by Aimée Thurlo
Dana smiled with relief, but a man seated by himself two tables down smiled back, thinking her gesture had been directed at him.
The man, with wavy black hair and a big gold chain clearly visible in the spot where he’d left two buttons of his shirt undone, grabbed his drink and sauntered over. “Why in the world would any man leave a pretty lady like you all alone?”
She glanced at Ranger, but he was still talking to the bartender. When she turned back, “Wavy Hair’s” hand was on the table, still holding his drink. She could see a pale stripe around the left ring finger of the wannabe Romeo.
Thinking fast, Dana reached into her purse and brought out her small notebook and pen, then looked him squarely in the eye. “I’m a reporter for the Farmington Journal. I’m doing a piece for our lifestyles section on pickup lines men use when stepping out on their wives.”
“Oh…well, I’m not married so I can’t help you. Good luck with the story,” he said, picking up his drink and moving away quickly.
She was still chuckling, sipping the rum and cola Jenny had delivered, when Ranger finally joined her. “What was that all about,” he said, picking up his glass and taking a deep swallow of beer.
“I’ll tell you later. What did you get?”
“Not much, except that Trujillo himself has been here several times in the past few weeks, which was a surprise to me. Apparently, he started from scratch when he put his team together. But word’s out now, and those looking for work go straight to him. Have you seen any faces you recognized?”
“None of the men I’ve seen tonight were involved in the kidnapping.”
After they each took another swallow from their drinks, they decided to leave. They were halfway to the door when Jenny came rushing up.
“Hey, Ranger,” she said, beaming him a smile. “Barry said you’re looking for men Trujillo might have hired?” Seeing Ranger nod, she continued, her voice much lower now. “He’s got at least one guy on the payroll these days helping him screen out potential employees. The guy was in just last week. He wears some kind of uniform.”
“Military?”
“No,” she answered. “Works for the city, like in a shop. I recognized the city patch on his sleeve, but I was at the wrong angle to see the details.”
“Think hard, Jennifer,” Ranger said. “Can you give us anything more?”
She blew out a breath. “Just that the uniform was brown, like UPS, only a shade or two lighter. He was wearing a matching cap, too.”
“He could be in any of their shops, a utilities inspector, or even drive a disposal rig. Was he short or tall, fat or skinny?” Ranger pressed.
“He was sitting down. All I can tell you for sure is that he looked fit.”
“Like a weight lifter?” Ranger asked.
“No, more like a runner. He had a nice smile, too.”
Dana didn’t have to look at Ranger to feel his exasperation. “What made you notice him?” Dana asked, playing a hunch.
“That’s easy. Although he was dressed like a working man-no tie or white collar-he had expensive tastes. You know how I collect old-style money clips cause they remind me of my dad?”
Dana nodded.
“His looked like a real antique. It must have cost him a fortune. I was pea-green with envy when he peeled off a twenty for his tab.”
“A money clip?” Ranger repeated.
“Yeah, really beautiful. He held it out for me to take a closer look when he saw I was interested. It was gold and engraved with an intricate design, maybe an initial. And he had a gold watch that must have set him back five hundred bucks.”
After getting a quick description of the guy-unfortunately Jenny had spent her time looking at the money clip and watch, and couldn’t even remember the color of the man’s eyes-they left the bar.
A few minutes later they were underway. “As far as leads go, that’s a strange one, but I think I know how to follow it up,” Ranger said, turning toward a residential area. “We need to see a friend of mine who works for the city.” He picked up the cell phone. “Let’s just hope she’s home. If I remember correctly, Saturday’s her favorite night out.”
“A former girlfriend, and you still feel free to call and ask to drop by at this hour?” she asked, surprised. The fact that he’d remained friends with more than one woman from his past spoke well for Ranger.
“Do I detect a trace of jealousy in your voice?” he teased.
“In your dreams, guy.”
His grin widened. “Be careful what you wish for. My dreams are all X-rated.”
Her flesh prickled as her imagination fueled her already awakened desire. “Focus on business,” she said for her own benefit as well as his.
“You are my business.”
“The day I’m not, then we’ll talk more about our dreams,” she said softly.
“Count on it,” he answered with a nod. “And Dana?” She looked back at him. “I always keep my word.”
Chapter Eleven
The ranch-style home, complete with stables and a riding area, was on a multiacre lot on the northwest outskirts of Farmington. Tall bluffs lined each side of a narrow valley that led north toward the foothills of the San Juan Mountains.
Maria Charley was a slender, beautiful Navajo woman in her early forties with petite, oriental features. She placed a platter of fresh fruit in front of them, then sat in a chair across from the leather western-style couch.
“It’s good to see you,” Maria said, looking at Ranger. “I hope he’s treating you well,” she added, looking at Dana. There was no animosity in her tone or her expression.
“We’re just getting to know each other,” Dana answered cautiously.
Maria gave her a puzzled look, making Dana suspect she wasn’t used to getting lukewarm responses from Ranger’s girlfriends.
