“I didn’t know Daniel. But yeah, I’d say that’s a bogus theory. I don’t buy it either.”
“So how did the killer manage to get Daniel’s DNA on the victim’s clothing?”
“Whoa, back up. Touch DNA just means that at some point, Daniel had hold of that scarf. A scarf is a simple accessory that could’ve been draped around something other than her neck at any given time while he knew her.”
“Like a chair or on a hook in her closet, even in a public place?”
“That’s it. Daniel could’ve handed it off to her when they had dinner out and got ready to leave a restaurant, or picked it out of a drawer for her to wear with an outfit, or touched it when he removed it from a peg in the closet. See? There are a number of scenarios that work other than it’s a definitive piece of evidence against him.”
“Okay. So what does it prove anyway? That Daniel and the victim were spending time with each other and he had access to her clothing. He never denied he knew Ellen. The two obviously had an affair, which means Daniel touched a great deal more than Ellen’s scarf. So what conclusion does that leave us?”
“Exactly. All it says is he touched the scarf at some point. Big deal.”
“Who are we kidding here, Josh? There are people in prison serving time with less evidence than this. As I said before DNA is pretty strong. I have to face facts. Daniel Cree had some kind of tie-in with our killer. We just have to find out what it is.” All at once, Skye shoved out of the chair, grabbed her satchel. “There’s something I have to do.”
Irritation flashed through Josh. He recognized that withdrawn attitude on her face, a demeanor he thought she’d rid herself of—until right this moment. “I’ll go with you.”
“No. We aren’t joined at the hip. The sooner you realize that the better off this marriage will be.”
“Don’t shut me out like this, Skye. There’s no need for it. You’re hurting. I get that. But—”
“Right now, I need for you to back off.” With that, she stalked to the elevator, hit the Down button hard with the palm of her hand, and disappeared inside the car.
Skye drove around for a while to clear her head. When that didn’t work she made her way to the cemetery to visit the graves of her parents.
She hadn’t thought to bring flowers. But as she stood among the headstones dealing with another painful memory of a different kind, she took out the medicine bag from under her pullover.
With her hand clutching the power of the talisman, she stood over the ground where Daniel and Jodie Cree had been buried side by side. She went through the only chant she could remember in her native tongue, a simple recitation that spurred memories from childhood.
“Oh Great Spirit, protect our family. Mother Earth, shine your sun on us for many years to come. Father Sky, let peace and honor be with us always. I believe in you, my father, my mother. I know you believe in me. Oh Great Spirit, bring joy and light as we all travel down life’s road.”
Glancing up at the heavens and the low-hanging clouds, she spotted a hawk, circling overhead. The magnificent bird wasn’t alone. Not far away in the drifting layer of mist, a crow flapped its wings as it came into view. She breathed in the cool air and let a sense of peace wash over her. And decided there were pluses to having so many protectors looking out for her.
One in particular was very real and could be a pain in the ass when the mood struck him. It was one of the reasons why Skye fretted over her visit with Travis.
The two of them hadn’t had much of a chance to revisit the subject of his affair with her mother since last fall. There were still a few crinkles that needed to be ironed out. She had to admit now as she drove through the gate, past the sign that read, The Painted Crow, she’d acted a bit like a child when she’d first found out. She’d been feeling somewhat betrayed at the thought of what her mother had done to Daniel Cree and what Travis had done to the man he considered a brother.
Now that she knew Daniel had moved on with Ellen Schreiber, was that enough to temper her outrage at all of them?
She wasn’t sure. It hadn’t been Daniel’s fault Jodie and Travis had continued to sleep together well after their initial agreement to make a baby. But at some point, Daniel had begun an affair with a coworker. Perhaps out of loneliness, perhaps to seek out someone who gave him a measure of happiness, no matter how brief it had been.
Didn’t Daniel deserve happiness as much as anyone else?
For that reason, she was done judging the actions of her parents and those of Travis. It wasn’t her place. What happened was unfortunate for all concerned but it was ancient family history. It was time to let it go and move on. And she would have, if it hadn’t been for the Ellen Schreiber murder. If not for that, she would gladly have put it right where it belonged—two decades ago in the past.
But not having all the details of the story bugged the hell out of her.
Knowing how much Travis valued his privacy, she figured he would never have come clean in the first place if she hadn’t pushed him to do it. That day she’d seen too many emotions on his face to describe the turmoil running through him. She didn’t take that angst lightly.
And now, here she was again with an inquiring mind and a head full of questions. She doubted Travis would be happy about it.
To escape Seattle’s hectic lifestyle, Travis raised and bred American Paint Horses on forty acres of ranchland outside Everett. She knew the place to be a picturesque spot he’d bought during one of the darkest times of his life.
Crawling out of the Subaru with the earthy smells of manure and hay hanging in the damp air, she understood why he found solace here among the rolling hills and evergreens. Maybe she needed a great big dose of it herself. Maybe she needed a retreat where she could get away from all the hassles her life had become.
When she spotted her father making his way from the stable, she sent him a wave.
“What a wonderful surprise,” Travis said as he pulled her into his chest for a hug. After kissing her cheek, he put her at arm’s length to study her face. “Something’s wrong.”
