The Last Warrior

by Kylie Brant

  Joe held the receiver away from his ear in disbelief. Since when did the Tribal Council and Navajo President interfere with ongoing police investigations? Temper barely held in check, he said tightly, “That won’t be necessary.”

  “Good. Keep me posted on what you discover. I can tell you find this an imposition, but I appreciate your help in the matter.”

  Slowly, Joe dropped the phone back in its cradle and turned to face Captain Tapahe. The man shrugged. “I tried, Joe. He wanted me to pull you from the crystal ice case and I said no. This is give and take. Accept it at that.”

  “Accept it?” There was a low burn in the pit of his belly. “Accept that someone who knows nothing about our cases can just arbitrarily pull some strings and screw up months of investigation? When did politicians start interfering with our work?”

  “Since longer than you realize.” Tapahe rounded his desk and dropped heavily into the chair behind it. “We deflect as much of this kind of thing as we can, but you’re stuck on this one. Just humor the man. You were continuing to look into the matter anyway, right? That’s why you needed the information from the land bureau. Just follow up on that, get back to the president tomorrow and maybe that will be the end of it.”

  “I was going to talk to more of Quintero’s customers today,” Joe objected. “I have a list of them that Arnie and I put together. I might be able to squeeze one or two of them, get something more…”

  “Give the list to Garcia. She can do it for you.” At Joe’s scowl he said, “It’s called compromise, Youngblood. Be grateful you got a choice.”

  A choice? Joe swallowed the retort that rose to his lips and turned to leave the office. When it came to Delaney Carson, he’d already learned to leave his preferences out of the equation.

  Delaney held her sandwich in one hand and clutched the edge of the open screen door with the other to survey the man glowering at her from her porch. “Now what? Did I kick a kitten? Swat a fly? Make a list of my offenses. I’ll throw myself on the mercy of the court.” He didn’t crack a smile. Imagine that.

  “You’ve got some pretty powerful friends.”

  She cocked her head, considering. “You think? Well, there’s Joe Caprio at the McDonald’s back home in Witchita. He always gives me extra fries with my order, but powerful?” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t go that far.” She let the door slam behind him as he strode into the living room.

  His eyes glinted. “I’m not talking about some loser offering free fried food, I’m talking about Taos.”

  She blinked. “Navajo Nation President Taos? What about him?”

  “Apparently he’s concerned about you. Concerned enough that he threatened to have me reassigned from this drug investigation-the case my colleague and I have worked for months-just to be sure you’re in no danger.”

  She eyed him warily. She’d seen him hostile before. Abrasive, even. But she didn’t ever remember seeing him like this. It was like watching a bomb, waiting to detonate. She was pretty sure she didn’t want to be around for the explosion. “I could call him,” she offered tentatively. “Assure him that I feel perfectly safe…”

  “That won’t help. The only thing that’s going to keep him happy is for me to clear the whole thing up in addition to my other ongoing cases. So c’mon. Let’s get to it.”

  “C’mon…where?”

  “To Cowboy Nahkai’s place. I found out today that his family owns the land where you were shot at.”

  Excitement warred with trepidation. “You think he might be involved in whatever operation was being hidden out there?”

  Joe finally looked at her, really looked. “Are you kidding? He’s over ninety. And although he’s still pretty spry, I doubt he’s out cruising around on four-wheelers. He’s probably leased his land to someone. And since he doesn’t have a phone, we’ll go out and ask him about it.”

  Delaney took a bite of her sandwich, chewed. “I still don’t see where I come into this.” She had work to do, photos to load and sort. Recordings to transcribe. The afternoon with Charley had been another treasure trove of information. She wanted to get it written while her notes were fresh.

  She might not be above making excuses to avoid spending hours in his company. But tonight she didn’t have to search for any. Unfortunately, she could tell from his expression that he was unswayed.

