by Sharon Pape
“I want you to know how grateful I am that you were willing to come up from Phoenix on such short notice,” she went on once they were settled.
“Not at all,” he said. “I love my job, and it’s never work to spend the day surrounded by fine art. Sadly enough, I myself don’t possess a single microgram of artistic talent. But one makes do. Now, my dear, from our telephone conversation I take it that there might be an unscrupulous art dealer operating in your midst?”
“Yes, but I need an expert’s opinion before I can take my suspicions to the police.”
“I understand. If I remember correctly, you said this individual might be forging artists’ signatures on unsigned prints in order to sell them for more.”
“Precisely.”
Spencer Arthur shook his head and clucked with disgust. “What is the man’s name, and at what time does his gallery open?”
“His name is Adam Grayson, and he opens his gallery at ten.”
Spencer stood. “I’ll stop back here on my way out of town to let you know my initial findings,” he said. Since they’d already discussed his fee over the phone, he extended his hand to Jaye and was on his way.
***
Jaye had trouble concentrating for the rest of the morning. Her thoughts kept straying to what might be happening at the gallery. Whenever she looked at her watch, she was struck by how slowly the time was passing. Spencer certainly wasn’t in any hurry. Cut the man some slack, she told herself. There had to be more to it than just glancing at the signature on a piece of framed art. If Adam was good at the forging, Spencer might really have his work cut out for him. Plus, he had to be careful not to raise Adam’s suspicions.
“Is something wrong?” Bryn asked, snapping Jaye out of her thoughts.
“Huh? No, no. Why?” she asked, realizing she must sound like a sleepwalker awakened during a midnight stroll.
Bryn was studying her with worried eyes. “You’ve kind of been in a coma since I got here this morning. Customers come up to you with questions, but it’s like you don’t even hear them. They finally give up and settle for me.”
“I’m sorry; I do have something on my mind,” she admitted. There was no point in trying to fool Bryn. She was far too astute to believe any excuse Jaye could ad-lib on a moment’s notice. She produced a smile and hoped it looked more natural than it felt. “I’m fine. Really. It’s business stuff.” Technically, it wasn’t a lie. Her inattention was due to business; it just wasn’t crystal shop business.
By noon Jaye was debating whether to call the police and the closest hospitals. What if Adam realized what Spencer was up to and decided to buy himself a little insurance by adding a second murder to his résumé? Of course, she didn’t know for a fact that he’d killed Peggy, but that possibility was looming larger every minute Spencer was gone. And she hadn’t even warned the poor man that he might be dealing with a killer. What on earth had she been thinking? If he was hurt or, worse yet, killed, it would be her fault. She couldn’t wait another second. She found Bryn at the register and whispered that she was running upstairs to make an important call. The words were barely out of her mouth when Spencer walked in, every hair still pristinely in place and a satisfied smile on his face. Jaye was so relieved she could have run over and kissed him.
“I was starting to worry,” she said as sedately as she could. Not an easy task given that her body had been primed for disaster and there was no way to recall the adrenalin already surging through her veins. “How did it go?”
“Quite well, all things considered. Perhaps we can talk somewhere more private?”
Jaye glanced around the shop and realized there wasn’t a nook or cranny that wasn’t currently occupied by a customer. Great for business, not so great for a confidential conversation. She beckoned Spencer to follow her outside and across the parking lot to a gray, weathered bench that had been left behind by one of the previous owners. She waited until her guest was seated before gingerly lowering herself down beside him. The old wooden slats creaked in protest but managed to hold their combined weight.
Spencer cleared his throat for several seconds as if he were preparing to address an auditorium full of people. “Excuse me,” he said finally. “The gallery was so close to my favorite Mexican restaurant, I simply had to stop for fish tacos. I’m afraid I was a bit reckless with the hot salsa.”
Jaye offered him a sympathetic smile. She’d certainly overindulged enough times at Finnegan’s herself. But while she was trying to be polite and patient, she could hear the little gremlins in her brain screaming at him to get on with it. “So, how did it go?” she asked to appease them. “Is Grayson guilty of forgery or not?”
“I believe he is,” Spencer said, his mouth tightening into a grim line as if he himself had been hoodwinked by the man. “I purchased one of the framed, signed prints that appeared suspicious to me, but I won’t be certain until I get it home and study it properly. Unfortunately there was only one other person in the gallery when I was there, and although Mr. Grayson was as gracious and solicitous as possible, he kept quite an eagle eye on both of us. That’s about all I can tell you for now.” Spencer stood and held out his hand to Jaye. “A pleasure meeting you, my dear. I’ll be sending you a written report of my findings, but please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail me with any questions you might have.”
***
Daniel was MIA. Jaye and Sierra had been sipping their coffee at Café Olé for twenty minutes waiting for their third musketeer to join them. He’d agreed to the breakfast update meeting, but so far he was a no-show. Stuck at the intersection of “Where the Hell Is He?” and “I Hope He’s Okay,” Jaye kept trying his number.
“His cell is still off,” she said when her call immediately went to voice mail.
