Chapter 1 On the Run #4
“There’s a quarter-mile stretch of road with an eight-to-ten-inch drop-off.” She pulled out two bottles of water, tossed one to him, and took a swig of hers. “It’s reinforced with jagged, palm-sized stones, which could do plenty of damage to a bike or even a car if it drove off the road.”
“Or got forced off the road,” he muttered darkly, uncapping his bottle of water and raising it to his mouth.
If his sister had been involved in a highway accident, the authorities should’ve been called, but they hadn’t.
If she’d been forced off the road, on the other hand, her attacker would’ve quickly discovered she possessed nothing worth stealing.
The only other possibilities he could come up with were random acts of violence or a crime of passion.
“Or that,” his niece agreed glumly. “If you stand on the side of the road where her bike was found, you can see the barn I was talking about through the trees. It’s so old that we’re lucky it didn’t cave in on us.” She shivered at the memory.
His eyebrows rose in perplexity. “What in the world prompted you to dig for bones? That’s hardly what most people would do after spotting a dog with a bone in its mouth.”
“It was a really big bone,” she admitted. “It took my entire breakfast burrito to coax it away. Anyone remotely familiar with human anatomy can recognize a femur, which I did.”
He snorted. Anyone with a remote sense of self-preservation would’ve called 9-1-1, which she hadn’t. “Are you allergic to the police, kid?”
“Maybe.” She rolled her eyes at him. “Put yourself in our shoes, Uncle Uri. Tiff and I were investigating, er, researching,” she amended, “a cold case. We found a pile of bones on Haywood Ranch near the spot my aunt went missing. What if it’s her?”
He spread his hands. “That’s for the police to determine.”
“Because they did such a great job of investigating her death thirty years ago, huh?” She jutted her chin at him.
“I didn’t say that.” He also didn’t like where their conversation was going.
“We found the bones on land owned by Aunt Tiana’s boyfriend’s wealthy aunt.
” It was a mouthful to spit out. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence, and I told the police that in my notes.
I also warned them that my notes would go to every major news outlet in the country if they don’t do their jobs this time!
I didn’t tell them who I was, of course, but I made it sound like I meant business. ”
I’m sure you did. Bear’s brain churned over the details.
Dr. Benjamin Haywood, Senior had married Tiana’s biggest teenage rival, Verity Arden, less than a year after Tiana’s disappearance.
Verity was a bit of a kook, if anyone asked him, which made it an especially bitter pill to swallow.
Benjie was a dentist like his father, and their only son had followed in his footsteps.
Together, they owned and operated Haywood Dental Clinic.
“Callie Haywood has been in a nursing home for years,” he pointed out, not sure if Kaya knew what had happened to Ben’s unmarried aunt.
“All I’m saying is,” she retorted sharply, “these are people with money, friends in high places, and motive. People with enough connections to either bury the evidence or get the authorities to look the other way.”
“Motive?” He had a Santa-sized list of guesses, but that was it. “What motive?”
Her eyebrows shot skyward. “According to the case files, the obsessive-compulsive Verity Arden had made up her mind to marry Ben Haywood while Tiana and Ben were still dating.”
“I hear you, but having designs on someone else’s boyfriend isn’t against the law.” He understood her line of reasoning. He’d traveled down that same rabbit hole too many times to count, but it led nowhere. “All we have is a pile of maybes and what-ifs, hon.”
Her chin came up. “Not if the bones we found are Aunt Tiana’s.”
He drew a deep breath. “Then I guess you and Tiffany have the thesis project of thesis projects to type up.”
“That’s the least of my concerns, Uncle Uri. What I want is justice.” She whipped out her phone again, tapped a single button, and held it up to her ear while it rang. “Still no answer,” she groaned, lowering her phone. “Where are you, Tiff?” She sent him a pleading look. “We’ve gotta find her.”
He scowled at her. “I’ll do what I can. If she doesn’t turn up soon, though, we’re going to the police, you hear?”
