Desert Guardian (5 page)

Kelly
had no idea cult influence could have that much power. "I'm amazed she
didn't bleed to death."

"She
almost did, but the knife missed her carotid. Her brothers got her to a
hospital in time, but her vocal chords couldn't be saved. She's been a mute
ever since."

"What
cult was this?"

"Star
Mother."

Kelly's
breath caught. Jake was still with those people. Thinking of him faced with
such a choice made her sick to her stomach. Would he cut his own throat just
because some sick zealots told him to?

Sam
stood and headed for the kitchen.

"Wait
a minute, Sam." She stood and pulled him away from the doorway so Consuela
couldn't hear. "Why do I get the feeling there's more to this story than
you've told me?"

He
nodded, not meeting Kelly's eyes. "It's nothing I'm proud of, believe me.
Consuela's family had asked for my help getting her out of there, and when I
refused because of my past affiliation with the cult, they took matters into
their own hands." And he'd forever feel guilty because of it. Legal
complications were always on the horizon for someone like him. Cult lawyers
used first amendment rights against intervention specialists who encouraged
cultists on behalf of their families to leave their groups, but for Sam it was
worse than that. Because he'd once been a member of Star Mother, and an unhappy
one at that, he’d been accused of hostile retaliation. His intentions had been challenged.
"Her family should have hired the other intervention specialist I'd
referred them to, but they didn't. I couldn't go back to the Star Mother cult,
Kelly. I hadn't been back since..."

"Since
what?"

He
swallowed and said, "Last night was the first time I'd returned in over
five years."

"So
what made you go back then and not before?"

He
ran a hand through his hair, feeling frustrated with his own secrets. He was
still dealing with his guilt over his mother's death and was nowhere near ready
to discuss it, not with anyone. But he'd tell Kelly as much as he felt
comfortable saying if it helped her grasp the danger her brother was in. Sam
needed to protect her, which meant keeping her here in the cabin. He hadn't
been able to save his mother, he hadn't been there to save Consuela, and he'd
be damned if Kelly and her brother would join his list of casualties. He wouldn't
fail this time. No freaking way.

"Sam?"
The concern in her eyes brought him up short.

"Sorry,
I was thinking." He let out a breath. "I need closure, plain and
simple. Confronting your demons is often the best way to conquer them. After
five years, it's time for me to get over it." He'd harbored his rage and
disgust long enough.

She
smiled, showing him her dimples. "You're a complicated guy, you know that?"

He
shrugged. "Through my work with recovering ex-cultists, I'm finally
getting to know myself. I can't say I'm too crazy about what I've discovered."

She
sighed. "I envy you. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever learn who I am."

He
studied the smooth lines of her narrow jaw, the sensual curve of her chin, and
realized he also wanted to know who she was.

Consuela
emerged from the kitchen with a carton of eggs. She held it out to them.

"Three,
please, Consuela," Sam told her, relieved by the interruption. They'd been
delving into territory that was way too personal for comfort. "How many
eggs do you want, Kelly?"

"One
is fine, thank you." Her expression changed, looking disconcerted as she
returned to her seat on the couch. She stared fixedly out the living room's
large picture window at a bright blue sky dotted with puffs of cloud.

Sam
joined her. "What's on your mind?"

"I
was just wondering why you have Consuela working for you if you feel
responsible for what she did to herself."

"It
was her idea, not mine. I'm counseling her, or at least trying to. It's not
easy counseling someone who can't speak, but we manage. Her learning sign
language has really helped." He slumped back on the couch. "The only
way she would agree to counseling is if I let her work for me for free."

Kelly
nodded, and her expression switched from concern to interest. "So, Mr.
Arrow, do you counsel anyone else?"

"When
I'm not working part-time as a personal trainer at the local fitness center, I
counsel the people I rescue, but no one else."

"So
you're not a practicing psychologist because..."

When
she didn't finish her sentence, he felt aggravated by her curiosity. His
practice was none of her business. "You sure are pushy, you know that?"

She
grinned. "So I've been told."

At
least she was honest. Raising an eyebrow, he stood and stalked down the hall
toward the bathroom. "Excuse me while I take a quick shower before
breakfast."

