Sworn to Protect

by Kimberly Van Meter

  Chapter 21

  Iris took her lunch to her favorite spot on the terrace. The weather was “abominable” as Mya put it, but Iris never minded the dark rain clouds, not even before her attack when her outlook on life had been considerably rosier. She munched on the sandwich Sundance had packed for her, smiling on the inside for his careful consideration for her welfare. He hadn’t made a big production about it, just handed her a sack filled with goodies. She’d accepted it with a grin and rewarded him with a kiss.

  She’d only just finished her sandwich when she realized she wasn’t alone. She jumped instinctively, her hand flying to her throat as if to hold back her heart from leaping out of her body, until she realized it was Sierra’s father, James.

  “Sorry to bother you, Iris, but I need to talk to you for a minute,” he said.

  “Of course, what’s wrong? Is it Sierra?” she asked, not surprised when he nodded miserably. “Tell me what’s happening.”

  “She won’t talk to no one but she screams at night in her sleep.” Iris swallowed the last bite that felt stuck in her throat. She knew exactly what the teen was going through except she had Sundance and Sierra had no one but her father. “I don’t know what to do. Could you talk to her? Maybe if you talk to her she might snap out of it and get back to living.”

  “I’d be happy to talk to Sierra,” she murmured but she wouldn’t give him false hope. There was a chance Sierra would never be the girl he remembered. Heaven knew she wasn’t the same. A thought came to her. “Do you think she’d be open to hypnosis?”

  James frowned, not liking the idea but desperate. “Will it help?”

  “I don’t know. It’s helping me. It’s worth a try, right?” she said.

  “I suppose. Will you go with her? I don’t like the idea of her going alone.”

  “Of course. You can come, too, if that would make you more comfortable. Dr. Seryn is the nicest person I’ve ever met, aside from Mya. She’s very gentle.”

  James shook his head. “No, you can take her. My truck’s not so reliable these days and I think it’d just be best if you took her.”

  Iris understood what James wasn’t saying. He felt out of his element but he wouldn’t stand in the way of his daughter getting help. “Let me set it up and I’ll call you with the time.”

  “Thank you,” he said, his eyes filling with tears. “She’s all I got. It’s breaking me into pieces to see her so changed. She’s not my little butterfly girl any longer. I want her back.”

  Hot tears filled her eyes but she held them back for James’s sake. “Okay. I’ll help in any way I can.”

  Sundance received a call from Russell and the news wasn’t good.

  “No matches on any of the prints we managed to get, aside from yours and Iris’s. Sorry, man. I really hoped something would match up.”

  Sundance swore softly. “Did you get any hits on the calls to neighboring tribes?” he asked, hoping for at least something to go their way.

  “Not exactly but I did hit on something. I’m not sure it matches your case, though. The MO is similar but the hit came from an Oregon tribe, near to the Washington border.”

  “What are the details?”

  “A handful of girls drugged and raped, some with ketamine in their system. None remembered their attacker and the cases went cold for lack of evidence. Even though it’s another state, I gotta tell you, the hairs on my neck stood straight up when I read this. Of course, back then DNA analysis and collection wasn’t what it is today. Anything that might’ve been usable is long gone now.”

  “This person is following American-Indian tribes…somehow he’s associated with the reservations he’s hitting.” Sundance thought for a long moment, his brain working fast. Paul Brown’s name came to mind immediately. “Did you run the prints against all databases? Federal included?”

  “No, just the criminal records.”

  “Try the federal database and include everyone ever fingerprinted to work within a sovereign nation.”

  “That search would take days,” Russell stated incredulously. “Let’s narrow the field a bit.”

  “Fine. Narrow it to the three surrounding states. Something tells me he has a home base that he doesn’t stray too far from but the crimes are spread out enough to prevent suspicion.”

  “Give me a day. I’ll see what I can come up with.”

  “Thanks,” Sundance said, feeling for the first time in weeks as if their luck had changed.

  Sierra, once a pretty and vivacious girl, sat across from Dr. Seryn, a shell of her former self.

