Apache Heart (7 page)

             
‘I thought you smelled amazing, but I’m not so sure about me,” Elan joked, sniffing at an armpit.

             
“Go have a shower while I put the casserole together, and then I’ll jump in while it’s baking.”

             
He nodded, “Sounds like a plan.”  He ran a hand over her shoulder, “That’ll give me a chance to calm down.”

             
Randi expelled a heavy sigh as she we went back to the kitchen.  Tuna noodle casserole was going to salvage the moment.  She bustled around the kitchen, getting things together, reminding herself that she had made the right decision.  If she and Elan were meant to be a couple, things would hold.

             
Randi turned up the Stones as she clattered dishes and silver, never hearing the big green truck that rolled into her drive.  Suddenly her dinner prep was interrupted by a knock on the screen door.  Startled, she turned to see Lee standing under the porch light.

             
“Lee!” was all she managed to say, and at that moment a shirtless Elan came out of the bathroom, toweling off his wet hair.

             
“Randi,” Elan called, “Do you have a clean t-shirt that might fit me?”

             
Randi looked from Lee to Elan and back again. Elan was clueless about Lee’s presence at the door, but Lee could take in everything.  Closing her eyes for a second to get her composure, Randi tried to say in a casual voice, “Elan, Lee Yahnaki just stopped by.”  She headed toward the door.

             
Lee stepped back, “Uh, I should have called first.  I can see this isn’t a good time.”  Lee’s stomach roiled at the sight of the half-clothed Elan.  It was clear to him what was going on here. 

             
“No, come on in.  Elan and I just had a run after work.  I’ve got a casserole in the oven, stay and eat.”  Randi tried to pretend that none of this was incredibly awkward.  She looked at Lee trying to let her eyes do the work of telling him it wasn’t what he was thinking, except, sort of, it was.  She pushed the screen door open.

             
Hesitantly, Lee stepped in.  Elan wrapped the towel around his neck and offered his hand, “Hey Lee.  How are things?”  The two men squared off, trying to be polite.

             
“Good…I mean, the fire threat is high, but we’re not expecting any thunderstorms, so it should be okay.”  Lee studied the bottle of open bourbon and the two glasses on the table as he gave Elan’s hand a perfunctory shake.  “I didn’t mean to interrupt your supper, I just heard…about Maggie.”  He gave Elan a piercing look, before turning back to Randi.  Her split lip was even puffier after kissing Elan.  “And Joe…from my uncle.  I wanted to make sure that Randi was okay.”

             
Randi swept away the bourbon and threw the glasses in the sink, “Ice tea?” she asked. 

             
“I’m not going to stay, Randi.  I—I can see you’re doing okay.”

             
Elan pulled on his running shirt, “Actually, Joe stopped by here earlier and threatened Randi.”

             
Randi gave Elan dagger eyes, before turning to Joe.  “It wasn’t a big deal.  Just an ass trying to get under my skin because I kicked him in his man bits.”

             
“Did you call the tribal police?”  Lee shifted on his feet, wanting to pull Randi into his arms.

             
“No…I don’t know, I don’t want to antagonize him and make things worse for Maggie.”  Randi tapped at her mouth with the back of her fist, trying to avoid looking at either Elan or Lee.  Tuna noodle casserole might solve the problem of what to do with Elan for the moment, but it wasn’t doing much about the situation with Joe and Maggie…and Lee.

             
“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch.  It’s not like Maggie hasn’t already had her ration of shit.”  Lee looked furious, Randi thought. And he was giving Elan an expression approaching disgust.  There was something more going on between the two of them than just it looking like Lee had surprised them in a compromising position.  Elan had said that he had dated Maggie, Randi remembered, and clearly Lee was holding something against her boss. 

             
“No one is killing anybody.  Everybody needs to chill the heck out.  I’m fine.  We need to figure out how to help Maggie,” Randi did her best to sound calm.

             
“I’m calling my uncle.  We’ll just keep it in the family, but someone needs to know what Joe is up to.”  Lee flipped out his phone and hit the speed dial.  A short conversation in Apache transpired, and then he clicked the phone off.  “He’s going to have a patrol swing by here periodically…and he’s taking Maggie to our mom’s house, whether she wants to go or not.”

             
“Lee…” Randi wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but short of having either Lee or Elan spend the night, she had to admit that she
was
creeped out.  Joe was probably just a big windbag, but she had seen the brutality he’d leveled at Maggie.  “Yeah, thanks.  I’ll make some cookies or something to drop off at the station to say thanks.”

             
The timer on the stove dinged, and Randi felt grateful for something to focus on besides the two men in front of her and a sociopath.  She grabbed a couple of oven mitts, and took the casserole out.  She could tell both Lee and Elan were sniffing the air, trying to determine what her waspy concoction was going to taste like.  She put the casserole on a trivet in the middle of the table, and then grabbed another plate.

             
“Sit down, both of you.  I don’t even care whether you like it or not, but someone is going to eat this damn casserole.”  Randi stood with her hands on her hips in a posture that brooked no retort.  Carefully Elan and Lee slid chairs out and sat down as instructed, and Randi took the seat in the middle.  Armed with a big spoon, she slung casserole on the plates, “Just…shut up and eat.  I need to think.”

             
Both of the men picked up their forks, and alternated between eyeing their plates, each other, and Randi.  Finally Lee took a bite, and his expression became one of carefully guarded neutrality.  “This is…interesting,” he said as he chewed.  “I mean it’s good, just…different.”  He gingerly took another bite, and Elan followed suit.

