I Will Fight No More Forever

by E B Corbin

  “Tell me, what is your bond to Nina?” White Cloud asked.

  “Well, uh, yeah, well… it’s complicated.” Henry waved his free hand to get Sam’s attention.

  She had been studying the ugly oil painting on the wall, trying to figure out how Jules was tracking them. He had to have more than one way. Every time she thought she’d foiled him, one of his hired guns popped up to prove her wrong.

  It was becoming tiresome, but she should have expected it when she moved the money. Her father and Jules were not about to give up close to a billion dollars without a fight. And if she had to keep dodging them, that was what she’d do. It was a nuisance, but with Henry’s help she could do it.

  She noticed his arm waving and mouthed, “What?”

  “Hold on a minute,” Henry said into the phone. Then he muted it and jerked his head to get her to come closer. “White Cloud wants us to help him with Nina.”

  Sam raised her eyebrows. “Help him do what?”

  “He says she’s in danger and he wants to help her.”

  “Well, so do I. It seems we’re on the same page. What exactly does he want us to do?”

  Henry shrugged. “Don’t know yet. I didn’t know what to tell him.” He unmuted the phone and put it on speaker so Sam could hear. “Sorry about that. Room service was at the door. I’ve got you on speaker now so Sam can hear, too. Tell us, what do you want us to do?”

  White Cloud sighed. It was the first time he had shown any exasperation for as long as Henry knew him, which, in all honesty, was only a week or so. “How do you know Nina?” he asked, his voice steady and demanding.

  Until he could clear it with Sam, Henry decided to keep up their ruse. “We don’t. Just ran into her today at Starbucks. Some white radicals—skinheads or something like that—were causing her trouble, so I stepped in.”

  “And neither you nor Sam have any prior connection to her?”

  “No, not really.”

  “What do you mean, not really?” White Cloud asked.

  “Nothing. It’s just a phrase. We don’t know Nina. Have never met her before.” Henry found it difficult to lie to the man he had befriended.

  “What about her family? Do you know any of them?”

  “We don’t know anything about her family. What does it matter?”

  “My spirit guide is telling me that there is more to your meeting with Nina than you admit. I want to help, but I need to know all the details.”

  Sam poked Henry to get his attention and mouthed, “We need to see him.”

  “Umm, look, I’d rather not talk about this right now. Can we meet you somewhere?”

  “I am about fifteen minutes away. I will pick you up.” White Cloud disconnected before Henry could agree or not.

  Sam smiled at her assistant. “Well, it looks like we have to come up with a story for him.”

  “Why can’t we just tell him the truth?” Henry thought White Cloud would be of more use to them if he knew what he was mixed up with.

  Sam stared at her feet, lost in thought. “Maybe we should. Are you sure we can trust him?”

  “He’s been invaluable and has never asked questions before this. I think we can be truthful with him. I don’t see any harm in it.”

  Sam thought it over. A minute passed. Then two. “I guess you’re right. We can use his help, especially with Nina.”

  Henry let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He was glad Sam finally thawed enough to admit they could use some assistance.

  He held back a grin, afraid she would change her mind if she had the least suspicion he was thrilled he finally won an argument.

  They met White Cloud at the hotel entrance and the taxi driver took them to a small area lined with trees where vendors sold their wares from small kiosks. He parked the taxi in a lot and they followed him down the block. They passed tiny-souvenir stands, pottery stands, various ethnic food stands, and stopped at Tito’s Burritos, where he grabbed an empty table. He motioned for them to sit while he ordered burritos and drinks.

  Sam knew Henry was fine with it, but she had hoped for a more private place to hold this discussion. With her new vow to remain on constant alert, she scanned the crowd for the imposter foreman or anyone else who might look out of place.

  She spotted a woman at the next booth who seemed to be looking at the same reproduction totem pole for too long. But the woman made no threatening moves, and Sam decided she was becoming paranoid.

