Coyote (41 page)

I looked up at the five figures on the tower battlements … The chiefs seemed to nod, finally at peace.

What was de Vivar really doing?

Amparo de Vivar was in the herb garden. The manservant left me in a grand reception room while he got her.

I stood stock-still. There was an oil painting on the wall opposite.

She was a haughty Hispanic aristocrat, with a hooked nose, high cheekbones and intricately braided long black hair. No mantilla for her, her head was uncovered and her dark eyes brimful of wilfulness. She was young, before time had carved suffering into her features and wisdom into her eyes.

It was Mother Leocadia, the Abbess of the Convent of Our Lady of the Wilderness.

Amparo joined me. Now I could see the resemblance.

‘She was a wild one,' I said. ‘What happened to her?'

Amparo scanned my expression and decided to answer. ‘Donna Leocadia spent most of her life in the
desert in New Mexico. She loved it. She said it had given her more than any other home.'

‘Did Leocadia die there?' I hoped she was never dragged back to Mexico to answer charges in front of the Inquisition.

‘No, eventually she came to live here in San Francisco … with her son Rodrigo …'

‘What …' I turned to stare at Amparo. ‘The Abbess had a son?'

‘Yes, of course.' She stumbled under my gaze. ‘Rodrigo Juan de Vivar was her son; I thought that was how you knew who Leocadia was?'

I frowned. ‘Was Rodrigo born before she was banished to the Convent of Our Lady of the Wilderness?'

‘No.' Amparo shook her head. ‘As you said, she was a wild one; he was born in that convent. I know it was outrageous for that time but our family saw the de Vivar bloodline as precious, so they accepted him completely. Leocadia called Rodrigo her gift from God, her protection in that desert wilderness.'

I'd heard Leocadia describe the stranger who guided her on her vision quest through the desert in exactly the same way … So the vision quest that the local shaman had sent her on had become a sexual odyssey? She'd met some man in that desert who'd saved her and she'd borne his child.

I stared at the portrait. I'd actually seen Leocadia when she was young … in that vision where she was playing with the little coyote cub. The vision she hadn't wanted me to see …

My brain lit up like a light bulb. ‘Do you have a portrait of Rodrigo de Vivar?'

‘Yes, but only one from when he was very young. It was done when he first came down to visit his estates in Mexico.'

We walked into the next room and stood in front of the painting. A young boy, aristocratic in his clothes and bearing but his golden eyes alight with mischief, couldn't resist grinning down at us from the picture.

It was Coyote Jack. There was no doubt of that.

So each time he'd disappeared into Mexico, Jack was visiting his mother's people. He was visiting the de Vivar estates …

His estates.

 

The manservant interrupted. ‘Madam, you have another visitor.' Amparo followed him out.

So Coyote Jack had tracked Lysander Kershaw to San Francisco. Using his real name of Rodrigo Juan de Vivar, he'd lured Kershaw into a partnership and played with him, super predator to clumsy amateur butcher. Mastermind to blunt force crim.

‘Miss Dupree, I've finally tracked you down …'

I turned.

Seymour Kershaw stood in the doorway, next to Amparo; their faces mirrors of each other, both wanting to know what I knew.

‘I needed some answers,' said Seymour. ‘My family has carried the burden of secrecy for too long.'

Amparo nodded. ‘I want to know what happened too. I see now Rodrigo's full story has never been told.'

We sat there, beneath the portrait of Rodrigo Juan de Vivar, Coyote Jack, while I told them the long story. Seymour's face grew sadder as I spoke. His family secret was even worse than he'd imagined. Amparo just listened, enthralled, occasionally gazing up at Coyote Jack's portrait with fondness.

‘Now I have questions for you to answer,' I said to them both. ‘Coyote Jack tracked Lysander here, to
San Francisco … And, using his aristocratic name and money, played a cat-and-mouse game ending in Lysander's death by Prairie Rose's arrow. Then Coyote Jack left all these clues at Berkeley — and all over San Francisco — for someone in the future to discover the truth.'

