Fatal Intent (Desert Heat Book 3) (8 page)

When the party had wound down and everyone else was visiting quietly while the boys played chase in the twilight, Dylan drew Alex aside, away from the eyes of the other adults. Under a grape arbor, he sat on an old bench and pulled her down beside him, kissing her hungrily. When he sensed she was relaxed and willing, he pulled her close and took a deep breath.

“Alex, I love you. I don’t know how I could love you any more than I do. I know you want to finish school first and all, so I’m not going to pressure you. I want you to know I’ve applied for transfers to parks closer to Phoenix. If I get the transfer, and I’m sure I’ll get one of them, I’m willing to move the boys as soon as it happens. Closer to Phoenix, I mean.”

Alex stiffened in his arms, which he didn’t expect.

Am I making a mess of this?

Quickly, before she could ask a question or voice an objection and derail his intentions, he went on. “Would you, I mean, could you consider, maybe, moving in with us?” He held his breath, waiting for the explosion, but she relaxed again.

“Wow, Dylan, I didn’t expect that. I thought you wanted to wait at least a year to move the boys.”

She hadn’t answered his question, but she hadn’t said no, either. There was hope. He answered her implied question. “I’ve been talking to their counselor, and she said they’re doing fine. They haven’t established strong ties to the other kids in their class yet, since they came in late. She said if we could move in time to start the school year in a new school, it would actually be better to go now.”

“So, where are these other parks? How far from Phoenix would we actually be?”

She said we! That meant she was considering it, didn’t it? Dylan cleared his throat. “That would depend on which position I got. I have an interview next week with the Forest Service for Tonto National Forest, and I’d be able to work out of the Mesa office if I got that. Are you still thinking the Tempe campus?”

“Yes,” she agreed. “Dylan, that’s amazing! When will you know?”

“I should know by the end of July. Alex, if I get that one, we could live in between, and you wouldn’t have to worry about housing expense.”

“I’d want to pay my share,” she objected.

“We can work all that out. Just tell me you’ll consider it.”

“Of course I will, Dylan. That would be… wonderful.” A shadow crossed her face, and his heart hitched.

“What? You thought of a problem. What is it?”

“Nothing, Dylan. Well. Maybe something. I have to be free to pursue the stories I’ll need, for homework and my blog and whatever other reason I may have. I mean, I could get a job with the student TV station, or even a paying one somewhere. I won’t always be available to help with the boys.”

Even though he’d hoped she would be, Dylan could see her point. “I’ll figure that out. Other working couples deal with kids, so can we.”

“I like the sound of that. ‘Couple’. I love you, Dylan.”

This was better than he’d been able to hope, ever since she’d called him crazy for proposing to her last November. He still wanted marriage, but if she was willing to take this step and not that one, he’d take what he could get. Things were looking up in his world. He kissed her again.

“So, what do you say? Are you spending the night with me again?”

“Honey, I really need to spend tonight here, with Nana and Dad. I’m sorry.”

He understood. He didn’t like it, but he understood. She’d be back in two weeks, and maybe he could go to her next weekend. It would have to do. The important thing was that by September, she’d be with him every night. He could wait.

THIRTEEN

On Monday, Alex told her housemates that she’d decided to go back to Dodge for the rest of the summer, and revealed she’d be moving in with Dylan as soon as he got his transfer. Lisa and Natalie took the news in stride, saying they’d miss her, but they’d always known she was only there for a few weeks.

Alex had learned they were more than friends within days of moving in, and that Natalie’s parents owned the house and let them live there rent-free. It wasn’t as if the two girls would be in financial trouble when she left. In fact, the rent she paid financed one of their frequent Rocky Point expeditions each month. They told her it was too hot to go there through the summer anyway, and they’d have a new roommate when school started again.

Now the only things she had to do were finish her classwork and try to wrap up the story about Dawn. Sarah’s story would take longer, no doubt, but she could probably work on that one from Tempe once she was settled there. Before Monday was over, she went to the Gila River reservation to talk with Dawn.

Alex found Dawn in good spirits and willing to go out in her wheelchair in the late afternoon. Monsoon hadn’t begun yet, so it was hot, but the two Arizona-born girls knew how to stay hydrated and relatively comfortable.  Dawn prattled on about her prosthesis, which was being made to specifications just for her and would be ready soon. Alex hated to ask her to remember the terrible days when she thought she might die in her car, but the story wouldn’t be as dramatic without that recollection. It turned out Dawn was eager to tell someone. Her parents couldn’t deal with the details, she said, and Jesse had stopped calling.

