by Marta Perry
“Seems like a funny place for a council of war, then.” She kept her voice low, but the café was nearly deserted in the middle of the afternoon.
“Since Quinn’s mother owns it, there couldn’t be a safer place.” He nodded as a vivacious redhead came bustling toward them, smiling broadly.
“Ken! It’s about time you were coming to see me!” She hugged Ken and kissed him loudly on the cheek.
“Good to see you, Fiona.” Ken hugged her, but Julianna thought he was a little embarrassed at the greeting. “You know Julianna Red Feather, don’t you?”
“Sure thing. Welcome.” The smile was extended to her, and then Fiona was turning, gesturing toward the back of the restaurant. “Quinn and Sam are here already. What will you have to drink?”
“Iced tea for me, please,” Ken said, and Julianna nodded in agreement.
“Two iced teas coming up.” She bustled off.
Ken threaded through small tables covered with red-checked tablecloths. Quinn already sat at the last table in the back, and opposite him was Sam Vance, Ken’s cousin and a detective on the Colorado Springs Police Force.
A small shiver went through her. Quinn might insist this was unofficial, but once the police were involved, there was no turning back. She slid into the chair Ken held for her.
Quinn nodded to them, his face grim. “Sam’s agreed to meet with us on a strictly off-the-record basis.”
“I could have come to the yard and kept it unofficial,” Sam said, his tone mild. “We didn’t have to go all cloak-and-dagger.”
Quinn’s frown deepened. “Look, we’re just having a nice, quiet lunch together. Anybody who sees us won’t think a thing about it. No offense, Sam, but it doesn’t do a business any good to get involved with the police.”
“That’s the thanks I get for serving the public.” Sam’s eyes crinkled. “My oldest friends and my family don’t want to be seen with me.”
“Sam—” Ken’s voice held a warning. “This is Quinn’s livelihood. We have to let him decide how to handle it.”
Fiona appeared just then, carrying a laden tray, and Sam let the subject drop. She began sliding huge bowls of stew in front of them.
“Hope you don’t mind,” Quinn said. “I thought it would be faster if I just ordered the special all around.”
Julianna eyed the puff pastry topping the stew. It was more a dinner than a lunch for her, but she could hardly protest.
Fiona patted her shoulder. “Eat up, honey. You could use a little more meat on those bones.”
She managed to smile, and Ken sent her a sympathetic look. After a few more orders to the men to eat hearty, Fiona disappeared back to the kitchen and they were alone.
“Okay, shoot,” Sam said, scooping up a spoonful of stew. “Tell me what’s going on.”
She nibbled at the stew, the rich meaty taste luring her into eating more than she’d intended, while Quinn gave a quick rundown of all the incidents of vandalism that had occurred both at the hospital site and the construction yard.
At the end of Quinn’s recitation, Sam put down his fork. “You don’t need me to tell you it’s the kind of thing that can happen to any construction company.” His face was guarded, and she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“Right,” Quinn said. “If it hadn’t been for all the other inexplicable things that have been happening to the Vance and the Montgomery families. And if it hadn’t been for last night’s episode.”
He nodded to Ken, who took up the story then.
She watched Ken’s face as he talked. The lines seemed deeper this afternoon, and the way he rubbed his forehead from time to time suggested that he had another of the headaches he didn’t want to admit to. He ought to be resting and recuperating instead of being plunged headlong into trouble, but she didn’t suppose he’d agree to that.
Sam’s expression grew graver as he listened to the account of Ken’s close call. “You’re sure it couldn’t have happened accidentally?”
“It was no accident.” Quinn seemed to be grinding his teeth. “Those lumber pallets could no more collapse by themselves than they could take flight.”
She suddenly found herself the focus of Sam’s intent gaze, and her nerves jumped. “What about you, Julianna? Any hint that someone else was there?”