  “You’re coming along,” he said firmly. His lips curved then, but it wasn’t an especially friendly smile. “Taos wants me to look out for you. Apparently he thinks you need a babysitter. So for tonight I do that by dragging you along.”

  Delaney stared at him, weighing her options. She didn’t especially want to be dragged anywhere. Not to mention her vow to spend as little time with him, near temptation, as possible.

  On the other hand, he wasn’t especially tempting when he was this crabby, so her hormones should be safe enough. And she did feel somewhat responsible for his dilemma, since she knew what long hours he’d been putting in.

  Both on the job and off it, a sly inner voice whispered.

  “Okay. Let me get my shoes.”

  If he was surprised by her capitulation, he didn’t show it. Instead he was eyeing her sandwich with a decidedly avaricious look in his eye. “Do you have any more of those?”

  She looked up from the bright pink flip-flops she was slipping on. “None that would fit you.”

  He did that thing with his lips, pointed them toward her sandwich and little sparks of awareness flickered to life under her skin as she focused on his mouth. It really was beautifully formed. Full chiseled lips, that looked hard but were surprisingly soft to kiss. Until their desire had torched them both and then his mouth had turned fierce, hungry, whipping her passion to a fever pitch.

  Delaney drew in a shaky breath and headed toward the kitchen. “I can make more.” The key, she told herself, as she took out the ham and bread, was to stop focusing on his lips except to keep him talking. She rarely had trouble resisting him when he was ordering her around.

  Cowboy Nahkai had a seamed weathered face and a slight body that looked more wiry than fragile. Although it was barely seven o’clock, they caught him as he’d been about to turn in.

  “I get up at four every morning. Have for most of my life. It’s a habit I don’t like to break.”

  Although he invited them in, they ended up sitting on his front porch, facing what promised to be a truly spectacular sunset in another hour or so. The horizon was already rosy, as if blushing in anticipation.

  “I want to thank you, Mr. Nahkai, for your hospitality.” Delaney sipped from her mug of Navajo coffee. “I understand you’re one of those who generously gave permission for me to travel freely on your property.”

  “If you are to capture the beauty of our land, you must be able to see it,” he said simply. “The land has withstood much. It certainly will withstand some pictures. Have you had a chance to explore this area yet?”

  Before she could answer, Joe put in smoothly, “She plans to, but she’s only been in town a few days. She wanted me to bring her out here so she could familiarize herself with the drive. And also to check if there’s anyone who will be bothered by her roaming the area. You’re in pretty good shape, but I assume you’re not still running sheep yourself.”

  The older man cackled. “It’s been a while since I chased after a flock. No, I’ve leased most of the land for years. Phillip Roanhorse had it for a long time, but he sold his livestock a few years back and retired.”

  Delaney sat back and let Joe direct the conversation. She wasn’t sure why he didn’t want Nahkai to learn of the incident on his property, but she was willing to let him handle it.

  “That’s right, I know Phillip. He used to whittle whistles for me when I was a boy and he’d come to visit Grandfather. I’d forgotten he retired.” Joe brought the mug of coffee to his lips, drank. “Who did you say holds the lease now?”

  The old man frowned, as if trying to think. “I’d have to look it up. William has taken care of my
lease agreements for the last couple years. I don’t get involved anymore. He’s been a good help since he’s come back. His dark spirit is gone, and he’s recovered his hozho.”

  Joe went still, his eyes predatory. Delaney glanced at the older man to see if he’d noticed, but he continued to sip his coffee.

  “I didn’t know William was out.” Joe’s voice was amazingly even. “Is he around? I’d like to say hello.”

  Nahkai waved a hand. “He is probably out back with the cars. If you find him, tell him to come join us. He probably doesn’t even realize we have guests.”

  Rising to his feet, Joe cradled the mug in one hand and headed to the porch steps. “I’ll do that.”

  William Nahkai did, indeed, have his head under the hood of a new truck in the well-equipped garage out back. Joe looked around, noting the changes that had taken place on the property since he’d last been there, years earlier. He wondered cynically how many of them had been made because of this man’s penchant for squandering his grandfather’s money.