Dana was tempted to explain that they were simply business partners, but then changed her mind. Ranger was here to get information, not give it out.
“I gather this isn’t a social visit,” Maria said, giving Ranger a curious look. “You sounded…tense on the phone.”
“I’d almost forgotten how observant you are,” he said.
“It helps when you’re an accountant. So tell me what brings you here,” Maria answered with a tiny smile.
“I need your help,” he said directly.
“No problem. What do you need?”
Her response surprised Dana. Maria hadn’t even hesitated. Jenny had told her that Ranger had a way with women. Maybe the memories he created were worth the price of heartbreak.
Dana found the thought intriguing…and disconcerting. It was a little scary to feel herself so drawn to a man who should have come with a warning label-or maybe a disclaimer.
“You’ve worked for the city for years now. What department wears brown uniforms?” Ranger asked.
Maria thought about it, then shook her head. “The only departments I can recall off the top of my head are sanitation and maintenance, but I’m sure there are others, too,” she said, then added, “Come to think of it, animal control officers wear that color. One of their people came by last week and captured a stray dog that had been getting too close to my neighbor’s miniature horses.”
“Roughly, how many people total are we talking about in that color uniform?” Ranger asked.
“Fifty, more or less,” she said after a pause. “But I won’t be able to give you anything more concrete until Monday.”
“We’re looking for a guy who wears a brown city uniform, moonlights and isn’t too picky about the jobs he takes on,” he added, then gave her a description of the man Jennifer had seen.
“That physical information will rule out the women and a good number of the men. I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Before Monday?” Ranger pressed.
“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Before Monday, if I can, but I’m not promising anything.”
After accepting something to drink and enjoying some small talk, Ranger and D
ana left.
“You’re very quiet all of a sudden,” Ranger remarked as they headed back west toward the reservation.
“You and Maria get along great. I’m surprised you’re not still dating.”
“We’re friends. That’s all we ever were.”
“Has there ever been anyone really special in your life?”
He paused thoughtfully, then finally nodded. “A few times,” he said, then correcting himself added, “Twice.”
“What happened?”
“My first love jilted me,” he said somberly.
Surprised, she turned to look at him.
“Her parents gave her a horse for her twelfth birthday-and after that, she never had time for me.”
She scowled at him. “I was being serious!”
“Me, too,” he teased.
“Okay, what about your second love?”
He smiled slowly at her. “That’s still a work in progress.”
Her heart did a quiet somersault and there was a little hitch in her breath. Realizing from his expression that he was only too aware of his effect on her, she glanced away.
“Where to now?” Dana asked at last.
“We’ve stirred up enough trouble tonight. I think it’s time to pack it in.”
“So we’re going back to the safe house?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Our best chance is to stay on the move. I have another place in mind. But I need to make a call first and my cell’s not getting a signal here,” he said, placing the phone back down on the seat.
Stopping at a gas station, he walked to the pay phone outside and dialed. She strained to hear, but she couldn’t make out much.
Seeing him keeping his back to her, and his voice lower than normal, forced her to face a difficult fact. He still didn’t trust her, but in all fairness she couldn’t blame him. Ranger’s priority was to find Hastiin Sani’s killers, and he mistakenly believed she was withholding information that could help him do that.
They would never really be able to work together. That much was clear. It was time for a drastic change of plans. There was only one way for her to keep her promise to Hastiin Sani and not endanger Hastiin Dííl. The first chance she got, she’d have to get away from Ranger. Trujillo and the others wouldn’t be on the lookout for a woman traveling alone, not now. She’d change her appearance and complete the task on her own.
He joined her a moment later and they drove west through Shiprock and then headed on toward the Arizona border. They turned south again a short time later and drove down a narrow highway, then onto a graveled road that went past a trading post she didn’t recognize.
Dana concentrated, trying to get her bearings. All around them were piñon-and juniper-covered hills, and with only the moon to light her surroundings, she was having very little luck.
“Where are we? I know we were heading toward Beclabito for a while, but then we went south again, right?”
“We’re close to the Arizona state line, in a mostly traditionalist area. There are very few modern amenities out here, and that keeps away those who require air-conditioning and telephones. I’ve always loved this part of the rez myself. Open country is part of every Navajo…though some forget.”
“It’s beautiful, but life out here would be hard,” she said softly, seeing a stunted piñon tree growing precariously on the side of a cliff.
“It can be. Mother Earth nourishes The People but also tests us constantly. It’s our beliefs that keep us strong. In the Diné Bekayah, Navajoland, the mountains have names and they watch over the Diné. The Holy People are with us as Wind, Lightning, Thunder, Sky and Rain. We know which offerings will appease them and how to call down their blessings. Living in balance and harmony, honoring that all things are connected, we walk in beauty.”
His voice resonated with a deep love for his tribe and this sometimes inhospitable land. Ranger was a man with loyalties that went deeper than the eye could see. “Your heart is here. I wish I had that sense of home. I envy you that.”