"Hey,
we were having a conversation here," she shouted after him. "You were
about to tell me why you don't have one of those stuffy offices in the city and
charge your patients a hundred and fifty dollars an hour."

For Pete's sake, give it a rest,
he
thought, and answered her by slamming the bathroom door behind him.

****

A
long, shrill whistle sounded from inside the kitchen. Kelly first thought it
was the whistle of a teakettle, but when Sam flung open the bathroom door and
came racing down the hall, her heart flew into her throat.

She
dashed after him into the kitchen, where Consuela continued to sound her alarm,
her entire body rigid while her face turned the color of a ripe plumb.

Sam
plucked the whistle from her mouth. "What's going on?"

Eyes
bulging, Consuela pointed a shaky finger at the open-lidded picnic basket on
the floor of a utility room leading into the kitchen. Something slithered out
of the basket and plopped onto the floor. A rattlesnake.

As Kelly
watched the snake writhe across the kitchen floor, revulsion climbed up from
the pit of her stomach to lodge in her chest, making it hard to breathe. Her
pulse roared in her ears, and it took Herculean strength not to scream.

Sam
must have sensed her rising panic because he glared at her. "Hysterics is
the last thing we need right now."

She
clenched her jaw and backed up to the kitchen table before climbing onto a
chair. Every nerve in her body quivered with restrained terror. She swallowed
dryly and asked, "Aren't you going to kill it?"

"Hell
no." Sam nudged Consuela out of the kitchen, his gaze glued to the
rattling snake that coiled in preparation to strike. "It's frightened. No
need to scare it more than it already is."

He
carefully reached his arm into the utility room and hauled out a long-handled
rake. "Easy, buddy," he told the snake while aiming the business end
of the rake at the reptile's head. The snake reared back, tongue jutting from
its mouth in quick stabs at the air. Sam continued to approach it slowly, his
body slightly crouched, eyes steady. Kelly only now noticed he was shirtless,
which made sense considering he'd been about to hop in the shower. The muscles
on his tan back rippled, his biceps as tight as the coiled snake. He reminded
her of a jungle cat measuring its prey.

Sweat
trickled from Kelly's hairline and slid down her temples, though she wasn't
even hot. Well, not
that
kind of hot.
She was mesmerized by the blazing intent in his eyes, and she almost envied the
snake. Would Sam ever look at her that way?

As
the reptile sprung to strike, so did Sam, the rake hooking the rattler around
the neck and pinning it to the floor. Its tail whipped back and forth, five
feet of slithering snake that slapped the linoleum and thumped against the
wall.

"Kelly,
grab the basket and bring it here. Make sure the lid's open."

"No
way. I'm not going near that thing. I hate snakes." Especially the kind
that rattled.

"Too
bad. I can't keep holding it down like this, so just do it!"

She
edged along the wall toward the utility room.

"What's
taking you so long?"

"Keep
your pants on!" She could do this. Just take deep, calming breaths. The
dangerous end of the snake was restrained, so she had nothing to worry about.
The reptile's tail suddenly whipped across her foot and she retreated back to
the chair.

"For
Pete's sake! I can't believe you're this squeamish over one little snake."

Oh,
yeah? She was no sissy, regardless of what her father said. Kelly swallowed and
hopped down from the chair. She held her breath and scurried along the wall,
trying desperately to ignore the snake's rattling tail that just slapped
against her thigh. Her heart beat triple-time as she begged her critter-phobia
to give her a few more minutes of sanity because she was this close to losing it.

When
she reached the utility room, Sam said, "Good. Now scoot the basket closer
to me so I can get the snake inside."

A
quick jab of her foot sent the basket flying across the floor, past Sam and the
snake. It hit the far wall and toppled onto its side.

"Nice
going," he said with exaggerated sarcasm, his gray eyes a few shades
darker. "Let's try that again."

She
leapt over the snake's whipping tail, grabbed the basket, and dropped it
upright beside Sam. She kicked the lid open with her foot. Her rising nausea matched
her rising panic. "Happy now?"