  “William.” He watched with satisfaction as the man threw an impatient look over his shoulder, then abruptly paled when he recognized Joe. “You weren’t gone nine years. Get out early for good behavior?”

  The other man snatched up a grease rag, twisted it in his hands as he turned to face Joe. “Hey, Joe.” His smile looked more like a grimace. “Yeah, I’ve been out for a couple years.” Seconds ticked by. “Good to see you again.”

  Joe leaned against the truck’s bumper. “I hear you’re taking care of all Cowboy’s business. Didn’t recall you cared much for that sort of thing.”

  “Things are different now. I’m different.” William worked diligently at scrubbing the grease off his hands. “I finally got that it’s all about family, you know? So I’m looking out for Grandfather. Everyone else is too far away and I’m not married or anything.” He lifted a shoulder. “It’s working out well enough.”

  Looking meaningfully at the new truck, Joe said, “Looks like it.” While the other man flushed, he continued, “You’re taking care of the lease agreements now? So maybe you can tell me who holds the lease on the northern part of the property. Where those buttes and caves are.”

  William managed a laugh. “Lots of areas like that on Cowboy’s property, Joe.”

  “This is a half hour off the highway. Dirt road that’s barely a path runs north and south parallel to it.”

  “I’ve got three or four lessees these days. I’d have to look it up, see if I can figure out where you mean.”

  Joe nodded. “You could do that. You could even send me to track down the leaseholders and ask them all the same questions, but you know what, William? I haven’t changed in the last few years. I still get downright mean if I think someone’s jerking me around. So if I do go to all the trouble of questioning those people, just to find out that maybe none of them hold the lease to the piece of property I’m interested in, I’m going to be unhappy.” He watched the other man swallow hard. “Then I’m going to come back. And when I do, you’ll join your grandfather and me for a little discussion about what the hell you’ve been doing with his land.”

  “I didn’t do anything wrong,” William said sullenly. “You don’t need to go making trouble and upsetting Grandfather.”

  “Just what is it that you didn’t do?”

  The other man threw a quick glance toward the house. “I leased all the land. And every dime is accounted for, every penny.”

  “Okay.” Joe gave a slow nod. “So let’s go back to the house and you can get me the names and contact information of those you leased it to.”

  William didn’t move. “Thing is-” he swallowed “-that parcel you mentioned…it’s not much good for running sheep. I didn’t see the difference if I leased it out separate. Got an extra few thousand for it, and that’s more than I’d have gotten if I’d bundled it with the other acres, the way it used to be. I mean, what’s the harm?”

  “The name?”

  “I don’t know. Some guy approached me at the flea market, right after I’d gotten out. Seemed to know who I was. He wanted to rent that part of the property and enough surrounding land that he’d have some privacy.”

  “For what?”

  “He didn’t say and I didn’t ask.” His voice had gone from whiny to mulish. “Nothing illegal about what I did. I don’t have to ask why he wanted it. As long as he sends his money in on time, that’s all that matters to me.”

  Joe took the drawing out of his pocket that Delaney had started and the composite artist at headquarters had finished. “Do you recognize this man? Is he the one who approached you?”

  William leaned forward to study the picture. “I couldn’t say for sure. It was almost two years ago, and I never saw him again. He just sends a money order to an account I set up in Phoenix. That’s all the contact I have with him. He wanted me to stay clear of the property and it’s not like that was a hardship. It’s out in the middle of nowhere.”

  “And that didn’t tip you off because all your lessees request that, right?” Disgusted, Joe folded up the picture and shoved it in his pocket.

  “So, what’d he do? I mean…” William shuffled his feet when Joe looked at him. “Why are you hunting for him?”

