by Hunt, Jack
“Oh c’mon. They wouldn’t have done that. It was just a ploy.”
“I’ll give you a ploy.” She lashed out again and he ducked, laughing all the while.
Derek had to step in and grab her until all the fight went out of her.
Seth wagged a finger in her face. “I told you, Nina. You shouldn’t have gotten involved with him.”
She continued to curse at him. Spitting in his face.
Seth wiped it with the back of his sleeve. “You’ll thank me later. Now regarding the baby. Don’t worry.”
“What?”
“Hold on to her, Derek.”
Seth walked over to the front door and looked out. The road was clear. He glanced at his watch. He was meant to be here by now. “What have you done, Seth?” Nina asked.
He raised an eyebrow at her. “What have I done? No, no, no, Nina. What have you done? You have got this all ass-backward but don’t worry. We can handle it. That’s what family is for.”
She wriggled to break free.
“Get off me, Derek.”
“Can’t do that, Nina.”
“You’re hurting my arms.”
Seth took out a cigarette and lit it. He blew out smoke from the corner of his mouth and kept looking out the window, waiting for them to arrive. It took at least another ten minutes before growling ATVs barreled toward the house. “They’re here.” He sucked air between his teeth, then dropped the cigarette stub and crushed it below his boot.
“What’s going on?” Nina asked, her eyes scanning, nervous.
She had good reason to be.
“We are going to correct your mistake,” Derek said.
“What?”
The door opened and Hank stepped inside with several other family members including Eddie who had gone to tell him the news. At first, Seth had questioned whether it was right to tell Hank. He didn’t care about Nina’s feelings but he lived for his father’s approval and he knew how badly Skye’s involvement with Colby had affected him. This could have gone any number of ways. Disapproving eyes immediately fell upon her. Seth whispered into Hank’s ear and he nodded. He had this disgusted look on his face as he strolled into the living room. She was still wearing black panties and a bra. That didn’t help. It made her look every bit the whore that he said she was. Derek was sitting on the couch with Nina on his lap, her arms pulled behind her so she couldn’t move. She wriggled to escape but it was impossible.
Hank crouched in front of her and scanned her body before placing a hand on her belly. “So it’s true.”
“Get off me. GET OFF ME!”
Hank met her gaze and shook his head. “I’m going to believe he forced himself on you because there’s no way a Strickland would willingly sleep with a Riker, not after what happened to Skye.”
The door opened, and her father Samuel Strickland stepped inside to join the group. “Dad!”
“Let her go, Derek,” he said in an abrupt tone. Derek released his grip and Nina bounced off him, scowling and rubbing her arms. She approached her father, seeking comfort, maybe a word that it would be okay.
“Dad, what are they doing here?”
“It’s okay, Nina. Everything is going to be okay.”
“I want them out of my house. Now!”
None of them moved an inch. The storm door creaked open again, and a large burly man walked in with a leather case. He had a white beard and was wearing a black jacket and a bowler hat. She immediately recognized him as the family doctor, but he wasn’t your typical doctor, he’d been brought in on numerous occasions to deal with gunshot wounds, and even had to remove a gangrenous leg. “Where would you like to do this?” he asked.
“Do what? Dad, what is going on?”
“Take her to the backroom,” Hank said. When no one moved he said it again in a firm tone. “Boys. Don’t make me ask again.”
Several of her cousins grabbed Nina and peeled her away from Samuel, dragging her down the hallway. “Dad? Dad! No. No. Don’t do this.”
“It will be okay. Don’t fight it, Nina.”
“No. No! I won’t let you.”
Seth watched from the doorway as four of his brothers held Nina down on the bed and the doctor entered, closing the door behind him. He could hear her screaming for her father but Samuel didn’t listen. He turned and walked out, his head bowed ever so slightly. He knew it was the right thing to do. They couldn’t have that abomination in their family, a tie to the Rikers. Hank blew out his cheeks and gave a nod of approval to Seth, thanking him. Seth felt his chest swell with pride once again. After the ass whopping his father had given him, it felt good to be back in his good books. This was worth it. This was a win for the Stricklands. He hadn’t just thrown Jessie under the bus, this was far more than that. He had corrected a wrong long before it would ever be born.
What he did now, he did for Nina.
Jessie led the armed militia to the back of Alby’s home. “You better not be leading us on a wild goose chase, son.” Jessie fished around in the tall grass for the rusty hand crank. He found it and inserted it into the garage wall and began to turn. Slowly but surely the pulley system kicked in and the old banged-up vehicle with four flat tires began to move, sliding back to reveal the concrete steps.
“Well, look at that,” Evans said in amazement. “You Rikers are sneaky bastards, aren’t you?” His eyes widened and a grin formed. “Makes me wonder what else you’re hiding.” Once it was fully open, Evans nudged Jessie down the steps into the darkness. One of them turned a flashlight on and illuminated the way. It still smelled as bad as ever down there. Damp, greasy, and full of grime.
When they made it to the bottom, the flashlight beam drifted across the ground to a pallet. But the gold was gone. No, no, Jessie thought.
His eyes roamed. All the rifles. All the boxes of ammo. It was all gone.
