The man who had tipped his hat on the way in came out and stood in front of the diner, taking in the view. He lit up a cigarette and walked by and gave them a big smile. “Name is Attica. Say hi to John Locklear for me. And tell him Sani can’t wait to see him.”
Ashley jerked her head up and turned to look at the man. He climbed into his truck and started it up and drove out on the dusty road, waving at them with a big grin as he sped off.
“Does everyone in this state know where we are at every moment? It’s weird being followed everywhere!” Ashley said.
Sean sighed. “It’s Sani. Making sure we are on our way to do what we said we would. Okay, let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
They drove off with full stomachs and their heads full of thoughts. Ashley glanced at the time. They’d be at John’s office before too long. They’d drop off the papers and Sani’s envelope, then get a good night’s rest in a hotel. Then the following morning they would head back to Comfortville. She couldn’t wait. Enough adventure in the great Southwest!
When they drove into the city, Ashley was struck by how gorgeous it was. She had seen pictures of this part of the country, but nothing prepared her for the sheer beauty of it. The colors of the adobe buildings against the bright blue sky were striking.
The plaza in town was bustling with vendors and people going to and from work.
Plus, the clothes!
She gazed in admiration at how striking the Southwest outfits were. All the men and women wore a combination of suede, leather, and wool fabrics in various colors that blended with the adobes and colors in the landscape. One woman came around a corner with a shawl on that was the exact same blue that was reflected from above.
I wonder if she knows she matches the sky, she thought.
Most of the men and many of the women wore blue jeans, but these jeans were like nothing she had seen. They were embroidered or studded with metals, waists wrapped in turquoise-colored belts and paired with beautiful vests.
“I see what you mean, Sean. I want to dress like this too,” Ashley said.
He smiled at her. “After we drop off everything at the office, let’s head back to this plaza for dinner.”
“And shopping!” she exclaimed.
“What’s John’s address again?”
They followed the GPS to a building just outside of town in its own complex. There were three sand-colored adobes spread out over approximately half a block.
“Which one do we go to?” Sean asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s try the middle one,” Ashley said.
They went inside, and a middle-aged lady with long black braids tinged with gray sat at a desk. She was typing on the computer and didn’t even look up when they came in. The nameplate on her desk said “Sara.”
Ashley cleared her throat. “Excuse me, we’re looking for John Locklear.”
The woman didn’t raise her head. But her eyes glanced to the side as she squinted to look at Ashley’s face. Ashley could barely see her features.
“Who are you?” the woman asked.
“I’m Ashley Crane. This is Sean. We were sent to see John by Sani.”
The woman still didn’t look up, but Ashley could see her jaw tighten and observed that she reached under her desk and pushed a buzzer that rang faintly in a room down the hallway. Then she went back to her computer.
“Should we sit down and wait?’ Ashley asked.
The woman didn’t answer.
Sean motioned to the only two seats in the room, and they sat and waited.
***
Before too long, they heard footsteps coming down the hallway toward them. Just then, Sara slightly looked up from her desk and jerked her head in their direction.
One of the tallest men Ashley had ever seen her life came around the corner. His back was straight as an arrow, and he had long black hair tied back in a braid. His eyes were piercing and the color of flint. He stood there gazing at them in silence. Sara stopped typing on her keyboard.
Ashley returned the man’s gaze. Sean reached for her hand, but she brushed it away and stood up.
“Hello, John. We brought you this. From Sani. He said it was very important,” Ashley said.
She held the envelope of papers out and the letter.
John did not reach for it.
“Why have you come?” he finally said.
“I just told you, Sani asked us to bring—”
John cut in. “That is not the entire reason why you are here.”
Sean started to say something, but John interrupted him.
“I only want to talk to her.”
“Sean met Sani, too, and was there while he explained his situation to us. He can talk to you about what happened as well as I can,” Ashley said.
“No. Only you. Come in and tell me everything.”
He motioned for her to go down the hallway with him.
Ashley turned around to Sean as she walked off.
“Are you okay with this?” she asked.
“Yes,” Sean said.
Sean stood there with resignation on his face.
Ashley disappeared down the hallway.
Sean turned to Sara. “Could you tell me where the bathroom is?”
She grunted and pointed to the door behind them without looking up.
Sean shook his head as walked to the restroom. He heard Sara mutter something under her breath. As he began to shut the door, she started to chant very softly.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Sit down, please,” John said.
He pointed to a large leather chair in the corner.
There was another one kitty-corner to it that he stood behind waiting for her. Ashley sat and smiled at him but also glanced around the room. You couldn’t really call it an office. It looked like a very unique living rom. There were all kinds of leather objects and jewelry hanging everywhere. There were also ceremonial headdresses and saddles on mounts. And pipes. So many pipes.
John noticed her looking around. “You like it? I feel very much at home here.”
