Wild Horses (23 page)

“How does Briar Rose play into all of this?” Castaña felt ill. Her brother had always put the wild horse issues ahead of her, but she’d hoped he’d changed. Apparently not.

“Martin picked her up that night.” Nascha couldn’t hide the bitterness in her voice. “I saw them leave the auction together. I left after Martin’s tirade, but came back to talk to him and to try and reason with him. I saw them together. He had his arm around her and she was leaning into him and smiling and joking. In less than an hour he forgot all we had together. All we had meant to each other.”

“And you were furious,” Castaña said. “I don’t blame you. I would’ve been, too. Is that the first time Martin was with Briar Rose then? She didn’t know him a year ago? That’s not his baby?”

Nascha shook his head. “No. We were together all the time. I thought we were in love.”

“You said it was your fault that he died,” Castaña said. “Why?”

“If we hadn’t argued …” Nascha paused. “He’s not the only one, either.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I got an old friend killed, too.” Nascha’s eyes were filled with guilt. She looked to Eagle who gave her a small nod.

“Tell us.”

“That night, after I saw Martin with that woman, I went to an old friend who’s a painter, a famous one, actually — ”

“Axell Tsosie,” Castaña interrupted.

Nascha’s teary eyes widened. “You know him?”

“No, go on. Please.” Castaña motioned for her to continue.

“Axell and I go way back and I told him what was going on. He agreed to help me try to get Martin back. We thought if he took pictures of a pretend roundup and sent them to a national horse magazine it would create sympathy. Martin would see I was still on his side.”

“But Axell was run over by the stampede and killed.” A small shudder ran down Castaña’s back as she recalled the dead man in the canyon. His hadn’t been an easy death.

“Yes.” Nascha’s eyes were haunted. “He died.”

Eagle patted her back again. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes, it was. Axell never would have been in that canyon if it weren’t for me,” Nascha cried. “He went there to help me and I repaid him by getting him killed.”

“Were you with him?” Castaña turned accusing eyes on the girl. “You were the one who took down the fence, weren’t you?”

She didn’t deny it. “Yes. I thought you might mess up the stampede. Axell was waiting in the canyon for me to chase the horses to him. When I saw your horses in the corral, I thought you might try to stop the wild horses, or chase them. So, I removed the top two poles in the fence. I later caught the sorrel and tied him to a tree.”

Castaña replayed the story so far in her head. Another piece fell in place. “And you were the one who led Jake on the wild goose chase through the forest. But why?” Before Nascha could answer Castaña said, “And it was you who had to move Axell’s body. Why?”

Nascha’s words came slowly. “I led the man away because I wanted to move Axell’s body. I thought I would be in big trouble from the BLM if they found out I had interfered with the wild horses. I was scared.”

“But you have done illegal things before.” Castaña couldn’t keep the censure from her voice. A lifetime of breaking the law had brought her brother to a bad end. She couldn’t respect his methods. There had to be another way to help the wild horses. She’d try to find one, to honor Martin’s memory.

“Yes.” Nascha hung her head and a teardrop slipped off her nose. “But no one ever died.”

“Do you know what happened to Martin?” Castaña asked. “Do you know who murdered him?”

Nascha swiped at her cheeks with shaking hands. “No.”

“Do you think he killed the BLM men?”

“No.” Through her tears, Nascha’s gaze was steady. “He didn’t.”

Chapter Eighteen

Before Nascha could elaborate, Castaña’s cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the number. “Hello.”

“It’s Jake. Where are you?”

Her heartbeat sped up at the sound of his voice. “Nascha Nizhoni’s house. Why? Where are you?”

“At the police station. I need to see you. Can you meet me at your house?” He paused. “We talked to a few people today. Briar Rose, for one.”

“You found her? Is she okay? Is the baby okay?” The thought of that innocent little baby being dragged around made Castaña’s stomach clench. She had a million questions.

“They’re both fine,” he assured her. “Can I come?”

“I’m on my way.” She flipped the phone shut and looked at Patty. “It’s Jake. He’s at the police station, headed for my house. Can you drop me off?”

“Sure.”

• • •

Jake met her at the door. “I’m sorry about Martin. I had hoped things would turn out differently.”

