Her Shadow

by Aimée Thurlo

  “Maybe this was only meant to mislead us right from the start What got in the culprit’s way was the weather, since no one could come here to check things out.”

  “You mean whoever was doing this wanted us to investigate and believe it was the water that was making people sick?”

  “Yes, because then the real source of the illness would have remained hidden, and he could continue doing the harm he intended.”

  She stood up slowly. “We’re dealing with a very sick person. To randomly poison the entire town, from infants to the very old, and to use wiles to lead people to the wrong conclusion…Who, or maybe I should ask what are we dealing with here?”

  “Good question,” Lucas answered thoughtfully, collecting some of the suspect seeds. “Let’s go back to Four Winds. I need to check on Fuzz, and bring him up-to-date on what we just found.”

  THEY WERE HALFWAY into town when Lucas’s cellular phone rang. Marlee could only hear his end, but it wasn’t hard to figure out that Lanie was ill. The ramifications chilled her to the bone.

  She waited when the call was over, wondering whether to ask him to explain. He now knew that she’d been a midwife. If anyone was capable of taking care of Lanie now, it was her. But whether or not Lucas would trust her to care for his brother’s wife was another matter.

  “My brother, believe it or not, is now up and back at the sheriff’s office, taking care of a crisis there. There was a major problem at Rosa’s. Supplies are dangerously low again, and although Fuzz made arrangements to have emergency supplies airlifted in, it won’t be anywhere near what’s really needed. People are running out of the basics, and the tension is getting to them. To make matters worse, the weather has caused a rock slide that has reblocked the lane out of town, and it’s going to be a while before they can get it cleared again. I don’t see things getting easier anytime soon.”

  She noted that he hadn’t mentioned Lanie. The knowledge stung her, but she remained quiet. She hadn’t told him about the note on the rock, because at the time it had seemed pointless. Yet because she’d kept so many secrets, he wasn’t sure of her anymore. She couldn’t blame him, though his lack of faith in her now was breaking her heart.

  “Lanie needs my help. I’m going to stop there first. Do you mind going with me? It would mean putting off dealing with Larrabee for a little longer.”

  “He can wait.” She still didn’t ask for any particulars about Lanie, though she wanted to more than anything. If he wanted to share that information with her, she knew he would have. To ask, particularly under the circumstances, would have been an intrusion.

  “I’ve got to tell you. I’m worried about my sister-in-law. She’s in her last month now. I know she doesn’t drink coffee, and I know my brother hasn’t let her drink or eat anything that could have been contaminated. He takes far better care of her than he does of himself.”

  “But you’re thinking she may have been poisoned?”

  Lucas nodded. “And I’m worried about what that might do to the child she’s carrying.”

  His voice was taut, and she longed to offer him comfort, to hold him, to let him know how much she cared. But their time had come and gone. Perhaps it was better this way.

  They arrived at Gabriel’s house a short time later. Marlee felt Lucas’s fear as keenly as her own, but as they walked inside the house, they both masked it well. Lanie was at the kitchen table, sipping some carbonated mineral water.

  Marlee noted with relief that Lanie’s color was normal. As Lucas worked, checking vitals, she recorded what he needed on the charts. Finally Lucas stood up. “You don’t have any symptoms that are out of line with a mother-to-be,” he assured her. “Your baby’s heart sounds strong, too.”

  Lanie placed one hand over her stomach protectively. “I was feeling really queasy earlier and I guess I panicked. I don’t want this child to arrive early. I was afraid…”

  Marlee crouched in front of her. “You’re doing great, but you have to remember that the baby will make its own rules. From everything that Lucas determined from your condition and vital signs, you shouldn’t be worried.”

  “Lucas is so busy right now, Gabriel’s gone back to work and Nydia and Joshua rode out into the mountains to take care of a Navajo couple. I guess I got scared. I keep worrying that the baby will come unexpectedly, and nobody will be around to help.”

