“The U.S. sent him to prison in Leavenworth, and later, he was exiled to Indian Territory. Members of his tribe died from every disease that came along—cholera, typhus, yellow fever, even measles and chicken pox.”
“Practically wiped us all out. But still Joseph wouldn’t give up. He kept lobbying Congress to send the Nez Perce back to their beloved Pacific Northwest. Until the day he died, the man was a hero to his tribe. All he ever wanted was to be given the same rights as everyone else, the right to be heard, the right to live free. I think of him often. He’s an inspiration to his people, all people really. Whenever I think about giving up, I think of Chief Joseph and how he stuck to what he believed in, despite the odds stacked against him.”
She took a deep breath. “Sorry. I guess I’m feeling nostalgic, a bit sentimental. Today would’ve been my mother’s fifty-third birthday. She would’ve loved this place, so much dirt to drop a seed in the ground and patiently watch it sprout.”
“Aw, honey. I’m sorry.”
She lifted a shoulder. “It’s okay. How’d it go at the crime lab? Learn anything new?”
“Interesting to see how they take a car apart and try to locate critical pieces of evidence. You should see the stuff they can pick up just by vacuuming.” He held up his cell phone to show her a series of pictures of what the techs had come across inside the vehicle.
“What is that?”
“A cigarette butt. Harry checked with three of the Maldonado relatives. No one in the family smoked. Now, that isn’t to say this came from our killer…but…”
“It’s possible. What brand is it?”
“Marlboro Silver, formerly known as Ultra Lights. Christy’s aunt swears she doesn’t know anyone who smokes that brand. Plus, Edgar, Christy’s dad, was known to keep the interior of the car in immaculate order.”
“Which means the cigarette is out of place. Maybe we should call our killer the Marlboro Man.”
He tucked a strand of raven hair behind her ear. “You look better this afternoon than you did this morning, sitting out here getting some sun agrees with you.” He reached over and scooped Sierra up and plunked her down on his lap. “Did you make Mama take a nap? Is that why her eyes look more rested?”
Skye shrugged. “I worked in the garden and got a little sun. It’s no big deal.” She bumped his shoulder. “I missed you today.”
“Not having you there felt like I was missing my right arm.”
“Josh, I don’t think I can give up the farm.”
He looked amused. “Oh really.”
“So what if sometimes it’s inconvenient to get here. So what if the commute is insane. I think this is where we belong, right here, in this spot.”
After she’d changed her mind so many times already, he proceeded with caution. “Are you sure? Because today, I confess, I got a little impatient at the ferry when it took too long to board.”
“You really want to leave the farm?”
“I’m not sure what I want and it seems, neither do you. There is a solution. We could buy us a little place on the mainland, a place where we could go during the times we want to stay overnight in Seattle. It wouldn’t have to be big, maybe eight hundred square feet or so, maybe only two bedrooms.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “That suits me fine. You see that spot over there just before the yard slopes down the hill toward the beach? That’s where I’ve decided to build my greenhouse, along with a few raised beds around the perimeter to grow rows and rows of melons and vegetables. No more putting it off. I want to see Sierra grow up here and call this beautiful place home.”
“It’s amazing what happens when you’re thinking with a clear head.”
She drew her legs up to her chest and rested her arms on her knees. “Dad always told me—that’s Daniel Cree, not Travis—that the wolf would always be my powerful medicine. It came to me today when I was digging in the garden. I remember something Dad told me when I was about seven. You’ll meet many spirit helpers along the way and they’ll take many forms. Many times you won’t even know they’re around. But they’re positive people you let into your life, the driving forces that keep you grounded and know when you’re loved.”
She ruffled Sierra’s hair. “After all these years, I know what my dad was talking about now. I didn’t before. I tried to take on the world all on my own. That is, until I met you. You and Sierra are the best medicine I know, the most powerful driving forces in my life.”
“Parenthood certainly gives you a different perspective on things, doesn’t it?”
“Parenthood with you is…not as scary as I thought it would be. We don’t seem to yell and scream when it comes to raising our child. That must be the wolf influence in both of us.”
“Wolves mate for life.”
“And the night will fall, the warrior will become the wolf, and all her power will rise like a fire in the sky.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m not done fighting yet.”
“Who said you were?”
She smiled at him. “Confidence works wonders. When I’m around you, my confidence always soars. Why do you suppose that is?”
He took her hand, placed a kiss on the palm. “We’re a team. You make me feel like I can leap tall buildings in a single bound.”
“But are you faster than a speeding bullet?”
He lifted a brow. “When did you start boning up on your Superman clichés?”
“As long as you don’t start referring to me as Lois Lane, I’m fine with the mild-mannered Clark Kent persona.”
“I’m not that mild-mannered.”
“True. Unless I push your buttons, then watch out. Lois Lane and Clark Kent never married, did they?”
“I think Superman died before that happened.”
“See. Marriage is tough. But we seem to do all right.”
He kissed her hand again. “Better than all right.”
