Dark Side of Noon (Wind Dancer Book 2)

by Tierney James

  She missed both Jacque and Wind Dancer. It had been less than a week, and she couldn’t wait to be near all the macho, overprotective baloney and pranks they pulled.

  A warning light on the car dash flashed five miles past a small community. By the time she’d turned around and gotten to a garage, the car was jerking and making noise that reminded her she hadn’t let Jacque know she was on her way. She’d wanted to surprise them.

  “You’re kidding me? The fuel pump? I don’t even know what that means. Just fix it. I’ll call the rental company.”

  But the mechanic took the name of the company and said he’d call them and make sure they knew how serious it was. “They’ll send you another car, although it might be tomorrow before anyone can bring it. Probably send one from Santa Fe.” He smiled. “I’ll insist.”

  She remembered a small inn on the way through and found the phone number. The owner came to pick her up and took down information from the mechanic as to when the car would be ready the following day. There was always a chance the rental company would have him repair it if it would be faster than they could get a replacement. The inn keeper managed to talk her ear off as he drove her to the inn.

  “How far am I from Sunset Rock?”

  “Maybe twenty to thirty minutes,” Mansi Garcia, owner of the Whispering Pines Inn, guessed as he pulled into the circular drive. “Not far at all.” He jumped out of the car and retrieved her luggage. “Come on. You’re our only guest, so you’ll have the run of the place. It’s lasagna night.” He appeared near retirement age. In spite of being round bellied, he had the quick step of a man much younger. “Nothing fancy. Usually, we have a few folks from town stop in for dinner.”

  After checking in and finding her cabin, Cleo decided a little downtime might be a good idea before joining Wind Dancer and Jacque. She loved having her own coffeemaker and refrigerator. Since dinner wasn’t for a few hours, she decided to make a glass of iced tea and sit on the deck to admire the valley with a backdrop of hazy mountains in the distance. From here, it felt like her accommodation was more of a treehouse than a tiny cabin.

  Her mind wandered in the manner she used to shut down the stress of everyday life. Although attending a conference couldn’t compare with the ER, the nonstop chatter, workshops, and networking were exhausting.

  A crow flew from a pine tree followed by several more, making enough racket she set down her tea and went to the railing to see what might have frightened them. Could there be a mountain lion or maybe a bobcat passing through in search of food or a bear hunting for respite from the heat? She spotted a couple of chipmunks scampering between the rocks below.

  A shadow amongst the trees caught her attention. She cocked her head and squinted as her hands touched the railing. Whatever she’d seen had stopped moving and blended in with the forest enough to become invisible. Yet, whatever it was watched her, appraising her, like a mountain lion or wolf might do to evaluate the enemy or their next meal. She could feel its eyes exploring her body.

  A sudden chill swept over her. She ducked inside and grabbed a pair of binoculars next to the door. By the time she got them into focus, the image had disappeared. It reminded her of those Bev Doolittle paintings she’d seen as a child where the landscape appeared to be one thing, but when you stood across the room, there was an animal or person staring right at you. She used to love to study those. This didn’t feel the same. Whatever tried to hide was big and unafraid.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  “Need seconds on anything? We fixed enough for an army, I think.” The innkeeper waved at a couple sitting in the middle of the dining room. A family of five were dining near the door, and two older couples sat outside on the patio with their dessert.

  “No thanks,” Cleo said, reaching for her iced tea. “It was all delicious. I’m not sure I have room for dessert, but I do love tiramisu.”

  “There’s a nice breeze on the patio. Beautiful view. Why don’t you go out there, and I’ll bring you coffee and a small helping of dessert? The fresh air will change your mind. Besides, you could use more meat on those bones.”

  Cleo caved to his suggestion and joined the others on the patio. She’d barely sat down before the two local couples introduced themselves and peppered her with questions about where she lived and why such a pretty thing would travel alone.

  The woman, dressed in a leopard top, reapplied her red lipstick as she talked. She reminded Cleo of Jacque and how he managed to get people to spill their guts to him.

