by Aimée Thurlo
“What exactly do you have in mind?”
“That’ll depend on what I turn up,” she said with a shrug.
He knew she was up to something, but she’d be safe in front of a computer. That was one place where there was a limit to the trouble she could find.
They arrived three hours later, having taken the route south and then west through Window Rock before turning north again. Travis parked the old truck while Fox pulled out her wig and quickly slipped it on.
“I think I’d better wear this while I’m walking around here.”
“Good idea. It’ll help you blend in. Not that it would be hard for anyone to do that here. There are several non-Navajos on campus,” he said.
“Good luck with Jesse,” she said. “I have a feeling he could be a great help to us, if he chooses to be.”
As she walked away from Travis, Fox could feel his gaze on her. Unable to resist knowing for sure, she turned her head. He smiled. She waved, feeling her entire body blushing. Why couldn’t she ever leave well enough alone!
Fox headed for the library building, suddenly realizing that this was the first time she’d been alone in weeks. Normally, she would have been glad for the respite, but the danger that haunted her every waking hour kept her on her guard. She’d have to watch her own back now.
As she stepped inside the library, Fox saw that only a few terminals were available. She quickly got permission from a librarian to log on, and chose a terminal in the farthest corner. From there, she had a clear view of the entire room.
Hearing the hum of the machine, Fox finally relaxed. The sound comforted her. She’d always been as good with computers as she was in math and science. Numbers and machines weren’t illogical like people could be. If you gave them the correct instructions and information, they could always be relied upon.
She thought of Travis, off interviewing Jesse. Travis was the perfect choice for that job. It wasn’t just his past history with Jesse, either. It was the fact that, when he wanted to, Travis could bring out the best in people. He had an undeniable presence and charisma that people responded to instinctively.
Yet what continued to draw her to him went far beyond that. There was an elusive quality about him that was much harder to define. She considered it for several moments, then the answer finally came to her: Travis had heart.
Chapter Ten
Travis walked slowly down the sidewalk toward the Native American Studies building. This was the first time in weeks that he’d been away from Fox. That kind of closeness normally would have made him feel smothered, but this time, he couldn’t honestly say that it had. Maybe it was because he knew that, right now, she needed him to be exactly who and what he was—a soldier who was as deadly as they came.
As a Ranger, he’d acquired a well-deserved reputation for never letting anything get to him. Yet, with a touch of her hand, or a look, or a smile, Fox could fill him with desire so intense, it totally scrambled his thinking.
He’d never felt this way about any woman before, and that scared him more than an artillery barrage or a minefield.
Travis forced his thoughts on the job at hand as he entered the building and went down the hall. He didn’t have far to walk before he found Jesse. The man was sitting in an empty classroom, grading papers.
Hearing footsteps, Jesse looked up. As he recognized Travis, a slow smile spread across his weathered face. His eyes were bright and alert. “Ah, I thought I’d be seeing you before too long.”
Travis smiled. “You never cease to amaze me, uncle,” he said, using the title as a term of respect. “How on earth could you have known that I’d come here looking for you?”
“I can’t predict what you’ll do, but I know how Fox thinks. If the police were unable to find answers for her, she’d take matters into her own hands. She’d systematically backtrack through her parents’ history on the Reservation, find her own leads and pursue them.”
Travis nodded. “That pretty much sums up why I’m here. You know you can talk freely to me. I need to find out more about your friends, Blue Eyes and Smiles. There’s got to be more to their murders than what has already come out.”
“I agree,” Jesse said.
“Can you tell me about them? I knew them mostly as a kid knows an adult. During those rare times when I returned to the Rez on leave, I always stayed with my brother, not with them. Your take on them would be completely different from mine.”
Jesse paused, gathering his thoughts. “What I liked most about both of them was that they really cared about their neighbors. If anyone needed something, they were there, ready to help. Many times, when someone was out of work, they’d show up with a casserole or fruit from their garden. And they never made it look like charity. It was that kind of attitude that won people over.”
“Did they ever have any unusual visitors from off the Rez, or was there ever any gossip about them that you remember?”
Jesse considered the question carefully. “Every once in a while, some suit-types came to their house. They weren’t preachers or lawyers, either—not with two-way radios. I normally don’t pry, but I remember asking them one time if they were in trouble with the law. They laughed and assured me that they weren’t. But they never offered any explanation. Many speculated that the visitors had something to do with the school they were starting up, but I never believed that. To me, those people looked like government cops of some kind. Like FBI, maybe. I can tell you this—there was tension between Blue Eyes and Smiles every time the men came.”
“Do you think the visits had something to do with Fox?” Travis pressed.
Jesse remained silent for a long time. “Maybe. I just don’t know. But, if they did, that would explain why Smiles was so overprotective of her.” He paused, then added, “They didn’t call her Fox back then, by the way. They always used her given name.”
Travis smiled. “Yes, I know. I was the one who nicknamed her Fox.”
