He shook his head. “I want this guy stopped. But I wonder if my brother Clyne was right.”
“What did he say?”
“Same as you. That our father is dead and gone, but my sister is out there and that is where my duty lies. Not here among the dead.”
She couldn’t answer such a question, so she didn’t try.
“Maybe you’re right to help anyone who needs it. I don’t know. I’m all mixed up inside. And that could get us killed.”
She understood that he was not being dramatic. He needed to make split-second decisions. Shoot. Don’t shoot. He couldn’t hesitate.
Lea looked up at him, this protector, whom she trusted with her life but not her secrets. Now she wanted him to know everything but still feared his reaction. They had just formed a sort of truce and what she was about to tell him would jeopardize that. Still, she needed him to know.
“I have to tell you something else,” she whispered.
His expression became cautious as he pulled back far enough that he could gently clasp each elbow, giving her the silent support of his body and his attention.
“Do you remember me telling you about my mother and her sister?”
Kino nodded. She dropped her chin, avoiding his eyes, the shame of their choices somehow reflecting on her. His hands tightened, giving her the silent encouragement she needed to tell him this next part, the part that had brought her to this time and place.
“I know I’m helping the smugglers. I’m willing to help them along with the others. They’re all the same to me.”
Kino’s hands dropped away. Now he looked at her as if she had become the enemy.
“They’re not the same.”
“Kino, listen. Those people who bring the drugs, they don’t have the money to pay the coyotes’ fee. Without it, their only choice is to carry. They have to earn their passage. The cartel tells them, ‘Here, you bring this backpack over the border and we’ll get you across, no charge.’ They either carry the drugs or stay behind.”
“So they do have a choice.”
She gave him a plaintive look, praying he would understand. “Everyone has a right to survive. Even if it means breaking a law. You should understand that. The border, it’s drawn by the Americans. Before that it was drawn by the Mexicans. Before that it was the Spanish. It’s not real. It doesn’t exist. This? All this?” She pointed to the ground. “This is Tohono O’odham land. This—the border?—northern Mexico. All of it.”
“You’re helping the cartels.”
“I’m helping people. People like my mother and her sister.”
“They were mules?”
“Yes.” Lea registered the look he gave her, absorbing it like a blow.
“Lea, do you know if DeClay is moving product?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you mixed up in all this?”
“No.”
“You have to tell me if you are.”
“I’m not. But we all know that the mules stop for water with the illegal immigrants. I don’t distinguish. I can’t. To deny one is to deny the other.”
The silence stretched as they regarded each other—strangers again. She could see from his frigid expression that anything they had shared had died with her confession.
“Kino, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my aunt and mother. What they did, I mean. But you don’t understand the choices they faced.”
“I understand that your mother was a smuggler and an illegal. I understand about your giving those like her assistance.”
“I’m giving them water.”
“You’re no better than the coyotes. You’re not Apache.” That cut clean through her like the long blade of a hunting knife. But she found that even when accused of the worst, she still endured. She lifted her chin and met the condemnation in his eyes.
“At least I’m not a vigilante.”
“I’m taking you back to Oasis. You can do what you want from there.”
She stood motionless as the fear slowly rose until it hit her nervous system, setting off tiny shocks of panic. That killer knew who she was and Kino was preparing to cut her loose, throw her into the snake pit. Without him, what chance did she have? Who would help her?
“I’m checking the water station,” said Kino.
He returned his attention to the water barrels and tried the spigot.
“No water,” he said.
“That’s why she died. That little girl. Because this station was empty.”
“She died because someone convinced her she had a chance crossing the desert in June.”
He lifted the barrel with one hand. It seemed too heavy to be empty. He dropped it back to the wooden platform and heard the familiar rattle just as the entire lid popped off and dozens of rattlesnakes poured from the opening.
Lea screamed.
“Get back,” he ordered as rattlesnakes spilled out onto the ground as if from an overturned cup.
Lea jerked beside him, her arms flying wide as she arched. An instant later he heard the gunshot. Lea fell toward him and he caught her as she collapsed.
Shot, he realized. Lea had been shot.
Kino didn’t hesitate. He lifted Lea, now deadweight, and ran through the snakes, feeling the strike of more than one on his leather moccasins. Their fangs didn’t puncture the hide, and he thanked his ancestors for knowing a thing or two about snakes. He reached the SUV and tugged open the passenger’s-side door. Once he had Lea inside, he searched the landscape for the shooter, judging his position from the direction of Lea’s fall. But he saw nothing. Surely the shooter had had time to take a few shots at him, unless he wasn’t the target. His witness was. It was the Viper. Kino felt it in his soul.
Was he watching them through a scope right now?
Kino stood on the running board, resisting the tug of need to go after him. Then he looked down at Lea and knew in that instant that she was more important to him than the shooter. More important than his quest to find his father’s killer. Lea’s life was worth more to him than anything in this world.
He didn’t have to support her efforts to help the very people he hunted in order to care for her, did he?