  “I’m Dr. Cleopatra Sommers from Chicago. I spoke at a conference in Albuquerque, and now I’m on my way to Sunset Rock to meet friends. We’re going to camp in Kewa Park.”

  “Well, good luck with that. Been a lot of strange things going on up there,” Leopard Shirt warned. “I wouldn’t want to be spending the night there.”

  “Don’t be scaring her,” her husband scolded. “A girl went missing while hiking. They found her a couple of days later. Apparently, she had a medical condition and died. No big mystery.”

  “Well, it would be scary to die alone in a wild place when you needed help. That’s really too bad,” Cleo said, remembering a number of scary things in Chicago over the last couple of years.

  Mansi arrived with the tiramisu and coffee. “There you go, young lady.”

  “Ask him. Mansi keeps up on all the weird things that happen in the area. Right, Mansi?” the heavyset man with the bald head asked.

  Red Lips rolled her eyes skyward before speaking. “I was just saying I wouldn’t want to be camping in Kewa for a while until they knew exactly what happened to the girl they found.”

  Mansi’s smile faded even though he seemed to try and stretch it out to appear pleasant. “Accident, I hear. Anytime you go in the wilds alone, you run the risk of things going wrong. Don’t think there’s anything suspicious.”

  When Mansi returned inside, Red Lips leaned toward her. “He’s lying. Don’t you go up there alone.”

  “One of my friends is in law enforcement and the other…” Cleo wondered how to describe Wind Dancer. “He’s one of those warrior guys.”

  “Oh! Like the ninja show on TV?” Bald Guy asked. “You should be fine.”

  They soon said their goodbyes, and Cleo took the last sip of her coffee. She was glad she’d decided on dessert. Walking down the path to her cabin, she heard Mansi arguing with someone inside the inn. The windows were open for the cool mountain breezes, and the noise spilled out into the evening.

  “I said no more hunting,” yelled Mansi. “You know what will happen. It will be just like last time. This has got to stop.” Whoever else was inside, Cleo couldn’t make out their response. Mansi continued, “What if someone sees you? Then what?”

  The argument continued as she hurried to her cabin. One thing she couldn’t stand by was a poacher. What animals were in season to hunt was not her area of expertise. A number of wildlife areas all over the country had park rangers and wildlife officials who tended to keep an eye on that sort of thing. Besides, it wasn’t like she could do anything about whomever Mansi was warning.

  Chapter 4

  Together the two men set up their camp. Wind Dancer, for once, appeared to be comfortable doing tasks: building a campfire to cook, arranging the supplies for easy access, and helping Jacque make sense of assembling the tent. With a picnic table at each site, it provided another spot to set up the small two-burner gas stove Jacque purchased for the trip. Apparently, a waste of money, since his partner insisted they cook over an open fire. He guessed they were going caveman for this trip.

  He’d pretended to know what he was doing for the sake of saving face with Wind Dancer. But the truth remained, he’d had Cleo Sommers give him a list of what he needed, and she had even tutored him in a few things. Although an ER doctor, she’d spent summers camping and discovering historical finds with her father, a famed archeologist. Growing up without a mother turned her into a tomboy and pretty handy with things most little girls showed no interest in.

&n
bsp; This whole camping idea had been her idea to get Wind Dancer out of her hair so she could prepare without explaining every little thing. She accepted an invitation to speak at a medical conference in Albuquerque. The plan involved her flying in for the conference then driving up to meet them for a few days of back-to-nature relaxation.

  Jacque admitted it sounded good to him, too, until he’d spent several days on the road explaining appropriate behavior, why people didn’t hunt their food, and why weren’t there any buffalo. When the Pawnee did finally stop talking and focused his attention out the windshield, it made him nervous.

  Did he spot holes in the parallel universe? Were monsters following them? How many enemies did the Pawnee have in the world he traveled from? How much did he want to know about all this supernatural, voodoo, hocus-pocus crazy crap? That question wasn’t hard to answer—none of it. He didn’t even like that creepy little cartoon character called Casper the Ghost.