“Maybe the battery’s dead,” Sierra suggested. “Or he could have forgotten about meeting us here. We’re all so busy these days.”
“He’s always got one of those extra battery packs with him so he doesn’t miss business calls, and he usually doesn’t forget stuff.”
“Now that I think about it, I haven’t heard from him in a couple of days, have you?”
Jaye shook her head. She’d been so busy in the shop lately that she’d had to take care of paying bills, doing inventory and reordering merchandise in the evenings. She’d meant to call him a dozen times, but was always distracted by one thing or another. For that matter, last night she’d even forgotten to give Raffles dinner. Luckily, the not-a-cat wasn’t shy about bringing the oversight to her attention. She’d jumped onto the computer desk where Jaye had been working and plunked herself down on the keyboard. In spite of the animal’s persistent whining and refusal to move, it had still taken Jaye another five minutes to realize what was amiss.
“I have to go,” Sierra said, consulting her watch. “Ruth can’t manage the morning rush by herself anymore. I’m afraid she’s thinking of abandoning ship.”
“No problem. I’ll stop by Daniel’s office before I head out of town. Maybe George knows what’s up with him.”
Premier Navajo Tours was located in a tiny storefront at the far end of town. When Jaye arrived, both of the tourist Jeeps were parked directly outside. With any luck, that meant both Daniel and his cousin were inside. The office was barely large enough for two desks, one filing cabinet and several chairs. A small hallway in the rear led to a bathroom and the back exit. As long as the vehicles were in working order, it was a low-overhead kind of business. Jaye parked and walked in to find George sitting at his desk. Unless Daniel was occupying the bathroom, he wasn’t there.
George looked up. “Hey, how are you?” he greeted her with a broad smile. He was shorter than his cousin and rounder of face and body, with a gregarious personality that made you feel as if you’d known him forever five minutes after you met him.
“I’m good,” Jaye replied. “How about you?�
�
“Never better.”
“I haven’t been able to reach Daniel, and he blew off our breakfast this morning. Is he okay?”
“Yeah, yeah—he’s fine. Doli Joe summoned him. And when she summons, he goes. I’m glad I’m related through his father’s side.”
“But he’s not answering his phone,” Jaye said, wondering what kind of problem would necessitate his running up to Tuba City on such short notice and whether it would be too nosy of her to ask.
“His grandmother doesn’t allow cell phones or any modern stuff in her hogan. She confiscates it all as soon as he gets there.”
Jaye nodded, remembering that Kyah had taken to calling her mother Amish over her refusal to join the twenty-first century. “Was there an emergency?” she asked.
“Probably not,” George said with a shrug. “Doli Joe’s idea of an emergency isn’t necessarily the same as yours or mine.”
The more questions Jaye asked, the more baffled she was getting. Pushy or not, she wanted a clear answer. “So you don’t actually know why he went up there?”
“Not a clue,” George said with a grin, “and that’s the way I like it.”
Frustrated, she tried a different tack. “Do you have any idea when he’ll be back?”
“We’re slammed here tomorrow, and he swore he’d be back in time.”
Finally, something of substance. Jaye thanked him and headed back to her shop, wishing she could turn off her curiosity and concern with the same ease George apparently could.
Chapter 29
“I’m really sorry,” Daniel said. He and Jaye were sitting in her living room that evening, shortly after his return from Tuba City. “It didn’t occur to me that you and Sierra might be worried about me. And to be honest, I actually forgot about the breakfast meeting. Doli Joe doesn’t call often, but when she does I pretty much put aside whatever I’m doing and go. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve had anyone in my life who’d be concerned if they couldn’t reach me for a couple of days. Of course, there’s George, but he never worries about anything.”
“Yeah, I got that after about twenty seconds of conversation,” Jaye said. “Look, it’s not like Sierra and I are trying to keep tabs on you, but now that we’re investigating Peggy’s murder, I can’t help thinking that whoever killed her would probably be more than willing to kill again if anyone gets too close, so . . .”
“Next time I’ll call before my militant grandmother has a chance to frisk me.”
“She actually frisks you?” Jaye asked in astonishment.
Daniel laughed. “I meant it figuratively, though she does sort of mentally frisk me.”
Jaye was having trouble imagining what that must be like. “Doli Joe can read your mind?”
“Not the way you’re thinking. But she’s real intuitive, sensitive to everything and everyone around her.”
“You mean she was picking up vibes from me the day we were there?”
“I’m sure she was,” Daniel said with undisguised amusement.
Jaye didn’t find it at all funny, even though she’d never actually believed in such powers. But if a creature like Raffles could exist, then everything else she’d believed was also up for grabs. “You could have given me a heads-up,” she said tartly.
Raffles, who’d been sleeping on the other love seat, opened her eyes and sat up on full alert when she heard the shift in Jaye’s tone. She studied the two of them, as if to determine whose side to take if tensions escalated. Then she jumped down from her perch and hopped up between them like a referee in a boxing ring before the opening bell.