Lea slumped in the seat. She didn’t seem to be breathing.
Kino grasped her shoulder. “Lea!”
Their last conversation flashed into his mind. He’d told her he’d abandon her. He’d said she wasn’t Apache. He’d spoken out of anger, but now he feared he’d never have the chance to make things right.
“Please, God, let her be alive.”
She gasped as if surfacing from beneath deep water. Then she coughed, her breathing labored and unnatural. He needed to check for injuries and he needed to get her out of here.
Kino closed the door and ran to the opposite side of the vehicle. Then he swung up and into the driver’s seat as the snakes wriggled past in all directions. He threw the SUV into gear and took off, driving all the way to the highway before pulling up short. Then he threw the SUV into Park and checked on Lea, praying for her life.
He tugged open the overlarge shirt and found the body armor in place. Kino muttered aloud his prayer of thanks as he pulled apart the fastenings and lifted her gently forward, tugging away the shirt and vest. There, in the center of her back, just below her scapula and over her heart, a purple bruise was forming. Lea had been shot and, although the force of the bullet had been absorbed, the impact was the equivalent to being kicked by a horse. A damned big horse.
“You’re all right, Lea. I’ve got you.” He laid her on her side, her head in his lap. Then he set them in motion. Her respiration was shallow and her color bad. But she was breathing.
How had the Viper known where they’d be? How had he found them?
Kino lifted the mike and then replaced it, u
nsure if he should call for help, take Lea to the hospital or to the safe house. He needed Clay. But for now he had to get Lea some help.
With his destination in mind, Kino accelerated. He stroked Lea’s head as he drove. “Wake up, Lea,” he begged.
If anything happened to her, it would be his fault.
En route he got a call on the radio. He would have ignored it, but it was his brother.
“Cosen here,” replied Kino automatically as he glanced at the speedometer, which read 95 miles per hour.
“Updating you,” Clay returned. “We just got a call from tribal. They found Bill Moody dead at his residence.”
“Cause?”
“Homicide.”
What was going on? Who had killed Moody? Was it the Viper taking out possible leads?
“Need to speak to you,” said Clay. Clearly he meant not over the radio.
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
“Hospital,” said Kino.
“Roger that. ETA is twenty. Got Gomez with me.”
Kino told Clay about the shooting and asked him to call it in.
“You got it. Be safe,” said Clay. Just as always, his big brother perpetually tried to keep him safe and out of trouble. At nineteen, Clay had been arrested, convicted and then served time. His brother knew about trouble firsthand. Seemed it just wasn’t in the Cosens’ DNA to stay clear of trouble.
“Roger. Out.” Kino put both hands on the wheel and the pedal to the floorboard.
Lea gave a soft moan.
“Hang in there, sweetheart.”
His mind tumbled like dried sagebrush in a windstorm. What did Clay have that he couldn’t say on radio? What if they were followed?
He had to keep Lea safe. Not because he needed a witness, but because he needed Lea.
That was it. He couldn’t play roulette with Lea’s life any longer. This had to stop and he had to stop it.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Kino pulled into the small regional hospital just after 11:00 a.m. and parked in the turnaround in front of the ER. Lea’s eyes were fluttering and she blinked up at him, her brow wrinkling in confusion. “Kino?”
“Yeah.” He stroked the soft curtain of hair from her face. “I got you. You’re all right.”
She smiled, struggled to sit upright and then flinched and closed her eyes, breathing through her mouth in short, uneven breaths. That scared him enough to get him running from his side of the SUV to hers. There he slipped his arms under her knees and around her back. Her color was gray and he didn’t like the blue tinge of her lips. She gasped as he lifted her and her breath came in little pants.
He ran the rest of the way through the electric doors and past the nurses’ station, heading for the treatment rooms he had visited when one of the Shadow Wolves had needed stitches. Someone yelled but he didn’t stop until he reached an empty, curtained exam area.
Lea didn’t open her eyes, but her forehead wrinkled and her panting was faster, as if she were the one running. He stretched her out on an examination table. Her eyes were pinched shut and her face registered pain. She curled into a ball on her uninjured side. Her skin had a gray cast that made him want to run for help, but instead he stayed by her. He stroked her head.
“Lea, we’re at the hospital. You’re safe.”
A nurse dressed in blue scrubs was the first to arrive. She washed her hands as she barked questions at him, then checked Lea’s eyes with a penlight and took her blood pressure. Others arrived and they tried to get him to go to the waiting room but succeeded in getting him only as far as the end of her bed.
He flashed his tribal police shield. “She’s my witness. She doesn’t leave my sight.”
“I’m taking off her clothing, Officer Cosen. You want to see that?”
He shook his head, but instead of looking away, he helped the nurse until together they’d stripped her out of her jeans, outer shirt and vest. The nurse cut off the T-shirt and the spaghetti-strap tank top beneath. The nurse unfastened Lea’s bra but left on her pink cotton panties.
Lea opened her eyes and tried to lift her arms but cried out.
“It hurts so much,” she whispered.