She thought back carefully before answering. “I didn’t see anything, no. But I think Angel, my dog, must have heard something. She gave an alarm bark before the lumber started to move. I didn’t think about it at the time, but I don’t see what else it could have been. She sensed someone there.”
Sam nodded. “Did she try to chase after him, whoever it was?”
“No, but she wouldn’t. Ken was trapped. All her training would send her straight after him.”
Her heart clenched at the image that formed in her mind—the huge stack of lumber, the dust rising from it, the panic she’d felt when she realized Ken was somewhere underneath.
“Right.” Sam glanced from one face to the other. “How did he get in?”
“When I made the rounds, one of the gates was standing ajar,” Ken said, his voice expressionless. “We certainly hadn’t left it that way.”
“Well, not that I don’t value my cousin’s life and limb, but that still could have been an act of vandalism gone awry. After all, he couldn’t have known you’d be in that place at that time.”
“Agreed. That could have been a crime of opportunity,” Ken said, his voice dry. “But what Julianna found this morning couldn’t. Tell him, Juli.”
She saw Sam shoot a quick, speculative glance at his cousin when Ken used her nickname. Then he focused on her, and her mouth was suddenly dry.
“Ken and I were the first ones at the office this morning. We found the place turned upside-down. At first it looked as if the computers hadn’t been touched, but then I checked mine out. I found that someone had tampered with a report I was doing for Quinn to present to the hospital board.”
“And let me tell you,” Quinn said, his voice hard, “if I’d walked into the hospital board with that report, you’d be seeing the end of Montgomery Construction. We wouldn’t be able to survive losing that contract, not after the losses from the fire.”
“I’d like to see the file.” Sam held up his hand to quiet Quinn’s protest. “Nothing official, I know. But Julianna can make a copy for me, can’t she?”
She shot a look at Quinn, and he nodded permission.
“I’ll make a copy. And I’ll also get you a copy of my original file, so you can see what was changed. It was really very subtle. Whoever did it, he or she knew what they were doing.”
“Not your typical teenage vandal, then,” Sam said.
She sensed, rather than felt, Ken stiffen, and knew he was thinking of Jay.
“Certainly not,” she said firmly.
“Well?” Quinn frowned at Sam. “What’s the verdict?”
Sam shook his head slowly. “I can’t dismiss it, not with all the things that have been happening. It’s almost as if Escalante has come back from the grave to start a vendetta against us.”
“If he was ever in the grave,” Quinn said.
“I’ve been wondering that myself, but all I can do is investigate.” Sam’s face was grim. “And suggest that you add more security. Any of you have anything else to add?”
She held her breath. If Ken mentioned Jay—
“I hate to bring this up,” Ken said, not looking at her. “But there’s a kid, Jay Nieto, who’s been in the construction yard, helping Julianna with her search-and-rescue team training.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she snapped. “Jay wouldn’t do anything like that, and he doesn’t have the knowledge necessary to falsify my computer records that way.”
She glared at Ken, anger churning in her stomach. He had no right to bring Jay into this.
“You’re the one who said how bright he is. Look, I know how you feel about the kid, but if he’s under the influence of that gang leader—”
“Wh
at gang leader?” Sam’s voice cut like a knife.
“He’s not a gang member,” she protested. “He’s just a lonely kid looking for someone to accept him.” But Sam was still waiting for an answer. “Theo Crale,” she said reluctantly.
Sam drew in a breath. “The Posse. We don’t have enough on them to bring anyone down, but I’m convinced they’re on the fringe of the drug trade.”
Her heart sank. “Jay wouldn’t.”
“Look, I’m not suggesting having the police haul the kid in for questioning.” Ken leaned toward her across the table, his level gaze holding hers, and it was as if they were alone. “I just want you to set up a chance for me to talk with him. Get a sense of the boy informally.” He glanced toward Sam. “That okay with you?”
“Since everything we’ve said has been informal, I guess I have to agree.”
Ken zeroed in on her again. “Juli?”
