When Okana went to the other side of the grave to face his family and friends, he noticed Alex at the back of the crowd as he spoke to the group about his father. When he was finished, he stepped back to shake hands with everyone.
As the group broke up, Alex stepped out of the way. The dark haired woman who had been standing next to Okana moved through the crowd in his direction. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties and was quite attractive. She stopped in front of him and held out her hand.
“You must be Alex Cave. I’m Fala Baldwin, Okana’s cousin.”
Alex noticed the resemblance to the woman from the motel. As he took her hand, he was nearly overwhelmed by a sense of Deja’vu. “Ah, Yes. That’s right.”
“Okana’s description was rather vague, only that you were tall with black hair. How long are you staying in Stillwater?”
“I’ll be leaving tomorrow afternoon. I hope you don’t mind my asking, but I noticed you called him Okana. Does everyone in your family call him by his last name?”
Fala smiled. “Yes, even his mother. It’s a family bet from when he was ten. Anyone who uses either of his first names has to pay him a dollar.”
Alex grinned. “He has two first names? I’d pay just to find out what they are.”
Fala returned his grin and lightly shook her head when she noticed Okana moving in her direction. “Sorry, but he’ll have to tell you.”
Okana walked over to Alex, gave him a quick hug, and then stepped back. “I see you’ve met Fala.”
Alex looked at Fala. “Is the woman from the motel your mother?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“The family resemblance. You’re both lovely women.” Alex turned to Okana. “Can we talk in private?”
Fala knew it was her cue to leave. “I’ll see you two later.” She turned and headed toward the back porch of the large house.
Okana noticed the corners of Alex’s mouth rise as he stared after Fala. “She’s divorced, in case you’re interested.”
Alex turned and grinned shyly at Okana. “Am I that obvious?”
“It’s about time you moved on, Alex. She’s the main reason I wanted you to come to the funeral.”
“I don’t know if I’m ready for another relationship.”
“I’m not trying to push you into anything, Alex. I just wanted you to meet her. She’s Cherokee, in case you were wondering. Fala means crow because of her black hair.”
Alex turned and watched Fala’s trim figure climb the steps onto the back porch. When she disappeared into the house, he turned back to Okana. “She is lovely. How come she’s divorced?”
“Her ex used to live here in Stillwater. He was one of the town’s bad boys during high school. I tried to talk her out of marrying the bastard, but she wouldn’t listen to me. The first time I saw her black eye she said it was an accident. Even then, she wouldn’t leave him. Two years ago, she got a restraining order from our local judge and filed for a divorce, but he refused to comply. A week later he had a change of heart and signed the papers.”
Alex noticed a glimmer of satisfaction in Okana’s eyes. “A change of heart, huh. I don’t suppose you had anything to do with it.”
“I might have made a subtle suggestion.”
Alex shook his head. “I’ve never known you to be subtle, Okana.”
“You know me too well, Alex. I heard you got into Stillwater late last night. What happened?” He listened as Alex told him about the stop at Yellowstone. “Did you find out what caused the cave-in at the caverns?”
“It was probably from the earthquake and that’s what’s bothering me. This area of Wyoming is geologically stable. I can’t explain the reason for the earthquake.”
Okana gave Alex a somber expression. “We felt it here, too. Let’s go inside and I’ll introduce you to the rest of my family.”
When Alex walked into the house with Okana, he saw Fala entertaining the small girl sitting in her lap.
Everyone turned to look when a small blond woman suddenly appeared in the walkway from the dining room. Okana walked over and put his arm around her shoulders. “Alex, this is my mom, Judith.”
Alex hurried over and held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Okana. I wish I could have met Richard. I’m sorry.”
Judith accepted his hand. “Thank you, Alex. Okana’s told me a lot about you. At least what he’s allowed to tell us. I think Richard would have liked you.”