Tears clogged her throat and she barely managed, “Me, too.”

A shave would do him good, although he still looked handsome to her. She resisted the urge to stroke his face. The intensity of her feelings surprised her. He had lied to her. She should hate him, but she couldn’t. In fact, she was head-over-heels in love. Shocked by her own admission, she wondered how she had fallen in love with him. Her feelings didn’t matter anyway. He would be leaving as soon as the case was wrapped up. She pasted on a brave smile that was probably more like a grimace. “You found Briar Rose? Where? Is she all right? What about the baby?”

“They’re both fine. With her family.” He took her elbow, and Castaña allowed him to lead her inside. He motioned to the couch. “Sit here.”

She perched on the edge of the seat. “I don’t understand.”

His eyes were filled with compassion. “You okay?”

“I’m holding up. Do you know what happened to Martin?” She twisted the watch on her wrist around and around. “Please, Jake, I have to know.”

He sat next to her and sighed. “Donovan and Hinkson, the meat buyers Patty told you about? Our agents picked them up on the Mexican border today and we got a full confession. They’re the triggermen who killed both the BLM men and Martin. They would have killed me, too, if I’d been at camp. They trashed my camp and your house to scare me off.” Taking her hand in his he said, “It all started at the auction. These guys stood to make several hundred thousand dollars by rounding up the mustangs and shipping them to packing plants in Mexico. Apparently, they’d already taken a large down payment and spent it because they didn’t expect anyone to bid against them.”

“Patty threw their dirty plan out of whack,” Castaña said. “But what did Martin do?”

“Let me tell you all of it,” he said. “When Patty outbid the meat packers, they were furious and vowed to take the horses anyway. They had already lined up two tractor-trailers with them to haul the horses to the processing plant. So, they made plans to rush in and steal the horses.”

“But the BLM men were already there,” Castaña filled in. “The two agents were supposed to get an accurate count for Patty, who was going to stage her own roundup. Martin overheard them talking about counting the horses, and he and Briar Rose tried to hide them.”

“Yes.” He squeezed her hand. “And Donovan and Hinkson killed him.”

“Near Angel Falls where Martin had herded the horses.” Castaña gave her head a little shake. “But Martin wasn’t found near Angel Falls.” A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away.

“This is where Briar Rose comes in,” Jake said. “She had met Martin once before at the roundup last fall. She was taken with his activism, but he was involved with Nascha Nizhoni, and not interested in anyone else. They met up again at the auction, and according to her, she saw how upset he was and agreed to help him thwart the sale. Nascha Nizhoni was growing tired of the fight and she and Martin argued — ”

“I know. I talked to her today.” Castaña filled him in on what Nascha had said.

He listened, and when she finished he said, “Man. She’s got to feel low. Not one, but two deaths on her conscience.”

“Yes, but I feel badly for her. She really loved Martin. When they argued about trying to hide the horses, he turned to Briar Rose because she was sympathetic. Nascha had second thoughts and came back and spotted Martin and Briar Rose together. What I don’t understand is what happened to Martin and what part Briar Rose played in it.”

“Martin and Briar Rose hung out here for a couple of days and made plans of how to try and stop the roundup. It was just their bad luck to be in the same place at the same time as Donovan and Hinkson. Martin and Briar Rose moved the horses to Angel Falls and it all came to a head there. They saw Donovan and Hinkson and hid out. A short time later the BLM guys showed up and Donovan and Hinkson gunned them down in cold blood.”

“How did the BLM men end up there?”

“Angel Falls is a known hangout for the horses. It was just an educated guess that got them killed,” Jake said.

“How did Martin end up at Briar Rose’s sisters’ camp? Castaña shuddered at the memory and Jake tightened his hold on her hand.

“When Martin and Briar Rose saw the shooting, they ran. He sent her here and he went into the forest to lead Donovan and Hinkson away. They caught him there and gunned him down. These guys were out of control at this point. They killed three innocent people. I don’t know how they thought they could get away with it.”

Castaña’s throat felt like she had swallowed glass. “Briar Rose called me when Martin didn’t show up here.”

“She also called her sisters and told them to come rescue her. Which is why they were in the forest.”

“Why not tell them to come here?”

