Innocent Blood

by Linda S. Prather

  “That’s what you get for going off alone.”

  “It will be dark soon, and something out here scared Tim Whitefeather enough to put him in a coma. I’d like to know what it was.”

  “Fake shadows.”

  “What?”

  Dadron laughed. “I looked around while you were gone. Come on. I’ll show you.”

  Loki followed him to a cluster of trees. Black sheets sprinkled with glitter hung from several of the branches. “At night with the wind blowing, these would look like dark shadows floating over the ground and around the trees.” Dadron moved close to one tree and pulled a branch. “Meet Nalusa Falaya.”

  The black sheet had been attached to a skeleton, giving it a humanoid shape.

  Loki examined the figure. “Whoever did this went to an awful lot of trouble to scare someone. I don’t think Tim was their intended victim.”

  “Neither do I. I think this was intended for you, me, and Jules, only you didn’t listen to Grandfather long enough for it to get dark, and Jules wasn’t with us.”

  Loki sat on a fallen log, cradling her head in her hands. “Why, Dadron? Why would Grandfather do something so evil to the children of his only son?”

  Dadron sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We don’t know that it is Grandfather, and I don’t know the answer to that. Once we take care of Tim, we’ll find Grandfather and ask him. We should get back. Neta may need help, and since it looks like we’re going to be here for a while, we should set up some sort of camp for the night.”

  “Someone stole Tim’s vehicle. Do you think ours is safe here tonight?”

  “I brought my rifle, and I’m a light sleeper. I think it will be safe.”

  When they arrived, Tim Whitefeather was surrounded by a cloud of smoke, and Neta was singing a prayer chant. The ancient words flowed off her tongue easily and naturally.

  “I’d forgotten how beautiful some of our rituals are.” Loki sat on the ground and hugged her knees to her chest. The sun was setting, and the basin was beginning to darken. “Do we have enough wood for the fire?”

  “Plenty. I brought the cooler down from the car too. Nothing to eat, but we have water.”

  Neta stopped singing, and the smoke slowly lifted. “Dadron, I need your help.”

  He rushed toward her as the towel-covered body began to sway. “What do you need?”

  Neta removed the towels. “Carefully pull his hands away from his knees.”

  Dadron knelt beside Tim and moved his left arm, then the right.

  “Now sit behind him and support his weight. I’m going to stretch out his legs.”

  Loki continued to watch, her mind working through everything that had happened in the last two days. Neta had mentioned drugs and gangs. Tim had talked about the desecration of mounds and drug runners. Such behaviors really weren’t all that unusual in today’s world. The missing hunters were a problem, especially after the mutilation of the third one, but that was a job for the Feds, as was the drug running. So why did Grandfather want us here? Her gaze drifted to the smoke slowly traveling toward the sky. Smoke screens. All of this was a cleverly designed smoke screen to keep them busy while something else was going on. She’d forgotten to call Jake, or Jules and Grace. She would see Tim through this, find the hunters if they could, then they were going home. Grandfather could save himself.

  10

  Hushed voices woke Loki from a deep sleep. Dadron and Mr. Blackwell were speaking in Choctaw. She felt ashamed that she couldn’t understand them. The elders were complaining that the young people no longer spoke the language, preferring English. It was the one thing she could agree with Grandfather on—their culture was dying.

  “There’s coffee if you would like some,” Neta said.

  “I’d love some, but where did we get coffee?” Loki tossed off the blanket and sat up. “And where did we get blankets?”

  Neta passed her a cup. “I drove back to the house after you went to sleep and picked up some supplies. Tim is sleeping now, and Dadron and Father built a travois from the poles and blankets. As soon as it is light enough, we can carry him to the top and move him to the house.” Neta reached into the cooler beside her and pulled out a package. “Thanks to your supplies, I also made sandwiches if you are hungry. Dadron was starved.”