Twenty
Thursday afternoon
The day had been long and exhausting. These days, he found no joy in traveling. Maybe he needed to rethink some things about his lifestyle. Like maybe choosing his victims a lot closer to home. He could find other more interesting people than the excruciatingly boring families he’d chosen so far. Too much routine. Too much ordinary. Too much time spent away from home. Maybe he needed another kind of adrenaline rush, something that would give him more pleasure, give him more satisfaction, give him a reason to get up in the morning.
The kid was beginning to get on his nerves. Big time. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take.
There’d been an incident on the plane he didn’t like. The boy had been given the wrong soda and then had proceeded to make a fuss about it.
It had been all he could do to contain himself in a plane full of strangers. He’d wanted to wrap his hands around the kid’s throat, right then and there, and take care of the problem. He had to admit that Brayden was becoming a nuisance.
He promised himself he’d make up for it once they reached their destination. They still had to rent the SUV and make the drive to the cabin he’d rented outside the target area. They could hole up there, deep in the woods, and do recon for a couple of days when the family was away from their home.
Once they landed and made it out of the airport, he pulled to the side of the road. He got out of the driver’s side and went around to the passenger door, yanking Brayden out of the front seat. He began slapping him about the head and face.
“Next time we’re on a plane you take whatever drink they offer you and keep your mouth shut. You stupid ass. Don’t ever make a scene like that again in an aircraft filled with other passengers who could well remember an incident like that involving a scrawny, stupid kid like yourself. Do you understand me?”
Brayden nodded. “I…I…”
“Shut up. No excuses. Just keep your yap shut from now on and don’t make a scene. Do what you’re told without making a spectacle of yourself. Are we clear?”
After that, Brayden seemed jumpy, a little too jumpy to take on a task and make it a success.
But once they settled into the cabin, he turned to Brayden, his demeanor changing to calm and in control of his rage. “Let’s run some of that nervous energy off you before it gets dark. There’s a trail around here that winds through the Beartooth Mountain Range.”
“How…far away…is this family…you want to take out?”
“A little change in plans tonight. Now get your ass up off that bed and let’s go for a run. Here’s the FitBit I bought for you. Wear it. It’s just like the one I wear.” He held up his wrist to show the kid. “It’ll keep track of your movements so I’ll know where you are at all times and there’s no chance of you getting lost.”
With his hands shaking, Brayden clipped the device to his wrist.
“Now let’s get ready for a hard workout. No supper for you until you run at least three miles. Got that?”
After all, he still had to retrieve the weapons he’d stashed in the Absaroka Wilderness, just one such location where he’d hidden away a cache of supplies. He’d planned ahead, as always, planned for every precaution and scenario. This was just one such reserve that held his backup provisions, concealed months in advance. There were at least ten other locations in almost as many states where emergency rations had been placed in out of the way spots. Only he knew of their existence.
He kicked the boy to get him moving. They were losing the light.
Twenty-One
Friday morning
With a renewed sense of purpose, Skye got up feeling as though spring had finally made its grand appearance for real. She’d slept for almost five hours before the snake dream shattered her peaceful slumber. She’d crawled out of bed and forced the eerie images out of her mind, choosing to start her morning without the baggage or feeling sorry for herself.
After getting dressed, she took a few extra minutes to braid her hair down her back and then called to Atka.
She and the dog took a walk on the beach in the sunshine before ending up making the rounds in the garden.
She’d picked a handful of tulips, the only flower in the entire backyard that had sprouted with purple blossoms. Last fall she’d had the foresight to stick the bulbs in the ground in a variety of colors. To her surprise the deep violet had shot up like a roman candle. In fact, the entire bed had survived seemingly undamaged despite the angry weather a couple of nights earlier. Sure, the stems had bent from the relentless rain, but they hadn’t broken.
She took their sturdiness as a good sign.
She wandered over to the blueberry patch—a series of bushes that made for a nice hedge along the back wall of the garden—to check on the bell-shaped flowers that would turn into fruit. By the end of June she hoped to have a bumper crop of fat berries, maybe enough to make jam for next winter.
She was tempted to take the time to weed the base of the vines. But when her stomach rumbled from hunger, she decided she needed to get breakfast on the table. She took her flowers and headed back to the house.
While Atka ate her dog chow, Skye whipped up waffle batter and squeezed fresh orange juice, pouring the extract into one of her mother’s cherished Fiesta pitchers.
“What’s all this?” Josh asked when he brought Sierra into the kitchen and saw the spread of food.
Skye turned to see her daughter dressed in a white two-piece pant and top set with purple trim and a purple dinosaur on the shirt.
“Look at you,” she gushed. “It must be a purple day, a power day. I thought we’d have breakfast out on the deck in honor of spring. Don’t you hear the robins chirping? Birdsong’s all around us. And look how the sunshine beams down through the cherry and apple trees. Plus, I checked the forecast for tonight’s fish fry. Not a drop of rain in sight.”
“Where did you get all this energy?”
“I told you. The idea of spring is invigorating. Don’t you feel it?”
She dashed out the back door to spread a crisp blue tablecloth on the picnic table and started lining it with her mother’s colorful yellow dishes. She set the bud vase filled with the flowers in the center.