They waited.

‘But why?' I said. ‘Why didn't Coyote Jack just reveal Lysander for who he was and what he'd done?'

Amparo was swift to defend her beloved ancestor. ‘Rodrigo arrived in San Francisco after the explosion at the Montgomery Building, in the year before Hector Kershaw —' She corrected herself. ‘Before Lysander Kershaw went missing. So there was nothing for him to prevent.'

‘Okay, he had nothing to prevent, but why did Coyote Jack go the other way and build that memorial as Lysander's coffin?' I stopped, remembering. It was just the kind of thing he
would
do.

‘I think it must've been because of Edwina Kershaw,' replied Amparo.

Seymour raised his bowed head at the name of his ancestor.

‘Rodrigo had a great fondness for Edwina and her daughter,' said Amparo.

I raised a brow. Edwina gave birth to a daughter? So Lysander was cheated of his male heir … Good!

‘You mean,' said Seymour, ‘that Rodrigo was protecting Edwina and her daughter from the wrath of San Francisco?'

Amparo nodded. ‘Imagine what would've happened to Kershaw's wife and daughter if San Francisco had found out that their beloved Hector had slaughtered so many people and then played them like puppets on a string.' She shivered. ‘I think that without Hector to
vent their vengeance upon, Edwina and her daughter would've ended up dead at the hands of an angry mob … like the Corsairs did.'

‘Yes,' agreed Seymour. ‘Old San Francisco wasn't known for its mercy.'

Amparo nodded. ‘And I know Rodrigo was fond of Edwina and her daughter … the little girl often played here with Rodrigo's own children.'

‘So you think Coyote Jack was leaving justice for the future, when Edwina and her daughter had gone?' I mused.

Amparo shrugged. ‘Perhaps. I don't know.'

‘What happened to Coyote Jack?' I asked Amparo. ‘You said he had children.'

‘Yes, many.' She smiled to herself and touched her gently rounded stomach. ‘We de Vivars are blessed with great fertility.' She corrected herself. ‘Well, we were after Rodrigo was born. Before that the de Vivars were rare, sparse nobles. That's why the family accepted Rodrigo so quickly and so completely. He was the only child that survived in his generation — and the only son to inherit the estates. But everything changed after that. Rodrigo had eight sons and fourteen daughters of his own. He lived a rich life surrounded by all his children, watching them prosper.'

I smiled. That was good to know, a happy ending at last. ‘And what about Prairie Rose?' I asked, expecting that there'd be no answer.

Amparo looked at me strangely. ‘Don't you know?' she said with disbelief. ‘Rose was my great-great-grandmother.'

I sat stunned.

Amparo smiled. ‘It was a huge scandal but Rodrigo still married her in style. Rose de Vivar became a great lady, using her wealth to help others.'

‘But …' I frowned. ‘I thought she'd try to return to her homeland?'

‘She did,' said Amparo with pride. ‘Rodrigo bought back what he could of her homelands and set it up as a special nature sanctuary. It was one of the first of its kind in the world. Rose took all her children there and taught them her language and ceremonies — so they would never die out. Rose is buried there.'

‘When did Coyote Jack die?' I asked.

‘The week after Grandma Rose died.' She shook her head. ‘He didn't want to stay here without her.'

I touched my heart. ‘That's wonderful.' I was so glad Coyote Jack had loved Prairie Rose. That they'd made so much of their lives together.

‘I feel they are not gone,' said Amparo. ‘My whole family … we all still carry something of both of them. We have Grandma Rose's teachings and …' She unbuttoned her blouse. ‘This memento from Rodrigo.'

It was there on her chest. The same birthmark I'd seen on Coyote Jack's. A yellow sun.

Seymour gaped in surprise. ‘It can't be …' He opened his shirt. There was the same birthmark.

Amparo and Seymour looked down at each other's birthmarks then into each other's matching dark eyes.