  Then Sam thought of the cliched saying “It’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you” and hoped she was wrong about the woman.

  Chapter Five

  Henry’s position across the picnic table from Sam allowed him to keep an eye in the other direction. He saw nothing to be alarmed about, but his eyes roved every time the traffic light changed and a new swarm of people crossed in their direction. He stayed alert for the slightest buzzing in his head.

  Sam kept her gaze on the woman at the souvenir stand. Something about her didn’t seem right, but she could not figure out why. She nudged Henry and nodded toward the woman. “Have you ever seen her before?”

  Henry swiveled and stood up to help White Cloud with their food while he surreptitiously watched the woman pick up a small wooden canoe attached to a keychain. She studied the piece as if it were precious jewels instead of a two-dollar token, but no warning bells went off in his head. Her muddy-brown hair was tucked into a short ponytail, her face devoid of any makeup, no lipstick on her mouth. Most of all, even though the slight buzzing warned him of danger, it wasn’t intensifying. There was no immediate threat.

  Henry dismissed her as an innocuous, if anal, tourist trying to make up her mind about a knickknack. “No. I think she’s harmless.”

  Still, Sam couldn’t help but keep a close watch on the woman at the booth. She’d hung around too long, and it made Sam uneasy. Her concentration was so focused on the woman, she almost missed the man checking out magazines at a stand in the middle of the block. Her peripheral vision had picked him up, and now she zeroed in.

  He wore a ball cap pulled low over his forehead, making it difficult to see his face, but his height and demeanor were very similar to the phony foreman. But before she could tell Henry, the man put the magazine down and started walking directly toward them. On closer inspection, Sam realized he wasn’t the man she feared, just a college kid wandering through the outdoor vending area.

  “Eat your food,” Henry said. “Then we’ll fill White Cloud in.”

  The Native American sat with his face stoic and waited patiently until they had finished the burritos.

  Henry wiped his mouth with a napkin and leaned forward. “Sam can explain why we’re here and how we know Nina. But it’s something you’ve got to keep to yourself. Nina can’t know.”

  “At least for now,” Sam added, then she went on the explain who her father was and what they were doing in Portland. She tried to justify why she felt it important to keep their mission a secret from the intended recipients of the money. But as the words fell out of her mouth they sounded lame, even to her. When she came to the end, she stuttered to a stop. Her reasoning might be weak, but even if Henry was right, she wasn’t ready to admit it.

  Henry jumped into the silence. “You understand why we’re so cautious?”

  White Cloud nodded. “You have reason to be. I will help you if it means helping Nina.”

  Sam let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “We could certainly use your insight.”

  “You must tell Nina your true mission. She will be wary and distrustful if you do not. She is in more trouble than she realizes, but she will not accept any assistance if she doesn’t know why you are interfering in her life.” White Cloud rolled up his burrito wrapper and tossed it into a nearby trash can. “What do you know about her circumstances?”

  “Nothing,” Sam admitted. “We were kind of playing it by ear.”

  “That will not work.” White Cloud took a drink of his jugo de p
iña.

  “What do you suggest?” Henry was more than willing to do whatever White Cloud thought best. The Native American was better suited to understanding Nina than either he or Sam.

  White Cloud remained silent for a long moment. “I found out that Nina’s son is a bartender in a dive out on Highway Twenty-Six near Mount Hood National Forest. It is on the way to the reservation where my uncle lives. Because of his mixed blood, her son is an outcast from both the white man and those on the reservation, but he manages to tend bar without getting into much trouble.”

  “I didn’t know she had a son.” Sam wiped her mouth and dropped the balled the napkin onto the last of her burrito.

  White Cloud took another sip of his juice. “His name is Toby. He tried to join the rodeo, but his skills were not up to par, so he settled for a lesser job.”

  “Why would he try to join the rodeo? I would think that’s a hard life.” Henry’s eyes roamed over the crowd on the sidewalk.

