by Aimée Thurlo
“Quit blocking him, Laura, or I’ll kill the girl right now,” Crosley snapped.
“Okay,” Laura said, then dived to her left, forcing Crosley to target her.
“No!” Crosley screamed, swinging his pistol around and aiming at her.
The girl screamed, clawing at Crosley’s face and kicking his legs. As his grip loosened, she broke free.
Crusher was nothing more than a blur as he flew toward Crosley, tackling him to the grass. The big man shoved hard, throwing the dog off for a second, then swung his pistol toward Crusher.
Travis and Laura both fired and Crosley fell back, mortally wounded.
The girl, who’d rushed over to her friends, was now clinging to them, sobbing. Crusher immediately trotted over, his tail wagging furiously, and began licking them. The girls knelt down, wrapping the dog in big hugs.
Travis hurried to Laura’s side and glared at her. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll shoot you myself.”
As she looked at him, she saw remnants of fear and a love as steady as the mountains all rolled into one volatile package. “I knew you’d protect me—just as I would you. Balance,” she said.
“Love,” he said as sirens filled the air, drowning out his voice.
She drew in her breath, almost sure she’d heard him say the one word her heart had longed to hear most. As she reached for his hand, the first patrol car pulled up and he moved away.
NOT MUCH HAD SURVIVED the explosions, but hours later, new details were coming to light. Crosley had been ready to make a run for it. He’d parked a getaway car a block away. Although he’d destroyed almost all the evidence in those explosions, he’d carried one thing in his pocket—his computer flash drive.
Back in the lab, one of the techs plugged it into the mainframe and showed them the journal that appeared on the screen. “This was encrypted and it wasn’t easy to figure out a way to break it down. It’s a memoir that explains a lot about him. Crosley met his first real love in college, a softball player on scholarship who didn’t give him the time of day. He kept pushing it, and one day she got the men’s team to gang up, strip him down and duct tape him to a flagpole. The rest are mostly rantings over his need for revenge—sick stuff that suggests he had some deep psychological problems.”
“Incidents and memories that most young people learn to put aside so they can move on led him to become a monster,” Travis said. “What a waste.”
“Yes,” Laura said, the truth behind his words touching her deeply.
“This case is now closed,” Travis said.
“Not yet,” Chief Wright said. “I’ll need to speak to both of you. Ms. Perry, you first.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Debriefings were never easy, but this one had been especially difficult for her. As she came out of the chief’s office, Travis went in. She gave him a smile of encouragement, then went to find Crusher.
As she walked down the hall to the bullpen, Laura felt hollow inside. She’d found justice, but now her time at Three Rivers had come to an end. The knowledge felt like a knife to her heart.
Seeing Crusher by Travis’s desk, she hugged him and decided on impulse to take the big guy out for a walk. It would be the last time she’d be spending time with their uncomplaining partner.
Once outside and away from prying eyes, she bent down and gave him a tight hug. The dog set down the toy he’d been carrying in his mouth and licked her face.
“Thanks, Mister C. I’ll miss you, too,” she said softly.
As she looked down at the toy, Laura realized that it was the old glove Travis had given him once, the one the dog hadn’t wanted to part with but wouldn’t play with anymore. Love had worked its magic on her four-legged friend, allowing him to let go of the past.
Maybe it was time for her to do the same. Some things were just too precious to cast aside. She smiled, a new sense of purpose and rightness coming to life within her. She’d always wanted to open her own agency. What better time than here and now?
She wouldn’t bind Travis to anything he wasn’t ready for, but the thought of walking away from love, the best and truest gift life had ever given her, was clearly unthinkable.
Hearing quick footsteps, she spun around and nearly collided with Travis. He took her in his arms, pushed her against the wall and covered her mouth with his. That endless kiss sent its vibrations all the way down to her toes.
After an eternity, he pulled away but didn’t release her. “What we’ve found is worth fighting for. I can’t let you go without showing you what might be. Come with me to Long Mountain. The Navajo Way can bring us peace and restore our hózhó. We can find freedom from the past there with the help of a hataalii. Will you leave with me, today, right now?”
She started to speak, but he shook his head. “Just nod.”
She did, smiling.
After loading Crusher into the back of the SUV, they set out on the journey. They drove all night, heading west into Arizona.
Several times along the way she thought about telling him that she was planning to stay. Yet she knew they first needed to find that peace and balance that could only come at Long Mountain.
The pastel promise of a new day was forming on the desert horizon when they reached Long Mountain. Leaving Crusher to trail along behind, Travis led her to the base of the rock formation, then turned and pointed toward the dawn. “There, in the distance. Can you see the trail of dust?” Seeing her nod, he added, “That’s the hataalii. He’ll be here soon.”
As a hawk cried overhead, he pulled her into his arms. “Harmony surrounds us. Look around you. A hawk flies above us, and beneath us, down to the south, a cougar hunts. It’s a good omen,” he said. “Everything is connected and can coexist. All it requires is an open heart. Open yours and stay.”
“I left Three Rivers searching for happiness, yet everything I wanted was right here, within my reach, all along.”
He tilted her chin up and held her gaze. “I love you.”
“I’ve waited a long time to hear those words,” she said, nuzzling into him.
As the sun rose over a distant mesa, he held her tightly against him, heartbeat to heartbeat. “Get used to it. You’re going to be hearing those words the rest of our lives.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7968-5
TWILIGHT WARRIOR
Copyright © 2011 by Aimée and David Thurlo
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*Brotherhood of Warriors
†Long Mountain Heroes
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
&nb
sp; Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three