by Ruth Wind
"All right." Josh held out his hand. "Thank you."
For a moment, the man just stood there, then abruptly stuck out his hand and stiffly shook Josh's. "I gotta protect my critters."
"I understand, sir. A rogue cat can take down a lot of livestock." He tipped his hat. "Take care now."
Back in the truck, Juliet put her hands in her lap, clasped tightly together, and started straight ahead.
"I'm scared," she said, and looked at Josh. "Where is she?"
His mouth could never look tight, but there was grimness to it. He shook his head slowly. "We found the body out there. It was mauled by a big animal. Could have been a cat."
"Maybe somebody shot him accidentally, aiming for the cat?"
"Sure, I mean, it's possible." He seemed to notice her fear and reached across the seat to take her hand. "We'll find her. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation she's missing. Keep the faith."
She nodded.
"Try her cell phone again."
"Good idea." Juliet pulled the phone out of her pocket, jabbed the speed dial. It rang once, then again. Again. Again. The answering machine picked up, and Juliet left a message. "I'm getting seriously worried, Desi. Call me." She hung up and looked at Josh. "Now what?"
"I'll take you home."
The phone rang shrilly and Juliet answered urgently. "Hello?"
"Juliet," Desi cried, "Where are you? It freaked me out to get home and find you gone."
"Where am I? Where are you? I've been worried to death about you."
"I'm fine. Are you in town? Where did you go?"
It suddenly occurred to Juliet that her sister did not yet know the news, of course, that she was still living in a world where Claude Tsosie was a pain in the neck, but still alive. "I'm with Josh," she said. "We're on our way back there. Don't go anywhere, okay?"
"No way. I chased that lion halfway around the world last night."
"Did you get him?"
"No." She sighed, and Juliet could imagine her rubbing her hand across the back of her neck, a gesture she'd repeated at moments of exhaustion since childhood. "He's wounded, and likely very dangerous, and I'm really worried that he could be a problem. I want to get some wildlife officials out there to sedate him and bring him down so we can fix him up."
"Will they do that?"
"I don't know. We'll see."
"I'll be there soon, sis."
Josh held out his hand for the phone. Juliet handed it to him, and he spoke to Desi. "I'm beat, Desi. Make some coffee, will you?"
Juliet couldn't hear her sister's reply, but Josh clipped the phone closed and handed it back to her.
"Listen," Josh said, "I know this is kind of weird, that life is all in a tangle, but before we go in there and face the way your sister is going to feel about her ex getting murdered, I'd like to know if that kiss this morning means maybe we can figure out a way to see each other. Sometime. Soon."
"It is kind of weird," she said. "But, yeah, I'd like that, too."
He smiled. "Have I told you I have a weakness for blondes?"
"That's because we are princesses," she said, and promptly felt guilty. But there was something about him that made her want to just stop struggling, stop building up defenses, and just rest with him. "I mean, of course there are brunette princesses as well—"
He laughed, the sound as rich as coffee, as chocolate, all things dark and tasty. "Now you know what kind of trouble I get into liking blondes. It's so politically incorrect."
Juliet laughed softly and as it rolled out of her chest, she realized it had been a long time since she'd heard it, her own laughter. How odd that it should arrive now, when there had been a murder, when she was dreading the look on her sister's face when she heard her ex was dead.
And yet, why not? Something about this gentle giant eased her, and she'd been tense so long she was starved for that simple pleasure.
"I won't be able to leave Desi today," she said. "Let's play it all by ear."
"Maybe Glory and I can make supper for you one night. How about that?"
"I'd like that." Juliet smiled. "Glory. What a kid. How did she get that name?"
His nose wiggled in amusement. "My ex liked the song, 'Angels We Have Heard On High.'"
She laughed.
"She was a little strange," Josh acknowledged, "even before she started drinking."
"Glory is a pretty name, and it suits her. She's such a glorious little girl."
"She is."
They stopped at a traffic light. "Her kidnapping … that had to be pretty hard for you."