So Edwina's daughter had been fathered by Coyote Jack …

I looked up at the portrait of the laughing boy. Just when Lysander Kershaw thought he'd won, Coyote Jack stepped in and took everything away from him … like toys from a child. His position, his power, his life — even his wife and his bloodline.

And then Jack left breadcrumbs leading to the truth, to take the very last thing away from Lysander — his mask.

‘Wait here,' said Amparo. She stood, her expression intent. ‘I'll be back.'

She returned with a box and sat with it on her lap, a frown clouding her features.

‘Before Rodrigo de Vivar died,' said Amparo, ‘he summoned all his children and grandchildren together and told them about this special clause in his will. Rodrigo made each of them swear — on their honour — to uphold it. That vow has been passed down through the family … I swore it myself when I reached twenty-one and my parents first showed me what was in this box.'

‘Should I leave?' said Seymour, rising.

‘No,' replied Amparo. ‘Not if you will also take the vow. If you will promise that what you hear and see today is never revealed to anyone else.'

Seymour placed his right hand over his heart. ‘I so swear.'

Amparo nodded. ‘Good.'

‘Should I swear as well?' I said, confused.

Amparo shook her head. ‘No. Because you are the subject of Rodrigo's codicil.'

‘What do you mean?' I replied. ‘How could that be —'

‘Because you found Hector … or rather, Lysander Kershaw's body. That is what the codicil is about.'

I shut up.

Amparo reached into the box and took out an old letter. ‘This was written to the person who found Kershaw's body.' She handed it to me.

It was the old and yellowed letter I'd seen in Rodrigo's safe the first time I'd come to this house.

I went to open it.

‘No!' she said. ‘You are to open it when you have met the other conditions of the codicil.'

‘What conditions?' I said with suspicion.

‘If you meet the conditions you will receive this, free and clear, as your own property.' Amparo reached into the box and handed me a long container. I'd also seen it before.

I opened it.

Seymour gasped.

It was Isabella's Cross.

 

But, according to Father Angelo, it was really Isabella's Ankh.

It was solid gold and the piece above the cross bar was an oval shape painted with floating angelic figures. It was a great golden thing, surrounded by a nimbus of light … And, except for the painted oval piece above the cross bar, looked as ancient as the Earth itself.

I felt drawn to it … and picked it up. The ankh was warm … inviting … benevolent. Now I could understand why Emperor Theodosius and Isabella had wanted to keep it by their sides.

I put the ankh back in the box, confused by my reaction.

Amparo watched me. ‘It feels good, doesn't it?'

I nodded back, bemused.

‘Did I tell you that Lysander couldn't stand to be in the same room with it?'

I gazed down at the golden ankh. So Lysander had hated the very thing he'd spent years trying to find?

‘You mentioned the codicil had conditions …' I said. ‘What are they?'

‘According to the codicil, you must take Isabella's Cross to Spruce Tree Mesa and place it in its rightful resting place.'

Spruce Tree Mesa?

‘Once you've done that, you must open the letter and follow the instructions. Then Isabella's Cross is yours, free and clear — to do with as you will.'

I gazed at her in dismay. ‘But why Spruce Tree Mesa?'

Amparo shrugged. ‘This was our dear Rodrigo's last request. I don't know why he wanted it done, but I trust that it was for a very good reason.' She eyed me fiercely. ‘Will you do it?'

I picked up the old letter. Apart from anything else, I couldn't resist the pull to read what my wily friend, Coyote Jack, had written. ‘Yes, I will.'

Amparo exhaled in relief. ‘Good, but you must leave now. The will stipulates that the cross must be immediately returned to Spruce Tree Mesa following the discovery of Hector's … I mean Lysander's body. It has to be there, and in place, no later than the following dawn.'

‘Okay,' I agreed. I could do that — but I didn't know if I could wait that long to open Coyote Jack's letter.

‘You cannot know how relieved I am,' said Seymour to Amparo. ‘To be in no way related to Lysander Kershaw.' Seymour looked up at the portrait of the grinning boy hanging above our heads. ‘Now him I could like.'