She didn’t have a choice, did she? “All right. I’ll set something up.”
She’d do it. But she wasn’t going to forgive Ken easily for this.
The woman strolled casually across the park, her heels clicking on the concrete walkway. Anyone who really knew her would be aware that she wasn’t the type to take walks in the park for pleasure, but then, no one in her current life really knew her.
Battalion Chief Neil O’Brien already sat on the bench she’d specified, flipping nervously through the pages of the daily newspaper. His foot tapped against the pavement in a broken rhythm.
She felt a fresh spurt of annoyance. The man was the worst conspirator in the world. It would be obvious to any interested observer that he was up to no good.
Fortunately, no one in the park this spring afternoon showed any interest in O’Brien. The man had managed to stay out of sight since the fire at Montgomery Construction put him under suspicion—she had to give him that. But he was scared and he was nervous, and Escalante was a fool to trust him with anything, in her opinion.
“Hurry up,” he said, as soon as she got within earshot. He sent a nervous glance around.
She slowed her pace deliberately. He couldn’t be permitted to think he could give her orders about anything. She sat at the far end of the bench, gazing across the park. She didn’t have to look at O’Brien to know he was afraid. He positively reeked of fear.
“You should have picked a less public place.” He had sense enough to keep the paper up in front of his face. “I’ll be spotted.”
“Don’t be an idiot. No one knows or cares who you are.”
“But—”
“You messed up that attack on Kenneth Vance. He’s fine. What made you attempt such a thing?”
The newspaper trembled. “El Jefe wants him dead—I know that. I saw a chance and I took it.” A whining note entered his voice. “It’s not my fault it didn’t come off. If that fool woman and her dog hadn’t been there to warn him, the Chief would be praising me right now.”
“I doubt very much that the Chief will praise you for anything. He may want the man dead, but it has to look like an accident. Is that understood?”
“Yes,” he mumbled.
“Very well. Here are your orders. You are to step up the vandalism, but keep it at a level that they won’t want to bring the police in. Understand? They are not to suspect any connection with the fires.”
He nodded sullenly.
“Watch for a chance to eliminate Kenneth Vance,” she said. “But bear in mind it has to look like an accident.”
“I don’t want—”
“What you want doesn’t matter in the least.” She didn’t trouble to hide her disgust for him. “You will do as you’re told.”
“I was just going to say I’ve found the perfect tool to carry out the vandalism.” He sounded sulky.
“Fine, but see that he does exactly as he’s told. El Jefe is becoming tired of excuses. He won’t tolerate any more.” She stood, still not looking at him. “So you’d better be very sure you’re following orders, or your pretty little wife will be planning your funeral.”
She turned away, gratified to see that the newspaper shook in his hands. She didn’t have any illusions about O’Brien. If he were caught, he’d hand over her name, since it was the only one he knew.
But Escalante wouldn’t let him live long enough to do that, in any event. And with any luck, the next blow to the Vance family would be a deadly one.
“You two can set up the ladder and plank right over there.” Julianna indicated a level spot in the debris area.
Ken smiled at Jay and got a cautious smile in return. “I guess she means us, Jay. I don’t see anyone else around to tote things for her.”
Jay lifted one end of the ladder. “We did this setup once before. I know how it goes.”
“You’re the boss then.” He picked up the other end of the ladder and let the kid lead the way.
In response to his prodding, Julianna had hired Jay to help set up another training event at Montgomery Construction. But this time he was going to be Juli’s assistant. If an hour of working with the kid didn’t tell him what he needed to know about the boy’s character, then he’d wasted a lot of time as an Air Force officer.
The kid was no shirker, he had to give him that up front. He was quick to take the heavy part of any load as they began setting up the ladders, planks and tunnels.
Ken tested the first ladder, making sure it was steady. Quinn wouldn’t thank him if someone got hurt here.
“Your volunteers have to prove they can climb a ladder, is that it?”