“I’ll share mine with you,” he said and covered her hand with his.
Despite all the barriers she’d put in the way to protect her heart, his words and the gesture touched her. Then, slowly, rationality returned. Ranger was a man on a mission.
She pulled her hand away and shifted in her seat. “Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to my family home. My parents are both gone and the house stands empty, but my brother and I have maintained it. We use it from time to time to go hunting and fishing, or just to get away.”
She wondered how many other women he’d taken up here as well.
As if reading her mind, he added, “I’ve never taken anyone up there,” he said. “I’ve known many women,” he added slowly. “That’s hardly a secret. But this place says too much about who we were as a family. It’s a simple place that means a lot to me and I didn’t want anyone passing judgment on it. But from what I know about you, I think you’ll be able to see with more than just your eyes.”
He sounded sincere, but she knew that his goal was to gain her trust, and find out everything she knew. Opening up to her, revealing personal matters, could have been part of his strategy.
“You grew up with traditionalists?” she asked.
He nodded. “It wasn’t an easy life, but we worked together. Our family was very close. Everything about our old home reminds me of who I was once. Memories are everywhere.”
“But you’re taking me…out of necessity, or choice?”
“A little of both,” he answered after a brief pause. “But I could have chosen other places. I…wanted you to see it.” He gave her a quirky half smile. “An act of faith, if you will.”
“In me, or in our journey to find justice for a mutual friend?” she asked, then regretted it instantly.
“If you have to ask, then you won’t believe my answer.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so hard and analytical. Speaking about the past always makes me uncomfortable. For the most part, my own memories are something I’m saddled with, not ones I cherish. The only thing I learned back then is that I can survive almost anything.” Including the loss of…possibilities, she added to herself, still looking at him.
It was two in the morning by the time they arrived. The small log cabin lay within a clearing surrounded by tall pine trees, and mostly hidden from view.
“Is someone here?” she asked quickly, seeing the back end of a vehicle parked by the side.
“No. My brother and I keep that truck here for the times when the rain or snow takes out the roads. That old Chevy has a low gear we call Granny, and it never gets stuck in the mud. The more modern trucks and cars can have some real problems out here when it rains.”
The cabin didn’t look nearly large enough to fit four people, but even from outside, it gave off a welcoming feel, and she said so.
“My dad, my brother, and I built this place practically from scratch using the trees we had to clear away to protect us from forest fires. There was just enough space for all of us. With only a few rooms, it was a lot easier to heat in winter, and much more airtight than a traditional hogan. My mother grew vegetables in the back and canned as much as she could, and our water came from a spring up against the hillside. There’s a small lake just a mile from here, so we had fish when we needed them. There was always food on our table.”
Reading her expression, he added, “We never thought of ourselves as poor. In all the years we lived here, we never lacked anything important.”
“What happened to your parents?”
Ranger’s voice grew hard. “My father…worked for the tribe. He was killed on the job.”
She wondered if his father might have been in the Brotherhood of Warriors, but for obvious reasons, it wasn’t something she could bring up. Before she could ask anything more, Ranger continued.
“My mother passed away six months later. She drove away one day, left the car parked on the side of the road and wal
ked off into the desert, like our traditionalists often do.”
She stared at him, stunned, trying to understand what he’d just said. “She…walked off?”
He nodded. “She’d been diagnosed with an advanced form of cancer. Traditionalists don’t want to die at home. That would taint the house for the family. They go off someplace by themselves where their chindi can’t harm anyone. It’s our way, and Mom was ready. She wanted to be with my father.”
Dana tried to understand the mind-set of someone choosing to die alone out in the middle of nowhere. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t quite wrap her head around the concept.
“It’s a final act of love…and sacrifice,” he added, as if guessing her thoughts.
She suddenly understood. His mother’s last act had been one meant to safeguard her sons, allowing them to keep their home. “That took a lot of courage,” she said at last.
Ranger parked and stepped out of the car. “Yes, but she always had more than her share of that.”
There were stones arranged in a circle around an outside campfire site, and he reached beneath one, bringing out a key that had been sealed inside a plastic sandwich bag. Ranger went over to the sturdy-looking door and used the key to unlock both brass locks.
Dana checked the door trim, but there was no circular design here like the one she’d seen on the other house near Farmington. If her suspicions were right and the marking indicated a Brotherhood of Warriors’ or police safe house, this building wasn’t included.
She followed him in, then, curious, studied the room carefully. The living area was sparsely furnished, with an old handmade wooden table constructed of pine planks, and several wooden chairs. The fireplace was big, made of stone, and looked like it could take off any chill on a cold evening. There was one simple wood-framed futon with a thick cushion in the center of the room. “That’s modern,” she said, surprised to see it there.
“The raccoons have a habit of breaking in and tearing up the furniture so we bought something that was comfortable and cheap.”
“You and your brother?”
“Yes. We’re twins.”
Two men like Ranger? She couldn’t even imagine it. “Are you identical?”