“Everything’s all set. I’ve been keeping the waffles warm in the oven, so they’re ready to eat anytime you guys are hungry.” She glanced over at Sierra and held out her hands. “Come to Mama, baby girl. Don’t you look pretty this morning. Daddy has good taste in clothes, don’t you think?”
“Hard to miss since you laid out the outfit on the dresser for me. You wanted her to wear purple.”
She smiled and plopped Sierra in her booster seat as Josh brought out the waffles and syrup. “She’s growing so fast it’s scary. I think she changes in some way every day.”
Josh narrowed his eyes at his wife. “You got up again last night. Did you get any sleep at all?”
She ignored the question. “I have some last-minute shopping to do for the party tonight but other than that I think we’re just about all set.”
“I have work to do that should only take about an hour. After that, I’m free to go to the store for you and do the shopping.”
“That’d be super. That way I could get a little cleaning done, pick up around the house, and do some laundry. I’m sure we’ll have people who’ll opt for spending the night instead of making that drive back to the mainland, especially after drinking a few rounds. Which reminds me, could you pick up that red ale that the guys like so much? And grab a bottle of chardonnay for Elizabeth and Harry. Oh, and Atka needs more dog food.”
He gave her a strange look, wondering why she didn’t just make a list. “Skye, you’re beginning to sound like a Chatty Cathy on speed.”
“Hey, that’s no way to greet spring.” She turned to Sierra. “Daddy’s Mr. Grumpy.”
“Daddy’s not grumpy,” Josh protested. “More like worried about Mama because she’s not getting any sleep.”
Skye patted his chest. “No need to worry. I’m fine, better than fine.”
“When are we planning to talk about what’s really going on with you?”
“Later. I promise. Let’s just have a nice, normal breakfast and refrain from talking about serial killers at the table.”
Josh scratched his head. “Look, if you don’t want to talk to me, talk to somebody. Lena. Judy. Somebody.”
She let out a sigh. “I’m just keyed up. I’ll be fine. I’m looking forward to the party tonight.”
But by midday when Travis showed up to drop off the load of firewood for the bonfire, Skye met him in the driveway ready to unload her problems on him. “Do you have a minute? Because I need your help with something.”
Travis noted the dark circles under her eyes and wagged an accusatory finger. “You haven’t been sleeping. Is it Sierra? Is she cutting another tooth and keeping you up? Are you worried about the case?”
“No, something much worse. Lately, I’ve been having these disturbing dreams. Snake dreams. I’m certain it’s a sign, a warning, a premonition that something bad is about to happen to me.”
Travis frowned. “Your time is not up just because you had a snake dream. Trust me on this. When did these begin?”
“Last Saturday night after our first meeting about the Cross-country Killer. For whatever reason, he’s the catalyst. If I go out to hunt him down, I don’t think I’ll be coming back.”
Travis gasped, inhaling a sharp breath. “Don’t talk like that. This isn’t like you at all to be swayed by legend that has no merit.”
“Maybe not. But I’ve never dreamed about my own death before. It’s…disturbing to say the least.” She paced away and then marched back, throwing out her hands. “Look at my life now, Dad. I have the kind of life I always wanted. Finally things are clicking into place. I don’t want to lose it, not a single part of it. I’m scared I’m going to die and not come back.”
“Have you told Josh about these dreams? Have you told him how you feel?”
She shook her head. “You know exactly what he’ll say. His answer
will be that I should let him go after this guy by himself. I vowed a long time ago I’d never foist this job off on him. I don’t intend to start doing it now.”
“Oh, come on, that’s weak. Tell him. Tell your own husband how things are, what’s going on inside your head and heart. And maybe Josh is right, maybe you should take a pass on this one. Did you consider that? Maybe you should stay put and let someone else handle this case.”
“Dad, I can’t do that. If Josh and I don’t try to stop this guy together…” Her voice trailed off. “You said it yourself. Even the crow believes this guy is a formidable adversary. Josh can’t do it alone.”
“What about Emmett?”
“The FBI doesn’t even care enough to put together a task force. That should tell you something.”
“But that’s just it. Maybe this isn’t the right time to go after him. Maybe this is all smoke and mirrors anyway and he doesn’t even exist. Maybe the cases aren’t even related.”
“You know better than that.”
“All I know is you berate me for being secretive, that I’m not completely honest with you or with Lena. But isn’t that exactly what you’re doing right now with Josh? Keeping these fears to yourself isn’t the answer. You need to sit down with him and go over everything that’s bothering you, everything you’re feeling inside. Now. Before the party tonight. Clear the air.”
“The premonition is clear.”
“No, it’s not,” Travis stated. “I don’t believe that for one minute.”
“Then what does it mean?”
“Nothing more than change or transformation.”
She grinned widely and hugged her father. Taking his chin in her hand, she said, “Very vague explanation. Look, I don’t say this often enough, but I love you. Thanks for being my father. Even though I’d love to stay here and chat for the entire afternoon, I have several piles of laundry to finish.”
Truth in the Bones Page 20