“We’ll look for Tim first. The two of them may be together.”
“If you’re asking what I think, Loki, I vote for heading for the res.”
Loki nodded. “We can always go by the hospital on the way home.”
“We should have a plan when we get there.” Dadron pulled onto the highway and picked up speed. “The reservation covers approximately thirty-five thousand acres. If no one saw the direction Tim went, we could be there for days and not find anything.”
“What about his vehicle? Don’t they have trackers in those?”
Dadron shook his head. “Radios, but no trackers. I didn’t notice if he was carrying a cell phone.”
“He wasn’t, and even if he did, it wouldn’t work in the areas we were in yesterday.”
“Surely the other tribal police are looking for him by now.”
Loki shook her head. “Willa said there was a desecration near the Mother Mound last night, and a fight broke out this morning between a group of young Choctaws and a tourist family. The council has the entire force on patrol near the casinos.”
“Protect the money first,” Dadron growled. “If he was looking for the missing hunters, he would have gone to the last place they were seen, or wherever he found the third one. There must have been a news article or a police report on that.”
“We’ll wait until we get there and see what we can find out.”
They finished the drive in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. “I’ll check in with the police department and see if there’s any news. Willa works at the tourism office down the street. See if she’s heard anything, and I’ll meet you there. We can go by Grandfather’s house when we’ve finished.”
Dadron parked in front of the station. “Grandfather still has a lot of influence here, Loki. Be careful what you say.”
“I will.”
The station was empty except for the receptionist, who was busy painting her nails and didn’t bother to look up when Loki walked in. “Excuse me, I’d like to speak to someone about Officer Whitefeather.”
“He’s not in.”
“I know that. In fact, according to his mother, he’s missing, as is my Grandfather. Is there anyone here I can talk to about that?”
“Nope.”
“Then I’d like to see the file on the missing hunters. Do you think you could get that for me?”
“You’d need permission from the sergeant to do that.”
“And where can I find the sergeant?”
The girl shrugged. “Beats me.”
Loki reached across the desk and plucked the nail polish from the girl’s hand. “Then call someone that I can talk to about Officer Whitefeather, or call wherever the sergeant is.”
The receptionist’s beady eyes glared at Loki from beneath her shaggy red-and-blond bangs. “Your grandfather deserves to die, and you don’t belong here, Redmond. If you stay, you might just turn up missing yourself.”
The venom in the voice had Loki taking a step backward. The girl didn’t look older than eighteen, and to the best of Loki’s knowledge, she’d never seen her before. So why does she hate me so much?
Loki tossed the polish across the desk, smiling as a shriek emanated from the bright-red lips. “I don’t take threats lightly, and neither does the council. I’ll be sure to mention your attitude to both my grandfather and the chief.”
Vile curses rang in her ears as she pushed through the front door, taking a deep breath when she stepped into the sunshine. I hope Dadron had better luck than I did.
A quick glance at the car doused her hopes. Dadron was standing beside the vehicle, his arms crossed over his chest and his face a stony mask.
“What happened?”
“Farnham said they sent her home because she wouldn’t stop crying.”
“I know where they live. We’ll run by there.”
Dadron shook his head. “She was caught in a stone-throwing cross fire between two gangs. They had to helicopter lift her out and fly her to Jackson for brain surgery. Farnham said it doesn’t look good.”
“Damn it, Dadron.” Loki jerked open the car door and climbed in. “I hate this place.”
“What happened in the police station?”
Loki shrugged. “I was cursed and told I didn’t belong here and if I stayed, I might go missing.”
Dadron unhooked the seat belt he’d fastened and reached for the door handle.
“Don’t, Dadron. It was just some young kid, and she’s not worth the trouble it would cause for you. Let’s move on and try to find Tim.”
“And what about Grandfather?”
The curses hurled at her had included her grandfather. Maybe he was missing, but the best way to find him was to find Tim. “Let’s concentrate on Tim. We’ll worry about Grandfather after that.”
“Where do you want to start?”
Loki scanned the streets in front of them, all clean and opulent. This was where the money flourished, and no one here was going to give them the time of day. The people living in the clapboard houses, their children playing in the dust, were the ones hurting from oppression. “Head back to the basin, and we’ll stop at the houses along the way. Maybe one of them has seen or heard something. And Grandfather could have gone there to pray. We’ll stop by the grocery store and take a few things with us just in case.”
“Don’t forget to pick up some tobacco if you’re planning on trading groceries for information.”
Loki stared out the window at the passing scenery. She’d actually hoped to come back here someday. Bring her children and teach them the culture. Now the reservation was no different from the large cities, filled with greed, crime, and hatred. She raised a hand and wiped away the tear making its way down her cheek.
“You’re better off on the farm. Your children will learn everything they need to know there.” Dadron turned and smiled at her. “Just like we did.”
“Stop reading my mind.”
He chuckled and turned on the gravel road that would eventually lead them to the basin. “Body language, sis. Your face is an open book.”
Loki turned back to the window, her heart aching as they drove past empty, run-down houses with overgrown yards. “I’ll work on that. Where we’re going, I don’t want anyone to know what I’m thinking.”