Jesse stared at an indeterminate point, a faraway look in his eye. “There’s one incident that sticks in my mind. I remember that Smiles refused to allow Fox to go on a day trip to Albuquerque with the other students. There was a lot of ill will about that. Some thought that Smiles didn’t trust the Navajo teachers.”
“Did she ever explain why she didn’t let Fox go?”
“No, not even to offer an excuse. She refused to justify her decision to anyone.”
“That doesn’t sound like her at all. She was always careful not to hurt anyone’s feelings.”
“It was completely unlike her, but I know she was doing it to protect her daughter. Nothing came ahead of that, as far as she was concerned,” Jesse said.
After thanking him, Travis walked to the library, lost in thought. Knowing what he did now, he could guess that the Johnsons had been visited by Federal Marshals. The thought of her adopted daughter being in constant danger must have eaten at Alice Johnson more than any of them had ever realized.
As his thoughts shifted to Fox, an uneasiness he couldn’t explain began to course through him. Maybe he shouldn’t have left Fox alone. He quickened his pace.
Travis entered the library and, a moment later, saw her sitting quietly at a terminal in one corner of the room. Relief swept over him.
As he approached her, Fox beamed him a bright smile. He pulled up a chair and straddled it. “What’s up?”
“I decided to try and hack into the tribal police’s databases. It took me a while, but I finally figured out Ashe’s password and got in that way.”
He laughed. “I’m impressed, but I doubt Ashe will be. What’s his password?”
“Navajoway.” She smiled. “See? It fits him perfectly.”
“You’re right.” He grinned, picturing how his brother would take the news that she’d invaded his files so easily.
“I was hoping the police had made some progress with this case,” she said, “but from what I’ve seen so far, they haven’t.”
Travis looked over her shoulder and read wha
t was on the computer screen. “You’re right. This is information we already know.”
“There’s something else I want to try now.” She entered the time of death and the date of her natural parents’ murder. The information from her WITSEC file was part of the data Ashe had included in his files. “Now let’s do a microfiche search. I want to know what the Arizona state newspapers reported about the crime. Maybe we can find a clue that might be useful to us.”
It took a while for them to track down newspapers matching the date of the murder. Their initial search through the major papers in Arizona revealed nothing.
“I can’t understand this,” Fox said. “How could they not report a murder?”
He could feel her frustration and the fear that lay just beyond that emotion. “It may have been suppressed.”
She stood and paced in front of the microfiche projector. “No newspaper reporter would back off on police say-so. They would have mentioned it, at least.”
“How about trying the New Mexico papers? Regional news makes our headlines.”
“Great idea! And to think that women say you’re just another pretty face,” she teased.
“What? Who said that?” Seeing her laugh, he clamped his mouth shut. He’d been baited by an expert.
Sitting beside her on an adjoining reader unit, he studied several reels of microfiche. “I think you should look at this article,” he said, calling her attention to a small column in the Santa Fe newspaper.
She leaned forward, twisting the focus knob.
“This couple was murdered in Santa Fe on the same date as your biological parents,” he said.
She continued reading until she’d gone through the entire article. Fox finally sat back, her face pale, her hands shaking. “The police reports have misled us. I think the murders must have happened right here in New Mexico, not Arizona.”
He nodded. “I agree. Every other detail matches. And did you see the last sentence?”
“Yes. The couple had a daughter my age,” she said.
Travis scrolled down the viewing screen until he reached the last page of the newspaper. “Unfortunately, there are no photos attached to the article.” His heart went out to her as he saw the anguish mirrored in her eyes.
“Let’s have a look in the next day’s paper,” she said after a moment “This story is so brief it’s as if it broke just before deadline.”
He knew they were on the trail that would lead to the answers. But there was something else going on. His skin was crawling and the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he was certain danger was closing in on them.
Travis looked at the people working at the other tables, and at a man in a study carrel. Gut instinct was really nothing more than information processed by the subconscious. He had to find what had triggered his inner alarms. He scrutinized everything again, but nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary.
“Look,” Fox said at length, bringing his attention back to the screen and to a photo she’d found of the murdered couple. “Those are my parents, Travis,” she said, her voice unsteady.
He saw her trembling and every protective instinct in him responded. He put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her closer to him. “That’s such a grainy photo, Fox. How can you be so sure? Have you remembered something? There’s no name on the article, probably because you were a minor and state law protected you.”
“Not with my mind, but with my heart. Those are my parents.”
Chapter Eleven
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she stared at the black-and-white image on the screen.
Travis didn’t hesitate, he simply acted. Pulling her out of the chair and into the space between two tall bookshelves, he gathered her into his arms.
“I’m sorry,” Fox said. “I’m making a spectacle of myself, but I can’t stop crying.” She tried to pull away but his arms remained steady and strong.
“Just let it out. Don’t worry about anything.”
“Seeing their faces... It was a shock,” Fox said, struggling to compose herself. “And as I looked at that photo, I suddenly understood how much has been taken away from me by the people who murdered them. I may not remember much more than their faces, but I feel the loss with every beat of my heart.”
