the room with a hug so tight she didn’t think anything or anyone could break it. Gradually she eased away.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  Jovanna nodded and motioned to her brothers. “They all protected me.”

  Cassidy tried for a smile as she looked from Glendora to Gabe, to Kino, to Clay and finally to Clyne. But her lip trembled, and she and her words quavered.

  “Well, that’s what families do,” she managed.

  Buster nudged between them and used his head to encourage Jovanna to pet him.

  “Oh, and Buster, too. Of course,” said Jovanna and laughed.

  Jovanna and Buster lead her through the dining room. “They have a machine here that makes hot cocoa! Do you want one?”

  “Maybe just coffee.”

  The group moved to the kitchen, where a large couch flanked the counter set with four stools. Kino and Clay took the stools, and Glendora and Clyne sank into the couch. Gabe remained on guard by the metal door that led to the garage, where two vehicles waited, gassed and ready to go.

  With Buster beside her like a guard dog, Jovanna showed her mom to the marvelous machine that dispensed coffee and hot cocoa. “Were you scared?” asked Cassidy.

  “Only a little. When we were on the floor. But Grandma told me stories about Changing Woman. Did you know she had two sons?” She held up two fingers and ticked them off. “Child of Water and Monster Slayer.” She glanced to Glendora, who nodded at this correct reciting. “He’s also Killer of Enemies and he made the world safe for us. I wonder what monsters he killed.”

  The only monster Cassidy cared about right now was Johnny Parker.

  “Then Changing Woman got lonely and made the Apache people out of her own flesh.” Jovanna gave a little wiggle as if this thought was repellant and Cassidy smiled, thinking that all children are made of their mother’s flesh.

  “During the Sunrise Ceremony, I’ll be Changing Woman and my dance will be a blessing. But first I have to learn a lot of things and start my real education.”

  Cassidy lifted a brow at Glendora. Jovanna’s grandmother certainly had been a busy bee.

  The coffeemaker whirred and spit black liquid. Cassidy passed the first cup to Gabe with her thanks and then took orders from the rest of the Cosens. When she finished, she sat at the counter with her daughter, facing Kino and Clay.

  “Grandma showed me the buckskin dress,” said Jovanna. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!”

  Cassidy smiled at the excitement in her daughter’s animated gestures as she described the wonderful garment.

  “I’m jealous,” said Clay. “Boys don’t get to wear something like that. But we’ll all dance at your ceremony.”

  “You will?” She looked from one brother to the next. “All of you?”

  “All,” said Clyne.

  “We’ll be dressed as the Ga’an,” said Kino, “the four spirits of the mountain.”

  “But there are five dancers,” said Jovanna. “I read about it and watched it online. The crowns are huge! One will wear a white hood. Who will be the fifth?”

  They all turned to Clyne for the answer.

  “I was going to ask your uncle Luke.”

  Jovanna smiled and clapped her hands. “Yes!”

  Buster settled beneath Jovanna’s stool with a slight groan before resting his head on his white-tipped paws. She wondered vaguely what kind of sheepdog he was and decided it didn’t matter. He was a good one.

  “And your brothers will also beat the drum while you sing.”

  “Only one drum?” asked Jovanna.

  “Only one. But it’s a big one,” said Glendora. “My grandsons are really good drummers and they have wonderful voices. You’ll hear them all singing just for you.”

  And Kino and Clay’s wives and Gabe’s girl will all dance with you through the night. Keep you company and encourage you when you get tired.”

  “My mentors?”

  Now how did her daughter know about that, wondered
Cassidy and her gaze flicked to Glendora.

  “You will have only one mentor.”

  “Who?” asked Jovanna.

  “Well, she can’t be a relative and she must be strong and wise and an Apache, of course,” said Glendora.

  Cassidy realized all her grandsons were looking to her.

  “I would like to ask Selena Dosela.”

  Clyne’s jaw dropped and then snapped shut. Gabe grinned and stood a little taller. A controversial choice, thought Cassidy, recognizing that Clyne was less than pleased. Selena was Gabe’s fiancé, but she had also been the driver of the chemicals needed to supply the meth lab in January. Working with Department of Justice, but only because the cartels had threatened her family. Cassidy considered what she would be willing to do to protect Jovanna.

  “I like Selena,” said Cassidy. “She’s nice.”

  Clyne thought he might need to discuss this choice with his grandmother, but not here or now.

  “Three of my boys have found good women.”

  He met his grandmother’s gaze. He knew the look. He had no woman to bring to the ceremony.

  Thirty-two was hardly over-the-hill. He had time still. Time to rise to council chairman and time to choose a wife who would help him lead the tribe with honor and dignity. Rita was a good choice, or Paulina. They were both professional women, accomplished, modest. Karen was the most knowledgeable about their cultural history. They were all suitable and all had made their interest known. So why hadn’t he chosen?

  His attention strayed to Cassidy. Their gazes locked and he felt the tingle of awareness that made him itch to bring her into his arms. He broke the contact and stared at his coffee and then to his brothers. Clay was watching him with a curious expression.

  Glendora was speaking about Clay’s wife, Izzie.

  “I knew she was the girl for him. Why it took him so long to realize it, I’ll never know.” She pushed Clyne and he had a time keeping the coffee from sloshing out of the mug onto the arm of the couch. “This one has yet to choose because he’s working all the time.”

  Jovanna giggled at her older brother.

  “The oldest. He should set an example and marry a nice Apache girl.”