The sky started to mist rain so they looped their way up the pebbled walkway past the corral and inside the stable.
“How about I help you groom the horses?”
“Sure. But you didn’t drive all the way up here in traffic to become the stable hand for the afternoon. What gives?”
“I used to hate being Native,” Skye blurted out as she took off her jacket so she could move around better. “Don’t worry,” She assured him as she picked up a curry comb. Eyeing the disappointed look on his face, she quickly added, “It was a phase. I’ve been out of that mode for several years now. I was young and stupid and didn’t appreciate my heritage back then.”
“Okay. Glad to hear it. You want to tell me why you’re here? Not that I don’t appreciate the visit. Did something happen between you and Josh?”
A layer of guilt moved in at the question. She wasn’t proud of the way she’d stormed out of the loft. She’d have to deal with her temper later. First things first though, she decided. “I’ll fix things with Josh. I promise. Right now, I need to know more about the time Daniel spent working at Fort Lewis.”
Travis narrowed his eyes to slits. “Why’s that?”
She told him about the meeting with Harry, about Ellen Schreiber, about the DNA on the scarf linking back to Daniel.
“What? That’s impossible. They made a mistake, that’s all,” Travis insisted after hearing it pour out of her.
“No, it seems they took DNA when I went missing. They found a young girl about my age and needed to make sure it wasn’t me. They entered Daniel’s DNA into CODIS, where it’s been sitting all this time. I’m not even sure why he’d bother with providing a sample knowing it wouldn’t match to me.”
“That’s just it, Skye. I’m telling you they made a mistake.”
She focused on his dark brown eyes, beginning to pick up the implication. “Why are you so certain of that?”
; “Because the DNA belongs to me. The day they collected the swab, Daniel and I did a switcheroo.”
She stared at him with her mouth gaped open. Letting the words sink in, she finally got her brain to work. “That’s impossible. How?”
“They weren’t as particular about it then as they are now, standing over you with a long Q-tip every single second, watching your every move the entire time. When the tech handed Daniel the stick, he distracted her long enough that I was able to snatch it out of his hand then swab my own mouth, handed it back to Daniel. It took maybe an extra four seconds.”
Skye shook her head. “You’re kidding? While the tech did what exactly? Harry was so sure you two couldn’t have pulled it off.”
“So you put it on the table, huh? Thanks for thinking the worst of us, kiddo,” Travis teased.
“Turns out, I wasn’t that far off the mark. So if the DNA belongs to you instead of Daniel, who actually knew Ellen intimately, if you get my drift, then what the hell is going on with the evidence?”
“It could mean her killer had access.”
“That’s crazy. I don’t even believe that.”
He paced away from her and then turned to head back, covering the same band of space. “I knew Ellen.”
“What?” Skye’s shoulders slumped. “How?”
“Not well, of course, but Ellen came into your mother’s ceramics shop a couple of times when I was there. I watched the place while she and Jodie went to lunch at a little cafe two doors down.”
Skye huffed out a breath. “I don’t understand how it is that the four of you could be so civilized during what had to be a very awkward encounter. If Josh cheated on me I’d want to scratch out the other woman’s eyes. You’re saying my mother and Ellen sat down, broke bread together, and then had a conversation. Unbelievable.”
“Civilized? I guess we were. Jodie had a tremendous chunk of guilt over our affair. She struggled with it for some time. The three of us had to maintain a certain amount of civility because of you. Try to remember, in the end, Jodie chose Daniel over me. Besides that, I’m pretty sure Ellen wasn’t that serious about Daniel in the first place. She had a boyfriend or rather an ex-boyfriend she couldn’t seem to shake. At least that’s what Daniel told me. She continued to see the guy the whole time she was with Daniel.”
“I need to find out his name. It’s odd but Harry never mentioned anything about Ellen having an ex-lover. Do you happen to know who it was?”
“No idea. Probably some guy on base. But it has to be somewhere in her file if they did a thorough enough investigation. Harry couldn’t possibly believe Daniel had anything to do with Ellen’s death.”
“No, Harry didn’t give me that impression. But there are people sitting in prison who were convicted on a lot less. DNA of any kind is a powerful piece of evidence to overcome in court.”
“But it’s my DNA found on the scarf, not Daniel’s. And you can’t take a dead man to trial,” Travis argued. Scratching his chin, he leaned up against one of the stalls. “What if you’re dealing with a cop who had access to the evidence room?”
“Wow, where did that come from? That might explain a few things though.”
“Like access?”
“More like, the ability to evade arrest for all this time. But before we start down that path, let’s back up a minute. How exactly did this DNA switch work?”
“That day we were both very nervous and anxious about you still being—out there somewhere. When the tech showed up we were in the garage changing the oil in Daniel’s car just for something to do and to keep our minds from thinking the worst.”
“After everything, the two of you still managed to remain friends. It’s still hard to digest.”
“Why? We were friends, brothers really, neither one us was a monster.”
“No, you weren’t monsters, just two guys who got caught up in something that got out of control. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take a detour into that again. Go on with what happened.”