Alex started by telling Dawn about her own ordeal. It was the worst thing ever to happen to her, except maybe her mom leaving, but she didn’t remember that. When she was done, Dawn was ready to open up.

“I didn’t know, Alex. Are you sure you can handle hearing this?” she asked.

Alex was touched. “Girl, if you can handle telling it, I’ll handle hearing it. I think you had a worse time of it than I did.”

“I’m not so sure,” began Dawn. “I thought I would die, but I never thought someone was coming back to rape me. I was sure they thought they’d killed me. It wasn’t really that bad, except it went on for so long. Of course, my leg hurt at first. All the windows broke when the car landed in the gulley, and I was always in the shade because of the overpass, so it wasn’t unbearably hot. I even had water, for the first few days. I always carry plenty.”

She stopped then, and Alex gave her some space by scribbling notes on her pad. “When did your leg stop hurting?” she asked, after a minute.

“I’m not sure. It was dark, you know, when it happened. I think I may have slept that night, even though my leg felt like the whole car had landed on it. I waited all the next day for someone to spot the car and get me out, and I tried not to drink too much water, because… well, you know. I couldn’t get loose to go to the bathroom. Eventually I had to just pee right there. After that, I drank enough water to survive, because my leg didn’t hurt anymore, and I knew if someone would just find me, I’d be okay. I guess it stopped hurting sometime during the first day.”

She seemed surprised by that. Alex knew the torment she’d gone through, and didn’t want to ask Dawn about her state of mind. Though she wasn't happy about it, she knew she had to for the sake of the story. Maybe it had been different for Dawn. So, she asked.

“Honestly, I did try to think about why someone would do that, and I tried to make myself believe it was an accident. But I couldn’t, you know, because they just kept pushing my car. I mean, I guess it could have been like someone had a heart attack and wasn’t responsible. Do you think it was that?”

“No, I don’t. There wasn’t any report of an accident along there that night. Whoever pushed you over recovered and went on their way.” Alex was certain of her facts; she’d checked.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. So anyway, I thought about that. After the second day, I thought about how my parents would be sad.”

“Why didn’t you call them on your cell phone?” Alex asked. There should have been cell signal, as populated as the area was.

“Couldn’t find it,” Dawn answered. Between being hit and the car rolling over, my purse wasn't on the seat after I hit bottom. Then, when I tried to stretch to feel for it, it hurt my leg so much… I just gave up.”

“How did you feel when they found you?” Alex asked.

Dawn stared at her. “How do you think? Well, actually, at first I thought I was dreaming. When I realized the people were real, and someone was trying to pull me out, I screamed. I mean, I was so excited someone had found me, and that was part of why I screamed, but also because my leg was pinned. It hurt like hell. I think I passed out after that. Next thing I remember is being in the ambulance and then racing through the halls of the hospital on the gurney.”

Alex finished up her other questions and got Dawn home, then prepared to leave. Dawn stopped her with a hand on her arm. “We should stay friends now,” she said. “Maybe start a support group. For survivors, you know?”

Alex smiled. “I’d like that. I’m transferring to State next semester, but that’s closer to here than Casa Grande is. I’ll come and see you.” They exchanged phone numbers, and Alex left with a feeling that she’d made her first adult friendship. Since there was no evidence, she couldn’t put anything into the story about the speculation that the Patriots were involved. Dawn couldn’t even say why she and her mom thought so. For now, it would have to do.