"Ecstatic."
Sam behaved as if he'd handled snakes all his life. Like an expert, he gripped
the snake by the head, pinching it hard behind the jaw. Its tail whipped around
with such force that he seemed to have trouble getting it in the basket. Once
it was inside, he slammed the lid closed and snapped the latch into place. The
snake's tail continued to rattle.

"That
wasn't so hard, was it?" he asked her, snide humor in his eyes.

"Not
if you're a regular on Wild Kingdom."

She
glanced over at Consuela, who stood crying silently in the kitchen doorway.

"Oh,
honey, it's okay now." Kelly wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulders
and drew her close. "The snake's gone."

"That's
not what's upsetting her." Sam gave Consuela a worried look and gestured
for Kelly to come to him. He whispered, "We shouldn't talk about this in
front of her. Consuela is still recovering and doesn't need anything that would
add to her PTSD." He held a letter-sized sheet of paper in his hand. "She
recognized the Star Mother cult's letterhead when it fell out of the basket."

"Star
Mother is responsible for this?" Kelly asked.

He
nodded. "It says: 'Allow Kelly to reunite with her brother and all will be
forgiven.' Von's signature is at the bottom."

"Who
the hell is Von?"

"Valya's
husband. They're co-leaders of the cult."

A
husband and wife team. How romantic. The name Valya sounded familiar, but she
couldn't place the face. She must have heard the woman's name mentioned during
her brief stay at Star Mother's camp. Still, she wondered why she hadn't been
introduced. "How do you think the snake got inside the cabin?"

They
both looked at Consuela, who pantomimed her discovery of the basket. Sam
interpreted her sign language. "She went outside to get some wood for the
fireplace and found the picnic basket on the back step. It had an envelope
taped to it with my name on it, so thinking it was a gift, she brought it
inside. Is that how it happened, Consuela?"

She
nodded, her pencil-thin eyebrows tilted in an expression of helplessness. She
hugged herself and shuddered.

Kelly
caught sight of a brightly colored card sitting on the kitchen counter. She recognized
the logo of Jake's favorite computer game and a rash of goosebumps layered her
arms and legs.
 
She picked up the
card. It was a collector's card with a picture of the game's main character, a
lizard man called Gecko. "Sam, do you play
Cosmic Crisis
?"

"No.
Isn't that a computer game?"

"Jake's
favorite." She held up the card. "If this isn't yours, where did it
come from?"

Consuela
held up the empty envelope, pointing to indicate that's where the card had come
from.

"Oh,
my God, Sam," Kelly said, feeling dizzy with excitement. "Jake left
me a sign to let me know he's okay. Maybe this is his way of saying he wants to
come home."

Sam
looked dubious. "Either that or he's part of whatever scheme Von's cooked
up."

"Jake
isn't like that," she insisted. "He'd never do anything to hurt me or
anyone else. I know it. I know him. He probably snuck that card in the envelope
when no one was looking."

Sam
scratched his chin, his forehead creased in concentration. "In any case,
someone had to have dropped off the basket and the envelope after we arrived
last night."

"But
how could they?" she asked. "You were outside standing watch the
whole time."

"If
they came through the woods in back, I wouldn't have seen or heard them. That's
Cody's territory and I count on him to alert me if—" Sam's eyes
widened, and he rushed out the back door with Kelly fast on his heels.

His
running legs ate up the fifty feet of ground that lay between him and the
gray-furred animal partially hidden in a patch of tall grass. The coyote wasn't
moving.

Sam
dropped to his knees. "No!" He leaned over to rest his ear against
Cody's chest.

Kelly
knelt beside him, a surge of compassion making her eyes fill. Cody was Sam's
friend, his companion. And now his beloved pet was dead because of her being
here. She gently rubbed Sam's bare back, feeling an overwhelming desire to hold
him close. "Sam, this is my fault. I'm so sorry...."

Sam
lifted his head. "He's still breathing, but he's out cold." A scrap
of red meat lay a couple of feet from the unconscious coyote. Sam let out a
relieved breath. "He's been drugged."

"So
he'll be all right?"

He
carefully lifted the animal in his arms. "I need to get him to the vet to
get his stomach pumped. You better come with me."

"What
for?"

"It's
not safe for you here by yourself. Star Mother's sentries might come back."

