Van swayed on his feet from too much alcohol. “I had a long talk with my grandmother earlier this evening. She told me what you think, about that cockamamie story you gave her. She told me what your stupid mother claimed happened with my father. I got news for you, lady, I’m not standing around letting you weasel your way into my family. There’s been no DNA test to prove we’re related. Nothing to confirm anything. So don’t go getting your sights lasered in on my grandmother’s dough. You got that?”
Van stepped closer. “Stay away from my grandmother. I don’t care if you are the police chief’s girlfriend.”
Lando heard his name or maybe it was the threat and started pushing open the car door. But Gemma put all her weight against it to keep it closed, holding it in place so he couldn’t get out. The last thing Lando needed tonight was to get into an altercation with a taxpayer, especially since he was still hyped up on uppers. So far, she’d been able to hide it from everyone at the bar and intended to keep it that way. While Van might be loaded on God knows what, people weren’t depending on Van Coyote to keep the peace.
With a sadness that started in her throat and inched down to her belly, she watched her brother stagger off to a black pickup truck parked at the far end of the lot. The angry red aura she saw emanating off him scared her just a little.
She felt like running after him to keep him from driving. But in his state of mind she doubted it would do any good. Instead, she took out her cell phone and dialed 411. Directory assistance gave her Van’s number at home.
When a woman’s voice answered, Gemma went into her spiel. “This is Gemma Channing. Sorry to bother you so late but I thought you should know Van just left the Duck & Rum and he’s been drinking. I don’t think he should drive.”
On the other end of the line, she heard Nova suck in air. “Did he confront you? I told him not to do that. I’m so sorry.”
“Let’s just say my first encounter with my brother didn’t exactly go like I’d hoped. Nova, I just don’t want him to get into an accident. That’s why I’m calling.”
“My kids are sleeping, but I’ll run over there and pick him up. Is there any way you can stop him from getting in that truck until I get there?”
Gemma bit her lip. “I don’t think so, but I’ll give it a shot. If I hurry I might be able to block his exit with the car. After all, I am sitting in a police cruiser.”
“Great. Do that and I’ll be right there.”
Gemma hit the gas and circled the lot, positioning the SUV behind Van’s pickup.
“What are we doing?” Lando asked as he slumped against the passenger side door. “Who were you talking to on the phone?”
“Just sit tight and no matter what that guy in the pickup says or does don’t do anything stupid. He’s drunk and we’re waiting for his wife to show up.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t feel so good. My head hurts like a freight train’s running through my brain.”
“I bet it does,” Gemma muttered as she kept an eye out for Nova.
Van didn’t take kindly to seeing a police car pulling up behind his truck. “What the hell’s going on here? Get out of my way. I gotta get home.”
Gemma rolled the window down a few inches, so she could yell at him. “Not until your wife gets here to drive you home.”
“You called my wife? Why? I’m perfectly capable of getting myself home.”
“Sure, that’s what all the drunks say.”
“Who you callin’ a drunk?” Van shouted as he jumped out of the vehicle.
“I’ll handle this,” Lando said, fumbling for the handle on the door.
“No, you won’t,” Gemma stated, grabbing his arm. “You’re staying put. We’re just gonna sit here and play it cool for the next few minutes.”
But cool wasn’t on Van’s agenda. He let out a string of curses peppered with a string of insults.
Tired of listening to the racket, Lando tried to get out of the car again. “That’s it. I’m arresting this dumbass for disturbing the peace.”
“That dumbass is my brother,” Gemma reminded him as a car horn blasted out to her left. She spotted Nova behind the wheel of a subcompact Kia.
Nova was in no mood to argue or take any guff off her husband. “Lock up your truck and get in the car, Van. Now!”
“Aww, honey. I could’ve driven home,” Van said, swaying on his feet. “She didn’t have to bother you like this.”
“Look at you! I left two babies at home asleep and I’m not gonna sit here and argue with you when it’s almost two in the morning. Now get in the damn car!”