He touched his nose with the pad of his thumb. "It was brutal. Every single minute." He shook his head. "Who knows what it was like for her?"
"She seems all right, though."
"So far so good. She's with me now, and that's the important thing."
A vision of Desi's face crossed Juliet's imagination, and she pressed a palm to her belly. "I'm so worried about how Desi will take this news. She really did love him, at least she did at one time. I think it's going to break her heart."
"I'm a lot more worried that she might be arrested for it."
"Arrested!"
"Yeah. She has no alibi, and there really aren't many leads at the moment."
Feeling airless, Juliet pressed harder against her stomach. "That would be so bad."
"I agree." He cleared his throat. "Let's not cross that bridge just yet. One thing at a time."
"All right." Fingering her phone, Juliet said, "I guess I'm going to have to call my other sister, let her know what's going on. She gets very upset if she gets left out of the loop."
"The artist sister, right?"
"Yes, Miranda. She lives in New York."
He turned on the road toward the cabin. "Shakespeare, huh? Miranda, Juliet and—what's Desi short for?"
"Desdemona."
"Ah." As if he sensed her nervousness, he said, "Is Miranda older, younger?"
"Youngest. The redhead. There's a blonde, a brunette and a redhead. She's the fiery one. More the child of our parents than we are, really." The truck rocked over a deep rut, and Juliet grabbed the door. "Not that she ever sees them. I get the impression that she does everything she can to distance herself from them."
"It's not like you and Desi are living in the old family home, producing grandchildren."
"That's true." Juliet thought of her mother, Carol, her long dark hair and piercing eyes, and felt a pang. "They weren't the best parents. And probably Miranda got the worst of it. They went through some drama when she was in high school. I've never really heard the whole story, but it wasn't pretty for her." She glanced at him. "Sorry, I'm babbling."
"It's interesting. Desi doesn't talk about your family, except you."
"We were pretty close as kids. She was the brave one and I was the coward."
He grinned. "I don't believe that."
"Trust me, it was true. I was afraid of everything—snakes, spiders, all the outside stuff. Desi never was." The cabin came into view. "Oh, dear. Here we go."
They pulled into the circular drive and Juliet couldn't help but think about the first day she'd come here, when Claude had been trying to coax Desi into seeing things his way, and she'd been promising to kill him if he took another step.
What if Desi really had done it? Killed Claude?
No. Juliet set her jaw and got out of the truck. No, she wouldn't allow that possibility. As they came in, she called out, "Hello! Anybody here?"
Desi sat by the potbellied stove, drying her hair. "Just us elves."
Juliet paused, letting one more placid moment pass in Desi's world before they shattered it. Desi sat on the floor, on a pink and paisley cushion. Sitting Bull, glum as ever, sat beside her. Desi's hair, her glory, fell in splendid lushness over her shoulders and down her back. Juliet forgot, because Desi kept it braided, how beautiful her sister's hair was. Yards of it, deep brown like earth or bark, shot through with gold and threads of copper. It flowed down her back like the
hair of some medieval queen.
"Desi," Juliet said. "I have some bad news."
Something in Juliet's voice must have conveyed the depth of the bad news, because Desi put down the brush and looked up. There was a scratch on her cheek and marks on her forearms. Pale blue bruises ringed her eyes.
"Well, don't just stand there," she snapped. "Tell me!"
* * *
Behind Juliet, Josh tensed, as if waiting, and the lawyer in Juliet knew he was probably going into cop mode. What would Desi do? How would she react?
Juliet sank down on her knees. "Claude is dead."
"What?" Desi sounded irritated, impatient.
"Claude is dead," Juliet repeated. "I'm sorry."
For a long moment, Desi waited, as if for the punch line, some other words to change the reality of what Juliet said. Her brown eyes, luminous as the moon, searched her sister's face. "He's dead?"
"Yes." Juliet felt relief rippling through her at Desi's bewilderment.
"Which means what, exactly? Does that pseudo-sale go through and I lose half the land?"