“Even if I had told you, there’s nothing you could have done to prevent it,” Daniel said. “And you wouldn’t have been able to act naturally, which would have been worse in the long run. Trust me, I tried it once with a college girlfriend I took up to Tuba. It did not go well.”
Jaye supposed he was right, although acknowledging that didn’t automatically make her feel any better about it. For the sake of the not-a-cat and the unity of their little investigative team, she managed to tuck her indignation away. Most of it, at least. She knew it would have been best to suspend the conversation about Doli Joe altogether until she’d properly cooled off, but her curiosity still demanded satisfaction. “George told me you were called away on an emergency,” she said. “Is your family all right?”
“It wasn’t what most people would consider an emergency,” Daniel replied “With Doli Joe it’s often a matter of perspective. I don’t know quite how to explain it.” He paused for several moments as if he were working it out. “She’s been troubled recently by the feeling that something isn’t right, isn’t as it should be.”
Jaye was still lost. “In your family or on the reservation?”
He shook his head. “It’s a much larger issue than that. She’s had dreams and premonitions all her life—it’s part of who she is—but they’ve become so intense lately that she doesn’t know what to make of them. She claims my mother is no help to her even as a sounding board—too much baggage between them. So she called on me.” He shrugged. “I can’t see how I’m any use to her in this kind of situation either. Maybe she just feels less alone with her worries when I’m there.”
“But you’re more removed from that life than Kyah is,” Jaye said, trying to understand. “You don’t even live on the reservation anymore.”
“My grandmother believes, or wants to believe, that I carry the legacy of her line and that I’ll have a daughter one day who’ll be able to pick up where she leaves off. She’s been instructing me in the ways I’ll have to teach my child in case she herself is no longer here to do it.”
“Talk about pressure.” Jaye had never had to deal with familial obligations beyond the most basic sort with the foster families who’d raised her. Daniel was and would forever be tied to his family. Pressure or not, she envied him those connections.
He sighed. “I love my grandmother, but I know I’m eventually going to disappoint her. I’m just not the true believer she needs me to be.”
“There’s no magic switch you can flip to change your beliefs,” Jaye said. “It doesn’t work that way. If Doli Joe is disappointed, her quarrel should be with fate, not with you.” As soon as she spoke the words, she worried she might have overstepped the boundaries of their friendship. She could say anything to Sierra, but her relationship with Daniel was newer and not as well defined or explored. Waiting for his reaction, she didn’t even realize she was chewing on her lower lip until the metallic taste of blood gave her a start.
“Thank you,” he murmured. “I think I needed to hear that.”
Jaye smiled with relief. In fact, his response was so encouraging that she decided to ask the question that had been on her mind since he’d arrived. “How on target is Doli Joe with her premonitions?” She was hoping for a fifty-fifty split or less, so she wouldn’t have to squeeze yet another concern into the already crowded worry nook in her brain.
“You don’t want to know,” Daniel said without the slightest edge of humor.
And now she absolutely had to know. “I’m a big girl; I can take it.”
“If you ask the old-timers on the rez, they’ll swear that she’s been right eighty percent of the time; some claim it’s more like ninety percent.”
“Wow.” Doli Joe’s gift sounded like a fabulous ability to have. But after only a moment’s consideration, Jaye knew that if ever she were offered the option, she’d pass. A lot of people paid psychics good money to learn what the future had in store for them, but she’d had enough trouble coping with what life threw at her on a day-to-day basis to be seeking out any future worries. Unfortunately, her pesky curiosity had a mind of its own. It gnawed at her with sharp little rodent teeth until she caved. “Are you allowed to tell me what has her so troubled?”
“Actually, that’s one
of the reasons I stopped here as soon as I got back. She usually swears me to secrecy, but this time she agreed I could tell you, since it involves Raffles.” Daniel paused. “Sure you want to know?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” One day she’d learn not to ask so many questions, she promised herself, but today was not that day. She simply had to know more about the not-a-cat.
“Okay.” Daniel wiped his palms on his jeans as if they were sweaty from anxiety. “The cause of Doli Joe’s uneasiness became clear to her when she saw the picture of Raffles. She told me that at least twice in our tribe’s history the vortexes in Sedona have experienced rifts, sort of like a dropped stitch in the weave of reality is how she explained it to me. And these rifts can act as doorways between our world and other planes of existence.”
“Planes of existence?” Jaye repeated, not sure she’d heard him correctly. “Like other worlds?”
“Not like other planets, if that’s what you mean. My grandmother says our reality is just one of many. I’m afraid I don’t have a great grasp of it myself yet.” He chuckled, but the sound of it was hollow. “She got impatient with all my questions. Apparently, it makes perfect sense to her.”
“So Raffles comes from another plane? Not from another planet or some crazy science experiment?” She wasn’t sure which would be harder to believe. At this point, a deranged scientist seemed like the tamest choice.
“Yes.”
“Have other creatures come through these rifts in the past?”
Daniel shrugged. “She only knows for sure about the earlier animal like Raffles.”
“Do these rifts work both ways? I mean, can an animal or person from here vanish into the rift and wind up on another plane?”
“I asked her the same thing, but she doesn’t know.”