Power of the Raven (17 page)

“You still had to deal with the loan and title people. The county clerk’s office, too, I would imagine,” Paul said. “The suspect could work at those locations, or any other business that has access to the same kinds of records. I think you need to work harder to put somebody else besides Harrington on that list of suspects.”

“I’ll keep trying, but in the meantime, isn’t there a way we could stake out Bud’s house? We know he’s been there.”

Paul shook his head. “The problem is that I’m working on a case, and Dan’s doing a training op right now. You two can’t do it because it’ll put you in the line of fire. In other words, by trying to catch him, he may catch you—
if
he’s the guy who’s been causing all your problems.”

“I can’t just keep running. Sooner or later, he’s going to catch up to me.”

Paul looked at Gene. “She’s got a point, but you’ve got a say in this, too.”

“Lori, I think you’re after the wrong man. I know that you
want
to believe it’s Harrington. Better the devil you know than the one you don’t. I understand all that, but don’t let that close your eyes to other important facts. The man after you is clearly interested in something he thinks you have,” Gene said. “Why else break into your house or try to steal your purse? That doesn’t fit Harrington.”

Paul leaned back and stared at an indeterminate spot across the room. “From what I’ve been able to uncover, Harrington’s a small-time jewelry maker who specializes in modern silver jewelry, not Native American look-alikes. He works from home and sells mostly direct and wholesale. He also has a regular booth at the Second Street flea market. He’s there every weekend.”

“Tomorrow’s Sunday,” she said, looking at Gene. “Why don’t we go to the flea market? He’s not likely to give us a problem in the middle of a crowded place.”

Gene considered it, then nodded. “I think that’s a good idea.”

“That means you two are going to need some sleep,” Paul said. “I’ve got to wait up for an important email, so I’ll be crashing on the couch. Why don’t you two share my bed?” he said, then glanced at Lori. “Or feel free to tell Gene to grab a pillow and sleep on the floor.”

She laughed. “We’ll share and leave the door open, so feel free to come in whenever you want,” she told Paul.

“The bedroom’s down the hall. You can’t miss it.”

As she walked off, Paul pulled Gene back. “If I open the front door, the bedroom door will close on its own. You want me to give you thirty minutes or so, then make sure I create a draft?”

Gene laughed. “Not my style, bro, but thanks for the thought.”

L
ORI WANTED TO SLEEP BUT soon realized that was impossible. She could feel the warmth of Gene’s body beside hers on the bed, and images that could have set fire to the pages of the steamiest romance novel kept popping into her head.

After several minutes she heard Gene hiss out a breath. “This isn’t going to work. I can’t stop thinking about…you.”

“Maybe we could just cuddle,” she said.

He sat up and shook his head. “It wouldn’t stop there.”

“Yes, it would. We wouldn’t have a choice. Your brother’s less than twenty feet away.”

“I’d nail the door shut and tell him to get earphones,” he growled and stood.

As her gaze dropped, her mouth went dry. His jeans were bulging and he looked…well, huge. She sighed.

He gave a grin that was nothing less than pure masculine pride. “I’m going out there to join Paul.”

“You haven’t had any sleep, but I have. Take the bed. I’ll keep your brother company.”

He shook his head. “Thanks, but no. He and I need to talk. Among other things, I’d like to tell him about you and Grit.”

She smiled. “You just want to bug him.”

He grinned from ear to ear. “Hey, a man’s got to have a little fun.”

G
ENE CLOSED THE DOOR BEHIND him and went out to the living area. Paul was sitting atop the small sofa reading a software manual.

“For a slow-moving guy, that sure didn’t take you long, did it?” Paul said with a sideways grin.

“We didn’t—” He glowered at his brother, then glanced around. “You used to go camping. Don’t you have a sleeping bag?”

“Yeah, but the zipper sticks.”

“That’s the story of your life,” Gene said and ducked as Paul threw some balled-up socks at him.

“I have a foam pad you can use if you’re feeling dainty,” Paul said.

Gene chuckled. “I’m dainty, but you’re the one keeping the couch?”

“Don’t blame me if she ran your sorry butt out. That would have
never
happened to me. I think you’ve been spending too much time sweet-talking horses. When was the last time you had a woman?”