  “His father was a rodeo star back in the eighties. He quit when he broke his back from a fall off a bull.”

  According to Sam’s information, it was Nina who invested with her father, so she had no issue with giving Nina the money. But she was curious about this husband she’d never heard of. “What happened to him after that?”

  The Native American shrugged. “No one seems to know. He disappeared sometime in the early nineties, leaving Nina to raise their son with no financial backup.”

  “That’s because my dear father conned him out of his savings.” Sam grabbed the paper cup with Pepsi and took a big swig.

  “I do not know the particulars of the situation. I can only tell you what Uncle has told me. He learned of these things many years ago, when Nina began volunteering with NAYA. Uncle is an elder on the board of directors and was actively involved with all the volunteers.”

  “I heard Nina mention NAYA to you. What is it?” Sam forced herself to keep her gaze on White Cloud instead of studying the movement of people around them.

  “NAYA is the Native American Youth and Family Center. It is a multitribal organization, so they were happy to accept Nina as a volunteer no matter what tribe she came from. The Portland area has a large Native community, and NAYA offers a space for our people to gather and practice our traditions and strengthen our cultural roots. According to Uncle, Nina joined so that her son could learn the values of her people. He took an Indian name, Little Bull, to honor his father’s former profession.”

  “Does he live with his mother?” Sam asked.

  “I do not know. Uncle’s information is old. He has not visited the center in many years, since he turned ninety.”

  Sam’s eyebrows rose. “How old is your uncle?”

  “Ninety-eight. And he’s not my uncle as you are thinking. Uncle is a term of respect for the elders.” His lips turned up at the end in the slightest hint of a grin. “He is quite active for his age, but he keeps to the reservation now. He is the shaman who taught me to honor my spirit guide.”

  “Uh-huh.” Sam didn’t want to get off topic by discussing spirit guides, no matter how strong the Native American’s belief in such a thing. “Can you come with us to Starbucks tomorrow afternoon? I think Nina doesn’t come in until two, at least she didn’t today. I’d like to make sure she’s all right and set up a time and place to discuss the return of her money.”

  “I will pick you up,” White Cloud said without hesitation. “I will talk with Uncle again tonight to see if he has learned anything more that may help us.”

  “That would be good.” Henry stood and tossed his paper cup in the trash. “We should be getting back. I don’t like to spend any more time than necessary out in the open like this.”

  White Cloud got up immediately. “I am sorry for bringing you here. I did know the dangers involved. From now on, we will be more circumspect.”

  They piled into the taxi and were soon back at the hotel.

  Sam pulled out her wallet. “How much do we owe you?”

  The taxi driver waved her money away. “You owe me nothing. Together we will fulfill my duty.”

  Sam tossed forty dollars on the front seat. “It’s my duty, too, and I’m not going to have you help us without paying you.”

  White Cloud glanced at the bills. “This is too much.”

  “Keep it. You’ve more than earned it in the past.” Sam slid out with Henry’s helping hand.

  Henry waited until Sam started for the entrance then leaned in and whispered to White Cloud, “Thanks for everything, but I would appreciate it if you would keep the knowledge of my gift between the two of us. Sam doesn’t need to know about it.”

  He gave Henry a solemn look. “You should tell her.”

  “I will, sometime, but not now.” Henry glanced over his shoulder to make certain Sam could not hear. “I have to make sure the time is right. Can I count on you to keep our secret?”

  White Cloud nodded, his face earnest.

  Henry slammed the door and approached Sam.

  “What were you two talking about?”

  “Nothing important.”

  “It sure looked important.”

  “I just wanted to thank him for his help.”

  Sam stared at Henry for a moment before she shrugged. “Okay, if that’s your story.”

  “It’s the truth,” Henry called to her as she pushed through the revolving doors.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The next morning, after an hour spent in the gym and a much-needed shower, Sam was antsy to get started. Now that she had made the decision to tell Nina about the windfall, she wanted to get it over with.

