Reggie stepped forward. “They are people who use evil magic to transform into animals. Wolves, coyotes, bears… pretty much anything. Some even think they can make themselves look like another person.”
“Whoa. That’s… that’s awesome,” Had gushed.
“Whatever, how does this relate to the way Jaime was killed?” Joshua asked, trying to get them back on track.
“The white powder was white ash, right?” Reggie asked the social worker, who nodded. “Sounds like someone thought he was a bad seed.”
“We’ll check that angle out,” Joshua said to Phillip. The man still wouldn’t make eye contact. “We also wanted to talk to you about Kai Bileen. And we need you to pull records for all of the foster children she’s working with.”
“No problem,” he responded with a smile directed at Coop. “In fact, I’ve already gotten all the names for you.” He pulled out a sheaf of papers, handing them over to Agent Cooper with a flourish.
“Great. Thank you.” She took the pages from him, glancing through as if she had no idea what to do with them.
“Those will help us be on the same page as we speak with Ms. Bileen,” Reggie said, looking over Coop’s shoulder at the papers.
Phillip paused before he spoke. “Yes. Yes. I’m sure that’s true.”
The hesitation wasn’t lost on Joshua. “Is there something we should know?”
“No. No,” he replied, his tone saying the exact opposite. “There have just been… well… sometimes she can be…” He shifted in his seat. “I guess you’ll see when you meet her.”
“Mr. Piven,” Reggie said, her tone coaxing. “If there’s something you can tell us that will aid in our investigation, please let us know.”
“It’s just that… She can be a bit much, if you know what I mean. She started her group home a year and a half ago, and since then things have been… tense between her and the CYFD.”
“Tense how?”
“Oh, just disagreements on policy that isn’t the purview of this office. Wanting to change laws because, they just don’t fit our situation.” He used air quotes to emphasize the last few words. Joshua stifled a groan. Did anyone really still use air quotes?
“Got it,” Reggie said. “We’ll take that into consideration as we’re speaking with her.” Agent Cooper might be failing in her responsibilities, but Joshua was pleased to see how well the newest member of their team was taking initiative.
As the social worker waved them out, Joshua thought to himself that if there was anything that made him want to like Kai Bileen, it was this jackhole’s disapproval. He would need to work around his dislike of the social worker if he wanted to stay objective.
Sometimes being on the side of law and order just sucked.
* * *
“Okay, time to break a roadblock.”
Reggie watched as Joshua surveyed the turn off, perhaps looking to see if the Tribal Police was still out there. They had made it back over the bridge and had stopped for a bite to grab a quick burger at That’s a Burger. Had was cramming the last bite into his mouth, pulling a face that made Reggie want to burst out laughing.
They couldn’t see from where they were, but Reggie would bet everything in her savings account that Officer Clah hadn’t moved the block even a millimeter. That man would be dug in until he got first hand confirmation that the FBI team had left the area.
Staring across the street, Reggie had a stroke of inspiration. “Guys, I think I know how we can make it around the roadblock.” She pointed over to the horse ranch there they had seen on the way in the first time.
Minutes later, each of them was leading a rented horse out of the enclosure, getting ready to mount up. Traveling in on horseback would easily get them out and around the Tribal Police. They’d take a back trail that was completely inaccessible by car.
Bella ran along beside Joshua’s horse, barking and wagging her tail. The horse spooked a bit, but Joshua kept his seat with the ease of long practice. Reggie had no idea where he’d learned to ride, but he was good at it.
Agent Cooper seemed to be as wary of her horse as the mare was of her. She kept sawing at the reins, trying to get her equine companion to do what she wanted her to do. It wasn’t working out all that well.
But the thing that was shocking was just how bad at riding Had was. It had taken him five tries to even get up on the horse’s back, and then he had almost gone over the other side. And now he was bouncing up and down with every step his horse took. It looked like his teeth were going to get jostled right out of his head.