Alex smiled. “I’m sure Okana told you what’s important. I know Okana means wolf in Indian, but if you don’t mind me asking, what are his first names?”
Judith laughed. “I’ve already lost fifty dollars for saying it too often when he was a teenager.”
“One dollar each time, isn’t it? I’ll pay just to find out.”
Fala stood and set the girl down on the chair, and then turned and smiled at Alex. “Judith named him Francis after Saint Francis. His second first name is Quanah, which Richard thought was funny. It means fragrant. Okana would throw the first punch when the white boys called him Francine and the same when he was called fragrant wolf by the Native boys.”
Alex laughed and pulled out his wallet. “It’s worth it, Francine Fragrant Wolf.”
Okana grinned shyly and felt flushed for a moment when everyone laughed, then held out his hand and took the dollar. “And that’s the last time you call me that, right?”
Alex gave him a smirk. “Sure.”
Fala liked the way Alex teased his friend. Apparently, he and Okana were close. She noticed that standing close to Alex felt natural, as if they had known each other for some time. She turned and looked down at the young girl. “Let’s get you something to eat.”
When Alex looked down at the little girl, she remained seated and held her arms out to him. He wasn’t sure what to do and looked at Fala for an answer.
Fala could tell Alex wasn’t used to children. “Alex, this is my daughter, Halona. I think she likes you.” She gave Alex a smile of approval to pick Halona up off the chair.
Alex hesitantly reached down and grabbed Halona under the arms. When he brought her close, she wrapped her arms around his neck as she sat on his forearm. “Hello, Halona.”
“Is your hair wavy all by itself?”
Alex looked around and noticed the stunned expressions on everyone’s faces. He gave Fala a questioning stare. “Did I do something wrong?”
Fala slowly shook her head. “Not at all. It’s just that Halona is usually very shy to strangers.”
Alex smiled at Halona. “Yes, it does it all by itself. Is that why yours is so curly?”
“Yes. Mom says I get it from my dad. I’m going to be nine years old in three months and sixteen days.”
Alex began to relax. He had not been around his niece very much when she was this young. I’ve missed so much, he thought.
They all moved into the dining room and sat around the large wooden table, Halona insisting on sitting next to Alex. Everyone stopped talking when a small tremor rattled the pictures in a nearby cabinet. When it stopped, everyone stared at Alex.
“That should not have happened,” he told them. Suddenly he remembered his conversation with Bruce in the restaurant. “Do any of you know what they are doing in the old gold mine?”
Okana looked across the table at Alex. “The government set it up as a research facility during the Apollo missions. Now a contractor leases it from the government, but no one knows what they do there.”
“I wouldn’t mind checking it out tomorrow before I leave.”
Okana shook his head adamantly. “You won’t be able to see anything. The mountain range is shaped like a narrow horseshoe. The only way inside is at the open end. They have armed security guards at the entrance. They won’t let you in.”
Fala had an idea. “I’ve been riding horses up the mountain range every summer since I was ten. Uncle Richard taught me where to go. I can get you up to a lookout area on the rim of the mountain.”
Judith reached over a
nd put her hand on Alex’s arm. “If those people at the mine are causing these earthquakes, you and Okana need to shut them down. Richard and I built this ranch, Alex. I’ll be damned if I’ll sit by and let it be destroyed by those people.”
Alex felt small fingers clasped his hand, so he smiled down at Halona.
Halona stood from the table and pulled on Alex’s hand. “We need to sit outside after eating, cave man.”
Alex gave her a short laugh. “Cave man?”
Fala looked down the table at Halona. “Why is he a cave man?”
“Because that’s what Uncle Okana calls him. He said it’s because he likes rocks and his last name is cave.”
Okana grinned when Alex looked at him. “I’d better go saddle the horses.” As he walked out onto the front porch, Okana burst out laughing.
As the rest of the group headed out onto the porch, Judith turned and looked up at Alex. “He’s just like his father.”