  “Well, attempted murder, for one thing.” Given the shots the man had fired at Delaney, Joe didn’t figure he’d have trouble making that charge stick. “I’m not sure yet what he was up to on your grandfather’s property. But you’d better start hoping that whatever dirt he was into doesn’t come back to splash on you. I understand parole officers aren’t too forgiving about things like that.”

  Chapter 8

  “You and Cowboy seemed to be getting along well.” Joe shot a look at Delaney across the interior of the Jeep. “I’ve never known him to be that open with strangers.”

  “It’s my midwestern charm. Few men can resist it.”

  “Maybe it’s the other way around. I’ve heard stories. Back in the day, I hear he was quite a ladies’ man. Been married three times. Outlived them all.”

  She scooched down in the seat and braced her knees against the glove compartment. “You didn’t tell me he was a shaman. A crystal gazer, he said. He invited me back to talk to him. I’ll definitely make a point of doing that.”

  Changing the subject, she asked curiously, “So what did you find out from…William, was it?”

  Joe nodded, the sunglasses he wore shielding his eyes. “Cowboy’s grandson. Seems ol’ Billy worked himself a private deal with someone a couple years ago. He claims he leased that section of land to some stranger who approached him. Only saw him the once and can’t give a description of him.”

  “Convenient,” she muttered. “Do you believe him?”

  It took a while for Joe to answer. “For now, anyway. William was sent up for operating a chop shop in Flagstaff. He’d steal a vehicle, disassemble it and sell the parts. Strictly small-time. Maybe had another guy or two working with him when he was busted. Had the bad luck of stealing the mayor of Flagstaff’s new Porsche.”

  “But you found lots of tracks at the site, you said.”

  “Probably a pickup, and at least one large van or panel truck. ATVs. But nothing that would lead me to believe William was operating in that area. Why would he? He’s got it made now, living a pretty easy life for very little work, just pretending to take care of Cowboy.”

  Delaney frowned. She didn’t like the idea of the remarkable man she’d just met being taken advantage of, even by family. “I think you should have brought him in,” she said firmly. “Put a scare in him at least.”

  He threw her an amused glance. “So now you’re Miss-demeanor?”

  She made a face. “He might know something. Maybe if you had that picture I started for you, the one you were going to…” A folded-up paper landed in her lap. Unfolding it, she studied the composite the police artist had completed. “So now what?”

  “Our mug files have been computerized for a few years now. I’ll feed in
a composite sketch and the computer compares it to the mug shot database, using a standard composite program. I just haven’t had time to sit down with it.”

  When she made an impressed sound, one corner of his mouth curved. “Our federal tax dollars at work. Someone wrote a grant. Yet we still have a hard time getting radios that work and run-flat tires for the police vehicles.”

  “So when do you think that you’ll get around to matching the sketch?”

  “You’re as bad as Taos,” he muttered. “I could go back and do it tonight. I’m getting used to going without sleep.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” she responded mildly. She waited a beat. “Tomorrow will be soon enough.” Laughing at his expression, she continued, “I’ve got a date tomorrow with the guide the council was kind enough to provide me with. The way I understand it, I can use him for any tour I want to take on Navajo Nation lands, which will make things a lot easier for me.”

  “Like I said, you’ve got a powerful friend. Taos is protecting his investment.”

  His tone hardened with the last statement, and Delaney glanced at him curiously. “Taos? What investment?”

  “You can’t afford to be naive. The council bucked a lot of public resentment by bringing a non-Navajo in here to write a book on our culture that could have been done by a tribe member.”

  So they were back to that again. Straightening, she set her feet on the floor. “Forgive me for believing that my experience in photojournalism and my résumé can’t be duplicated, despite my lack of bloodline.”

  There was impatience in the look he threw her, but something else, as well. Something that may have been concern. “That’s right, it can’t be duplicated. They’re using you, Delaney. Banking on the publicity your next project is going to bring, counting on the fact that the publishing world is going to pay major money to snap up anything you decide to write, and that millions of readers are going to want to get their hands on it.”