Jake frowned. “She was afraid that Martin had been killed when he didn’t follow her home. She told her sisters to meet her where she’d last seen him in the hopes they could help her escape from the cult.”

“But they didn’t find …” Castaña swallowed hard “… his body.”

“Apparently not,” Jake said. “They were so focused on seeing Briar Rose again that they didn’t pay much attention to their surroundings.” He changed the subject. “The baby is with them and she’s in good hands. As soon as we’ve asked Briar Rose a few more questions she’ll be released and I understand that she’s going home with her family.”

“Arielle’s not Martin’s baby.” Tears slid down her cheeks.

Jake gently wiped them away with his thumbs. “No. The father is a cult leader from Sunspot, over near Phoenix. His name is Jackson Wiley. We’ve tried to close them down for years, but have never had any evidence. No one has been willing to talk. Briar Rose has agreed to testify and we think we can put them out of business this time.”

“Good for her,” Castaña said bitterly. “If she would’ve opened her mouth and told us the truth from the beginning we wouldn’t have held out hope and we wouldn’t have gone on a number of wild goose chases.”

He cupped her chin. “Try not to hate Briar Rose too much. She was terrified those men would track her here and kill her, too. On top of that, she was, and is equally afraid of Wiley Jackson. He has a long reach. Once she got trapped in her lies she couldn’t figure out how to get out of them.”

“I thought Arielle was Martin’s daughter, my niece.” The sobs she’d been holding in escaped and her shoulders shook as two weeks of stress, of rage, of grief poured out of her in a torrent.

Without words, Jake gathered her in his arms and held her until the storm passed. Limp and as wrung out as a used washrag, she rested in his strong arms. Although she knew she should move, she stayed put. He brushed his lips over her hair. “I’m sorry about Martin.”

“It’s not your fault.” Her voice sounded raw. “Martin died the way he lived. In a way, it’s fitting that both he and my father lived and died for this cause. It’s kind of right there will no longer be any wild horses on the forest. Patty can round them up and move them to their new home. Martin would hate that. I don’t think he would have ever accepted it.” Her voice broke and she turned her face into Jake’s shirt. “At least in his heaven Martin has to be surrounded by thousands and thousands of wild mustangs and no one can ever harm them or hurt his heart again.”

He stroked her hair. “Don’t torture yourself. He’s at peace now.”

She leaned back and looked into his eyes. “I hope so.”

“I know so.” He bent his head and covered her lips with his own. At first, the kiss was filled with sympathy, not passion. But in the beat of her heart his lips turned demanding, eagerly seeking a response. His tongue found hers and she gave into the sensations until he pulled away. “I want to make love to you, but not here.”

Standing, she took his hand and led him to her bedroom.

• • •

Castaña greeted the mourners as they filed out of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. More people than Castaña expected showed up to show their respects to her brother. People she hadn’t seen since high school turned out to say goodbye to Martin. Nascha had sobbed nonstop through the service, then hurried past Castaña as soon as the service concluded. She and her mother had helped prepare a meal, but apparently weren’t staying to eat.

Jake squeezed Castaña’s hand and she smiled tremulously at him. He had stood by her through the planning, the service, and now he would accompany her to the dinner where Martin’s friends were gathering to remember him.

With Jake’s hand on her elbow, she walked along the short path that led to the church hall. Today the combined aromas of tamales and stewed lamb meat almost covered the more unpleasant odors of the damp plaster and mildew of the old hall. A myriad of emotions swirled through Castaña as she entered the familiar building. She and Martin had attended catechism class here and a flood of memories assaulted her mind. Sister Mary Agatha with her stern voice and kind heart teaching them Bible verses. Martin in a suit and tie at his first communion, she in a white dress and daisies in her hair, Mama so proud. A friend’s wedding reception when Martin had drunk so much he passed out in Sister Theresa’s roses.

Eagle met them halfway. “Patty and I saved you a spot. Come sit with us.”

As they passed, old friends and new acquaintances touched her hand, her arm, her shoulder. Tears blurred her vision and she stumbled. Jake had her in his arms before she knew she’d bobbled. “You okay?”

She managed to nod and follow Eagle to their table. Patty stood and supported her in a tight hug. Then Eagle took a turn. Jake asked what they wanted and went to the buffet table to fill plates for them.