“Had, you okay over there?” Reggie called from the back of her beautiful bay mare. Her name was Windy, and she was spirited, but gentle.
“I’m… fine… thanks… for… asking,” Had answered in between bounces.
“First time?”
She couldn’t tell whether he was nodding, or his head was getting jostled from his horse’s slow trot. One way or the other, the answer was clear.
By the time they traveled several miles to the south of the turn off and circled around, Had was yelping at almost every other step. Reggie thought back to the first time she’d been on a horse as a child. Had was going to be in a lot of pain later on.
She moved in closer to him as his horse kept trying to veer away to head back to the ranch. The poor thing was more than likely having as bad an experience as Had was.
It was slow going, and the shadows were starting to stretch long behind them by the time they arrived out at the group home. They rode until they found a stretch of fencing that they could use to tie up the horses.
As she watched Joshua dismount, Reggie was struck by how masculine the movement was. He was an ass most of the time. But there was something appealing about the sheer rawness of the way he behaved.
Agent Cooper climbed down from her horse much more gingerly, wincing as she hopped to the ground. Her horse pulled against the lead, almost yanking the federal agent off balance. It was as if the horse could sense the indecisiveness of her rider.
This was not the Coop that Reggie had met several weeks ago.
And then there was Had. He lay down, belly first, on the back of his horse and then rolled off. When he hit the ground, his legs gave out underneath him, his spurs clanking a humorous counterpoint to his graceless dismount. He bounced back up, though, a grin plastered on his face that seemed to light up everything around him. He reached around to pat his horse’s nose. The gelding had the good grace to submit without irritation. Had’s gift for making friends apparently even extended to the animal kingdom.
“That was awesome,” he enthused, beaming at the rest of the team. “I love riding horses.” He rubbed at his legs, apparently trying to get some feeling back in them.
Reggie saw that Joshua had attached Bella’s leash, and was now attempting to keep her away from his horse. Walking over to Joshua, Reggie extended her hand. “Why don’t you let me keep Bella out here? You guys go in and talk to Ms. Bileen. I’ll see if I can find some of the kids to talk to.”
“Thanks, Reggie,” Joshua said, after a pause and a significant look at Coop. He seemed to be doing everything he could to get the reluctant agent to take charge once more, but she was having none of it.
“Hey, aren’t you hot?” Had asked Reggie. She was wearing a long sleeved shirt, and the temperature had to be well into the hundreds.
“I’m fine,” she demurred, even as she felt a bead of sweat drip down between her shoulder blades. “I just hate my arms.” If she had anything to say about it, no one would ever see them, no matter how high the temperature rose.
“Whatever,” Joshua said. “She’s wearing white. It reflects heat.”
Reggie smiled at him, grateful. He set his jaw and turned away, but not before she caught a glimpse of a twitching at the corner of his mouth. He tried to be tough, but she felt like she could see what was really under there.
As the rest of the team moved indoors, she began to rethink her plan. The group home was built of a sturd
y adobe brick, which looked like it might protect them from the worst of this heat. But out here, the sun beat down on her like a pneumatic drill. And she had skin that would burn just by looking out a window.
She had to find some shade, fast.
Glancing around, she spotted a structure that looked like a combination garage/shed, but was much larger than either. She trotted over to the shadow it cast, Bella trouncing along beside her. The respite from the sun felt like a kiss against her skin.
“Hey, lady,” a voice spoke beside her. “Can I pet your dog?”
Looking down, she saw a young boy, his face covered in smudges of dirt and grime. His expression was solemn, but she could see his fingers twitching in anticipation of rubbing Bella’s furry back.
“Go ahead,” she said. “Her name’s Bella, and she loves to get her ears scratched.”
The boy set to with a will, rubbing the puppy’s head, scratching her behind the ears, smoothing down her fur along her back and sides. Bella was in heaven, doing what she could to lick the dirt off the boy’s face. He giggled with glee as her tongue caught him in the nose. As soon as he noticed Reggie watching, however, the serious face came back down.
