Earthcrack: A Lin Hanna Mystery (34 page)

Lin placed her hand over Sophie’s and
tried to comfort her, “Family ties are so strong,” she said, “I am sure he must
have felt torn about his decision, but he also felt it was very important to
help his nephew.
 
He would have
known what might happen—what has happened—to
 
 
Michael because of those debts.
 
I feel sure he only wanted to help and
felt this was the only way.”

Lin continued, “ My friend explained that
was why Cullen had John Sessions’ business card in his possession.
 
He had put him in touch with
Sessions.
 
Darren Steele was
supposed to meet Cullen and get the pottery.
 
Apparently Cullen never showed up—maybe
he changed his mind or maybe…” she did not add the obvious conclusion that he
had died, whether by accident or otherwise. “Anyway, Darren Steele also took
off and disappeared about that same time.
 
No one seems to know what he was doing before he turned up in this area
recently and now he is dead.”

Lin didn’t feel it was necessary to
reveal more about Neal’s role in this whole affair.
 
She was still torn—feeling the
need to protect his privacy but also hoping that he would do the right thing
with the information that he had.

Sophie spoke quietly, “ So we don’t know
how Cullen died but we do know why he must have gone to the park—he was
going to get that pottery and sell it.
 
I’m not sure I can tell my parents about that—they would be
ashamed.”

“That is up to you,” Lin replied, “they
might understand why he felt he had to do something.
 
He had told Michael that he was going to
help… I had hoped we might find out more about how he died but we may not,
unless the sheriff reopens the investigation with evidence from this current
case—we can hope for that but….”

Sophie smiled, “ You have done your best
and you have helped us to learn more.
 
I don’t think you should try anymore.
 
You could put yourself in danger—especially
if Raymond Tso is involved in all of this—and I think he is.”

Sue spoke up, “ I agree, Lin needs to be
careful where this case is concerned—we all need to be careful but…” she
pointed to the stacks of papers before her, “the information Lin’s friend gave
her does tell us that John Sessions is dealing in stolen art and artifacts—or
he would not have sent Cullen to him.”

Lin nodded in agreement but she didn’t
say anything more.
 
The knowing
glance Sue gave her indicated, however, that the subject was certainly not
closed in her mind.
 
Lin realized
that she would have to tell Sue more, but she still didn’t want to reveal Neal’s
name to Sophie—not just yet.

Sue picked up on Lin’s further reluctance
to talk at that time.
 
Glancing at
the wall clock she began to stack up her papers and Lin also began to gather
her files.
 
It was getting
late.
 
She had hoped to further
organize her information today, but she was also tired and troubled.
 
Hopefully, she could sort out her
thoughts and figure out what to do with the information she now had after she
got some rest.

“We all need some sleep,” Sue said. “Sophie
has to be at the hospital early—her Dad’s surgery is scheduled for eight—so
we should have her there by seven-thirty to meet her Mom,” she looked directly
at Lin, “after that maybe we can go somewhere for breakfast—and talk.”
 
There was no mistaking her emphasis—she
needed to know what information Lin had and what she was going to do with it!

Sleep did not come easily for Lin.
 
She couldn’t forget what she had learned
about Neal Smith that evening.
 
Her
feelings for him were real—she could neither deny the attraction nor the
fact that she was beginning to care about him—but she was also
experiencing a real dilemma. Lin didn’t want to implicate Neal in any
wrongdoing.

 
Lin knew that the situation couldn’t
remain this way; she couldn’t be dishonest.
 
She had a strong feeling that the
further this current criminal investigation went, the more likely connections
were to be made to Cullen’s death.
 
Sooner or later that case would probably be reopened and then, Lin knew,
she would feel compelled to share what she knew with the authorities.
 
She had to face that possibility.
 
She couldn’t allow her own feelings to
enter in.
 
Finally, in spite of her
troubling thoughts, her fatigue from the long day and her emotional stress
caught up with her and she fell asleep.

She was awakened by the noise Sophie was
making as she moved about the room gathering and packing her things.
 
She was getting ready to move to the
Taylor house with her Mother.
  
Lin got up and offered to help her.

“I’ve got it,” Sophie replied, “I’m sorry
I woke you.”

“No matter, I have to get moving anyway, ”Lin
responded as she headed down the hall to take her turn in the shower.
 
Sue was already up.
 
From the aroma drifting out of the
kitchen it was evident she had made some fresh coffee.
 
Lin detoured to grab a cup before she
got ready.
 

Sue was already dressed and ready for the
day—even though it was just six-thirty.“ I made some coffee—here,”
she handed a steaming mug to Lin, “you look like you could use this.”