Ashley smiled. “This is a home, isn’t it? You may have your offices here, but it looks like a living room to me. And you have a big kitchen down the hallway. It’s almost like you don’t need to leave after you finish work.”
“Oh, I do. I have a place in the mountains. It is the most important place to me. It is the place I call home. But you’re right, I’ve made this very homelike because I am here so much, and many nights I work so late that I don’t make it up to the mountain. Instead, I sleep here.”
He gestured to the sofa against the wall. It was very large and had stacks of Native American blankets in all prints and colors on it.
“They’re beautiful,” Ashley said.
“The blankets? Thank you. All made by my family. I have several cousins who are very creative.”
“I really meant everything,” she said. “Everything in here is beautiful.”
“Thank you,” John said. “Now, let us talk about what you have brought and—”
Ashley cut in. “Don’t you miss it?”
“Miss what?”
“Your life. Amongst all your people. Back there, where you grew up. The life you had with your wife. And your brother-in-law, Sani. This is all very nice, and I’m sure your place in the mountains is lovely, but wouldn’t you rather be there with them? Helping them?”
John started to pace the room. “I don’t think that you know the whole story, but—”
Ashley jumped in again. “What is it that you do again? Is it banking or something?”
John stood up very straight. He seemed to be ten feet tall. “Financial services. Consulting. Investing. And running a metal factory.”
“Wow. Very far removed from the land. And your background, I suppose,” she said.
He turned his back on her and looked out his office window. He was quiet for some time. He had a beautiful view of the mountains and that sky.
Ashley didn’t sa
y a word.
She had obviously offended him.
She felt ashamed all of a sudden. She looked at his tall, straight back and at the mountains as well. There was an old brass clock in the room, and for the first time, she heard it ticking.
You hardly ever hear a clock ticking these days, she thought. It was filling up the soundless space. Maybe that’s what we need nowadays, more ticking clocks. Time goes by too fast, and it would constantly remind us of that.
She flashed on society as a whole. Everyone running around with their smartphones and stocking their homes with the latest electronics. Putting off growing up. Trying to stave off the passage of time. And no matter what anyone did, everyone eventually got old anyway.
She touched her face. No big wrinkles yet, but she saw the fine lines coming when she looked hard in the mirror. And she made sure to slather on all the anti-aging creams she could. For what, really?
John had deep lines in his face. But they seemed beautiful to her.
Part of her knew that eating well and taking care of herself in every way she could was healthy, but she thought about how eventually it all turned to dust. It seemed as if the previous generations were more acutely aware of this.
Life spans were shorter, work was harder, medicine more difficult to come by when you lived in the wild. Or when a person had to work their own land and build their own dwellings. And what a toll it must have taken when a conqueror came in and took everything you had worked so hard for.
The clock kept ticking. How much time had gone by?
John turned around and looked long and hard at her. He had tears in his eyes.
Ashley felt her face turn hot. She looked at him in sorrow.
“I miss it very much,” he replied. “I miss it every day. I loved my wife more than my own life. I had wanted children with her. I loved her family like my own as well. But no matter how much I loved her or my people or my land, it didn’t help. Nothing worked. I saw the land get desecrated more and more every year. For progress, they said. To bring jobs, they said. We have to change, to go into the future, they said. The white man robbed us time and again. And some of my own people betrayed our history as well. The lure of money was too strong, even if in their hearts they knew it was wrong to tear up the land. Then my wife died of cancer, and she took my heart with her.”
He turned and looked out the window again.
“I’m sorry,” Ashley said softly. “So very sorry.”
He didn’t turn around. “You know, what I do is not like the old ways. It is not creative. It is not admirable, I guess, when you just hear the titles. But I have improved many people’s lives here. I give them loans, I help finance their small business, and I give them jobs in my factory. Yes, I have also made myself rich in the process.” He turned back and looked at her again.
“But I make no apology for that. You can judge me all you want. But ask hundreds of people around here what I have done for them and how I have helped the community. I just built a brand-new school for the children that opened this year. It has my name on it. Not that I care that it has my name, but every time I drive by it, I see it, and it makes me happy that I was rich enough to do that. People like to say that if you have money, you lose your soul. I say you can sell out your soul at any time to anyone or anything, regardless of how much money you have. And I’ve seen men who have done just that.”
“You’re right,” Ashley said. “One doesn’t necessarily mean the other.”
“Sani sent you here to ask me for help with what’s happening back where we grew up. I can’t do that. I’ve told him that. I’ve walked away, and now my life is here. I’ve been devoted to helping this community. I’m sorry, but you must tell him that.”
“May I please tell you what I’ve seen there and explain what he wanted me to tell you?” Ashley asked. “Please. At least hear me out.”
He sighed. “Okay.”
For the first time, he came and sat next to her.