“I understand.” She nodded vehemently. “There’s something else you need to know. I emailed an anonymous copy of my notes and photographs of the bones to Heart Lake’s beloved retired sheriff.”
Bear let out a low whistle. “I bet that got his attention.” He knew exactly who she was talking about. Gil Remington had only recently vacated the post of sheriff. He was currently helping run a private security firm called Lonestar Security.
“That’s the whole point.” Despite Kaya’s angst over her missing college roommate, her voice held a note of excitement.
“I might’ve also suggested he reach out to a bona fide medical examiner to identify the bones.
Not some humdrum, overworked Justice of the Peace, but a certified forensic pathologist. One with intimate knowledge of both Heart Lake and their southern neighbors on the Comanche reservation.
Someone who understands our culture, our people, and the complex history between us and Heart Lake’s founding families. ”
Bear grew still, because he could think of only one person who fit that description. “I assume this person has a name?” He tried to keep his voice matter-of-fact. It wasn’t easy, but he succeeded.
“Dr. April Chandrakanta,” his niece blurted out gleefully. “You might’ve heard of her since she grew up in Heart Lake. I think you’re about the same age.”
He’d more than heard of her. He’d almost dated her, but Kaya didn’t need to know that. She never needed to know that, and she was wrong about April’s age. April was six years younger than him.
While a resident, she’d attended his very first wilderness retreat. A woman in her mid-twenties at the time, she stepped into his minimalistic existence — overdressed, brilliant, and beautiful, with a bright future ahead of her.
From the start, the snapping-eyed doctor-in-training had been out of his league. Way out of his league. So far out of his league that his instant attraction to her had caught him broadside — like a mile-high ocean wave cannon balling into the side of a cruise ship.
His heart hadn’t stood a chance, yet he hadn’t done a single thing about it.
How could he? Back then, he was dirt-poor with nothing to offer a woman like her.
Not in his wildest dreams had he imagined being voted onto the tribal council and becoming a bedrock member of his tribe.
Or growing his business to the point of socking more money in the bank than all his ancestors combined had ever had to their names.
Plus, the senior members of his tribe had been busy doing a little matchmaking behind the scenes between him and a lovely Comanche woman he barely knew.
A few years later, they’d gotten married — long after April had left town.
It was a shame that the nationally renowned Dr. April Chandrakanta would be returning to town after all these years, only to have her ears filled with rumors that retired Councilman Uri Dakota might be a killer.
Kaya was right about one thing, though. If the bones she’d found turned out to be the bones of his long-lost sister, that’s exactly the conclusion some folks might draw.
“Who’s the eyewitness claiming they saw me with the bones?” he asked suddenly. He had a right to know.
Kaya wrinkled her nose at him. “Benjie and Verity Haywood’s housekeeper. I don’t have her name.”
“Never met her.” He was sure of it. The Haywoods didn’t acknowledge his existence. If they saw him on the street, they deliberately looked the other way. It had been like that between them since the day Tiana had disappeared.
“Pretty odd, huh?” Kaya sounded disgusted. “Being accused of something by someone you’ve never met?”
“Very.” Bear pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sounds like I may be in trouble.” Folks like the Haywoods could afford whole teams of attorneys. If they were coming after him, their efforts were sure to have muscle behind them.
Everything his niece had shared with him felt like the pieces of a puzzle coming together — a carefully crafted puzzle where he would play the role of fall guy for a crime he hadn’t committed.
It wasn’t fair. Unfortunately, “not fair” was the story of his life.
The Dakota family had spent the past thirty years being pummeled to death.
Literally. First, his sister had disappeared.
Then he’d lost his wife and both of his brothers in quick succession.
Now someone was circling around to kick the knees out from beneath the last Dakota standing from his generation.
“Not if I can help it!” His niece stepped directly in front of him, slapping her hands down on her skinny hips. “We’re in this together.” She sounded so fierce that he almost smiled. “Between your tracking skills and my legal skills, we’ve got this!”
He wished he shared her confidence, but he didn’t. The only thing he could count on was that things were going to get a lot worse before they got better.