Amparo patted his hand. ‘I'm so glad to meet another relative.' She sighed. ‘But I'm sorry that I didn't get to know Jackson River … That day he was here — he gave me such a shock. He looked so much like our dear Rodrigo … but now it's too late to talk to him.'

I'd told them Gideon Webb had murdered River.

‘Yes, I'm sorry too,' I said. ‘Jackson River has been vindicated completely. What he set out to do — prove the truth about Dry Gulch — has finally happened.'

Seymour gazed warmly up at the portrait … now his ancestor too. ‘Jackson River looked so much like Coyote Jack …'

I frowned, remembering Honeycutt's words … The question of River's real identity was yet to be answered. But he had to be related to Coyote Jack somehow.

‘Why did River wear those horrible hair streaks?' asked Seymour. ‘And those ridiculous bright blue contact lenses?'

‘What?' I felt a sharp stab in the pit of my stomach. ‘How do you know River wore contact lenses?'

Seymour shrugged. ‘I saw him putting them in the day I went to his office at Berkeley. His real eye colour was so unusual, a yellow … almost gold. But surely you knew that bright blue couldn't be real?'

My jaw hung open while I tried to think of an answer … one that didn't involve the outrageous one that'd sprung to mind.

It couldn't be … It was impossible.

‘Amparo, how did Rodrigo de Vivar die?' I asked.

‘A heart attack, I believe. Why?'

‘So his body was buried … where exactly?'

‘Well, there is a gravestone, but he died while fishing. He just dropped into the water. His body was never found.'

‘Coyote Jack just dropped into the water. His body was never found,' I repeated mindlessly.

 

I raced back to my beach house, south of Half Moon Bay, booked a plane ticket and began hurling things into a backpack as fast as my tender thumb would allow. I'd managed to squeeze onto the last flight to New Mexico, which meant I'd get a plane to Albuquerque then rent a four-wheel-drive and head north, past Santa Fe, to Big Sun Canyon.

As long as I got on that plane, I could make my destination on time. But it was going to be tight; I'd have to floor it to the airport.

Coyote Jack's will was clear. It expressly ordered that I have Isabella's Cross back on Spruce Tree Mesa before the dawn following the discovery of his business partner's body. It must've seemed impossible for such a stipulation to be fulfilled in the nineteenth century … but it was certainly possible now.

Standing under her ancestor's portrait, Amparo had pleaded with me to meet his demands to the letter. ‘Rodrigo wasn't a fool. If he made these stipulations, Kannon … then it was for a very good reason.'

I knew she was right — so I'd sworn I would do as he asked no matter what.

I had my backpack ready and was standing in the hallway when my dog, Spud, gave a warning yip and charged over to the front door. I'd just phoned
a neighbour and arranged for them to look after her while I was gone.

A knock sounded.

Spud stood guard at the door, sniffing for hint of friend or foe.

Whoever it was, all they were going to see of me was a flash as I raced for the car. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and told Spud to let me deal with it. She relaxed and sat.

I opened the front door, ready to brush past … But instead I came to a shocked halt.

It was Honeycutt.

‘Daniel …' He was a little pale. ‘What are you doing here?' I said with concern. ‘You should be resting.'

He shook his head. ‘I'm fine … don't worry.'

Daniel seemed okay — a little tired but almost back to normal. He was a mountain of a man and just as hard to break. I'd seen that at close quarters before.

We eyed each other a little warily … as though we each held the only key to the other's defences.

But all I really knew was that when I looked up into Daniel's archangel face I wanted to dive on him and never let him go … and run as fast as I could in the opposite direction — both at the same time!

Damnation! How was I going to handle this? There was so much to say … so much to work out … and I didn't have time to do it right now. Not to do it properly.

‘Kannon?' He was waiting for me to step aside and invite him in.

Spud pushed past me to nose his legs. She started wagging her tail. That was strange, she was usually stand-offish around strangers.

‘Er … Daniel, I'm sorry but I have to get to the airport straight away —'

‘Where are you going?' He frowned. ‘What's wrong?' He could see I was agitated.