This time Van did as he was told.
Nova sent Gemma a wave as she put the Kia in reverse. “Thank you for not letting him drive home like this.”
“No problem. We’ll talk later.”
Nova smiled. “Yes, I reckon we will.”
“Do you guys have to talk so loud?” Lando complained as he held his aching head in his hands. “Mind telling me again what that was all about?”
Gemma put the car in gear and roared out of the lot. “Just a little icing on an otherwise really crappy night.”
“Hey, I thought the show went great,” Lando stated.
“You would, since that handful of Buddy’s extra special bennies gave you the ability to walk on the ceiling or at least feel like you could. By the way, the crowd really went for your Mick Jagger impression. Better hope there’s no video of that available if anyone ever wants to replace you as the top cop.”
“I did a Mick Jagger impression?”
“Oh honey, not only did you do Jagger, you tried Chuck Berry’s duck walk. I will say you put more effort into it than Michael J. Fox ever did in Back to the Future. But that’s little comfort if your enemies ever get wind of it. Trust me. You’re gonna want to confiscate any video of tonight. Period.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t often see a police chief parade around like he’s on crack.”
10
Lando paid dearly for his mistake. The next morning his head still felt like a wrecking ball kept smashing into the side of his skull.
At six-thirty when he tried to pick up his phone from the nightstand to check messages, his hands shook so hard he dropped the device and it slid underneath the bed. After spending ten minutes trying to retrieve it, his body sweated like a man working construction in a hundred and twenty degree heat in the middle of Death Valley.
Though he had puked several times already, Gemma insisted he drink water to hydrate. She arrived back in the bedroom in time to see him teeter and sway on his feet.
She shoved him back into bed and took the phone out of his hand. “Dale and Jimmy will manage anything that comes up today. They know you’re still drugged out and in no shape to help with any emergency right now.”
“I’m not…drugged out.”
She put her fingers to his lips. “Shh. Don’t argue.”
“What about the trip to Shadow Canyon?”
“Don’t worry about it. You’re in no shape to ride a horse.”
“I can do it,” Lando insisted as he instinctively burrowed under the covers.
Rufus trotted in to rest his head on the bed in a show of sympathy.
“Really? So bouncing up and down on a horse is preferable to staying in bed and sleeping it off. Better use today to recover or else Monday will hit you like a freight train.”
“You go ahead. Go without me. You don’t have to stay here and babysit me.”
“I like babysitting you, especially when you do something truly stupid.”
Lando made a face. “Don’t remind me. Do you have to talk so loud?”
She ran a hand over his damp forehead. “Sorry. Get some sleep. Maybe we’ll catch up with the others later.”
He grabbed her hand. “No really, go without me. I’ll just…lie here…and die…alone.”
“Luke says you just feel like you’re dying.”
“It’d be nice if my brother gave me something for this nasty hea
dache.”
“He did caution against taking any of the Demerol with speed any time soon. It’s a great way to experience respiratory failure firsthand or bring on a heart attack.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not planning on taking anything stronger than an aspirin.”
“Let’s hope not. I wouldn’t take any pills from Suzanne for a while either. Dale went over there this morning and confiscated Buddy’s stash. All of it. Well, supposedly all of it. Turns out, Buddy kept a small amount of acid in there that wasn’t marked. Buddy admitted to Dale that Suzanne could just as easily have given it to you because she had no idea what it was. So who knows what you actually took.”
Lando groaned and rolled over.
Gemma closed the bedroom door and went into the kitchen, where she texted Leia that they wouldn’t be riding anywhere, not today. She scrambled eggs and was just about to sit down to have breakfast when the doorbell rang.
Rufus beat her to the door and stood wagging his tail, waiting for it to open.
Lydia held up a basket filled with jam and bread---croissants wrapped up in a bright red cloth to keep them warm. “After that spectacle last night I thought Lando could use some of my homemade prickly pear preserves. Besides, I finally got the truth out of Luke. He said Lando was strung out on speed.”