“When the tech asked for the swab, Daniel and I traded looks. We both knew full well what we had to do. Daniel picked up a quart of oil and there were several others lined up on the fender of the car. Luckily, the cans had been opened. Anyway, he knocked one of them over and it ended up all over the tech’s pants leg. She was pretty pissed about it. While she was busy doing an ‘ick, look at this, black-stuff-all-over-me-type dance’ Daniel handed me the swab. I ran it around my mouth, handed it back to Daniel. Once she stopped dancing around the mess and stopped worrying about her shoes, the tech was none the wiser.”
It was too simple, thought Skye. But this time she kept her opinion to herself. “What if you’d gotten caught?”
“In that case, we were prepared to disclose everything to the cops, anything to get you back, to get answers. Keep in mind, Drummond had a dead thirteen-year-old across town. We found out her age much later when she was identified as Brenda Bradbury. And then days later you found a way out of that rathole of an apartment and came back to us.
“They took you to the hospital and the next thing I knew the phone rang. It was Daniel calling to tell me you were alive. I’d never dropped to my knees before, but I did that day. I’ve never been so relieved in my life. That day when I walked into your room and saw you were headed into surgery, I…I wanted to go to you, to tell you...right then that I was your father. Everyone had to give blood that day. Not sure they used it on you, but all our mutual friends showed up for a donation to the blood bank. I kept thinking the doctor would come out any minute and set everyone in the room straight.”
Stepping to him, she laid her head on his shoulder and then a hand to his cheek. “I understand you couldn’t disclose anything. You were there for me later when they died. I needed you then, too. I just wish I could have grown up here.”
“I do, too. But it wasn’t our path, Skye. That’s changed now. Nothing can keep us apart.”
After finishing up grooming one of the horses, regret had already taken its toll. She felt petty for shutting Josh out like she had. And she wanted him here with her. There were times a person had to admit they’d been a horse’s ass and deal with it.
For that reason, she took out her cell phone, punched in his number and was relieved when he picked up. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I can be such an idiot at times.”
“Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m better. I’m at Travis’s place. Come out for dinner. There’s a lot you need to know.”
Darkness fell, as she waited at the gate for him to drive up. At the first sign of his little car coming up the lane, her heart lurched.
As soon as he crawled out of the car, Skye rushed to him, locking her arms around his waist.
“I thought you’d never get here.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” He snatched her up off her feet, held her up off the ground. “Traffic was awful. Are we staying the night?”
“I missed you.”
“I missed you, too. Does your bad mood qualify for having makeup sex?”
She chortled with laughter as they headed up to the house. “We definitely should explore that once Travis heads to bed. You do qualify for grilled steak fajitas. I know you like those.”
After dinner she caught Josh up on the conversation with Travis as they took a walk in the rain down to the narrow cove of rocky coastline below the house. They passed through rolling pastureland, ambled under magnificent nobles and western hemlock. The tops of the giant trees looked as if the branches could reach the heavens.
On their way to the little strip of rock-strewn beach, Skye breathed in the moist breeze. “The air always smells fresher up here even with the horse dung hanging on the fringes.”
Josh laughed. “Get used to it. Once we close on the farmhouse, we’ll have access to this smell every day.”
They stood their taking in the waves crashing up against the rocks. As squawky seagulls dive-bombed the water looking for a meal, Josh asked, “What’s troubling
you the most?”
“I’m a still a little raw each time I’m reminded that my parents were so flawed. I suppose we all want to believe our moms and dads are perfect role models.”
“Sure we do, but the bottom line is that isn’t realistic. Our parents make mistakes.”
“Yours seem perfect.”
“They’re far from that. My father was a workaholic. My mother had an addiction to pain pills during my high school years.”
“Really?” That was news to her. “But they seem so…normal now.”
Josh stuck his hands in his pockets. “Looks are deceiving. You should know that.”
“I guess I do. I’m prepared to put their past behind me, stop my immature reaction to it every time it comes up. But it’s easier said than done.”
“All you can do is work on the way you feel and keep trying. What else is bothering you?”
“At the time Ellen Schreiber dated Daniel, she had an on-again-off-again relationship with another guy. We need to find out who it was and where he was the night Ellen went missing.”
“The thing I don’t understand is how Travis’s DNA got on the woman’s scarf.”
“Travis said he met Ellen a couple of times when she had lunch with my mother. Maybe...somehow…”
“Okay. So what did Travis do, grab her by the scarf before she headed out the door to eat?”
“I know. It’s bizarre. Travis mentioned we might be looking at a member of law enforcement. Think about it, Josh. Who else would have had access to the evidence? Do you think he could’ve somehow managed to put Travis’s DNA there on that scarf?”
Josh considered that, shook his head. “How? It was Seattle’s jurisdiction. They’re the ones who kept what was found at the crime scene. The scarf was at the grave site, buried with the body. It was Harry who sent it for testing. No one knew the DNA wasn’t Daniel’s, except Travis.”
“A link to Seattle PD then? I can’t help but think there has to be a flaw in the handling of this whole thing, in the course of the investigation, somewhere they missed a step.”
Skye Cree 03: The Bones Will Tell Page 16