by Delores Fossen, Rachel Lee, Carol Ericson, Tyler Anne Snell, Rita Herron
“I hadn’t been, but I’m not going to lie. I started attending more regularly at the time of the separation. It was hard leaving Jess, leaving her just like my old man left me, but your mother abandoned you, too, and you didn’t turn to booze.”
“Different situation, wasn’t it?” She traced her finger around the rim of her glass. “I had my father and an extended family support system. Even though Dad turned to booze when Mom left, his illness gave me purpose. One of us had to be functioning.”
Sam scooped up some bubbles, cupping them in his palm before turning his hand over and watching them dislodge and float back into the tub. “Is that what you saw in me? Someone to fix like you’d fixed your dad?”
She caught her breath. Had he been reading her mind? She sliced her hand through the water like a shark’s fin. “No. You’d already started your journey to recovery when we met.”
“Ah, but it’s a rocky journey filled with potholes and backtracking. Alcoholics are never really fixed, are we?”
“The minute I met you, I knew you’d be successful. I didn’t think you’d need saving.” The bubbles across her chest melted into the water, putting her closer to exposure. Did she care? What if she got in deep with Sam, and he left again? He had a daughter who had to take priority.
Could she have a fling with him while he was here? While they were in each other’s confidence? Could she forget him once he left?
Sam dipped his hand in the water and swirled it dangerously close to her hip. “You’re losing your bubbles, and this hasn’t been very relaxing for you—digging up old stuff. Drink your wine with no guilt. Stop thinking about your dad, stop thinking about my problems.”
“Stop thinking about my own?” She touched her glass to his and took a sip of wine, slipping farther beneath the lukewarm water. She reached out a hand and ran it down his bare chest to the waistband of the sweats. “There’s plenty of room in here.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “You know I want that more than anything. I want you more than anything.”
“But?”
“I want you to be sure. You hardly rolled out the red carpet when you saw me.”
She lifted one eyebrow. “Consider the circumstances. I had just dumped some bones in a shallow grave.”
“It was more than that.” The tips of his fingers played along the peaks of the bubbles. “I hurt you. I lied to you. I broke your trust.”
“I’m the one who told you to go away and be with your daughter.”
“Because...”
Chip’s barking interrupted him, and she was almost relieved. She didn’t want to go down this road with him again. Either she could trust him or she couldn’t...or it wouldn’t matter either way.
She heaved a sigh. “Chip must’ve gone outside again. I hope he’s not even more wet, or worse, muddy.”
“I’ll take care of Chip. Finish your wine and your bath.” He pushed up from the side of the tub. “You should take some ibuprofen.”
Chip’s claws tapped across the tile floor, and he appeared at the bathroom door with something dangling from his mouth.
“What is that, Chip? Sam, what does he have?”
His tail upright and wagging, Chip advanced into the bathroom, his trophy clutched in his jaws.
Sam jumped back from the dog. “It’s a snake.”
Chip dropped the snake on the floor, and Jolene rose from the tub, her mouth hanging open. “It’s not just a snake. It’s a snake with an arrow through its head.”
“What the hell?” Sam prodded the reptile with a bare toe. “At least it’s dead. Who would kill a snake like that?”
Goose bumps raced across her bare flesh. “Someone sending a warning to another Yaqui.”
Chapter Seven
Sam felt the hair on the back of his neck quiver. Someone out there was serious.
“Get it out of here, Sam.”
He glanced at Jolene standing in the tub, water sluicing from her skin and bubbles clinging to strategic areas of her naked body.
Chip whined and pawed at the dead snake, so Sam gave him his due and patted his head. “Good dog. Good boy.”
“Never mind Chip. Get that thing out of my bathroom.”
“I got it.” He stepped over the mess on the floor and took Jolene’s slippery arm. “Sit back down. You’re getting chilled.”
“I think that’s more from the snake than the air hitting my body.” She glanced down, and a pink flush rushed from her chest to her cheeks, as if realizing for the first time she was standing naked in front of him.
She plopped back down in the water, creating waves that edged over the side of the tub.
“What does it mean? The dead snake?”
Crossing her arms on the edge of the tub, she hunched forward. “The legend of the snake people tells us that snakes can take the form of humans so to kill a snake, unless it’s in self-defense, is evil. The arrow through the snake’s head is a warning to all who see it that evil walks among us.”
“So, someone delivering that dead snake to you is a message that you’re dealing with some shady characters.”
“Something like that. It’s not a good sign any way you look at it.” She slid back into the tub.
“I’m going to get a plastic bag and pick that thing up with a paper towel—just in case there are fingerprints. If this is a warning, then we need to know who’s behind it.”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” She scooped up water in her hands and dumped it on her chest. “Nobody but a Yaqui is going to understand the significance of a snake with an arrow through its head. It was Wade.”
“Then it’s time to confront him.” Sam hooked two fingers in Chip’s collar and pulled him out of the bathroom before the dog could destroy the evidence.
Sam pulled open a kitchen drawer and grabbed a plastic bag. He ripped a sheet of paper towel from the roll and returned to the bathroom where Jolene was standing in a draining tub, a towel wrapped around her body.