“I had a hard time getting to sleep,” Lin
confessed, aware of Sue’s knowing glance, “and now I ‘ve overslept and I am
going to make everyone late.” she turned to head toward the bathroom.

“Take your time,” Sue replied, “ Sophie
is ready so we can go ahead.
 
We
might have time to drop her things at the Taylor house and pick up her Mother
if she hasn’t already left for the hospital.
 
You can meet me later and then we WILL
talk.
 
I want to hear the rest of
the story,” she smiled.

“Meet me at Brandy’s say about
eight.
 
They have great omelets.”
Sue knew all the good spots to eat in town, “ and it is close to the hospital.”
 
She gave Lin directions to the popular
restaurant and called to Sophie that she was ready to leave.

Grateful for the respite, Lin sat down in
the small living room and drank her coffee.
 
It was quiet in the apartment after Sue
and Sophie left and she found herself reflecting more on her experience from
the previous evening.
 
She was still
troubled about Neal—about what he was going to decide and about how that
might affect her, as well as their relationship, but she managed to shove those
thoughts to the back of her mind—at least for the moment. She also knew
that the information about Lee Chou and his possible connection to Raymond Tso
needed to be shared with Billy Taylor.

 
David Cameron had said that Michael was
to talk to the deputy this morning and the information Sue had gathered might
help back up his story.
 
As she
reflected further, Lin realized that bits and pieces of information were
beginning to pile up and some of these built connections—at least in her
mind.
 
Now the task was to prove all
of this and clear the boys of this crime.
 
That was a task she hoped the authorities would soon accomplish.
 
In her own mind, Lin felt certain that
Raymond Tso was trying to find and sell old tribal art and artifacts and that,
somehow, all that had led to the murders of Darren Steele and Henry Piestewa.

Feeling much better after a rather
lengthy shower, Lin dressed in khaki pants and a bright blue tee top that she
felt rather set off her blue eyes.
 
It felt good to be out of uniform for a few days—the brown and tan
park volunteer outfit was not especially flattering. That thought did remind
her that she needed to call Danielle.
 
It was early but she felt Danielle would be up so she dialed her
personal cell phone number.

Danielle answered quickly and was happy
to hear that Lin had made some progress in finding out what Cullen had been
doing in the park when he died.

“So, I guess, those rumors about pottery
being hidden somewhere in the park have some truth to them maybe,” Danielle
responded.

“I think that may be true,” Lin replied, “
of course, that was more than a year ago now.
 
Something could have happened to
whatever Cullen found.
 
The men who
were killed recently may have been looking—but who knows what might have
happened.
 
The pottery may be long
gone—or it may still be hidden in the area,” Lin had thought a lot about
the possibilities since Neal had told her about Cullen’s find last night.

“Well, I have no time to hunt for pots
anyway,” Danielle offered, “besides the sheriff’s department still has the area
off limits.
 
They have a guard at
the Lomaki entrance and won’t let anyone in.
 
They can’t cover the whole area but
another deputy is patrolling from the road to discourage anyone entering
through the backcountry.”

Lin hastily brought Danielle up to date
on Sophie and on what had happened to her Dad.
 
“I’ll give you a report later, after he
is out of surgery.
 
I have to leave
now as I am supposed to meet Sue for breakfast.”

“Please call me,” Danielle responded, “the
Honeyestewa family has had so much to contend with recently—I hope that
Sophie’s Dad is going to be ok and that Michael’s situation will resolve itself
soon.”

“I think his talk with Billy this morning
will at least help somewhat,” Lin replied. “I know that Billy has asked the
tribal police to pick up Tso and is looking at Tso as a suspect in this case
now.
 
I’ll call you this afternoon
or this evening for sure.”
 
Lin
ended the call and grabbed her purse and her car keys.

She almost forgot to lock the door to Sue’s
apartment as she left but hurried back to do so before she reached the parking
lot and her car.
 
As she drove from
the residential parking area, she spotted a rather dusty, dark blue SUV exiting
the drive from the visitor center.

That’s amazing Lin thought to
herself.
 
It is only a little after
seven-thirty and someone is already trying to visit this park.
 
The visitor center hours were posted at
the entrance on the road but sometimes people tried to access the steep steps that
comprised the start of the Island in the Sky trail from the outside.
 
Sue had mentioned to her the dangers in
that.
 
There were lots of warnings
and the steps really couldn’t be reached without going through the center, but
some people still tried and sometimes even complained that they couldn’t visit
the ruins on that trail whenever it was convenient for them.

They’ll just have to try later, Lin
thought as she pulled out onto the main road.
 