“Where are they, son?”
“It was all here. I swear. It was right here,” he said, jabbing a finger at the pallet.
Captain Evans took a deep breath. “Do I look stupid?”
Jessie lifted a forearm to block the glare of the flashlight beam that was now pointing directly in his eyes. “Do I?” Evans bellowed.
“Someone must have taken it. It was here the day they took Alby in. Maybe the cops confiscated it. Yeah, that has to be it. Ask Dan. Ask him.”
Evans walked over and placed a hand around the back of his neck. “I’m not asking him. I’m asking YOU!” He squeezed tight and threw him across the room. His body collided with a metal shelf and it came down on top of him. “Get him outside,” Evans said, climbing the steps while his men pulled the shelving off him and dragged him out. As soon as he was out in the brightness of day, Evans set his rifle down and got on the radio. Forced to his knees, Jessie listened as Evans ran the question by Dan Wilder.
“I’m at Alby’s. Rifles? Gold? Where are they?”
The conversation went back and forth. Evans mentioned the storage area underneath the garage. Dan told him they’d taken in Alby but found nothing at his house. He had no clue about some secret storage area. A look of anger spread on Evans while he nodded. He never took his eyes off Jessie for even a second.
“Where are you now, Evans?” Dan barked.
He didn’t answer him. Evans simply turned off the radio, then removed his shirt, cracked his head from side to side, and balled his fists, readying to unleash a beating he would never forget.
“My family is going to kill you,” Jessie said.
Evans flashed his pearly whites. “Maybe. But not today.”
Chapter Fourteen
Seeing Dakota Moon again felt like coming home. Colby often felt closer to him than his own brothers. Like him, Dakota had changed a lot in ten years. He’d put on some weight, his long black hair had a few gray hairs but his skin still had a healthy glow.
At six foot three inches and roughly two hundred and twenty pounds, Dakota towered over most. Back when he was a teenager, he would drop down slightly on his left leg j
ust so he didn’t feel so out of place in photos. Now, those small insecurities were gone. He stood tall and proud.
Dakota beamed, a smile that could win the heart of anyone. He approached them inside the community center at the heart of the reservation wearing a jean shirt, with a black T-shirt that had different indigenous symbols on it.
“Colby Riker. The man. The myth. The legend,” he said before he hugged him. “Man, it’s good to see you again.” The welcome felt genuine, heartfelt. There was nothing false about him or the Wiyot people. What you saw was what you got. They wore their intentions on their sleeve. There were no false pretenses. They were good-hearted people that would give you the shirt off their backs. That’s why he couldn’t and wouldn’t believe a word of what Dan was suggesting. “How are you, you old dog?” Dakota asked.
“Better for seeing you, my friend. I just wish it was under better circumstances.”
He stepped back, still holding Colby’s arms but looking him up and down. “I hear you. Good to see I’m not the only one with graying hair.” He hugged him again before noticing Alicia. “And who is this beauty?” he asked.
Colby motioned to her. “Dakota, this is Alicia Scott. A friend from L.A.”
“Well, a friend of Colby’s is a friend of mine. Greetings, Alicia Scott.” They shook hands and his eyes drifted down to Kane who was now seated beside Colby, looking up, tail thumping. There was no hesitation, no fear as Dakota dropped down to the dog’s eye level. He stared into Kane’s eyes. “There is strength in this one, Colby.”
“That’s Kane.”
For a brief moment, Colby thought Kane might react the same way he had with Jessie but strangely, he didn’t. It was almost like the dog could sense a person’s heart. Dakota extended a hand just as he would with any human. Kane lifted his paw and plopped it in Dakota’s hand. Alicia’s eyes widened and Colby smiled. “It’s an honor, Kane,” Dakota said as if picking up a vibe from the dog, as if the dog was communicating telepathically and he was simply responding.
“Well, come, let’s go and have something to eat. I want to hear everything.”
Twenty minutes later, Dakota roared with laughter, rocking back in his chair as he recounted one of the many stories he had about Colby. “You should have seen him. Caught with his pants down. Mrs. Jacobs’ face. It was priceless.”
Alicia laughed hard and glanced at Colby who was tucking into some smoke-dried salmon, and vegetables. “She certainly never looked at me the same way after that,” Colby said.
“Sounds like you two were quite the handful.”
“Oh, the things we did, hey, Colby. If the elders of this community knew, they would have been outraged.”
“Tell me about it. I led you astray, my friend.”
He nodded with delight. “That you did.”
“This is great food. Thank you, Dakota,” Alicia said. “How are you all coping with the new circumstances?”
He brushed it off like it was just another day. “Oh, this is nothing new to us. Our ancestors ate well long before there were supermarkets, isn’t that right, Colby?”
He nodded with a mouth full of food. The Wiyot Tribe were fishing people. The main source of food for them was the ocean and rivers. They smoked a lot of the fish to make it last longer. They only took what they needed, no more, no less. There was a lot to be learned about agriculture and living off the land from them.
“So you became a police officer, then a bounty hunter? Wow, that’s quite the career path. So then how did you two come to be together? Did he reel you in with one of his corny pick-up lines?”