“I don’t keep score,” he snapped. “Now where’s the foam pad?”

“Closet.”

As Gene unrolled the thin pad of resilient bedding, he glanced up at Paul. “You should have seen Lori with Grit. She walked right up, attached his halter without even a flinch, then, with only a rope through the halter ring, rode him bareback around the corral. No problem, no fuss, no biting threats, no flattened ears—nothing.”

“That horse has good taste in women.” Paul retrieved the email he’d been waiting for, then shut down the computer.

“Speaking of women, have you thought any more about the story
Hosteen
Silver left for us in his safe-deposit box, the one about Changing-Bear-Maiden?” Gene asked him. “There’s a message there somewhere.”

“I agree, but I haven’t got any answers. The truth is I’ve had a problem remembering the original story well enough to look for discrepancies in the account he left behind for us.”

“I can help you there,” Gene said. “Here’s a summary.” He lapsed into a momentary silence, putting his thoughts together, then continued. “Changing-Bear-Woman was first a beautiful maiden who lived with her brothers. She turned down a lot of suitors, but then Coyote came courting. She knew he had a reputation as a trickster, so she decided to discourage him by offering a series of impossible challenges. If he overcame all of those, she promised she’d marry him.”

“I remember now,” Paul interjected. “Somehow, Coyote completed all those tasks and she was forced to marry him. But not long after that she was corrupted by her husband. She turned evil and learned how to change into a bear. From that point on, she ceased to be a mortal woman. By becoming Changing-Bear-Woman, her old self was completely destroyed.”

“Exactly. And when Coyote became bored with married life, he dumped her. That really set her off. She went looking for him and killed everyone who got in her way, including her former family, all except her youngest brother, who hid from her,” Gene said.

“The brother was forced to restore the balance by destroying what she’d become. However, he promised her that she’d live on in other forms and serve the
Diné.
A part of her body became the first piñon nut, another yucca fruit and so on,” Gene said.

“Thanks for refreshing my memory. I can reread the original to fill in the details. What I do remember is how
Hosteen
Silver wanted us to learn from this story that good can be corrupted by evil, but conversely evil can be defeated with a lot of persistence and sacrifice,” Paul said.

They both remained silent for a while. Finally Paul spoke. “
Hosteen
Silver liked challenging us. That’s why he left us that story and, me, that damned horse.”

Gene lay down and stared up at the ceiling. “Yeah, I think so, too, but I also think
Hosteen
Silver left Grit to you for a specific reason. It was more than just a way to test you.”

“All I have to do is figure out what lesson he wanted me to learn.”

“Hope you don’t get trampled first.”

“Good night, bro,” Paul mumbled.

“Don’t you mean shut up?”

Paul didn’t reply. After a while, Gene turned his head and looked toward the bedroom door. Convinced he could hear Lori breathing, he slowly drifted off.

Chapter Fifteen

Lori stirred awake slowly, then glanced at the clock beside her on the nightstand. As she saw the time, she drew in a sharp breath and jumped out of bed. It was ten in the morning!

Lori cleaned up quickly, then went into the living area and joined the men.

Gene gave her a wide smile as she came in. “About time you woke up.”

“Sorry! I never thought I’d oversleep like that or I’d have asked you to wake me up,” she said. “So how about letting me make it up to you guys? I’ll buy breakfast downstairs—providing it doesn’t go over twenty bucks and they serve breakfast.”

Paul laughed. “Does she always set limits like that?”

“Yeah, ’fraid so,” Gene said. Looking back at Lori, he chuckled. “I’ll go down and pick up something for us, then after breakfast we’ll get going.”

Paul glanced over at them. “Are you two still planning to make a run to the flea market?”

“Yeah,” Gene said. “Maybe we can catch up to Harrington. I think it’s about time he and I had a little talk.”

“Put your feelings aside,” Paul said. “Without a clear head, your enemy will have the advantage.”

“I hear you,” Gene said, standing. “Burritos, everyone?” Seeing them nod, he headed to the door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Coffee, too?” she asked as he reached for the handle.

“No need,” Paul said. “I was just about to make a full pot.”