The SUV pulled out behind her, apparently
heading for town also.
 
Soon Lin was
pulling onto Interstate 40.
 
Traffic
was beginning to pick up heading into Flagstaff—morning rush hour she
supposed.
 
She left the highway
shortly and followed Sue’s directions over to Cedar Street.
 
Soon she was pulling into a parking
space at the Safeway shopping center where Brandy’s was located.

Lin had never been in this shopping area
before as she had done her own shopping on the east side of town.
 
As she exited her car she couldn’t help
noticing that the same SUV she had seen leaving Walnut Canyon was parked in
front of a Walgreen’s drug store nearby.
 
It had to be the same car—an older model jeep with Arizona plates—rather
in need of a good car wash.
 
Lin
watched as a young man in western attire got out and headed for the pharmacy.

Lin locked her own car and headed for the
restaurant.
 
The dining room was
small and seemed crowded with people.
 
Sue waved to Lin from a booth near the front window.
 
She had already ordered coffee for both
of them.
 
A basket of warm
croissants beckoned from the center of the table.
 
Sue was already buttering one.

“These will melt in your mouth.”
 
Sue said, “I have got to stop eating out
so much—I have found too many good restaurants in this town.”

“Next time you’ll have to volunteer at a
more remote place—like Wupatki,” Lin offered. “We don’t get out so much
and I have to admit I’m enjoying the local cuisine a lot now that I’m in town
for a few days—you should try the place I went last night.”

“I’m ready to hear all about it,” Sue
smiled,
 
“—but let’s order
first.”

While they waited for their omelets to
arrive—Sue had convinced Lin to try the green chile version—Lin
began the story of her evening with Neal. “Thank you for not revealing the name
of my friend to Sophie last night, she will probably learn his name eventually—that
is if Cullen’s case is reopened—but I felt I needed to protect his
privacy for now.
 
I told her what he
knew about Cullen and what he was doing in the park.”

“But you didn’t tell her what Neal’s role
was—beyond referring Cullen to John Sessions that is,” Sue responded.

The omelets had arrived so Lin remained
quiet while the waitress placed their food on the table and replenished their
coffees.
 
When they were once again
alone, she spoke, “That is correct.
 
I’m afraid Neal was more deeply involved—at least in the black
market piece.
 
He told me that he
was to get a cut of the money when the pottery was sold—evidently it was
very valuable.
 
He was not present
when Cullen died, however; at least he says he wasn’t and I believe him.”
 
Lin dug into her omelet, “ This is
terrific,” she savored the spicy green chiles and melted cheddar, “ I didn’t
realize how hungry I was—I’ve been up for almost two hours though.”

“Speak for yourself,” Sue replied,
chasing her bite of chile and egg with another swallow of coffee, “I was up at
five-thirty.”

Conversation was suspended for a few
minutes as they satisfied their appetites. Having demolished about half of her
breakfast, Lin finally sat back and signaled the waitress for more coffee.
 
She continued her story, filling Sue in
on Cullen’s plan to make money to help Michael and on how Neal was to get part
of the earnings.
 
She added that
Neal had continued to look for the pottery while working with his students in
the park.

 
Finally, Lin spoke about Neal’s recent change of heart and how he had
severed his connections with John Sessions and wanted no further part in any
such dealings—“At least I hope he doesn’t,” she had to voice her own
concerns, “I do think he was sincere and I want to believe him, but he is
struggling with what he needs to do—I think he’s afraid of what may
happen if he comes forward with what he knows—at least he’s afraid of
what the university might do.”

Lin sat back and took a long drink from
her steaming mug.
 
Voicing her
concerns to Sue made them seem even more real.
 
She mustn’t let her emotions overcome
her common sense—it was so easy to get swept off your feet.
 
Even for a grandmother like her.
 
Neal Smith was a warm, attractive man—yes,
she had to admit—a sexy man!
 
He was intelligent and interesting too—her same age.
 
Lin felt sure they shared many common
interests and she knew he was attracted to her, as she was to him.
 
She had to keep her feet on the ground
and her head on her shoulders where their future relationship was
concerned.
 
Oh, how she wished she
could feel sure he would do the right thing.

 
Lin realized, however, that the decision
as to what to do had to come from Neal himself.
 
She had to admit, it was hard to know
where all this might lead for Neal and for her.

Sue smiled at her friend, “I sense that
your interest in Neal is more than just casual—otherwise why would you
care so much about what he decides to do in this situation.”

“I do care, ”Lin admitted, “every time I’m
with him, I feel drawn to him.
 
I
want very much for this relationship to develop into something meaningful for
both of us but…” she could not voice her concerns again.