"I don't know. Desi, what does that matter right now? He's dead."
"I heard you." Suddenly, she crumbled forward. "How? Car accident?"
"Murdered," Josh said, that grizzly bear voice making the word even more harrowing.
Desi's head jerked up. "Murdered? That's impossible. Who would kill him? I mean, aside from me, of course."
"Don't even joke about it," Juliet cried.
"I wouldn't really kill him. You know that." Desi jumped up. "What happened?"
"He was shot," Josh said. "Last night some time. Found his body on the reservation."
Desi's jaw went hard as she looked at her friend. "Last night," she repeated. "How did he die?"
"Shot," Josh repeated patiently, understanding Desi's shocked and disconnected reaction.
"Damn," Desi whispered. "This is not good for our team at all, is it?"
Grimly, he shook his head. "Half the town heard you tell him you'd kill him."
She took a breath. "Well, then you'd better get out there and find out who really did it. I'll be damned if he ruins my life, that bastard." She shook her head. "What a lousy day." She bent her head and started to cry. "That poor cat is still out there in agony and I'm worried sick that he's going to hurt someone."
Juliet sank down beside her sister, putting her arms around her and whispering, "Shh. It's okay. You'll be all right."
"Find out who killed him, Josh," Desi said.
"I will," Josh said. "I promise."
* * *
The skies were getting heavy by midafternoon, when Desi came in from tending her wolves. "I think it's going to snow for real tonight," she said, shedding her down coat and hanging it on a hook. "We have plenty of food, but do you have enough reading material?"
Juliet looked up from the paperback she was reading, curled up in a nook by the windows, Crazy Horse the dog beneath her knees, like a furry pillow. She scratched his forehead idly as she read, nibbling little foods like pistachio nuts and small candies, as she had all her life. Reading and nibbling were always her favorite things. As a child, she'd sometimes read a book a day, happily inert in some corner. In those days, it had usually been a cat who curled up with her.
"Very funny," Juliet said, because they'd bought a paper bag full of novels at a used bookstore the day before. "I think I'll live."
Desi smiled, and it lightened the dark circles beneath her eyes, though there was only so much to be done. "Let's make some cookies, shall we?"
"Definitely an excellent idea." Juliet yawned and put her book down. Crazy Horse groaned and fell to one side. "Did you call Miranda? Let her know what happened?"
"Yes. And Mother and Dad. They're in Greece and send their love." With an exaggerated smooching sound, she kissed the air, then rolled her eyes. "I told them not to interrupt their trip for this. We were divorcing anyway."
Not, Juliet thought cynically, that they would have anyway. They'd never been fond of Claude, which had probably been at least part of his appeal. Desi had never been able to resist needling her mother at every possible chance, a repayment for the endless, endless prodding and poking the eldest daughter had endured from their elegant, blue-blooded mother. She plopped down on the bar stool by the counter and plucked a chocolate chip out of the bag Desi had opened. "What did Miranda have to say? How is she?"
"Fine. I told her you were here and she sent her love." Desi settled a bowl on the counter. "Does she know about the rape? I wasn't sure."
Juliet shook her head. "Can that just be our secret? I hate how people look at me after they find out."
"She's your sister. She won't look at you that way."
"Why burden her with it? There's no point, and it will just upset her."
Desi lifted a shoulder. "What if she'd been raped? Would you want her to tell you?"
With excruciating care, Juliet lined three chocolate chips up into a triangle. "Yes," she had to admit. "I'd feel left out if she didn't tell me."
Desi nodded. "Exactly."
"I'll think about it," Juliet promised.
"Before we start the cookies," Desi said, wiping her hands, "I worried about this all night last night—come here and let me show you how to operate a pistol. You probably will never need to know, but there are some times you might need to have a gun, and I'd feel better knowing that I'd showed you."
"I don't want to shoot a gun, Desi!"
Desi rolled her eyes. "Don't be a baby. Just let me show you." She opened the gun cabinet and went through the steps of loading and firing both the rifle and the handgun. Juliet went along with it, but she couldn't imagine ever really using either one of them.