  At least he’d have Cleo to keep him out of trouble on the way home. She served as translator for a lot of Wind Dancer’s nonsense like skinwalkers, talking animals, evil ones, holes in a parallel universe, and customs a variety of tribes still practiced. It was the little bombshell she dropped on him when they were loaded up ready to go that worried him.

  “Oh, Jacque, just a heads-up. While we’re gone there will be a total eclipse of the sun. I should be there by then, but if I’m not, remember this may have great meaning to Wind Dancer and well, you know how superstitious he can be.”

  “Now you tell me,” he said as he slammed the car door. “He might call out a kind of magic mojo that will make murder hornets look like ladybugs.”

  “Here he comes, so don’t mention the eclipse. I’ll take care of it when I get there.” She patted his arm and smiled. “You’ll be fine.”

  Three days from now. He felt his blood pressure spike at thinking about it. In the meantime, they could do a little fishing, exploring the trails, and more fishing. No drama. No murdered-hiker mystery to solve. No evil one to spy on them.

  Darkness fell much too quickly for Jacque’s liking, but he had to admit the night sky took his breath away. The camp next to them was about fifty feet away, separated by a small stand of trees. He could hear a child and adults laughing. If they weren’t nervous about all this empty space, why should he be? Maybe he’d lived in the city too long, and breathing fresh air had made him a little light-headed.

  The neighbors came calling with a pan of brownies and introduced themselves. Ellie and Ty were from Austin, Texas and came here every year. Now they had their little boy, Liam, to introduce to the miracles of nature. He was a happy kid and smiled nonstop.

  “How old are you, Liam?” Jacque asked when the little guy stuck his hand out to shake.

  “Five.” His speech was a bit slurred. The mom told him to hold up his fingers to show how many. He realized the child had Down syndrome.

  Jacque worried Wind Dancer would say something inappropriate or shy away, making the situation awkward, but instead he squatted down and motioned for the child.

  “This is Joseph Wind Dancer, Liam. He’s my friend.” He invited the couple to join them as he waved toward several camp stools.

  Liam moved to the Pawnee and reached for the angled face. Wind Dancer closed his eyes for the child at first and let him touch his face, long hair, and the beads he wore around his neck. When he opened his dark eyes and focused on the child, Liam stepped away, as if he were afraid. Very quietly, and gently, Wind Dancer began speaking to him in his native tongue, and the child stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the Pawnee’s neck. The hug was reciprocated as he sat on the ground and pulled the boy into his lap.

  “I’ve never seen anything like that,” Liam’s father said. “Usually, he’s more cautious around strangers. What did he say to him?”

  Jacque shrugged. “Hell, if I know. The man is a Pawnee and never ceases to amaze me. He’s this way with animals, too.”

  The mother hugged her arms against the cold and smiled. “Look at them. He’s telling him about the stars. Liam loves anything to do with space, stars—”

  “Probably because of Star Wars,” his father laughed. “But your friend is speaking in his language, not English, and Liam seems to understand every word.”

  “Your boy very smart. He understands much. Never doubt that.” Wind Dancer frowned at the parents as if they had insulted the child. “In my home, we honor children who are blessed with this gift. You are lucky.”

  The father put an arm around his wife and nodded. “Yes. We think so, too, Wind Dancer. Not everyone sees that. I’m glad you can. You have made him extremely happy.”

  Wind Dancer helped the boy to stand as his parents announced it was time to go. “Say good night to our new friends, Liam.”

  “Um, there aren’t any wild animals around here, are there?” Jacque inquired with all the bravery he could muster.

  “Jacque afraid.” Wind Dancer smiled and fist-bumped his friend in the arm, causing him to stagger.

  Everyone laughed, and Ty offered a little information. “This time of year, you might hear a few yips of coyotes or maybe owls. They can be spooky. We did see a few mountain lion tracks on one of our hikes yesterday, but they were pretty old. The ranger we encountered at the store outside the park said they’d caught that one and hauled it off to an isolated spot in Carson National Forest. It was a rare sighting.”