  Lucas looked at Marlee with raised eyebrows, then as she nodded, said, “I bet that if you ask, Marlee would stay with you. She’s a licensed midwife.”

  Lanie looked at Marlee in surprise. “You never said anything!”

  “I haven’t worked in that profession for over three years, but believe me, you never forget what you learn.”

  Lanie asked a string of questions, barely giving Marlee a chance to answer one before she would fire off the next. Marlee answered everything, and was glad to see Lanie relax. Like so many new mothers-to-be, she was afraid and excited all at once.

  Soothing Lanie’s fears, and knowing that she could help Lanie make the wonderful transition to motherhood, filled Marlee with a sense of purpose and fulfillment she hadn’t experienced in years.

  At long last, Lucas took Marlee aside. “I don’t think that she’s in any trouble, and I highly doubt that she’s ingested any of the poison. It would have had a more pronounced effect on her physically. I’m not worried about the child, either, at this point. Everything looks good on that score. What I’m worried about is that we need to keep her calm, and with all that’s going on, that’s a tall order.”

  “I’ll stay with her, then. Go find your brother and do whatever you have to.” Marlee hadn’t meant to volunteer. She’d wanted to be asked, but it was too late now. “That is, if you trust me to stay with her,” she added quickly.

  His expression grew intense, but an undeniable tenderness shone in his eyes, something she’d never thought to see there again. “I’ve already trusted you with everything that matters to me, with my very life. This is no different.”

  His words were like silk gliding over her naked flesh, but before she could respond, he hurried out She watched the door for a second, gathering her thoughts. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man, and more. But love often required sacrifice, and that was no different now. Lucas had made his commitment to Four Winds, and she would never tie him down and tear him in two by forcing him to divide that loyalty.

  Hearing Lanie in the kitchen, Marlee went to join her.

  Lanie was wadding up the newspaper with a fury.

  “Here, let me do that. What’s going on?”

  Lanie sat back down. “I used a newspaper my neighbor wrapped a baby gift in to clean the window. Newspapers generally do a real good job, but the ink Alex is using now, not to mention the paper, is a disaster. It even smells funny. I used my window cleaner, wiped the pane, and now everything’s streaked. I was going to throw it away, but I started feeling really queasy again.”

  Marlee looked at Lanie’s fingertips. They were covered in blue-black ink that smelled vaguely like insecticide. “Wash your hands right now, okay? You may be allergic to that stuff.”

  Lanie washed off in the kitchen sink, and Marlee followed suit, a new thought forming in her mind. They’d been intent on looking for contaminated food or water, because the illness had been so widespread. But an awful lot of people in town took the newspaper, or had contact with it. She remembered the journalism class at the high school, and all the kids they’d treated, kids who had yet to completely recover.

  “I’m really tired. I think I’m going to take a nap,” Lanie said. “Do you mind terribly?”

  “No, not at all. Get some rest, and don’t worry about a thing.” As Lanie went down the hall to the bedroom, Mar-lee picked up the phone and called Mrs. Burnham.

  When Marlee identified herself, Mrs. Burnham’s voice became instantly cautious. “I’m just calling about Muzzy,” Marlee said, trying to set her at ease. “I was wondering how he’s been feeling.”

  “He’s jus
t fine, but I don’t dare let him out of the house unless I’m with him anymore. I just worry too much. He was really a pretty sick little dog for a bit.”

  “Did you or the vet ever figure out what happened?”

  “No.” Once again her voice grew hard.

  She considered being more circumspect, maybe trying to make small talk, but she was too excited for patience. If she had found the missing piece of the puzzle, she wasn’t going to wait one more second to warn people.

  “Mrs. Burnham, tell me something. Do you buy the newspaper, by any chance?”

  Mrs. Burnham didn’t answer right away. Finally, after several long moments, she broke the silence. “If Mrs. Perez has been complaining, I’ve got to tell you, she just likes to make trouble. Muzzy likes to play. Sometimes he’ll bring in my paper and get so excited he’ll bring in every other paper on the street, too. But I always return them. And if Muzzy chews them up, I always replace them.” There was another pause. “But why are you asking? Is there an article in the paper about my Muzzy? Is Mrs. Perez making trouble for us again?”