"Guns kind of give me the creeps," Juliet said.
"That's because you're in the city and people use them to kill other people. In the mountains, they make up for not having large, savage teeth and long claws."
Even Juliet had to chuckle at that. "I'll just hope I never have to use them then."
"I'm sure you never will." She went back to the kitchen and popped a handful of chocolate chips in her mouth. "I'm so tired I could sleep for a year!"
The dogs exploded into a frenzy of barking, all of them racing to the front window that looked out toward the driveway. "Who's that, I wonder?" Desi said, wiping her hands on her apron.
Juliet was the first to see the flashing red lights. "Uh-oh."
She rose and went to the window, where she saw two vehicles with official Mariposa county shields on the sides. Lights on. "This looks official," she said, and turned around, lifting a hand, palm out, to caution Desi. "Don't say a single word, Desdemona, do you understand me? Not a word."
"You don't think they're arresting me, do you?" She widened her eyes. "I'm a vet! A doctor. We don't kill things, we save them. They can't really think I'd kill him?"
Juliet opened the door to the sheriff and two deputies, each dressed in green and khaki uniforms. "We're here for Desdemona Rousseau," one of the officers said.
* * *
Chapter 10
« ^ »
"She's here. You know her, right there."
"Desdemona Rousseau," the sheriff said, "You're under arrest for the murder of Claude Tsosie."
Looking stunned and shaky, Desi said, "I can't leave my sister. She doesn't know how to live up here in the mountains. By herself."
"Then she'd better get to town."
"Somebody has to look out for the property," Desi said. "The wolves—"
Juliet raised her palm. "Stop talking, Desi. I'll call Josh. You just go with them, we'll get you out in no time."
The sheriff snorted unpleasantly. "Not this time. Not in this town."
With hands that trembled visibly, Desi untied her apron and came around the counter. She reached for her coat, hanging by the door. The sheriff pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Her face was the color of the flour on the counter.
Juliet protested. "Are handcuffs really necessary? She's obviousl
y cooperating."
"Regulation," he said, but Juliet doubted it. He just wanted, for whatever reason, to make this more humiliating for her sister.
Once she had her coat on, Desi held out her wrists. The sheriff gruffly ordered her, "Turn around."
Desi's nostrils flared, a sign when they were children that you should clear the area. She turned around woodenly, and met Juliet's eyes as the handcuffs were fastened. "Don't stay alone," Desi said. "Call Josh, right now."
"I will," Juliet said. "Don't worry."
Handcuffed, head down, Desi was led to the SUV. Over her shoulder she said, "Now, Juliet."
But Juliet waited until the SUVs had gone down the road into the pinkening dusk, her heart pounding so hard it felt her ribs would break. The case was circumstantial, it was true, but it was a very good circumstantial case. If they didn't find out who had really killed Claude, there was a very good chance Desi would at least go to trial. In a town so severely divided, that seemed like a very bad idea.
Whistling for the dogs, she headed back inside with the pack. She wondered if she ought to just go ahead and drive into town and find Josh rather than call him. But then she'd have to drive back up the narrow, twisting road in the dark. And, judging by the sky, the snow.
Josh's cell phone number was on the list taped to the wall and she dialed it with purposeful stabs. There was no answer until a voice mail message said, "This is Joshua Mad Calf. Leave a message."
Odd that he didn't answer the cell, especially as a cop. She frowned and said quickly, "Josh, this is Juliet Rousseau, and they just arrested my sister. I need your help."
She hung up and held the phone in her hand for a long moment, trying to decide what the best course of action would be. They'd have to set bail fairly quickly, but maybe not until Monday morning, which would mean Desi would molder in jail all weekend.
Beyond the uncurtained window, snow suddenly started to float down.
Great. Just great. She'd never learned to drive in the snow. And she would have just broken up with her boyfriend, who knew all sorts of things about criminal law that were unknown to her. She made a face. Who else could she call? Most of her friends were in entertainment or civil law.