“Oh, he picked me up,” she replied with food in her mouth.
“Which one was it? Not the one about falling from the stars.” His gaze bounced between them.
“No, this was more direct, wasn’t it, Colby?”
She grinned and he mirrored her smile.
When she told Dakota the truth, he nearly spat out his juice. Laughter followed. “Forgive me, Alicia, but that is just funny. I mean, if you knew Colby before he left, you’d understand why.”
She misunderstood and asked, “So you knew Skye then?” His laughter trickled off and the smile went from his face. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s okay. I just haven’t heard that name in a long time.” He looked at Colby. “I gather you visited her grave?”
“I did.”
Dakota set his plate down and shook his head. “I expect he’s told you how you look like her.”
Colby had noted that he didn’t make a fuss when he first saw Alicia. Unlike others who had gawked at her resemblance, Dakota held different beliefs about death, life, and reincarnation. He knew if he got him alone he would say that this was Skye’s way of coming back to him, but Colby didn’t believe that. He couldn’t. Skye was her own person, Alicia too. “Yes. Yes, many have.”
Wanting to shift the topic away, Colby set his drink on the table in front of him and cleared his throat. “Have you been into Eureka recently?”
“No. No reason to. We collect what we need from the bay. Medicine we create ourselves. Why?”
He didn’t know of any easy way to say it and he wasn’t there to point the finger, as he knew it wasn’t them or any of the other tribes, but he had to tell him if only to give them the heads-up, to warn them of a threat from police and militia.
“There have been a lot of raids on towns in the counties. Dan Wilder, the current sheriff, said they have made their way into Humboldt.”
“And?”
Colby looked at Alicia then back at him. “The victims are scalped.”
The last word hung in the air.
Dakota swallowed what food he had in his mouth and washed it down, then set his plate down. “You’re not asking what I think you are, are you?”
“Dakota. You have known me long enough to know that I would never insinuate such a thing. I’m here to let you know that people are talking, fingers are being pointed — not necessarily at this tribe but other tribes in the area. As ludicrous as it sounds, you can see why they are considering tribes as the culprit.”
Dakota snorted. “Over a hundred years and we are still fighting to change the distorted views of people who were never here to begin with.”
“I hear you, brother.”
“Do you?” he shot back, unable to hide his anger, or maybe it was disappointment. “What do you expect me to do with this information? Take it to the elders? Can you imagine what they would say?” Dakota paused. “And the other tribes? What am I supposed to say to them? Oh, hey guys, I thought we just scalped people on Thursdays over brunch.” He paused. “I can’t speak for them but they would be as offended as I am to hear such an accusation.”
“I’m not the accuser, Dakota. I’m merely passing on what I’ve heard. I would hate to think that…”
“History would repeat itself?” he asked. “Let me guess… they want to come and round us up and place us in a corral as they did back in the 1860s?” He paused again. “If they try that, things will go in a whole different direction this time.”
Colby remained silent. He allowed his friend to vent. He would have done the same. He had every right. The accusations were uncalled for, but he understood them. The history of America was marred by scalpings. “You should tell the other tribes. It could mean trouble. I don’t want that any more than you do.”
“If it happens we are prepared.”
“The militia is around fifty, give or take. And they’re Armed.”
He smiled. “As are we.”
Colby felt the atmosphere change. He knew it would. There was no way to skirt around such an accusation. They were at heart peaceful people but even they had their limits. “You know I have your back.”
Dakota nodded.
Needing to change the topic, Colby said, “My father is dead. So is Lincoln.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Was it the Stricklands?”
“It’s believed they were responsible for my father’s death but
not Lincoln. That occurred in a different county.”
“Are you here to get caught up in the drama again or will you move on?”
“I haven’t decided. I returned to show my respect for my father, and for Skye, but…” He took a deep breath. “So much has changed. So have I. Humboldt no longer feels like home. I feel like a stranger in my own land.”
“Your land?” Dakota smiled and he was back again.
“You know what I mean.” Colby ran a hand over his face. The door opened and in walked Dakota’s sister Selena.
“Colby! They told me you were back. Hey…” He got up and they hugged.
“Still looking as beautiful as ever.”
“Hey…” Dakota said in a joking way before tutting.
Selena waved him off, chuckling, her cheeks going red.
She hadn’t aged a day. She was wearing a colorful boho necklace with matching earrings, a black sweater, and dark blue jeans with white flats. He’d dated her for a short while back when he was a teenager until she said that he was more like a brother than a boyfriend. Dakota was pleased about that. Him, not so much.
Alicia smiled when Selena turned her attention to her and shook her hand. Once the greetings were out of the way, Selena’s gaze bounced between them. “So… what’s new?”
Dakota gave her the Cliffs Notes version and her jaw dropped. She took a seat beside them and placed her hands on her knees. “And you think militia might head this way?”
Colby shrugged. “I don’t know. For now, they are telling anyone who wishes to get supplies from the county to move into Eureka. I imagine as you are part of the county that they will visit here. I don’t want any harm to come to the Wiyot people. I don’t expect you to leave but you should be prepared. Once I know more about who is behind this I will keep you updated.”
“So you’re staying?” Dakota asked.