“They’ll always be a part of you, Fox. Cling to that,” he said, stroking her hair. He tilted her chin up and took her mouth in a gentle kiss that was meant only to comfort. But Fox seemed to melt into him, as if trying to push back the chill in her soul.
She needed him, and he couldn’t back away. As her lips opened, he poured everything he was feeling into his kiss, warming her and giving as much of himself as he could.
Her arms wound around his neck and she clung to him as their tongues mated and danced in the silent language of love.
Then, although it felt as if he were ripping away his heart, he gently pushed her away. “Your life has been filled with too many losses and betrayals. I don’t want to add to that. I won’t be around for long, and you deserve far more than anything I can give you.”
Her eyes burned into him and she was about to say something sharp when one of the librarians came up to them.
“Are you finished with the microfiche? Someone else needs a viewer,” the woman said.
Fox moved away from Travis. “We’re done here, thank you.” When she looked back at Travis, the only emotion etched on her face was determination. “Let’s go. I have a plan.”
His jaw clenched. “Remember when I told you that some things scare me right down to my boots? Well, those four words have suddenly gone to the top of the list.”
“Relax. It’s a great plan. I want to go to Santa Fe.”
“You memorized your biological parents’ address, didn’t you?” he observed.
Fox nodded. “And that’s where we’re going next.” She looked around nervously. “We’d better do it as quickly as possible, too.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Is there something you haven’t told me?” he asked as they left the library.
“Well, I didn’t exactly get caught when I accessed Ashe’s files, but—”
“But what?” he roared, hurrying with her across campus.
“Have you ever heard of ‘cookies’?”
“As in with milk?”
“No. It’s kind of an electronic footprint you leave behind when you access a site via computer. It basically identifies your computer’s address, and leaves traceable code on your computer’s software.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you telling me that the police can track our location now?”
“Yeah. It won’t take long, either, once Ashe notices the log-access times and realizes there’s been an unauthorized access. He won’t know it was me, so he’ll probably turn it over to their systems manager. After that, they’ll be here on the double, I would imagine.”
“Now you tell me.”
“We’ve been taking chances all along. What’s one more? And, you’ve got to admit, the results far outweigh the risk. Now we can set aside our other plans and go directly to Santa Fe to pursue this.”
“That’s not such a good idea. I’m virtually certain that the criminals after you have your parents’ old house staked out. Remember they know more about the crime than any of us do and would realize that your search for answers will take you there sooner or later. There’s also something else to consider. Once we show up at that house, the danger to you will increase. They’re undoubtedly going to assume that you’ve remembered more than you actually have.”
“I have to go anyway, Travis—with or without you. I have to follow the trail, regardless of the risks. Let’s face it. They must be pretty sure I know, or have something that’s a serious threat to them. I have to follow this through.”
“I’ll take you, because nothing’s going to stop you and I know it. But we can’t just drive up there. We need a plan of action. Give me a chance to think about this.”
As they reached th
e pickup, Travis heard someone call out his name. He turned his head and saw a short Pueblo man of ample girth hurrying over to them.
“I thought that was you, Travis. I haven’t seen you in a long time,” the man said, struggling to catch his breath.
Travis smiled at his old friend, then introduced him to Fox. “This is Alfonso Suarez. He’s from San Ildefonso Pueblo.”
“There’ve been so many rumors about you two, lately,” Suarez said. “And not just in the newspapers! What on earth are you doing here?”
“We needed to talk to some people, but we can’t stay,” Travis replied.
“You’re still trying to keep your location a secret, then,” he observed. “Okay, I can help. I’m finished giving a graduate level class lecture here, so why don’t you both come to San Ildefonso? You’ll be safe at our pueblo. Nobody will talk to outsiders about you being here.”
“We appreciate it, sir,” Fox answered, “but I’m not sure it’s such a good idea. We could be endangering you and your neighbors. The people tailing us are very good at what they do and they’re deadly. That’s why the authorities have agreed to our plan to stay on the run. But we’ve already been at this public place too long.” Fox looked around, half expecting to see a police car pull up, searching for whoever had broken into the police computer system. Since they still didn’t know who the leak in the Marshal’s Service was, the last thing they wanted was to give anyone a fix on their location.
Suarez chuckled softly. “Trust me. The pueblo is the safest place for you. My people are much more...shall we say, ‘reserved,’ than most Navajos like Travis, here. We like our privacy. Strangers aren’t welcome unless they’re invited. Any outsiders who wander onto our land are spotted and watched.”
“And that includes Navajos,” Travis added ruefully.
Suarez laughed. “Not you, old friend.” Seeing the curiosity on Fox’s face, he explained. “The Navajos were nomads and used to raid the Pueblos. There’s still an old...good-natured rivalry between our peoples.”
Travis saw the worry on Fox’s face. “Alfonso and I go back a long way. He can be trusted.”