‘I'm sorry … I don't have time to explain!' I shoved Spud back in the house and locked the front door. She had a dog door in the rear for access to the yard.

Honeycutt followed me out to the car. ‘What's going on, Kannon! Why are you running away?'

‘I'm not running away!' I insisted. Damn, I didn't want to stuff this up! But how could I explain everything I'd just learnt about Lysander Kershaw and Rodrigo de Vivar in the thirty seconds I had left before I had to race for the airport? ‘Look, I'll come and see you as soon as I get back.'

‘Back from where?' Daniel was getting angry. ‘What could possibly be this urgent?'

I stared at him, unable to even start answering that question. ‘Daniel, you just have to trust me … I'll —'

‘But, Kannon … you don't trust me,' he replied softly. The hurt was raw in his jade-green eyes.

I gasped with pain at the sight …

Last night I'd almost lost Daniel. Now I wanted to grab him and bury my head against his chest … just to make sure his big heart was still beating.

He read my face like a book … my naked longing. ‘Kannon, you can't do this.' He grabbed my shoulders. ‘You can't just pick a fight with me and run away every time I get too close.'

‘Daniel …' I shook my head, tears slipping down my cheeks. ‘I didn't mean to —'

‘I know you're afraid to let me in.' He moved closer. ‘I'm scared too. I've never felt this … this … out of control.'

It was all there in his gorgeous face. He loved me with all his heart.

My chest hurt; I moaned from the aching.

As he drew me closer his sleeve pulled up, showing his watch.

Holy hell! If I didn't leave now, I'd never make the flight.

I resisted his embrace and moved back. ‘Daniel … I have to go.'

He shook his head. ‘It's all right, Kannon, you don't have to pull away this time. I understand. I just talked to Des. He told me about your childhood … and about the other guy. This Alex … The one who left you.'

‘Des told you what?' I gasped at the betrayal. I felt stripped bare … cornered … afraid.

The fear was immediately replaced by rage. It ripped through me. ‘Bloody interfering Des!' I spluttered. The rage cut straight through every other emotion like a razor through flesh.

I coldly dismissed Daniel's bewildered expression to glance down at my watch. ‘Look … I don't have time for this now —'

I turned my back on him, opened the car door and slung my backpack onto the passenger's seat. I had to get away … before I went up like a volcano and blew apart any chance that Daniel and I would ever have.

But Daniel wouldn't give up. ‘You won't ever have time for this, Kannon, unless you stop running!' Now he was angry. ‘Because you're too damned scared!'

Now I was furious. All the stupid fights we'd had in the past few days flooded back to me with a vengeance. ‘Daniel, I can't live with you trying to put a protective bubble around me —'

‘That's not what scares you, Kannon — and we both know it!'

There was just enough truth in that to make me see red. ‘Look, my work is dangerous,' I growled. ‘It requires a great deal of skill … and I love it!'

Honeycutt raised his hands in surrender. ‘But, darlin', that's who you are. I have no problem with that. And don't make out as though I do!'

‘Arrrgghh!' That made me crazy. ‘I give up!' He couldn't see that he'd spent every moment since he'd come back trying to wrap me in cotton wool.

I got in the driver's seat.

Daniel leant in the doorway, equally furious, but still determined. ‘Kannon, you want me and I love you … Stay!' he challenged. ‘Give us a chance!'

Tears flooded down my cheeks again. My whole body ached from the stress of having so many totally conflicting emotions rip through me like a tornado. ‘Please, Daniel …' I leant my forehead on the wheel. ‘I have to go. Please don't do this … not today!'

‘But when, Kannon? You spend all your time rescuing other people.'

‘I can't do this, Daniel! Not now.' I got the car door shut, started the engine and backed out.

‘Kannon, don't be such a coward!' yelled Daniel. ‘You know we're not finished yet … not by a long shot.'

I left with Honeycutt standing square in my rear-view mirror. He was staring after me with the fixed determination of a ballistic missile right on target.