Gemma chuckled. “Listen to you. What would you know about speed?”
“Oh, please. I was young once."
“Come on in. The thing is, he’s sacked out and probably will be for the rest of the day.”
Lydia patted Gemma’s hand. “More for us then.”
“The coffee’s hot and the eggs aren’t as good as the ones you make, but there’s plenty.”
Lydia unpacked the basket and held up a quart-sized jar filled with purple liquid.
“What is that stuff?”
“An old remedy for a hangover. Cactus juice.”
“You’re kidding? You’re gonna try to get Lando to drink that? Lots of luck.”
Lydia snickered. “He is a tad on the picky side, isn’t he? The juice from the prickly pear wards off all kinds of toxins. Natives have known about its powers since they started using medicinal plants thousands of years ago. It’s one of the best natural ways to fight off the effects of booze by detoxing the liver. We’re about to find out what it does after too many amphetamines. We’ll let him sleep a little longer, take our time eating breakfast, and then make him drink as much of this as he can hold.”
Gemma unscrewed the lid and took a sniff. “Smells good, actually.”
“Go ahead, try some,” Lydia prodded. “It’s good for what ails you. I ought to know, I’ve been using it in salads and vinaigrettes at the restaurant since I took over running the kitchen. Never had one complaint. But that’s my little secret. It’s a wonderful, all-around fruit that’s overlooked for its health benefits.”
Gemma sniffed the contents again before taking a tiny sip. “Wow. Not bad.” She took another swig, this time bigger. “Tastes a little like watermelon, only sweeter.”
“Flavorful and good for you,” Lydia said, sounding like a commercial. She plopped down at the table. “You watch, this’ll have my boy up and like new in no time.”
“Was it just Luke who sent you over, or did Leia find out, too?”
Lydia dished up eggs, piling them on her plate. “We cornered Luke this morning and tortured the truth out of him. You should’ve told us last night. We knew something was wrong by the way Lando acted. Leia was the first to sound the alarm this morning. Plus, she knew how much you were looking forward to seeing Shadow Canyon, and when you cancelled, red flags. With all this going on with Louise, who could blame you for wanting a peaceful afternoon? It’s a perfect place to spend a lazy summer day. Who knows? You might even catch a glimpse of Aponivi.”
“You think so?”
“I don’t see why not. The keeper of truth often appears on summer days as a dust devil, roaring through the canyon walls right before a monsoon hits.”
Gemma checked the weather forecast on her phone. “No rain on the horizon…at all.”
Lydia waved off the comment. “Monsoons can appear out of nowhere. Aponivi showing up seems to bring them on. But he’s also a bit of a weather forecaster himself…in life, about life. He’s known to make a person see things they don’t want to see, make them aware of things they never knew.”
“Like bad weather’s coming?”
“Weather is a metaphor that means a lot of things. Aponivi acts like a window into a person’s past and his future based on that past.”
Gemma grinned at her once-upon-a-time mother-in-law. “Now you’re talking in riddles, Lydia.”
“I suppose I am. You’ll have to see him for yourself to judge. Leia didn’t want you to miss a chance at an encounter. And if my miracle cure doesn’t work, I’ll sit with Lando until he feels better.”
“That’s ridiculous. He’s a grown man who’s been taking care of himself for years.”
Lydia smiled. “That’s right, which means he doesn’t need a babysitter, not you or me. If Luke thought there was a chance he’d have a serious reaction from those pills, he would’ve admitted him to the clinic to keep an eye on him.”
“So you think I’m overreacting?”
“It’s sweet that you want to make sure he’s okay, but I don’t think Lando Bonner needs a nurse.”
“I know you’re right. The fact is I freaked out the other day when he got shot. I decided I wanted to be the best wife…I mean, girlfriend that any chief of police has ever had. He mentioned he thought I might not be able to handle his job, danger and all. I admit it gave me pause. I mean, look what happened to Ben Markham. Ben died because he stopped some crazy nut for speeding out on the highway. Knowing how fragile life is, I want to prove to Lando I support his career no matter what, no matter how dangerous it is.”