7
“Mrs. Wilson?” Jake stopped beside the young woman viciously pulling weeds from around a bed of roses. “I’m Jake Savior.”
“Radolph told me you were coming.” She rose, pulling off her dirt-stained gloves. “My mother took the children home with her. We can talk inside.”
Jake followed her, taking the opportunity to study her profile. Her eyes were red, but that was the only sign of grief he could see.
“Would you like some lemonade? I made it fresh this morning. It was one of Rafe’s favorites when the weather got hot.”
“Lemonade sounds great.” People grieved in different ways. Ruth Wilson was a strong woman. Her husband was dead, but she’d still made his favorite drink. If Jake were a betting man, he’d be willing to bet she also cooked his favorite breakfast.
“Would you mind if we sat in the kitchen? I always find it more comfortable.” She pulled two glasses from a cabinet. “As much time as I spend in it, you’d think I would hate it.”
“It’s the center of the house for most families.”
She plunked in ice and filled the glasses. “I don’t know what I can tell you. The police have asked me every possible question that could be asked. I don’t know why Rafe did it, and no, he wasn’t any different in the last few days.” Her eyebrows knitted together. “Except for yesterday morning. He was more attentive. He even took the kids to school in his cruiser. They were always begging for a ride, and Rafe was always saying not today.”
“How many children do you have, Mrs. Wilson?”
“Please, call me Ruth.” She placed the glass in front of him and pulled out a chair. “Anna is two, and Michael and Leesa are eight.”
“Somet
imes things happen that at the time don’t seem strange, but when you look back on them, you realize it wasn’t a normal day. Any strange calls, or visitors you didn’t know?”
Ruth shook her head. “Most of Rafe’s visitors were strangers to me.” With a trembling hand, she wiped the condensation from her glass. “I lost my husband a long time ago, Mr. Savior. His first and only love was the job. It’s why none of this makes any sense.”
Her words opened old wounds, ones Jake thought had healed. They also convinced him Rafe Wilson was an honest cop and would never have killed another officer unless forced to. When a cop believed in justice, the job consumed him, taking over his life. It replaced his family in his mind and, sometimes, in his heart.
“You said he was more attentive yesterday morning. How was he acting?”
“Different. He wasn’t in his normal hurry to rush out the door. He sat and ate breakfast with Anna, ruffled her hair, and kissed her several times. Then he offered to take Michael and Leesa to school, something he’s never done before.” Tears filled her eyes. “He hugged me before he left. Not just his customary quick hug, but holding me close to him. And he kissed me and told me he loved me.”
He knew he was going to die. “Did your husband have an office here in the house, or someplace he considered just his space?”
“There’s a small room above the garage. He would go there sometimes to think when a case was really bugging him.”
Jake took a drink of lemonade and turned away to hide his grimace. Either Rafe liked his beverage unsweetened, or Ruth had forgotten to put in sugar. “Would you mind if I took a look around that room?”
“No, of course not. I’ll show you where the stairs are.”
Jake followed her outside and into the garage. “There’s a pull-down rope. Radolph is coming next week, and I’d planned on asking him to clear it out. I’m terrified of heights.”
The rope was too high for the children to reach, and Ruth was terrified of heights. If Rafe Wilson had been hiding anything, that was where the evidence would be.
Jake climbed the rickety stairs and pulled the cord for the light at the top. The room was small, a well-used sofa taking up one wall and a small desk occupying most of the center. Jake recognized the manila folders strewn across the desk because of his own police work he’d occasionally brought home. Some cases got under his skin and couldn’t be left at the office. He was pretty sure it wasn’t a case that had caused Rafe Wilson to kill three officers.
A framed picture of Rafe’s wife and children had been placed in the center of the desk. Jake sat in the chair, his gaze locked on the photo. Rafe must have sat here for hours just looking at that picture. Why?
No insights or words of wisdom came to mind, and Jake turned his attention to the middle drawer, which contained an organizer with everything in place. He was about to close it and give up when the edge of a photograph stuck in the back of the drawer caught his attention. “Let’s see what you’re hiding.” He jerked on the drawer, pulling it from the desk. Two photos dropped to the floor, both of them pictures of Rafe’s wife and children. The words scrawled across the photos sent icy-cold fingers down Jake’s spine. Innocent blood. Would you die for them?
It often took a threat or loss for people to realize what was truly important in their life. Ruth Wilson might have lost her husband to the job, but when someone had threatened his family, he’d stepped up and died for them.
Dadron skidded to a stop and parked. “I’ll be right back.” He rushed to where an old man was struggling to carry two buckets of water from the creek.
Pride filled Loki’s heart as she watched him take the buckets and carry them toward the house. Grandfather could say whatever he wanted, but Dadron and Jules had both grown into fine young men. They would never have accomplished that if she’d stayed on the reservation.
A young woman came out on the porch, spoke with Dadron, and waved to Loki. After exiting the car, Loki approached. The young woman had looked familiar from a distance, but it wasn’t until Loki was really close that she recognized her. “Neta Blackwell?”