  Jacque shook the man’s hand and patted Liam’s head as they left and headed to their camp, using a flashlight as the moon rose over the treetops. He noticed how Wind Dancer stared after them and felt a kind of pride that he made such an effort with the boy. However, the creepy expression the Pawnee often got in those black eyes of his, now focused on something in the dark that only he could see.

  “What?” Jacque came to stand by the Pawnee and tried to find whatever he could see. “Liam’s family has returned to their camp. No worries.”

  “No. Something else.” Wind Dancer’s voice grew deep and slow, like breathing in your sleep.

  “A bear?” Nothing. “Another mountain lion? They said there had been a mountain lion. Could be another one. Where’s my gun?”

  Wind Dancer jumped sideways, throwing up his hands. “Boo!”

  Jacque grabbed his chest and nearly fell into the campfire. “Hells bells, Joseph,” he yelled. “Not funny.” As the firelight danced on his friend’s face, he caught sight of a grin. “Okay. Maybe a little funny. Don’t do it again. I might accidently shoot you.”

  “Okay, buddy. No scare again.” Then he jerked around and squinted toward the water as the hoot of an owl echoed across the lake. “But there is something evil out there. I can smell it.”

  This time Jacque knew his friend was serious. The Pawnee stiffened, dropped his hands to his side, then tightened and released his jaw over and over. His nostrils flared as he tilted his head as if listening.

  Once more, Jacque came to stand next to him.

  “Human or animal?”

  Wind Dancer turned to him. “Both.”

  Chapter 5

  After five minutes, Wind Dancer backed toward the campfire and grabbed a stool to sit on. He turned to watch the flames, poking it with a stick from time to time. Jacque observed him from a distance and wondered what went on in his head most of the time. Whatever had been out there made the Pawnee uncomfortable.

  “You come to the fire, Jacque. The unknown gone now.”

  “Just like that? It left.” Jacque came over to sit at the fire and leaned forward, to place his elbows on his knees. “Are you spookin’ me again, or was something out there?”

  “I promise, no more spook you. There is danger here, but it’s mostly animals.”

  Jacque imagined Bigfoot or a giant bear that hadn’t eaten in days. “What kind of animals?”

  “Snakes. Bobcat. Black bear but not near. The family was wrong about the mountain lion. Mother with two cubs, half mile over the ridge. She has already hunted. No problem.”

&nb
sp; “Then what made you nervous a few minutes ago?”

  Wind Dancer tossed the stick into the fire. “I do not know. It stalked us. Big. Fast.”

  “Maybe a mule deer.”

  “Do they have two legs?”

  Jacque felt a chill caress his body. “No.”

  Wind Dancer shrugged. “It go away when he knew I might see him. Did not like it.”

  “And it was big?” Wind Dancer nodded and stood.

  “You should sleep now. Good night, buddy. I stand guard for little while.”

  “It’s safe to go to bed?” Jacque stood and grabbed a bucket of water to pour on the fire.

  Wind Dancer stopped him.

  Jacque shrugged his hand off his arm. “We can’t leave it burning. Pour this on the fire when you’re ready to go to bed. I charged up a couple of solar lanterns. We’ll put those outside the tents.”

  “Solar?”

  Jacque took a deep breath. “Trust me. It will be okay. Go to bed.”

  In spite of being uneasy, Jacque succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep after only a few minutes. Whispers of the wind through the treetops and the songs of crickets lulled him into a comfort zone he rarely experienced. The air felt cool and void of the hot smells of pollution, garbage, and grime found in Chicago where he’d served for more years than he cared to admit.

  As he sank deeper into a rest cycle, he dismissed the superstitious Pawnee, at least until the screaming started. He sat up and pulled his gun out from the backpack lying beside him.

  Wind Dancer unzipped the flap on the front of the tent and poked his head in. “Trouble, Jacque. You must come.”

  Jacque had slept in his clothes in case to make a quick exit if things got weird. If he was going to be carried off by Bigfoot or an alien invasion, he wanted his pants on. When he exited the tent, Wind Dancer stood at the edge of camp, staring toward the neighbors with the little boy. Flashlight beams created giant patterns that appeared to dance in jerky movements at their camp.