She leaned forward and looked intensely at him as she told him what she had seen and heard the last week. She told him how they ran into Sani by the side of the road, how he had taken them into his cave, how they were followed, and most importantly, about the murders. Also, about the man who had pushed a log in front of their raft, about the strange cops, and how someone left a skull on their deck. Then finally, how Sani had begged them to come see him.
After listening intently to her story, John got up again and walked the room.
He laughed. A big, booming laugh. Ashley was startled to hear that after her heartfelt story.
“You must be cursed,” he said. “How do you go on vacation and find yourself in the middle of all of this? Do you get into this kind of trouble back where you came from?”
She sighed. “You don’t know the half of it.”
Ashley gave him a quick version of her amateur sleuth adventures that wound up nearly killing her.
“Well then! This all must make you feel like you are at home!” he said.
They both laughed this time. After a brief moment of levity, the conversation turned serious again.
“Except, people are getting murdered over what’s happening back there. And my fiancé and I have been seriously threatened. I understand why you left and why you don’t want to go back, but couldn’t you do something to help to stop all the madness?”
John sighed. “Why? Please, I’ve told you my reasons. You must understand how difficult this is for me.”
“I know. You told me. Just please read all this, the lawsuit, and what it’s doing to everyone. And what your people are up against. Most of all, please read Sani’s letter.” She held it out to him.
“I will read this legal document later. I’m sure it will say all the things that lawyers love to say. It is not important. But let me read my brother-in-law’s letter,” he said.
He took the letter and opened it. He read it with no expression on his face. Then he stood up again and walked to the window. He was silent for a few minutes. Then he turned and spoke resolutely.
“My brother-in-law will not let me go. He has made his point. Tell him to come and see me. I cannot make any promises or that everything will have a happy ending. But I will help him the best way I can.”
“Oh, thank God. I was beginning to feel this was all for nothing. Now I can go home and hopefully put this stressful vacation behind me and never get in trouble again.”
She paused when she saw John staring at her with a bemused look on his face.
Ashley sputtered. “Oh, and I’m happy for you and Sani and everyone, and I hope that everything will get better soon.” She coughed. “And thank you! Thank you!”
Just then, she and John heard a blood-curdling scream.
John and Ashley ran out of the office and down the hallway. Sara was standing at the back kitchen door and pointing. In the field behind the buildings were three large poles with skulls on them. An outstretched figure with a robe on was hanging from a rope tied to another pole.
If that wasn’t terrifying enough, Sean was nowhere to be seen.
“Sean!” Ashley yelled.
Sean popped out of the men’s room. “What’s up? What’s all the yelling about?”
“You’re okay!” Ashley said.
Ashley ran and gave him a hug.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
She started to explain when John ran past them and outside. He was chasing Sara into the field. She was running toward the skulls and chanting at the top of her lungs. As soon as she reached them, she fell on the ground and started to wail. John reached down and tenderly pulled her up. He embraced her as she cried and stroked her head. He turned around and looked at them with a sorrowful look on his face.
Sean and Ashley were frozen to the spot. It looked just like the skulls they had seen at their cabin. It was unbelievably eerie. Ashley felt numb.
“I knew she was nuts,” Sean whispered.
“Sean! We don’t know her story. Maybe something happened
to her. And remember how freaked out we were when we saw this at the cabin?”
“I still think she’s nuts. Something about her. Let’s get out of here. Say goodbye, okay?”
His face was white as a sheet. “It looks like John has got it under control. Can we go now? I’ve had enough of this spooky stuff.”
“Me too. I’ll say goodbye and let’s go.”
She stood at the door and gestured to John that they were leaving, and he waved goodbye. She realized he wasn’t coming in just yet as he had to sort out who put the skulls in back. And take care of freaky Sara. She also knew that he would wait for her to contact Sani, and the two of them would take it from there.
“Mission accomplished,” she mumbled to herself. Sean tugged on her arm.
“Ash, please! Now!”
Chapter Twenty-Four
As soon as they left, Ashley called Sani on his cell phone, and it went straight to voicemail. She couldn’t discuss everything that had happened, but she did say that she had met with John. She mentioned that he had read Sani’s letter that she gave him, and that John said for Sani to come visit and he would help him.
Then she finished by saying, “Good luck. I hope everything works out for you and your people.”
After she left him the message, she felt relieved.
The two men were going to meet up and do the best they could to stop the mining. And, perhaps, in the process, they would get closer and become family again. Despite all the stress of the last week, she felt good to have been a part of that. Now she and Sean could go to dinner and get some much-needed rest. As she got into the car, she lay her head on the seat back.
“Feel better now?” Sean asked.
She exhaled. “A little. At least they’ll meet, and hopefully it will work out.”
“So, shopping in town, and then check into the hotel?”
“And dinner,” she said. “I’ve looked up some good places where we can sit outside on the patio and relax.”
“Sounds good to me,” he said.
Ashley Crane Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 55