He crouched next to the snake and picked it up by the arrow lodged in its head. He dropped the whole thing in the bag. “I’m gonna have prints run on that arrow, and then we’ll have him.”
“If he left prints.” Jolene stepped out of the tub, avoiding the spot where Chip had dropped the snake. “This is ridiculous. If my cousin thinks he can get away with tampering with my brakes and leaving this warning, he’s forgotten who I am.”
“That’s strange.” Sam twisted the handle of the bag, tying it in a knot. “Why would Wade fix your brakes and then run over here and leave that message?”
“It’s like you said.” She tucked the corner of the towel under her arm. “He didn’t expect my brakes to fail so spectacularly and maybe already planned to follow up with the snake warning as kind of a double whammy.”
Sam scratched his chin. “You know what else is weird?”
“Besides you standing there making excuses for Wade?”
He jiggled the bag. “If nobody other than a Yaqui would understand the meaning behind the snake with the arrow, would Wade really do something so obvious?”
“You’re asking these questions like my cousin is a normal person. He’s unhinged. Why else would he act this way?” She pushed past him, the ends of her wet hair flinging drops of water at him.
“I don’t think he’s unhinged, Jolene. There’s a lot of money at stake with this project. He’s not about to watch it fail. That’s why I don’t think he’d do something as blatant as sending you that snake.” He followed her into the bedroom. “I wonder where Chip found it.”
Jolene turned in the middle of the room and flicked her fingers. “Out, please. I let you have a peek once, but don’t get used to it.”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am, but if you’re running off to see Wade, I’m coming with you.”
He exited her bedroom, dropped the bag w
ith the snake on the counter so Chip couldn’t get at it and returned to the bathroom to clean up. He rinsed out the tub and scooped up Jolene’s wet clothes and dumped them in the hamper.
Turning, he nearly bumped into Jolene at the door. She’d changed into a pair of denim shorts and a red University of Arizona T-shirt. “Thanks for straightening up the bathroom. I heard the buzzer go off for the dryer. You can change out of your male stripper clothes and back into your uniform.”
He spread his arms. “You think this is male stripper material? You need to get out more.”
She tugged at the elastic waistband and let it snap back in place. “You don’t need to wear these so low on your hips.”
“I do if I want them to cover my ankles.” He held up his foot. “No wonder I gave these to you.”
He headed toward the laundry room and scooped his warm clothes from the dryer. He shook out his slacks and shirt and draped them over his arm.
“I’m going to get dressed in your room, if that’s okay.”
Jolene looked up from toweling off Chip. “Go ahead. Do you think Chip will lead me to the spot where he found the snake?”
“Maybe, but does it matter? You don’t have a security system here, no cameras. Wade, or whoever, left it on your front porch or in your backyard or your driveway. He probably knew Chip would grab it.”
She snorted. “Can you really picture Wade shooting a snake with a bow and arrow, and then creeping around my house with the thing in his hand? He had someone plant it. I’m sure of that, just like he had someone fix my brakes at the rez. There are plenty of young people who want to get in the good graces of Wade Nighthawk.”
“We can always ask your neighbors if they saw someone lurking near your house.”
“I’ll ask around.” She pointed to his uniform. “Get dressed. Then we’ll pay a little visit to Wade.”
Sam ducked into her bedroom and peeled off the sweats. He had a ways to go to win back Jolene’s trust, but at least she’d put away those daggers that were in her eyes—a shared goal always helped.
When he came out of the bedroom tucking his shirt in his pants, Jolene greeted him, his equipment belt hanging from her fingertips.
“Hurry, this is heavy even without the gun.”
“You are in a rush.” He took the belt from her, looped it through his pants and reached for his weapon on the counter. “What’s the hurry?”
“I want to catch Wade and Cerisse before they go out.” She hitched her purse over her shoulder and slid the cover over the dog door. “I don’t want Chip dragging in any more dead reptiles.”
“You’re really going to stride right up to his door and accuse him of killing snakes?” Sam opened the front door and poked his head outside. “Storm passed.”
She pushed past him onto the porch. “One storm passed but Wade has a whole other type of storm heading his way.”
Twenty minutes later, Sam’s truck navigated the curvy road up to the foothills. He tapped on the window. “If your brakes had failed on this road, you really would’ve been in trouble.”
“Sliding into the wash wasn’t enough trouble?” She crossed her arms. “I could’ve drowned.”
“Don’t remind me.” He squeezed her thigh. “When I heard a black truck had been in an accident, my stomach dropped.”
She threw him a sideways glance. “Really?”
“What do you think?” He snatched his hand back from her leg. “Did you imagine I stopped caring about you...ever?”
Massaging her right temple, she said, “I don’t know what to think, Sam. I guess I never expected to see you back in Paradiso, and let’s be honest. You didn’t come here to see me. You’re in Paradiso for your case, which happens to coincide with my interests.”
He released a long breath. Too much, too soon. “Is Wade’s house around the next bend?”
“The only one on that stretch—beyond the white gates. He’s so pretentious.” She huffed through her nose and dug her fingers into her biceps.