  A shell who didn’t care about bathing, eating or interacting with people. And Iris saw herself before Sundance forced her to come to terms with life. Frankly, she’d been surprised Sierra had agreed to come to see Dr. Seryn.

  Dr. Seryn took one look at Sierra and Iris knew the girl was in good hands. The good doctor wouldn’t rest until Sierra had returned to the land of the living. She might never be the carefree butterfly girl again but at least she wouldn’t be the zombie sitting across from them.

  Iris went to wait outside while Sierra started her session but the girl latched on to her hand, her eyes pleading with her not to leave. She clasped Sierra’s hand. “If you want me to stay I will. Nothing is going to hurt you here. Dr. Seryn is a wonderful doctor who knows what she’s doing.” Sierra’s grip didn’t loosen and Iris smiled to reassure her. “I’ll stay.”

  “Thank you,” Sierra mumbled, reluctantly letting go of Iris’s hand when she saw that she was indeed going to stay.

  Iris sank into a chair away from Dr. Seryn and Sierra and hoped the girl was able to relax enough to gain some benefit from the session. Unlike Iris’s sessions, that were geared toward identifying her attacker, Dr. Seryn’s mission for Sierra was to heal the gaping wound inside her mind. Her body had healed but her psyche wept from giant fissures.

  “Sierra, I want you to close your eyes and imagine a safe place, somewhere filled with joy and happiness, light and freedom. This can be a made-up place or some place from your childhood. Paint your landscape with bright and beautiful colors…”

  Dr. Seryn’s voice lulled Iris into a relaxed state even though she wasn’t intending on participating. Cushioned with deep, fluffy pillows, Iris drifted into a dream that felt more real than illusion.

  Laughter, music from the bar that night, and really bad singing filled her head.

  Her heart felt light, her troubles far.

  A familiar voice whispered in her ear and her good feelings drained away. Panic replaced happiness; fear overwrote joy.

  A face—smiling from ear to ear with forced charm—loomed in her vision. She tried to back away but he remained in her face, leering.

  She tried pushing, he only got closer.

  Iris could smell cinnamon on his breath, could feel the heat of his body against hers. She scratched and clawed, though half the time her feeble swipes met with air and laughter. But she managed to connect with one good hit. The laughter turned to a howl of rage. Her body was buffeted by his fists but she felt no pain. The sound of her clothes tearing made her cry out; she knew what would come next.

  She fought him but it was as if she were slogging through mud, her arms lacked strength and it was getting harder to breathe. His weight on top of her squeezed the air from her lungs. She smelled the sharp cologne, expensive maybe.

  He grunted against her yet she felt nothing. It was as if her entire body were encased in numbing cream, preventing her nerve endings from firing properly, signaling that she was being brutalized from head to toe.

  It was dark, and scary things slithered in and out of her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut but forced them open again, though it took a Herculean effort. His face was a grotesque mask, horrifying and unnatural. A scream rattled in her paralyzed throat and died without making it past her lips.

  He finished and pushed off her.

  “What do you see, baby?” he grunted in a guttural voice that surely couldn’t be real as he buckled h
is pants. “It’s the drugs. Wicked trip, huh? Don’t worry, it’ll wear off and you won’t remember a thing.”

  Blood trickled down her throat but she could do nothing about it. She would die out here, choking on her own blood.

  “Maybe if you’re lucky, we’ll do it again sometime. You’re a hot piece of tail, that’s for sure.”

  Footsteps retreated and she heard the sound of a car engine starting. Gravel spit under tires and he was gone.

  She lay there a long time, or maybe it was minutes. She wasn’t sure. She managed to slowly roll to her side so that the blood could seep onto the ground instead of down her throat.

  Then she slid into darkness.

  Iris’s eyes popped open, wrenched free from the dream, and she grabbed frantically at the sides of the chair, her heart thundering.

  Dr. Seryn paused with Sierra to regard Iris with concern. Iris sealed her mouth shut so she didn’t start babbling like a hysterical child and scare Sierra. She needed to talk with Sundance—now!