  Marlee considered her answer carefully. She was getting more certain by the minute, but she didn’t want Mrs. Burn-ham spreading an unsubstantiated theory at this point. “I’ve been thinking of adopting a dog,” Marlee said lamely, unable to think of anything else, “and I was wondering if that’s how you found Muzzy—through the want ads, that is.”

  “Oh, not at all. I went to a kennel in Santa Fe and picked him out myself,” Mrs. Burnham continued talking so quickly, Marlee could barely get in a word edgewise.

  Finally, as Mrs. Burnham paused a millisecond for breath, Marlee quickly jumped in and excused herself. As she hung up the phone, her mind was racing.

  She had to contact Lucas and Gabriel. The Blackhorse family had trusted her with everything that mattered to them, and now, finally, she had found a way to repay their trust. If this new information proved true, perhaps they could finally solve the puzzle that had haunted Four Winds. But there was more than that at stake here, and she knew it.

  She owed Lucas a debt of gratitude. He’d reminded her what it was like to feel desirable and wanted. He’d shown her how to start truly living again, and for that she owed him far more than she would ever be able to express in words.

  No promises had been made between them, and she would not bind him to her in any way. She loved him, and for her, that was enough.

  LUCAS WAS AT Gabriel’s office when Marlee called and told them what she’d learned and suspected. There was no proof, but it did open an entirely new avenue of investigation none of them had considered before. Then, just about the time Gabriel and Lucas had decided to go have a talk with Alex, a call came in. The emergency airlift helicopter was scheduled to land within fifteen minutes. Gabriel had to meet it, deliver the sample of coffee and a copy of the newspaper that needed to go to the lab for analysis, then supervise the distribution of supplies that had been flown in. Their plans to confront Alex about the ink had to be postponed.

  Lucas agreed not to confront Alex on his own and went to check on some patients, planning to meet up with his brother later. Lost in thought, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. The question of Larrabee’s involvement still weighed heavily on his mind. Gabriel had spent quite a bit of time trying to locate the bank teller, but the man, so far, was making himself scarce. The thought that perhaps the man had escaped disturbed him.

  As he drove past the newspaper office and saw Alex leaving, a new thought formed. Gabriel had made him promise that he wouldn’t try to question Alex. In that respect, Lucas’s hands were tied. He wouldn’t break his word to his brother. But there was another way to get answers. It certainly couldn’t hurt to take a look around the newspaper office. With Alex gone, there was no one to stop him.

  The idea tempted him. He might be able to find out what, if anything, had been put in the ink, or the paper. Knowing that could make it a lot easier to treat those who had become ill. If everything was locked, he’d leave. And if he did get in, he’d wear his gloves so he’d be sure not to leave any fingerprints that might later jeopardize evidence in court.

  He went to the back of the building and looked around. Nothing was open. He tried the back door, then the windows. They were locked tight. Then he spotted a small high window that probably led to a bathroom or janitorial closet. He stared at it for a second or two. If he had any chance of finding an open window, the inaccessibility of that one made it the logical choice. Whether he’d fit through it was another matter.

  He pulled one of the trash cans closer to the window, hopped on it, then tried the window. It gave, but not much. Putting all his strength into it, he gave one merciless shove, and with a creak, it slid open.

  He squeezed through, and ended up with bruised ribs and a scrape on his arm, but he was inside. He looked around the darkened janitorial closet, then tried the door. It was unlocked.

  Lucas went down the hall to the room where he knew the presses were, and turned on the light switch. He walked around, studying everything, yet touching nothing, despite his gloves. A large metal cabinet stood alone against one wall, and had a new-looking hasp installed on the doors, equipped with a combination lock.