  “Dadron is always starved.” Loki removed the packaging and bit into the sandwich. Like the farm, this place was beautiful at night, the quiet seeping into her body and relaxing the chaos the fast pace of everyday life left inside her head.

  “How is Harry?”

  Loki had forgotten Neta’s crush on her cousin Harry. She’d idolized him all through the early years of their childhood and followed him around like a lovesick puppy. “He’s fine. He works for the Corpus Christi police force.”

  “Has he married?”

  “Not yet, but he’s engaged to Jenna James, the local district attorney.”

  Neta bowed her head and sighed. “He was always a good man. He will make her very happy.”

  Loki laughed. “Life there is pretty hectic, and the two of them are both bullheaded. I predict some major fireworks in that relationship.”

  “And you, Loki, are you married?”

  The conversation was turning much too personal for Loki’s comfort, but she knew Neta was lonely. “No.”

  “But you are in love. I can see it in your eyes. You mentioned a baby. Is he yours?”

  “No, the baby isn’t mine, and it’s a girl. When we came here, we found a thirteen-year-old girl with a baby, and she was running away from a man who had kidnapped and abused her. He and his mother were serial killers. To make a long story short, after we solved that case, Jake and I adopted Grace and Hope. They live with us on the farm.”

  Neta refilled her coffee cup. “Tell me about Jake.”

  “Jake was Harry’s partner on the police force. That’s how I met him, and much like you with Harry, I fell in love with him.”

  Neta leaned back on a blanket and stretched out. “There is much more to that story than you’re telling.”

  “I was sixteen, and Jake was married and madly in love with his wife. Cara was a beautiful, sweet woman. So I suffered in silence, opened a private investigator’s office, and went to work raising Dadron and Jules.”

  “I can feel your pain. What happened to Cara?”

  Loki sighed, the memories painful. “Jake, Harry, and Jenna got involved with a crooked judge and his son. He hired a bomber to kill Jenna. Last year the crazy bomber’s wife came to Corpus Christi to finish the job. She killed Cara, and Jake was badly injured emotionally and physically.” Her voice trailed off as the magnitude of everything they’d gone through washed over her. “Once again, to make a long story short, after the dust settled, I brought Jake to my grandfather’s farm to heal. We found Grace and Hope, and we gradually built our relationship. We’re still taking things slow.”

  Mr. Blackwell’s guffaw drifted across the basin. “Thank you for allowing my father to be a part of this. He has cancer, and the doctors are only giving him a few more months. As I said before, this is the happiest I’ve seen him since before Mother died.”

  “I’m sorry, Neta. He’s been a huge help, and I think Dadron has enjoyed talking with him in Choctaw. I’m afraid mine is very rusty.”

  “He’s had a long life, and for the most part a good one. Tell me about Grace.”

  “She should have been born Choctaw. She’s interested in everything and has already learned more about using plants for healing than I have. And she’s hopelessly in love with Jules, but she just turned fourteen, so she has a long wait before Jake and I will agree to more than friendship between them. We started her in home schooling, but next year we want her to attend public school. Her childhood was stolen from her, and we want her to experience at least a part of being a teenager.” A thought struck Loki, and she smiled at Neta. “Grace would make a perfect medicine woman if you wouldn’t mind teaching her. We have plenty of room, and you could stay
with us.”

  Neta’s gaze strayed to her father. “Once Father is gone, I would like that. We should sleep now. We don’t know what the morning will bring.”

  Neta closed her eyes. In minutes Loki could hear the deep, even breathing of a peaceful sleep. The ground was hard, and her back was hurting. I’m too old for this. Careful not to disturb Neta or Tim, she rose and stretched before making her way to Dadron and Mr. Blackwell, who were still in animated conversation. “It will be daylight in a few hours, and the two of you should get some sleep. I can take over guarding the car.”

  Dadron handed her the rifle he’d been balancing across his knees. “That sounds like a good idea.”