  Sundance dropped by Chad’s office, wondering how to broach the subject that was most on his mind. He wasn’t sure how to tell Chad his father had become a suspect in his investigation. He hoped he had Chad’s cooperation but there was only one way to find out.

  Except he wasn’t given the opportunity, for not only was Brett Duncan’s office cubicle cleaned out but Chad’s office was dark and empty, as well.

  He turned to someone stationed in another cubicle and asked, “Where’s Duncan and the boss?”

  The woman glanced up at Sundance, noted his badge and answered with a faint frown. “Well, Brett is no longer with us. He gave his notice today, and as far as the boss, he didn’t say where he was going. I assumed he was taking a late lunch.”

  Sundance murmured his thanks for her help and wondered why Brett Duncan up and quit so suddenly. He knew the man had an alibi, but damn if he didn’t want the guy for the crime. But seeing as he had nothing by the way of evidence, and being a cheating jerk wasn’t enough cause to arrest someone, he could do little about him splitting the reservation. Good riddance, he thought, moving on.

  Sundance thought about leaving Chad a message but decided against it, figuring he’d catch him tomorrow.

  But as it turned out, it wasn’t necessary since Chad rolled up in his government-issue sedan just as Sundance was climbing into the Durango.

  “Hey, taking off so soon? I have promising news to share,” Chad said, breaking into an easy grin. “I think I might’ve found a grant that will help funnel some much-needed cashola into this place. I think that deserves a dinner invitation, don’t you?”

  A leap of excitement caused his mouth to twitch into a grin. Was it possible? He’d given up on the hope of grant funds when they hadn’t been able to find anyone with the experience to write up the proposals. If the grant was a possibility because of Brett Duncan, Sundance realized he’d have to eat a little crow. “How’d you find it?” he asked.

  “Hey, it helps to have connections,” Chad said, his eyes twinkling. “I’ve been working with reservations for the past fifteen years in various capacities. You pick up a few tips along the way and I was more than happy to put that experience to good use here.”

  “I thought maybe your father might’ve used some of his influence,” Sundance said.

  Chad’s enthusiasm dampened and his mouth actually tightened with ill-disguised disgust before he let it go and said, “Naw, the old man doesn’t give a crap about anyone but the people who can further his career. Actually, this one was all on me.”

  “What about your grant guy?”

  “Yeah, I might’ve overestimated his talents. I let him go this morning. Sad, on paper he seemed the real deal but, I don’t know, there was something about his personality that rubbed me the wrong way.”

  That was exactly how Sundance felt. “Can’t say that I’ll miss him,” he admitted.

  “Yeah, you and me both. I was tired of his whining about his marriage all the time. Blah, blah, blah…leave the bitch already,” Chad said, laughing. “It’s not like there isn’t plenty of tail out there, just waiting for the right opportunity.” Chad’s statement struck an odd note with Sundance. Chad brightened, saying, “So what say you about that dinner? And how about setting me up with that growling fine sister of yours? Damn, she’s hot enough to melt your eyeballs.”

  Sundance tried not to stiffen but he didn’t like the way Chad was talking about Mya. It wasn’t that he’d said anything truly offensive, but it didn’t sit well with Sundance. He ignored Chad’s hopeful request, deciding now was as good a time as any to address the real reason he’d come looking for the man.

  “Listen, I’ve got to talk to you about something.”

  “Sounds serious.”

  “It is. It’s about your dad.”

  Chad sighed. “Did he harass some poor woman? I’m always telling him to keep his hands to himself. He’s pretty old-school about some things. I’ll talk to him,” he assured Sundance, assuming that was the problem.

  “No, it’s nothing like that.”

  “What is it then?”

  “It’s about the case.”

  Chad frowned. “What’s the case got to do with my dad?”

  “I need to ask him a few questions. All the victims, including ones in neighboring tribes were drugged with ketamine, that is a common drug used by veterinarians. The fact that your dad was once a vet and has had associations with every tribe reporting an unsolved rape case makes him suspect. I’m sorry.”