“We can’t have a dog,” he said, his tone mournful. “Shi’má says we’re too much like animals to have an animal. She also says animals aren’t to have.” From his tone, it was clear he wasn’t convinced.
But Reggie had also recognized the Navajo word shi’má. It meant “mom”.
“Shi’má?” she asked. “You mean Ms. Bileen?”
“Yeah. She’s our foster mom,” the boy said with pride, his attention still on Bella. “Why are you here?”
Reggie hesitated. She wasn’t sure how much she should talk about it with one of Jaime’s foster brothers. There was no way to know how close they’d been.
“We just needed to ask her a few questions,” she finally said.
“About Jaime?”
So much for trying to keep it from him. Kids could be so disarming with their ability to perceive more than what adults thought they did.
“Yes. That’s why we’re here,” she answered.
“I thought so.” Bella flopped down in the dust, rolling over onto her back. The boy rubbed the exposed belly, more than happy to oblige. “He was bad.”
“How do you mean?”
“He ran away from home all the time. And he smoked. Shi’má says we should never smoke. And sometimes he acted funny.”
Reggie was about to ask him what that meant, when a woman’s voice called out from the direction of the house.
“Darrel! Dii’twóósh! Where did you go?” The young boy at Reggie’s side went a bit pale as he heard the voice. “If you don’t get back in here and work on your math…” The owner of the voice rounded the corner of the garage, almost running into Reggie. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
The woman took Reggie off guard. She had used the term dii’twóósh, which meant troublemaker, but the woman was about as white as they came. Blond hair going white that was caught back in a tight bun at her neck, freckled skin, blue eyes. Reggie was used to being thought of as Caucasian, but once her Diné heritage was known, no one was surprised. This woman could never pass as part of the tribe.
With that said, she was wearing more silver and turquoise jewelry than most natives ever did. She was also outfitted in a long skirt that brushed up dirt as she moved, the hem dusty. A white short-sleeved blouse was partially covered by a woven vest with diamond patterns across its surface in black, white and red. At her waist she had a small beaded pouch, tied to her silver concho belt.
Realizing that she was staring, Reggie stepped forward and offered her hand. “I’m Officer Black. But please, call me Reggie.”
“Hello, Reggie,” the woman said, taking her hand. “I’m Sam. We’ve both got boy names.” She grinned, a toothy affair that left Reggie feeling blinded. “Looks like you’ve met this little rascal.” She pushed Darrel’s bottom with the toe of her moccasins toward the house. “You get your little tushy back inside, mister.”
“Okay, Bah.” That was odd. The boy had called her the Navajo word for warrior woman. Seemed like a strange nickname for someone taking care of kids. Maybe she was just a mama bear type.
“Hold on,” Sam said, reaching out to grab the boy by his collar and dragging him back toward her.
She pulled open the pouch at her waist, inserted her index finger and thumb, and pulled out a pinch of the substance inside. It was a yellow and dusty, coating her finger and thumb. Corn pollen. She quickly dusted the top of the boys head, his shoulders, knees and feet. Last of all she placed her hand close to Darrel’s mouth. He stuck out his tongue and Sam rubbed a bit of the powder on its tip.
Reggie did what she could to contain her surprise. This was something that was not at all unusual within the Diné themselves, but for an outsider to perform? It seemed a bit much, and Reggie found herself wanting to be anywhere but where she was right now.
“There,” Sam said, wiping away the remainder of the pollen on her fingers. “Now off with you. And no more getting into trouble.”
Darrel gave one last, longing look to Bella, then scampered off toward the main structure. Sam looked after him, letting out a long-suffering sigh.
“That kid’ll be the death of me yet.”
“Mischief maker?” Reggie asked.