"But
what if Jake comes here looking for me? He needs me. I can finally talk him
into coming home."

Aggravation
sharpened Sam's features, making his jawline rigid and his eyes hard. The scowl
he gave her sent warm shivers down her spine. "It's too dangerous. You don't
know these people like I do."

She
swallowed, a sense of apprehension forcing her to rethink her decision. But no,
her mind was made up. She couldn't risk missing Jake if he came. "I'm
staying."

He
gritted his teeth. "You're damn stubborn." He glanced quickly at the
coyote in his arms. "Look, I don't have time to argue with you, and I won't
force you to come along. If anything happens while I'm gone, my cell number is
programmed into my phone. Just dial star five, and I'll be here in no time. The
vet's in town so I won't be far." He hesitated, his brow furrowed. "Have
you ever used a gun?"

She
shook her head.

Frustration
roughened his voice when he said, "My .38 revolver is loaded and in the
nightstand drawer in my bedroom. Use it only as a last resort."

Holding
the coyote firmly against his chest with one arm, he reached out and touched
her cheek. His fingers lingered there, causing her blood to rush more swiftly
through her veins. He slowly withdrew his hand. "Don't open the door to
anyone, understand? Not even the Avon lady."

She
nodded and followed him to the front of the cabin, where he gingerly laid Cody
on the backseat of his Jeep.

"Is
there anything I can do while you're gone?" she asked. "Make phone
calls, check the Internet...?"

He
looked thoughtful before saying, "That could save us some time. Do an
Internet search for UFO chatrooms and message boards to check for recent
discussions associated with Star Mother. If you find anything, I have a hacker
friend who can track down the IP address of the user and give us the sender's
location."

"What
about Consuela?"

They
both turned to peer at the deck, where Consuela stood watching them. When their
gazes met, she disappeared back inside.

"I
think she's okay for now. This behavior isn't new for her. She's always aloof
and withdrawn. But I'll have a talk with her when I get back." Sam took
hold of Kelly's hand and said, "Remember what I said about not opening the
door for anyone."

She
grinned, appreciating his concern. That wasn't something she was used to, and
it felt good. Damn good. She squeezed his hand, and his calloused fingers
scratched her palm, their roughness making her skin tingle. "You just go
take care of Cody. Consuela and I will be fine."

****

After
an hour of searching UFO websites on the Internet, Kelly came up dry. She sat
at a small desk in the corner of the cabin's main room, Sam's laptop open in
front of her. She sipped from the cup of coffee Consuela had made for her and
blew out a frustrated sigh. There were thousands of Internet sites associated
with UFOs, but of the two dozen she'd visited so far, there were no recent
discussions about Star Mother.

She
stood and stretched to release the ache of tension in her shoulders. The chill
in the small room didn't help. What she really needed was a good run. She was
used to running three miles every morning, and her legs felt antsy with pent-up
energy. But Sam had said to stay inside, not to open the door to anyone. She
would obey only because he had agreed to let her join him on Jake's
intervention and rescue. Besides, there was something about Sam that made her
want to listen to him. This was new for her. She had never been good at
following anyone's rules, much less the rules of some guy acting as a superhero
for ex-cultists.

The
walls of Sam's cabin were mostly bare but for a large painting of the desert
that hung above the flagstone fireplace. She drew closer for a better look,
standing on tiptoe to study the beautiful detail of this lone piece of art.

The
canvas was as wide as the fireplace mantel and reached almost to the ceiling. A
desert scene at sunset portrayed the landscape's heat in hues of crimson, gold,
and flaming orange. Sand rippled as if disturbed by wind, the occasional rock
and cactus jutting from the amber surface. Rounded hills rose in the distance,
striated with colorful layers of sandstone, and behind them was a setting sun
like a golden orb sliced in half. Kelly narrowed her eyes to focus on an object
in the upper right-hand corner. It looked like a star with trailing sparks for
a tail, and it glowed white against the blue-black sky. Peeking through the
sparks was an oval spaceship.

She
experienced an odd sensation of being watched and spun around to find Consuela
staring. Actually, she was staring at the painting with a proud smile that made
Kelly ask, "Did you paint this?"