  Chad’s mouth tightened and he shook his head. “This is career suicide, man. Don’t do it. This sounds way too circumstantial to screw your career over. You start spouting off stuff like that and my dad will bury you. Trust me. And, honestly, I gotta tell you, this is some special kind of crap. I think you’re grasping at straws because you’re desperate. Frankly, I thought you were a better investigator than that.”

  Sundance had expected anger so Chad’s defense of his father didn’t offend him.

  “So you must have new leads or something…” Chad surmised, then he said, “No, don’t tell me. I don’t need to know. Although I just wondered because Iris had mentioned she was doing hypnosis or something to try and remember details, though why she’d want to remember is beyond me.”

  “Every detail helps,” Sundance said.

  “I suppose…if hypnosis really worked. Most MDs consider it a bunch of hogwash.”

  “Well, it seems to be working,” Sundance said, feeling the need to defend Iris’s therapy, possibly because he’d been the one to suggest it for her. “Besides, she’s seeing a forensic hypnotherapist, not your average run-of-the-mill practitioner.”

  Chad shrugged, the movement still resonating with anger. “Well, good luck. You’re barking up the wrong tree but you’re going to do what you feel is necessary. I just wish I’d known I was working with a loose cannon, willing to throw away months of hard work on a hunch. This isn’t Scooby-Doo and there are real consequences for a monumental screwup.”

  Chad jerked his car door open and climbed inside without offering a goodbye.

  Sundance gave him his space and watched him drive away. There was no good way to deliver bad news. He figured it went as well as could be expected. But he suspected Chad’s warning held merit. If he was wrong, he was about to royally screw his future…and possibly that of the entire tribe.

  Iris dropped Sierra off at home and drove like a crazy woman to the station. Her cell phone was dead and Sierra hadn’t brought one; that left her unable to talk to anyone about what she’d seen while with Dr. Seryn.

  She’d never expected her own brain to kick in with the memory overload but maybe that’s what finally tripped the lock, she’d been completely relaxed and open when before she’d been tense and afraid.

  Iris arrived at the station in a puff of dust, and when she saw that Sundance wasn’t there she realized he must be out on a call. Well, she’d go to his place then and wait for him. She scribbled a note and tacked i
t to the front door for when Sundance returned and then headed for his place with one small detour. She’d left Saaski at home rather than take him to Dr. Seryn’s with them since Sierra had been fearful of the big dog.

  Iris pulled into her driveway, the small house pricking an odd note of sadness as it no longer felt welcoming to her. She shook off the melancholy, focused on grabbing a few essentials and Saaski, then heading out.

  Saaski barked with happiness, his bushy tail wagging while his tongue lolled as he strained against his chain. Iris unhooked him and he bounded into the forest behind the house, presumably to work off the energy he had from being tied for a few hours. She smiled, knowing Saaski would return if she whistled.

  She headed into the house, going straight for her bedroom to grab fresh clothes. Finished, she plopped her bag on the sofa while she went to the kitchen to package up the rest of her casseroles. She pulled the first casserole from the freezer but nearly dropped it when she realized someone was standing in the doorway.

  “I knocked but I guess you didn’t hear me.”

  Iris’s grip tightened on the casserole, her skin prickling as her heart rate sped up. “Chad…what are you doing here?” She didn’t ask how he knew where she lived. She already knew. He knew because he’d been there before. His was the voice she recognized from her session with Dr. Seryn. She forced a smile. “Actually, you caught me just as I was leaving.”

  “That’s a shame,” Chad said, a charming smile looking the exact opposite to her as he approached. She went very still, but kept her fixed smile. He didn’t know she knew. If she remained normal, he’d suspect nothing and she would be able to walk away. He gestured to the casserole. “What you got there?”

  “Dinner. For me and Sundance.”

  “Sounds cozy.”

  “He’s a good friend.”

  “Is that all?”

  Iris’s smile slipped. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, c’mon, Iris, don’t play dumb. It’s beneath you. I want to know if you let him between your legs or not.”