“I know, sweetie,” said the nurse. “We need to figure out what’s wrong. Then I can give you something for the pain. Just a few minutes longer. Hold on.” The nurse tied the gown in the back as Lea gripped Kino’s hand so tight his fingers tingled. The nurse and an orderly transferred Lea to a gurney and the nurse eased Lea to a reclining position that seemed to make her breathing less labored. Up went the rails and an orderly arrived to take Lea for a CT scan.
Kino walked beside her—even though the technician tried to get him to wait outside.
“Someone just shot her. So she doesn’t leave my sight while she’s here.”
“I’m sure the perpetrator isn’t in the hospital.”
“Are you? I’m not.”
He got no further argument as the woman now seemed anxious to get Lea processed as quickly as possible.
He thought he heard Lea call for him as he stood with the technician behind the barrier staring at Lea and the computer screen where the images appeared.
Clay and Nesto Gomez found him as they wheeled Lea back to the ER.
“Her heart and lungs are okay,” said Kino. “But she cracked two ribs. Not sure about her spleen yet.”
“What happened?” asked Clay.
“Somebody shot her in the back. Rifle.”
Clay looked down at Lea as her gurney wheeled past with the help of one orderly.
“Even with the vest that should have killed her.”
“I put extra ceramic panels all around.”
Clay looked Kino over. “They didn’t shoot at you?”
He shook his head and fell into step behind the gurney.
“Strange.”
When they reached the cubicle, one of the nurses tried to get them out of the hall and all three flashed badges. She gave up and opened the curtain that separated them from Lea, telling them not to get in her way.
Clay glanced at Kino. “Gomez was at Cardon Station.” He turned to Gomez. “Tell him what you told me,” he said.
Kino leaned against the examination table, switching his attention from Lea to Nesto as he spoke.
“I was there when Captain Barrow called Mulhay from the scene. That night when Mulhay was questioning Miss Altaha.” Gomez motioned over his shoulder at Lea’s prone figure. “Mulhay was typing, so he put the call on speaker. The thing is, I heard from the guys that the captain suspended Mulhay for letting Altaha leave the station when he’d given orders that they hold her until he got back from the homicide at the water station. But I heard Barrow tell Mulhay to release her.”
Kino straightened and glanced at Clay.
“So is Captain Barrow lying to cover his ass or is he lying because he’s got something to hide?”
“Or maybe he suspended Mulhay for some other reason,” offered Gomez.
“But we’ll never know because Mulhay is dead. Maybe that overdose wasn’t an accident. We got anything back on his COD?”
“Nope,” said Clay.
“Something stinks,” said Kino.
“I also got word from our uncle.” Clay glanced at Gomez. “He’s FBI.” Then he returned his attention to his brother. “He said he ran the information we gave him on Rosa Keene. She’s a dental hygienist, which is odd since she owns three new-model pickups, two ATVs but drives a 2003 Ford Escort. She rents a two-bedroom in Tucson but owns a climate-controlled storage unit in town free and clear. It’s worth 2.2 million dollars.”
“What?” asked Kino.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought, too. Doesn’t make any sense.”
“Any word from Gabe? Did he send someone
to interview her?”
Clay stretched his neck. “Yeah. I talked to Gabe. He said he’s a little busy talking to the BIA up there in South Dakota, but he has a request in with Tucson PD. He also said that the BIA lists a three-year-old girl, orphaned the same month as the accident.”
Clay had switched topics from their current hunt for the Viper to his family’s hunt for their missing sister. For the first time Kino did not resent the reminder of his older brother’s quest. Instead of the familiar gnawing frustration at this problem, he felt a new understanding of what his real mission should be. But first he had to get Lea out of this alive.
“The same month? Not week or day?”
Clay watched him with a look of curiosity as Kino switched subjects, too. Had his brother expected him to keep his attention only on the Viper? Yes, of course he had, because that was all Kino had thought about or seen since they’d arrived. But not anymore. Now he saw Lea and Jovanna. And he wanted to save them both.
“That’s when they filed the paperwork,” said Clay. “Could be Jovanna. They listed the child as Sioux, tribe and parents unknown. Then they placed her in a foster home off the rez.”
“She alive?”
“Looks that way. Gabe says he’s got to get back to Black Mountain. There’s been some trouble. He wants you back, too. Said to tell you leave of absence is over.”
Kino worked for the tribal police, which meant he worked for their chief—his brother Gabe. They were short-staffed as it was and now he and their chief were both off the rez.
Kino blinked and stared at Lea. She was now connected to an IV drip, with an EKG monitoring her heart. They had her on her side and he could see that the nasty bruise was purple and black and had spread from her shoulder to the middle of her back.
“I’m staying,” said Kino.
Clay nodded. “I figured. What if we don’t find him?”
“He’ll find her. She’s seen his face. He can’t let her go.”
“You want me to stay?” asked Clay.
Kino debated and then made his decision. Clay had been up all night on patrol. “Get some rest. I’ll call if I need you.”
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