  “Maybe we should go to her house this morning instead of waiting for her to show up at work.”

  “What if she’s not home?” Henry poured fresh coffee from the pot he’d ordered from room service.

  “Well, we should check to make sure Enterprise picked up the car, either way.” Once Sam set her mind on something, she was hell-bent to see it through.

  “I’ll bet they weren’t too happy about the bullet holes. I can call to find out if they picked it up, and I probably should make sure they don’t charge us for the repairs. I checked and I took the extra insurance.”

  “You can call them, but we can still use it as an excuse to see Nina.” Sam glanced at the modern pendulum clock on the wall. “It’s eight o’clock. Still too early to call White Cloud.”

  “I don’t think he’d mind, but we don’t know if Nina will be up yet.” Henry uncovered the plate on the room service tray. He’d ordered a veggie omelet with hash browns, toast, and a bowl of fresh fruit. Sam had claimed she wasn’t hungry, but he’d try to get her to eat the fruit.

  Sam continued to pace, not content to sit and wait.

  As she passed his table for the fourth time, Henry said, “Sit down. You’re making me nervous.”

  Sam pulled out a chair and sat, grabbing a triangle of toast from the plate without realizing it. “What do you think about me offering White Cloud a job?”

  “What?” Henry’s surprise made him choke on a bite of egg.

  “If we’re going to rely on him to better understand the Native American way, we should pay him. As it is, I feel like we’re taking advantage.”

  Henry swallowed his food. “I think he may be insulted if you offer him money. He’s doing it because it’s his spiritual path.”

  “Yeah, sure, but all this spirit mumbo-jumbo aside, I think he could use the money. And if we don’t get new transportation soon, I’d like him to be available at all times.”

  “He will be whether we pay him or not. He’s not doing it for the money.” Henry pushed aside his empty plate. “Eat some of this fruit.”

  Sam looked at the plate of apple slices, orange sections, melon quarters, and pineapple pieces. She chose a chunk of pineapple and examined it for a moment before she bit in.

  “We could use an extra set of eyes. With the two of us always looking over our shoulders, we may miss something.” She wiped at the juice
dripping down her chin with the back of her hand and picked up a slice of melon.

  Henry fought the urge to smile at the way she wolfed it down. “You can mention it to him, but I got the impression he was more interested in helping Nina than in our troubles.”

  “He helped me before without even knowing why.” Sam finished the melon and grabbed a napkin this time to wipe her mouth and hands.

  “You can talk to him, see what he says.” Henry refilled their coffee cups. “I don’t care one way or the other. And I’m pretty sure White Cloud won’t either. It should only take a couple of days to solve this Nina situation.”

  “We have two more victims in this area to pay back, so we’ll be here a couple more weeks at least.”

  “Damn, I thought Norman and Nina were the only two.” Henry took a sip of coffee. “You’re saying there are more?”

  “Yep, four altogether, before my father’s easy touch became suspicious and he moved on to San Francisco. He only stayed in a city until he ran out of marks. The next two should be easy, though. One’s a retired schoolteacher, and the other runs a construction business. Or at least I think he does—he might have retired, too.”

  “Since Jules knows we’re in Portland, I was hoping to throw him off by leaving town. With what you just told me, it might be a good idea to keep White Cloud around.”

  “I’m glad you agree. Now, give him a call and see how soon he can pick us up

  Chapter Six

  The taxi arrived within thirty minutes, and they headed to Nina’s house. Sam intertwined her fingers and held them in her lap trying to settle her jitters. How was Nina going to react to the news she had a windfall coming? Would she be thrilled? Or angry? What if she refused to accept it? Sam, wishing the encounter was over, barely heard the taxi driver speak as he wove through traffic.

  “I talked with Uncle last night and learned a few more things.” White Cloud swerved around a refrigerated truck without halting his discourse. “A few months ago, Nina’s son ran into problems with one of those white supremacists or some similar group. It could be why those skinheads were bothering her.”