             
“Yeah, it’s…surprisingly…interesting,” Elan said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

             
Randi took a bite, and then suddenly spit it out, “Oh my god, this is awful!  The noodles haven’t cooked long enough and I forgot to drain the tuna.”  It was exactly the break they needed in the tension, and suddenly all three of them were laughing.  She picked up the plates and scraped the remainder into the garbage bin.  “If I haven’t completely scared you off, I have a frozen pizza I can put in the oven.”

             
Elan wiped his mouth with a napkin, “Look, it’s a work night and it’s getting late.  We should get out of here and let you get some sleep.”

             
Randi made note of the “we” before trying to joke, “Really, I can cook.” 

             
“I believe you.”  Elan gave her a kiss on the cheek.  “Call me if you get spooked.” 

             
Lee noted the kiss, but didn’t comment, nor repeat it.  He gave Randi a solemn look as the screen door banged closed behind Elan, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.  Trust me.”

             
Could she trust him?  Her mind didn’t know, but her gut said yes.  “Thanks Lee.  Thanks for coming by.”  She walked him to the door, every fiber of her body wanting him to gather her into his arms.  Instead, she just said, “Goodnight,” and locked the door.

             
Suddenly Randi was aware of how much she wanted a shower before she went to bed.  Her appetite was gone, but she couldn’t stand the thought of getting into bed still sweaty from the run.  In moments she was lathering up under the warm water, washing away the run, and her stress over Joe, and the fact that she was attracted to both Elan and Lee and didn’t have any business getting involved with either one. When she crawled into bed, she felt mentally exhausted, but she understood a little more about how a woman like Maggie could get involved with someone that wasn’t good for her.

###

              The sound of a truck motor turning over woke Maggie a little before six.  It took a moment for her to realize what she was hearing, before she slid into a bathrobe and went to the living room window to look out.  She made it there just in time to see Lee backing his truck out of her drive.  Then she understood: he had stayed there the entire night; stayed there making sure that nothing happened to her.  Or did he stay there to make sure that Elan didn’t come back?  She pondered it for a moment, and then decided that Lee was just keeping his promise.

             
As she made coffee, Randi wondered how she felt about that.  She’d always been independent, always taken care of herself.  Was there something a little controlling about what Lee had done, or did he know more than he was letting on about what Joe was capable of?  The fact that he had done it without telling her made Randi believe it was simply his way of being protective, and she had to admit, it was a little more concrete than, “Call me if you get spooked.”

             
Randi yawned as she made coffee, and then realized it was Wednesday, so she needed to think about working with the kids in the running program.  She turned on the radio to get the weather report while looking for a couple of books on stretching and weight conditioning.  It might be nice, she thought, to make some photocopies of a few things to hand out.  She leafed through the books, putting sticky notes in to mark the places, while simultaneously eating a bowl of instant oatmeal.   Next she got her running clothes together and threw them in her gym bag, and tucked the books in on top.  It was going to be warm, so she put on a colorful, cotton peasant skirt and a simple V-neck t-shirt.  Sandals and her white lab coat finished the outfit, and then she grabbed a ribbon to tie her hair back.  Satisfied, she grabbed her gym bag, keys and purse and headed out the door, remembering to turn off the radio at the last minute.

             
As Randi stepped out her front door, though, her pleasant morning suddenly shifted.  Someone had scrawled in red spray paint down the side of her truck, “Dr. Bitch.”  She sucked a breath in and looked at her watch; it had only been a little more than an hour since Lee left.  How could she have not heard someone drive up?  Then a weird thought crossed her mind; maybe Lee had done it—maybe he wanted her to be scared, wanted her to come to him instead of Elan.  She shook herself, trying to tell herself that was a ridiculous idea.  But why didn’t he tell her he was going to spend the night in her drive?  And why hadn’t she heard anyone else around?  Sure the radio was on, but it wasn’t
that
loud. 

             
The paint was fresh, still dripping, when Randi kneeled down to get a closer look.  It had to have been after Lee left, but it was possible he’d driven away, only to sneak back on foot.  She looked around, but couldn’t see any distinct footprints in the gravel.  Standing up, Randi expelled a breath.  Why was she trying to blame Lee? Was it because she had this idea of him now as some kind of criminal? It had to have been Joe, part of his plan to intimidate her.  He was proving that he could get close without her knowing.  All the way into the hospital, though, she kept replaying Lee’s silent presence and departure outside her door.

             
Lozen was just getting out of her car as Randi pulled into the parking lot.  It was hard to miss the words ‘Dr. Bitch’ in huge capital letters down the side of Randi’s truck.  She waited for Randi to park. 

             
Randi tried to joke, “Apparently I’ve gained a fan club.”

             
Lozen shook her head, “That’s gotta be Joe’s work.  Are you okay?”

             
After all the craziness, Randi realized that what she needed was a woman friend, someone that wasn’t Lee or Elan that she could be honest with about everything going on. 

             
“To tell the truth, Lozen, I’m pretty rattled.  Joe came by my place last night to threaten me, and I found this when I was leaving for work this morning.”  She waved her hand at the obscene graffiti.

             
Lozen bit her lip and glanced at her watch, “Come on, we’ve got fifteen minutes before clinic.  Let’s sit down and talk.”  Lozen led Randi over to a bench.  “Let’s stay out here where there’s a little privacy.”

             
“Do you think Joe is really dangerous?  Or is he just trying to keep me off balance?”  Randi asked.  “He said something about keeping my mouth shut to the prosecutors, so it makes me wonder if they are going to press charges against him even if Maggie doesn’t want it.”

             
“Maggie’s mom called me this morning.  Her brother, Russell—the cop—well, he forced Maggie to go to her mom’s last night.  Joe was nowhere to be found, which probably meant he was winding up on a bender.  Russell was so mad he told Maggie that if she didn’t give a shit about what Joe did to her that was her business, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let Joe hurt the baby.”