Lydia’s face showed real concern. “Just be yourself, Gemma. It’s all anyone can ask of someone they love. Don’t try to be someone you aren’t.”
“But…I want him to know I…I love that man more than anyone else in the world. I always have. I want to show him I can be a steady rock every time he walks out that door to face…whatever risks are out there.”
“You’ve certainly matured from that girl who married my boy when she was eighteen.”
“Let’s hope so. Do you really think you’ll get Lando to drink that stuff?”
“Never underestimate a mother. Wanna bet on it?”
“Sure. Twenty bucks says he won’t let that pass his lips.”
“You’re on.”
After breakfast, Gemma stood back and let Lydia make her case to a grumpy, irritated man, who basically just wanted to be left alone.
At first, Lydia’s pitch for her super cure didn’t convince the stubborn Lando of anything. And there was no amount of arm twisting that worked.
“Mom, I told you before that stuff is not for me.”
“Don’t be such a baby. Do you want to stay in bed all day and waste such a beautiful Sunday? Wouldn’t you rather man up and take something that’ll make you feel better? Don’t you want to spend your day off with Gemma outdoors instead of curled up in a fetal position?”
“Shaming me into drinking that vile stuff won’t work,” Lando grunted. “However…if it’ll take away this pain in my head…maybe I’ll risk it.”
“You won’t know that until you drink it,” Lydia insisted. “I’m not trying to poison you, for goodness sake. I’m your mother.”
Lando blew out a breath. “Fine. Hand it over.”
Gemma watched as he downed the entire jar in one long gulp.
The stuff made him belch as he handed the jar back to his mother. “Satisfied now?”
“Of my three kids, you always were the most obstinate child I had,” Lydia grumbled. “Now sit back and let that work its way through your system. Let me know when you start feeling better.”
It took most of the morning for Lando to act like his old self again. His stomach had s
ettled down enough that he ate two pieces of toast spread with prickly pear jam and drank a pot of coffee. He had to pee a lot, but other than that felt less wobbly. His head had stopped throbbing about an hour after he drank the wonder juice.
By ten-thirty, they waved goodbye to Lydia and left Rufus taking a morning nap in his doggie bed. Zeb’s place was a short drive away.
The compound known as Long Shadow Stables sat among the rolling hills between Shadow Canyon and Fire Mountain. The views from all sides were breathtaking and worth the trip. A cluster of Spanish-style ranch houses and casitas dotted the landscape, giving each member of the family a place for private quarters. The ranch hands slept in a state-of-the-art bunkhouse with six bedrooms that could accommodate a dozen workers. It had a communal kitchen, a dining room with a long farmhouse table, and a rec room for unwinding after a long day or relaxing in front of a flat-screen TV.
Gemma made the turn onto a long driveway that twisted and curved its way up to the main house before veering off toward the paddock.
The gang had already gathered near the corral when she pulled her Volvo into the parking lot.
“Looks like we haven’t missed much,” Lando remarked.
“Getting a late start, though. At least they waited.”
Luke greeted them with his usual good nature. “Glad to see the rock star didn’t croak.”
“I hope you don’t use croak in front of your unfortunate patients,” Lando sneered, glaring at his brother. He channeled his sour mood into a further insult. “And you call yourself a medical doctor. You couldn’t give me anything to get me up out of bed, and yet our mother mixed up some concoction our forefathers used a hundred years ago and had me up on my feet in no time. Here I am, fit as a fiddle.”
Luke was in no mood to take guff off his brother. “You’re saying you wanted me to hand out drugs to you? Since when did the police chief become such a pill-popper?”
“Bite me,” Lando snarled.
“Didn’t improve your mood, I see,” Luke grunted. “That would take another miracle drug, I suppose. A shame our forefathers couldn’t find a cure for your bad temperament.”
Shadow Canyon Page 10