“Is this his money or Cerisse’s? I know her family is wealthy, but Wade did all right in the real estate business.”
“A combination of the two. Her father got him started, and Wade took off.”
“Is she Yaqui?”
“Half on her mother’s side.”
Sam slowed his truck and made a sharp right turn into a driveway bordered by towering saguaro cactus. He hunched over the steering wheel and whistled. “Nice place. I don’t think I’ve ever been here before.”
He pulled around the circular driveway behind Wade’s Humvee and a shiny Tesla. Before he cut the engine, Jolene hopped out of his truck, the bag with the snake swinging at her side.
He scrambled after her, not sure what she had planned for her cousin. He stepped onto the porch behind her just as the last tones of the doorbell echoed on the other side of the double doors.
Cerisse opened the door, not a dyed-blond hair out of place, a serene smile curving her plumped-up lips. “Jolene, Sam, so nice to see you. Wade said you were back in town. To stay?”
“Border Patrol business. How are you, Cerisse?”
She parted her lips to answer, but Jolene pushed past her. “Where’s Wade?”
Cerisse lifted one sculpted eyebrow. “Is he expecting you, Jolene?”
“Why? Do I need an appointment? He’s my cousin. I knew him when he was sitting in the dirt, splashing in a rain puddle on the reservation.”
“Jolene?” Wade trotted down the curved staircase, his long, thin fingers trailing along the polished bannister. “What’s going on?”
“This.” She ripped open the plastic bag Sam had carefully tied earlier to preserve the evidence, and dumped the dead snake on the floor. The point of the arrow clattered on the tile.
A scream pierced the air, and Sam jerked his head around as Melody flew down the stairs. “What is that doing in the house?”
“Ask your brother.” Jolene clamped a hand on her hip. “He left it for me—after he tampered with my brakes.”
Melody directed her wide-eyed gaze at Wade. “Wade? What is she talking about?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” Wade spread his hands helplessly. “Sam?”
Cerisse touched Jolene’s shoulder. “Do you want to sit down and explain, Jolene? You seem...overwrought.”
“Oh, no you don’t.” Jolene shrugged away from Cerisse. “Somebody did something to my brakes today so that my car skidded in the rain, and I landed in the wash.”
Melody gasped, covering her mouth with one hand. “That was you? We heard about the accident.”
“You think I fixed your brakes...” Wade smoothed a hand over his glossy ponytail “...and then doubled down by putting a warning on your porch?”
“I didn’t say it was on my porch. Chip brought it in.” Jolene tapped her toe, a staccato beat on the floor that only added to the tension in the room.
“Why would I do that, Jolene?” Wade hooked a thumb in the pocket of his black jeans.
“Y-you know.” Jolene bit her bottom lip.
She hadn’t thought this through enough to realize she’d have to admit to burying those bones at the construction site.
One corner of Wade’s mouth lifted. “I don’t. Please enlighten me.”
“Those bones today.” Jolene threw out a hand. “You think I had something to do with that. You think I’m trying to sabotage the casino project.”
“Did you? Are you?” A slight twitch at the corner of his eye broke the smooth facade of Wade’s face.
“Of course she didn’t, Wade.” Cerisse patted Jolene’s back gingerly, as if Jolene were some kind of feral creature and one wrong move could set her off.
Sam didn’t blame Cerisse one bit.
“I didn’t plant those bones, but you know I’m unhappy about the casino. My father wouldn’t have wanted it,
either.”
“We’ve had this discussion before, Jolene. The casino will bring jobs. It’ll improve the school on the reservation. All those things you claim to care about.”
“My father died on that land. Don’t you care about that?”
“I do, of course.” Wade nudged the snake with the toe of his boot. “Could you please put this away? You’re freaking Melody out.”
“You can deny all you want, Wade, but I know you’re behind these threats, these warnings.” Jolene started to crouch down to shove the snake back in the bag, but Sam stopped her.
He bent over and pinched the snake’s tail, dragging it back into the bag. The fewer fingerprints on this thing, the better.
“Cuz, if I thought you were interfering in the casino project, I’d just talk to you. In fact, I thought we already had that talk. You gave the impression that you were fine with it, or at least resigned to it.”
“Just...” she shook a finger in his face “...watch yourself.”
She spun around and charged outside.
Sam secured the bag again and shrugged. “She’s upset about the accident. She had to squirm through the window into the water to get out of her car.”
“That’s terrible.” Cerisse put a hand to her slender throat. “I’m glad you’re back, Sam, if only for a short time. You always were the only one who could calm her down.”
“She’ll be fine.” He raised his hand to Melody still clinging to the bannister of the staircase. “Good to see you again, Melody.”
Always the gracious hostess, even in the most awkward of occasions, Cerisse showed him to the door with a smile. “Come back again under more pleasant circumstances.”
Sam marched back to the truck where Jolene was already stationed in the passenger seat, her face tight. He’d better not tell her what Cerisse had said at the end there. She’d really explode.
He got behind the wheel, and placed the bag in the back seat. “That didn’t go well. What did you expect? He wasn’t going to admit it, even if he was responsible.”
“If?” She pushed the hair from her flushed face. “You believed that smooth SOB?”