Alex watched her eyes sparkle for few seconds, before she turned and walked to the far end of the covered porch and stared out across the desert. He felt Halona’s tug on his hand and followed her over to a two-person chair. Once he sat down, Halona scooted over beside him. When he looked up at Fala, her eyes told him she was grateful for indulging Halona’s forwardness. He gave her a small smile.
Fala walked over beside Judith at the railing. “I miss him, too.”
Judith took Fala’s arm around her own. “Okana is going to stay with me for a while. At least until I decide what to do with the ranch. Without Richard, I might have to sell it.”
When Judith began to cry, Fala wrapped her arm around Judith’s shoulders. “There’s no hurry. You just need some time to think about things. I’ll stay here for a few more days, too.”
Judith brought a tissue from her pocket and dabbed her eyes. Fala was like a daughter to her and Richard. She turned and looked up at her. “What do you think about Alex? Halona sure likes him.”
“It’s kind of strange, actually. It’s as though I’ve known him for a while.”
“Okana thinks very highly of him.” Judith turned from Fala’s arm. “I’ll go clean up the kitchen. Why don’t you go sit with him for a while? Get to know each other a little better.”
Fala walked back across the porch and sat down on the chair facing Alex and Halona. She couldn’t understand why Halona had taken to Alex so quickly.
When Alex looked over at Fala, he felt comfortable, as if he had sat here with her before. “Where do you work, Fala?”
“I’m a veterinarian. I spend the majority of my time working with the animals in the park. That’s why Halona and I live in West Yellowstone.”
“That’s not too far from where I live. Have you ever been to Bozeman?”
“No, I’ve never needed to go there.”
“Perhaps I could show you and Halona the highlights sometime.”
“That sounds nice, Alex. Thanks.”
“What’s the story with Okana’s hair? He doesn’t look like a Native American.”
“Judith was already pregnant when she fell in love with Richard. Okana’s natural father, Jim Westmont, was a young Navy officer. He was killed in a training accident his second year out of the academy. Judith and Jim were best friends with my parents and Richard here in Stillwater. Long before Okana and I were born. Richard was a good father for Okana. They loved each other immensely.”
“Uncle Richard was funny.” Halona piped in.
Okana walked up the steps. “The horses are saddled, so whenever you two are ready we can get going.”
Alex walked beside Fala as they followed Okana down the steps and around the house to the barn. When they entered, the aroma of hay and manure reminded Alex of home.
Okana indicated a large brown mare with a black mane. “I set the stirrup height the same as mine, so it should be close enough.” He stroked the long jaw of his own dark brown stallion. “I raised this stud from a colt. He’s a handsome devil, just like me.”
Alex stepped into the stirrup and swung up onto the mare. “Works for me.”
Once Okana and Fala were ready, they rode out of the barn at a lope to let the horses get warmed up. A few minutes later, they were galloping across the desert.
As they approached the base of the gray mountains, Alex could see a few sparse areas of vegetation on the steep sides, but there were no trees, only ragged cliffs. Fala led them past an old rock quarry where remnants of broken gray stone blocks lay scattered in discarded heaps, apparently not suitable during the construction of the municipal building.
Fala reined her horse to a stop on the far side of the quarry. “The trail starts here where they hauled drills and explosives to the top of the quarry to break up the rock.”
Alex stopped and stared up at the side of the mountain. If there was a trail, he couldn’t see it. The stone appeared to be nearly vertical as it rose up toward the sky.
When Fala began the assent, the narrow trail forced Alex to follow behind her with Okana bringing up the rear. Some sections of solid rock trail were barely wide enough for the horses, with a vertical wall on one side, and a sheer drop off on the other.
When they reached the top fifteen minutes later, they were forced to stop by a ten-foot tall chain link fence. Holes had been recently drilled into the rock where poured concrete anchored the support posts. From their vantage point on top of the horses, they could see down into the valley below. From this elevation, the entrance into the mine appeared to be very small.