  Loki made herself as comfortable as possible and leaned against the boulder Dadron had been leaning against. She could still feel the warmth of his body. Time passed, and the sun was just beginning to rise when the quiet seeped into her, relaxing her body and closing her eyes. The vision came on fast, her eyes jerking open as birds burst into flight. Her scream shattered the silence. “Jake!”

  Jake woke to beeping machines, hushed voices, and a lot of pain radiating from his right shoulder. He forced his eyes open.

  “Glad to see you awake, buddy.” Reginald Merriweather leaned over the bed as a nurse adjusted the IV. “You gave me quite a scare.”

  “What happened?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me. You were shot.”

  Jake closed his eyes and retraced his movements. He’d awakened early and couldn’t go back to sleep, so he’d decided to head for Anderson. He remembered checking out of the motel and walking into the parking lot. After that there was nothing. “The last thing I remember is checking out of the motel.” He moved to sit up and groaned.

  “You need to lie flat, Mr. Savior.” The nurse checked his bandage. “I’ll let you and your friend talk, but not too long. You need your rest.”

  Jake waited until the door closed then opened his eyes. “Where are my clothes?”

  “Like the nurse said, Jake, you need to rest. The doctor says you’re not going anywhere for a few days, so you might as well relax and enjoy it. I’ve been told if you don’t, I’m to give that little lady in Pearl River a call and she’ll make sure you do.”

  “Loki. How did she know?”

  “Beats me. The captain called me as soon as the call came in about you. I was there in five minutes, and your cell phone rang, and I answered it. Told her I’d have you call as soon as you were awake.” He pulled the phone from his pocket and laid it on the nightstand. “You might want to wait until you’re a little more awake, though. She also said the service out there sucked, so you might not be able to reach her. Somebody named Jules and Grace are on their way here.”

  “Give me the phone. I’ve got to stop them.”

  Merriweather handed him the phone. “They sounded pretty adamant about coming. Probably already on their way.”

  “Jules is Choctaw. He’s not safe here. Besides that, he’s not used to driving very far. All he has is a learner’s permit.”

  “Shit. If he’s Choctaw, you’re right. He gets pulled over here, they’ll rough him up.”

  Jake dialed the number for the farm and listened through four rings. A searing pain moved across his chest, and he dropped the phone. “Call Loki and have her stop them. If she doesn’t answer, call the tribal police on the reservation and have them send someone after her.” Jake gasped for breath. “Tell them it’s a matter of life and death.”

  Merriweather hit the nurse button and screamed for help. “I’ll stop them, partner, just as soon as I get you taken care of.”

  11

  “Thank you.” Loki ended the call.

  “How’s Jake?” Dadron placed an arm around her and pulled her close.

  “Merriweather said he woke up, but he got upset when he found out Jules and Grace were on their way to see him. He had an episode, so the nurse gave him enough morphine to knock him out. You may have to run interference for me when we get home.”

  “Interference?”

  “I called Captain Carson and had him pick up Jules and take him and Grace home. Since he only has a learner’s permit, it was an easy fix.”

  “He’s gonna be pretty pissed at you.”

  “I know, but after Merriweather explained the situation in Tunica, I’d rather have him pissed at me than locked up down there with hostile police officers.”

  “Do you want to leave? We could be there in a couple of hours.”

  Loki knew her scream had rattled the nerves of all of them, but at least it had one positive effect—it had wakened Tim, and they’d been able to return to the house. She glanced at Neta, who was spoon-feeding water to Tim. “How is Tim doing?”

  “Better, but he’s still not totally coherent. He kept babbling about Nalusa Falaya and snakes. I told him about the sheets, and Neta explained the effects of fear on the body. You didn’t answer my question. Do you want to go to Jake?” Dadron asked.

  “Yes, but I can’t. We have to find those hunters. And if what Tim said is true about the tall man bringing Grandfather here, we’ll have to find him too. As Neta said, if we don’t squash this myth thing, soon a lot of innocent people are going to suffer. If we finish up here, we can help Jake before another officer starts shooting people.”