Sam’s face clouded, then cleared as she seemed to pull a mask down over her feelings. “Not the worst of the bunch, by far. Kai’s done wonders for these kids, but some of them just seem like they’re past saving.”
“Like Jaime?” Reggie found herself asking. She winced on the inside as she saw the woman’s back stiffen and her expression harden even further.
“Is that why you’re here?”
Reggie was saved from having to answer when the rest of her team exited the front door of the house, led by a striking Native American woman. Kai Bileen. It had to be.
Unlike Sam, Kai was dressed in a V-neck short-sleeved purple shirt, jeans and a pair of beat up cowboy boots. Her olive skin was smooth and youthful, belying the streaks of white in her black hair.
“Sam, could you get back inside with the kids? I need to finish up with the FBI here.” Kai called out across the yard, shielding her face from the sun with a hand.
“Sure thing, Kai,” the old woman answered. Her tone toward the younger woman was respectful, almost reverential, as far as Reggie could tell. It was clear she held the Native American woman in high regard.
As Sam trudged off toward the house, Kai strode toward Reggie with her hand outstretched. “Officer Black, I’m guessing?”
“Um, yes.”
“And this must be Bella.” She reached down and gave Bella a pat. Bella hopped up and sniffed around her ankles and then made her way back toward Joshua. Reggie passed the leash over to him, as Kai straightened back up and fixed her with a look, turning in a circle to catch the rest of the team in the same appraisal.
“I know you’re here to find out if I had something to do with Jaime’s death.” She took a deep breath. “And… I did.”
CHAPTER 3
Kai’s statement punched a hole in the cotton-stuffed cocoon in which Sariah felt she was wrapped. Was the head of the group home really making a confession right before their eyes? Sariah wondered if she had missed an important part of the discussion.
It wouldn’t be a shock to her. She could see the reactions of her team as she drifted further and further from the image they had of her. The image of a strong, smart, independent woman who could lead her team to multiple convictions.
It was an image that Sariah had shared with them.
Had shared. Past tense.
Kai Bileen didn’t look like a killer. What was coming out of her mouth didn’t seem to match what Sariah was observing. But Sariah knew first-hand just how little that actually meant.
They had started the conversation while Ms. Bileen was still busy working with several children on some math word problems. Sariah had a
lways loved word problems. That put her in the minority, she knew from experience, but they made mathematics make real-world sense to her. More sense than the world itself seemed to make, at least of late.
After the foster mother had finished with the math, it had been a flurry of introductions, with Ms. Bileen herding children off to one locale or another. It seemed that she had set up a system where the older, teenage children were responsible for the young ones. As far as Sariah could tell, it was working, the interactions smooth from a sense of long-standing normality. This was just the way things were around here.
How Kai had set this all up in the space of less than two years was baffling. By all rights, the poor woman should still be reeling from the transition. Sariah tried to refocus her attention as the woman continued.
“Jaime was such a strong personality, and I’m still getting used to dealing with this many children,” Kai confessed. “I didn’t give him enough credit for how much he was helping with the younger ones, and we started butting heads.”
“That’s a far cry from being a part of his death,” Reggie said. The attractive… and Native American, Sariah had to remember that part of it… cop seemed sympathetic to this woman. Sariah felt a surge of irritation go through her, although she couldn’t identify the source for the life of her.
Kai shook her head, unconvinced. “If I could have kept him here and engaged, he never would have started running with that gang.”
“There’s a gang on the reservation?” Had asked, his eyes wide. Out of all of them, Sariah suspected he had the most idealistic view of what life on a reservation must look like. She found herself hoping that his innocence was taking a beating. No one should be that naïve.
Although, it was Had… he somehow seemed to keep his optimistic views on everything in spite of any and all evidence to the contrary. She turned away from him, struggling to stay engaged with what was happening around her.
“It’s not as organized as the ones back in Minneapolis when I was living there,” Kai demurred, “but sure. Drugs, some prostitution, and all of them smuggle alcohol in.”
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