“Are you sure this place is occupied?” Alex asked. “I don’t see any vehicles, and the open area in front of the mine looks like it hasn’t been driven on in years.”
Fala turned her horse around to look at them. “We can’t get down there from here. We should head back down and return to the ranch.”
“I think once we get back I’ll head into town and find out what they might be doing here.”
There was only enough room for the horses to turn around, so they began their descent in reverse order with Okana leading the way.
*
COBRA:
Rita had agreed to stop her experiments, and so far the seismic events had ceased, which gave credence to Henry’s theory their tests had been the cause. The only problem was that, until the other device arrived, there was little to occupy her time.
Henry kept thinking about the laboratory below and the massive steel door at the entrance. He looked across the dining table at Chris, who was reading a magazine. “Do you have the key for the elevator that will allow us to go down to the lowest level of the facility?”
Chris looked up at Henry. “Yeah, but there isn’t anything down there. Just a big safe in the floor.”
That got Rita’s attention and she looked up from her laptop computer. “I’d like to see it.”
Chris shrugged and stood from the table. “I’ll go get the key.”
Henry slid his chair back and stood. “I believe we may find an answer as to why this facility was sealed.”
Rita closed the laptop and stood. “I was searching the Internet for any information about this place, but I can’t find anything except it was a gold mine. Either the people that worked here are all sworn to secrecy, or they’re all dead.”
Chris walked into the lounge from the living quarters. “Let’s go.”
The trio walked across the main room and entered the elevator. Chris inserted the key and gave it a quarter turn, then pressed the button for the fourth floor.
Once the indicator light for the third floor blinked off, Henry noticed it was taking much longer to reach the bottom. When he felt the pressure against his eardrum increase, his anxiety level also increased. He felt as though it had taken an hour before the elevator car slowed to a stop and the doors opened.
Chris stepped out first and flipped the light switch. Three rows of eight-foot long fluorescent lights on the ceiling fluttered in the darkness before bursting into bright white light.
When Henry and Rita stepped out, C
hris waved his hand down at the three-foot square steel vault door in the concrete floor. “They welded the door closed. Whatever is in the vault must be pretty secret.” He pointed up at a large metal hook secured to the concrete ceiling. “That’s directly over the vault, so they must have used it for hauling something in and out of the hole.”
When Henry looked at Rita, he noticed the concern in her eyes. “You must allow me to call Director Donner, Rita. We must find out what is buried down there.”
Rita stared at Henry and crossed her arms. “As I explained to you before Henry, once he knows where we are he’ll storm this facility. I’m not looking forward to being locked in a cell.”
“I will not press charges against you, Rita. Just get me out of this bomb shelter.”
Rita cocked her head. “This isn’t a bomb shelter, Henry.”
Henry sighed. “Of course. My mistake.”
From the tone of Henry’s voice, she could tell he was extremely agitated. “What happened, Henry?”
“When I was . . .”
The concrete seemed to lurch up beneath them, throwing them off balance. Henry toppled over, crashing onto the floor as Rita and Chris dropped down on to their hands and knees. It was over quickly and everything was still until alarm horns began blaring in the room.
Rita and Chris hauled Henry onto his feet, dragging him into the elevator. Chris stabbed his finger against the button for the top floor hoping the elevator still worked. When the doors closed, they felt the car rising up the shaft. The alarms increased in volume as they approached the second floor. When the doors finally opened on the main floor, the first thing they saw straight across the room was the massive steel door closing.
Chris reached down and grabbed Henry up into his arms as he and Rita ran for the opening. The ever-narrowing gap seemed miles way, and then a heavy thud sound echoed across the room as the door slammed shut. They continued running, desperately hoping the locking bolts had not slid into place, but before they arrived, the green light above the door blinked out and the red light came on.
The Alex Cave Series. Books 1, 2, & 3.: Box set Page 68