  “You don’t think the cases are connected, do you?”

  Loki shook her head. “I thought they might be at first, but I think this one has something to do with Grandfather, and that one has something to do with revenge.”

  Dadron’s features darkened, and his pupils turned into tiny beads of pure hatred. “When we find him, you should let me talk to Grandfather. I’ll get the truth from him one way or the other.”

  “We’ll talk about that when the times comes. If we’re going after the hunters, we’ll need to go into town for camping supplies.” Loki ignored Dadron’s anger. Hopefully he would calm down. “They were last seen near Tallahaga Ridge. We’ll have to walk most of the way, and we could be gone a couple of days.” Loki sniffed the air. “We’re also going to take showers before we start. You smell like an animal den.”

  Dadron grinned. “You don’t smell so sweet yourself, Lokeah.”

  “Don’t you dare start calling me that.”

  “I won’t, but I can’t promise the same for Jake and Jules when I tell them.”

  “Dadron Redmond, you will not tell Jake and Jules or, or…”—she stomped by him—“I’ll never forgive you.”

  “I’m going with you.” Tim Whitefeather rose, his legs still unsteady. “I don’t want anyone else disappearing out there.”

  “Maybe you should wait until morning to start.” Neta took Tim’s arm, forcing him down on the couch. “It’s already four in the afternoon, and by the time you get there, it will be dark. No sense sleeping on the ground if you don’t have to.”

  “What do you think, Dadron?” Loki asked. It was later than they had wanted to get started. The trip into town for supplies and camping gear had taken longer than expected. “Maybe we should wait until morning.”

  Dadron nodded, his gaze locked on Tim’s pale face. “We’ll wait until morning, but Tim is staying here.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  Loki started to speak, but Neta had already intervened. “Yes, Tim, you are. You’re still weak from dehydration, and we don’t know the extent of your mental capacity yet. Loki and Dadron will be traveling fast, and they don’t need to carry extra baggage with them.” She looked at her father, her face filled with sympathy. “They will have enough to worry about as it is. They don’t need the extra responsibility of worrying about you.”

  The remainder of the day was filled with getting gear ready, cooking dinner, and going over a map and plotting their route, which would change depending on where the trail led them. Satisfied they’d covered every possible angle, Loki sat on the edge of the porch, watching the sun go down.

  “I talked with Jules. He isn’t too mad at you now that I’ve explained the situation.�
��

  “Jules is like that. He’s far more logical than I’ll ever be.”

  Dadron sat beside her. “He took after Mom. She always thought things through and saw both sides of the issue before she acted.”

  “And we took after Dad. Fearless and rush right in and damn the consequences. It still amazes me he’s the son of such a horrid old man.”

  “Have you talked to Jake?”

  “I called. Merriweather said they were still keeping him sedated. His pain level is really high. My sense of responsibility is one thing I wish I hadn’t inherited from our father. I should be there with him.”

  “They haven’t told him, have they?”

  Loki shook her head. “I asked them not to yet. He knows he was shot, he just doesn’t know it was with an arrow and how much damage it did. He’ll start asking questions as soon as the pain mellows some. I need to be there when that happens.”

  “You’ve got the best tracker in the state of Mississippi. Don’t worry, Loki, you’ll be there. Tim checked on his mother. She’s out of surgery and expected to make a full recovery.”

  “That’s at least good news.” Loki smiled at him. “Maybe our luck is changing.”

  The sun faded below the horizon, and dusk settled in around them. Nalusa Falaya was a myth, but somewhere out there was a man or a woman evil enough to cut out a man’s tongue and eyes. If Tim was right, there was also a group of drug runners out there. Every step of their journey would be filled with danger.

  Dadron stood. “We should get some sleep. We’ll start out early in the morning.”

  “You go ahead. I want to sit here for a while.”

  “She’s finally asleep, the bathroom is clean, and I’m exhausted.” Grace flopped into a chair and laid her head on the table. “All I want to do is sleep for a month.”