“It’s good to see you, Loki. I didn’t think you’d ever come back. Please come in and sit with me for a while. Tell me where you’ve been and what you’ve seen.”
Loki threaded her way across the rotting boards of the porch. Time was important, but refusing Neta’s offer would have insulted her and her father. “I would probably bore you to death.”
Neta ducked her head as Loki entered the house. “I don’t have anything to offer you for refreshments. I’m sorry.”
The outside of the building appeared to be falling in, but the inside was sparkling clean. Loki needed to speak carefully, as it appeared that all Neta had left was her pride. “We have some groceries in the car. Would you mind if we brought them in? Or would your father mind? We were hoping to trade them for information.”
“What kind of information?”
“Anything you can tell us about the hostility here, the missing hunters, and Tim Whitefeather. We were supposed to meet him this morning, but he’s missing. Rumor has it Grandfather is missing too.”
“Bring in the groceries. I will talk to Papa.”
Loki fidgeted nervously as Neta put away the groceries then made a pot of coffee and sliced the chocolate cake Loki had thrown in the cart just in case there were children present. She’d forgotten how slow things moved here.
“Now we have refreshments, and now we can talk.” Neta waited until Loki was seated with a fresh cup of coffee in front of her and a huge piece of chocolate cake. “For many years we were immune to most of the outside influences of the Western world. In the last few years, drugs have flowed in, and our young people have started roaming in packs. Gangs, I believe you call them. There is where your hostility comes from. They are no longer happy to work the land. They want the fast cars and thrills the drugs bring. And they have no shame in taking what they have not worked for.”
“What have you heard about the lost hunters?”
“Rumors that they desecrated holy ground and were captured and punished by Nalusa Falaya.”
“Do you know where they were last seen, or where Tim found the third hunter?”
“Papa knows. He says he will show you once he has finished his cake. He also says two cars went up the road last night, but only one came out.”
Tim. “Thank you, Neta. We really have to go now.”
“It gets lonely here, Loki. I will pray that you find what you are looking for and that you will come again.”
“I’d love to have you visit the farm and meet Jake, Grace, and baby Hope.”
Neta hugged her. “That would be nice. I know that Papa is slow, but please allow him to go with you to look for the hunters. It will bring a dying old man great pleasure to once again feel useful.”
Slow wasn’t the word Loki would have used to describe Mr. Blackwell, but Neta’s words pulled at her heartstrings. “Of course he can go.”
8
Hope giggled as Jules tossed her into the air and caught her again. “You’re spoiling her, Jules.”
“She’s happy.” He placed her in the high chair next to the table and pulled out a seat.
“Do you want to talk about yesterday?” Grace placed the sandwich she’d made him for lunch on the table. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“It was horrible. I felt his anguish, and his regret. He didn’t want to kill them.” Jules bit into the sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. “And he didn’t want to die. It was different this time. I also felt the bullets as they hit his body.”
Grace placed her own sandwich on the table and a handful of Cheerios in front of Hope. “You can’t do that again, Jules. I saw what it did to you, not just emotionally but also physically.”
“I thought I could stop him. I couldn’t.”
“There are rules. Some things we can change, and some we have to accept.”
“I don’t like rules, and neither do you.”
; Grace took a bite of her sandwich, not really hungry but wanting to share time with Jules. “Do you ever wish you didn’t see, hear, or feel things others don’t? To be normal?”
“Sometimes. Agent Wilkes talked to me before he left. He explained a lot of it, and how the mind works. He says fear from the night I was lost opened centers in my brain that everyone has, but most people either don’t know how to use them or don’t want to use them.”
“Have you ever tried to remember what happened that night?”
Jules finished his sandwich before answering. “I don’t want to talk about that.”
“What if you had to to help someone else, like I did with Isabella? Would you do it then?”
He studied her face, gazing into her eyes. Grace knew he was looking for answers. They were answers she didn’t have but knew were needed to protect those she loved.
“If it meant saving Loki or Dadron, I would try. Are you saying I need to do that?”
“I feel helpless, Jules. Something horrible is happening, and I don’t know what it is or how to stop it. I know you feel it too. We have what everyone calls these strange abilities, and I still feel like I’m running in the dark with no idea where the danger lies.”
“Jake took me to the place where Loki keeps seeing the young girl run across the road. There was nothing there.”
Grace cleared the table, accepting the fact that he wanted to change the subject. “Residual haunting, maybe?”
“Residual what?”
“You should go on the internet more. It has a wealth of information on everything. Sometimes when something really traumatic happens, an energy loop is created and continues to play over and over. Some people can see what’s sort of a psychic image of the loop as it replays.”
“You mean this poor kid’s spirit is trapped, replaying her death over and over?”
“No, silly. There is no spirit there, just an impression of energy. It happens with sounds too, which is why some people hear footsteps or voices when there’s no one in the house but them. The child Loki saw may not have died, but whatever happened to her was so traumatic at the time that she expended enough energy to create the loop.”
Innocent Blood Page 4