Julianna looked down at him from above, where she was setting a plank into place. “We’re not testing the volunteers, although their agility is important, too. This particular exercise is for the dogs.”
He blinked, surveying the ladder. “The dogs can climb ladders?”
“Sure they can.” Jay’s smile was more natural now. “I didn’t believe it at first either, but they do.” He patted Angel, who pressed against his leg, raising her black-muzzled head to give him a grave, intelligent look.
Julianna would probably say that the dog’s instincts about the boy were proof enough for her. Ken needed a little more, though.
“So, has working with Juli and her team made you want to start training a dog of your own?” He raised another plank over his head, and Jay scrambled up the ladder to take it.
“I wouldn’t mind having a dog.” Jay sounded a little wistful. “I did when we lived at the pueblo, but my dad says there’s not room in our apartment. When he’s making enough money to buy a house, he says we can get one.”
There was a trace of something in the boy’s voice—as if he wanted to believe what his father told him but didn’t quite dare.
“Do you like living in The Springs?”
Jay shrugged. “It’s okay. I want to be with my dad.”
“I lost my dad a few years ago, but I still enjoy spending some time here with the rest of my family.”
He’d have to open up a bit to the kid if he expected anything in return. Julianna was a few feet away, her back to them, ostensibly absorbed in unpacking equipment, but he didn’t doubt that she heard every word.
“It must get boring, though,” Jay said. “I’ll bet you want to get back on active duty.”
Jay’s innocent words struck him straight in the heart. What had he just been thinking about, opening up to the kid? This was more open than he wanted to be, but he didn’t have much choice.
“Yeah, I guess it does get a little claustrophobic sometimes. When you love what you do, you don’t want to be away from it.”
The longing went through him, sharp as a knife. He wanted to be flying again, cutting through the sky without a thought for anything except the perfection of the machine and the completion of the mission.
Jay tested the stability of the plank with a quick jerk. “If I could fly, I don’t figure I’d want to ever do anything else.”
“No. You wouldn’t.” He fought to control his voice. No one needed to know how much this me
ant to him. “Not if that’s what you’re destined to do.”
Jay looked upward, and Ken knew without looking what he saw. Sharp mountain ridges against an incredibly blue sky. The contrails of jets etching a pattern on the blue. Air Force blue. You didn’t get away from that in Colorado Springs, home of the Academy.
Maybe he’d have been better off recuperating anywhere else but here. Still, where else would he go? His years of devotion to his career had left him without ties, except for the ones he’d been born to.
“I thought maybe I’d enlist after high school. If they’d take me. I know they don’t take just anybody.” Jay scrambled back down the ladder.
“Julianna seems to think you have what it takes to do more than that. She says you’re pretty smart.”
The boy shrugged, not looking at him. “Yeah, well, that doesn’t matter. You don’t get into the Academy just by being smart.”
So that was the boy’s secret dream. He’d have to tread carefully here, if he didn’t want all those barriers going up again.
“It’s a good thing that’s not the only consideration, or I probably wouldn’t have gotten in.” He managed a grin. “I didn’t always burn up the books when I was in school, but when I figured out what I had to do to get what I wanted, I managed to try a little harder.”
Jay’s dark gaze studied him with an intensity that was unsettling. “You weren’t Pueblo.”
A spark of anger ignited, and he grabbed Jay’s arm. The kid jerked back instinctively, but he didn’t let go.
“Listen, don’t use that as an excuse—not to me, and certainly not to yourself. Your heritage won’t keep you out, but your attitude might. The Academy cares about what you can do and what kind of stuff you’re made of inside. Not what color you are.”
The kid’s gaze dropped. “Yeah, well, maybe that’s true, but there’s all that stuff about getting recommended and everything. I couldn’t do that. Who’d recommend me?”
That was the bottom line for Jay, he realized suddenly. The kid figured no matter what he did, he wouldn’t have what he perceived as the pull necessary to get in. He didn’t realize how wrong he was.