The Accused

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The Accused Page 20

by Jana DeLeon


  “No, not even enlarged.”

  “What’s that drifting down?” Kyle asked, pointing. “A gray feather?”

  “Feather, yes, but in the original, it’s blue.”

  “Hosteen Silver used to say that blue jays, or piñon jays as he called them, stood for peace and happiness,” Kyle said. “So was he saying that you’ll be so busy fighting you’ll miss out on happiness?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” Preston answered.

  Kyle shook his head. “Everything about that man was mysterious. Even his name. Hosteen means mister. Silver was a nickname given to him because of his long silver hair.”

  Noting the wind had calmed down and things were returning to normal, Preston started leading the horse back to the corral. Just then a big barn owl flew out of the pine tree beside him. The bird swooped past him with a faint rustle of feathers, then turned sharply and angled up toward the cliff, disappearing into the background of rocks and brush.

  Preston led the horse away quickly, grateful that Red had seemed oblivious to the owl and was now back to his usual calm self. His one fear—thunder—had subsided.

  “The worst is over,” Preston said.

  “Not by a long shot, bro. You’re the falcon in the drawing, and that was an owl we both saw swooping down out of that pine. For you, it’s just starting.”

  Before he could reply, Preston’s phone rang. He turned the reins over to his brother, gesturing for him to put the horse away, and answered the call.

  Mere minutes later he met Kyle, who was standing by the department’s SUV. Preston had changed shirts and was ready to go. “I need to race over to Hartley. I’m the closest cop and some kid just reported what he thinks is a dead body at Sitting Tall Ranch.”

  “Watch your back, bro. Looks like things are already in motion.”

  Preston slipped inside the SUV, then glanced out the window, his face hard, his gaze deadly. “Whatever’s coming will find me ready and waiting.”

  ISBN: 9781460317129

  Copyright © 2013 by Jana DeLeon

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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