Alex was determined to learn more about the group, though. If their agenda was to keep illegals out, what was their beef with Native Americans? Why would they have attacked Dawn, if her activism was nothing more than peaceful demonstrations to bring awareness of her tribe and the other small groups they considered relatives in this otherwise sparsely populated area of Arizona? It made no sense, and Alex couldn’t stand that it didn’t. There had to be a reason, and she had a little less than two weeks to find it.

~~~

Dylan’s first interview with the Forest Service was by phone on Monday, and it had gone well. He was confident he’d be selected for a second interview, and reasonably hopeful he’d be chosen for the position. With things looking good, he began thinking about a move. Never before had he owned more than his clothing and a few personal items. Now he had a furnished house, though it was a rental. He wouldn’t have to sell the house, but he would have to consider a moving service, or at least renting a truck. Also, there was Mom’s trailer to sell. He hadn’t been over there since shortly after Mom died, when he and Ange went to clean out the refrigerator and close the trailer up until he could figure things out.

On Tuesday afternoon, he went by before he had to pick the boys up. To his shock, he found a foreclosure notice on the door, and a No Trespassing sign, with a phone number. As far as he knew, his mom had owned the trailer outright for years. What could this be about? Since it was only four-fifteen, he took a chance of finding someone at the posted number and dialed.

“Recovery Services,” said the voice on the other end.

“Excuse me,” Dylan said. “Can you tell me who or what Recovery Services is?”

“State of Arizona, Medicaid Fraud,” the voice said. “With whom am I speaking?”

After a half-hour phone call, during which he was transferred so many times he lost count, Dylan learned that the state had decided the only way to recover any of the money they’d paid on his mom’s fraudulent Medicaid claim was to seize the trailer and sell it at auction.

“What about her personal things?” he asked. “Her clothes, knickknacks, and such? And shouldn’t someone have notified me?”

“We understood the trailer had been cleaned out,” the official he was speaking to answered. “And we have tried to notify you, but the phone number is disconnected.”

“No it isn’t,” Dylan argued. “I’m talking to you on it now.”

“Your mother’s phone number,” came the maddening reply. He’d disconnected his mother’s phone service when she stopped talking. He and Ange had their cell phones, so there was no need to pay for a landline. After more argument, he finally got the official to concede that his mother’s personal effects were his to take, and made an appointment for the following afternoon for an agent to meet him at the trailer to allow him to go in and get them.

He had no use for the furnishings, and intended to leave them for the state to deal with. At least they weren’t going to come after him for the difference, he learned. He regretted that his mother had made the choices she had, but he now understood them better. Hopefully, the state would recover enough money by selling the trailer that he wouldn’t have to feel ashamed anymore.

It made a funny story to tell Alex, though, as he mimicked the stiffness in the voices of the state officials he’d dealt with. It was one less detail to have to bother with when he moved. Sure, a little extra cash would have come in handy, but he could deal. As soon as he’d cleaned out the trailer, given away the clothes and most of the household goods, he’d have his mother’s affairs wrapped up completely.

He knew for a fact that there was no money in her checking account, since her welfare checks also stopped as soon as he reported her card as fraudulent to the Medicaid department. He’d had to deposit some to cover utility bills that had come out automatically until he got them switched to his name. He needed to ask Rick about probate, but his sense was it wouldn’t be necessary.

As he rambled on to Alex, he became aware he’d lost her attention. Couldn’t blame her, really. It was kind of boring, all except the comedy of errors over the trailer. He stopped talking to ask her what she’d been up to since they’d last talked.

“I interviewed Dawn again,” she said. “I’ve got that story pretty much wrapped up, but we’re going to stay in touch, so I may do some human-interest stuff when she gets her prosthesis.”

“You didn’t mention Patriots, did you?” he asked, crossing his fingers.

“No, not enough evidence. Wish I knew their agenda.”

“Babe, stay away from them. They’re bad news. Please, for my peace of mind.”

“I’ll be careful. Hey, I forgot to tell you something.”

Dylan wondered if she was deliberately changing the subject because being careful wasn’t the same as staying away from the Patriots. What she said next made him forget to challenge her on it.

“I saw those bikers you’re interested in, when I was heading for Dodge the other day,” she went on. “Looked like the group got cut off by a tractor-trailer rig. They were in two bunches, a handful of bikes, then the eighteen-wheeler, then another handful of bikes.”

She started to say something else, but Dylan rode over her voice with his question. “Where was this, babe? On 85 or between Casa Grande and Gila Bend?”

“Actually, I was on 238. I’d been to see Dawn at her folks’ house on the rez, and it was sixes, so I cut through to Gila Bend on the back roads.”

“Alex, I think you just solved the case!” he crowed.

“What case?”

“I’ll have to call you back. I need to get hold of Kevin Thurston.” Dylan hung up with Alex still asking what he was talking about. He’d have to make it up to her later. Alex was naive—that truck hadn’t cut the gang in half—they were guarding it.

If it was headed for Highway 10 on the back roads, he had a pretty good idea of what was in it. Either meth, or guns, or both. They were heading for Phoenix in a way that avoided the weigh stations. If he was right about this, he’d be able to write his own ticket to any law enforcement job he wanted, as long as Thurston gave him credit where it was due.

“Kevin? Have I got a tip for you… ”