After Gene left, Paul quickly started the coffee brewing, then sat back down in front of his computer keyboard.

“You’re worried about Gene and Bud meeting up at the flea market, aren’t you? But why? Gene isn’t the kind of man who acts out of anger,” she said. “Even under fire, he thinks, then acts.”

“What you’ve said describes Gene at least three-quarters of the time, if not more. It takes a lot to get him riled up, but once that happens, all hell breaks loose.”

She gave him an incredulous look.

“Really,” Paul insisted. “Let me tell you about one incident that still sticks in my mind, though it was years ago. One weekend after Preston and I went to live with
Hosteen
Silver, Gene came to visit. While he was there talking to Preston and me, three Anglo men came to the door, looking for trouble.
Hosteen
Silver had treated a Navajo woman who happened to be married to one of the Anglos. The husband viewed the Navajo way as an affront to his religion and had come with two buddies to teach our foster father a lesson.

“They pushed their way into the house and tried to grab
Hosteen
Silver. Gene was standing beside him, and before Preston and I could even cross the room, Gene took all of them on. He punched the lead man in the gut, doubling him over, then kicked the second guy in the chest, knocking him into the third guy and tossing both back out onto the porch. I saw him pick up the one he’d punched as if he weighed no more than a sack of feed, and throw him on top of the other two, who were scrambling to their feet. By the time Preston and I reached the door, it was all over. The men ran back to their truck and we never saw them again,” Paul said. “When you push him far enough, Gene can be like a bear on a rampage.”

“I can’t even imagine Gene doing that,” she said.

“He did,” Paul said somberly.

She thought of how he’d taken on that cowboy, Duane, who’d shot at them at Two Springs Ranch. He’d done only what was necessary and had remained in control of himself all the way. He’d pulled back immediately when the man had stopped fighting.

“You see a slow-talking, laid-back rancher and he’s just that most of the time, but don’t let that fool you. There’s more to any bear than what you see at a glance.”

She was about to ask him more when Gene walked in. “The parking lot’s full and business is booming, but I couldn’t see anyone watching the place.”

They ate breakfast quickly. Paul had an appointment with a new client and needed time to prepare.

“Business is good?” she asked Paul, who kept looking over at his computer monitor.

“Yeah, it is. I never expected to be this busy. When I opened the agency I just saw it as a way to redirect my focus and move in a new direction.”

“You’ve been through a lot,” she said softly, gesturing to his shoulder.

“Yeah, you might say that, but I can’t just sit in an easy chair and watch surveillance monitors until my shoulder heals—if it ever does.”

“Are you still in pain?” she asked in a gentle voice.

“Sometimes,” he said, not answering her directly. “That’s why I decided to try a remedy
Hosteen
Silver used to recommend to his patients. So far it’s been working.”

“What are you using?” Gene asked.
“Tsinyaachéch’il?”

“Yeah.”

“What is that?” Lori asked.

“Creeping barberry, or Oregon grape. It grows in the high country.” Gene looked back at his brother. “That might also explain the success of your new business.”

“I don’t follow you, bro,” Paul said.

“That plant is also said to remove bad luck. Remember when I flunked two physics tests in a row? He made up a special medicine pouch using
Tsinyaachéch’il
for me.”

“Did it work?” Lori asked, unable to suppress her curiosity.

“I got a C on the next physics test, which is as high as I ever got in that subject,” Gene said.

“Maybe I should start carrying some of that,” Lori said. “We could sure use some good luck.”

Paul smiled. “I’ll add some to my brother’s medicine pouch.” He glanced at Gene and added, “You still carry one, don’t you?”

Gene reached into his pocket and brought out a small leather bag. “Of course I do. I keep the bear fetish he gave me inside it, too.”

“What exactly is a medicine pouch?” she asked.

“It contains ritual items like sacred pollen and other collected substances. It’s meant to attract good and repel evil,” Gene said. “
Hosteen
Silver made one for each of us to carry.”

“It sounds like a very good thing to have,” she said.

“I could make one for you if you’d like,” Paul said.

“I’d love to have one. Thank you very much,” she said, then looked at Gene. “That’s okay with you, isn’t it?”