  Instead of trying random numbers, Lucas considered human nature. He looked around the cabinet, then opened the top drawer of a nearby desk. On the side of the drawer, normally out of sight, was a piece of masking tape with the numbers “36-4-18” written on it. Lucas had the lock off in thirty seconds. Inside the cabinet were the supplies for the printing presses.

  Next to the bottles of printer’s ink, which were double-bagged in clear plastic, he found a heavy-duty painter’s respiration mask and a set of thick rubber gloves. He wasn’t sure if that was standard practice when dealing with newspaper ink, but somehow he doubted it. Most printers used a nontoxic soy-based ink, he’d read once in this very news-paper. As he searched behind the ink bottles, he found his answer.

  Double-bagged in plastic were two bottles of Aldicarb, a highly toxic pesticide. One had been opened, and chemicals had stained the label to the point of unreadability. Lucas read the small print on the warning label on the other bottle, and learned that it was readily absorbed through the skin. The symptoms—poisoning, nausea and muscle weakness, dizziness and stomach cramps—matched the illnesses that had recently affected the residents of Four Winds.

  Lucas looked over at a big worktable where newspapers lay in stacks. About half of the papers had been folded and placed inside plastic bags that would protect them from the snow. The bags were labeled, too, so maybe the poisonings hadn’t been quite as random as he’d thought.

  As he was pondering that question, he heard the floor creak. Lucas turned around and caught a glimpse of Alex’s face just before something hard impacted against the side of his head. Lights exploded in front of his eyes, then vanished, engulfed by all-consuming darkness.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Lucas woke up slowly and painfully, aware that someone was pulling him roughly up to a sitting position. His hands were tied behind his back. Before he could gather his wits, he was grabbed by his hair and something was jammed into his mouth. He tried to jerk his head aside to get rid of the spout of the big squeeze bottle, but the gritty liquid cascaded down his throat anyway.

  He coughed, spitting out what he could, but he had a feeling it was already too late.

  “Goodbye,” Alex said quietly. “This wouldn’t have been my choice, but you chose your own fate when you got nosy. Did you really think I hadn’t seen you driving slowly by my office? You underestimated me, and that’s going to cost you your life, and more. When they find your body, and learn you’ve been poisoned with corn cockle, your girlfriend will be blamed for your death. Think about what your curiosity has cost you—and her—while you’re dying.”

  Lucas heard the door slam. His throat burned badly. He knew Alex had ground up the seeds and mixed them with water, then sprayed it down his throat. Tasting the bits that lay bu
rning on his tongue, he tried to spit them out. It was a pointless gesture. Unless he got help soon, he would die.

  It didn’t seem long before sharp pains began in his stomach and spread to his spine. As he felt the poison work, he tried to hold on. Nobody knew he’d detoured to stop at the newspaper office. It would be some time before anyone even realized he was missing, and by then, it would be too late for him. He filled his mind with thoughts of the woman he loved.

  “Marlee,” he whispered her name in the dark, as if the sound alone would bring her to him. Navajo ways taught that names had power. Lucas wasn’t sure if he believed that, but he believed in his love for Marlee.

  He concentrated on her face, on her softness, on the sound of her voice. He clung to the images, knowing that they were his lifeline. His love for Marlee was the only thing that would help him find the strength to endure.

  MARLEE STARED at the phone. She hadn’t heard from either Gabriel or Lucas in hours, and Lucas wasn’t answering his cellular phone. Lanie was asleep, and the house was quiet. Restless, she paced around the living room. The uneasiness she felt was like a poison that undermined everything she tried to do.

  She paced around the room, then, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, stopped abruptly. Her scar was a dark, angry red, just like it had been right after the accident. She couldn’t understand it. She ran her fingertips over it gingerly. Was she being punished? Was it her desire to return to midwifery that was exacting such a painful toll on her?

  The more she studied her reflection, the darker her scar seemed to become. She tore her gaze away from the mirror, and renewed her pacing. She couldn’t understand why she hadn’t been able to reach Lucas. Every instinct she possessed was warning her that he was in grave danger.