Chapter 4 Inner Circle
One hour later
“Is there anything else you’re not telling us?” Gil Reminton leaned on the sheriff’s desk in April’s direction. His face grew redder by the second.
They were at the quaint, red-brick police station in downtown Heart Lake.
She and Kaya were seated in the guest chairs in front of Luke Hawling’s desk.
It felt like being called to the principal’s office, not that April had ever gotten into trouble at school.
But if she had, this was probably what it would’ve felt like.
Luke had a leg hiked up on the edge of his desk, facing them with his arms folded. Though he was letting Gil do most of the talking, both men were in as much of a lather as April had predicted they would be.
“Really, Gil?” They were all professionals here, but she would play along.
She fluttered a hand at him. “I had a cup of peppermint tea with my breakfast. Then I hung over the balcony and mentally calculated the speed and velocity it would take to skip a rock across Heart Lake from where I was standing. Oh, I’m also wearing my lucky underpants. ”
Kaya gave a snicker that she quickly muffled at the sight of Gil’s glare. “I don’t even know how to respond to that.” He shook his head at her.
“Oh?” She pretended innocence. “Maybe if you could be more specific?”
A vein in his neck twitched. “My point is, if it’s something that’s related to the case, we need to know about it.”
She glared back at him. “No, you were implying I’m holding out on you.” A woman with her credentials wasn’t accustomed to being challenged.
His eyebrows rose. “You were.”
I still am, but not because I want to. Coming into the meeting, she’d known she would face two experienced interrogators, but she’d given her word to Bear about keeping his burner phone a secret.
Instead of a direct answer, she doubled down on her accomplishments.
They were pretty impressive for someone who’d been in town for less than twenty-four hours. Even he couldn’t deny that.
“I’ve done everything you asked me to.” In case he needed a reminder, she rehashed the details.
“I identified the bones as a distant relative of the Dakotas and gave you a detailed description of the injuries leading to her death. You’ll get a detailed report in writing with x-ray imaging documentation before the close of business today.
I also gave you the name and number of the man who delivered the bones to your drop box, where the bones were found, who dug them up, and why two law students went searching for them in the first place.
After meeting with Bear Dakota, I also have a fresh lead to follow on the woman’s identity, with the commitment that he’ll do everything he can to provide us with a DNA testing sample.
I’ve more than fulfilled my commitment to the Heart Lake Police Department and Lonestar Security.
” And she was still present and still working.
Gil straightened and rubbed a hand over the lower half of his face.
“You also filed a missing person report and may have handed us a joint homicide investigation with the rez police. This is far from over, April. From where I’m standing, we’re just getting started, which is why we need you to keep talking. ”
During the short time April and Kaya had been in Luke’s office, he’d already put out an APB for Tiffany, arranged for some of Tiffany’s personal effects to be delivered to the precinct for the scent dogs, and was preparing to launch a K-9 search-and-rescue (SAR) mission along the old highway.
The SAR team and their dogs would be on site within the next couple of hours.
As grateful as April was for their quick response to Kaya’s missing person report, she wasn’t sure what Gil and Luke were hoping to hear her say. She’d already thanked them profusely for organizing Tiffany’s search party.
“I know you’re accustomed to working alone,” Gil grumbled, sounding like his anger was winding down, “but you’re on our team now.
” He moved away from Luke’s desk and started pacing the spacious office.
It was a man’s room with cedar paneling, leather chairs, and a framed piece of western art composed of bullet casings.
“I understand.” His words took the wind out of April’s sails.
She sensed that she’d hurt his feelings, but she wasn’t sure why.
She wasn’t accustomed to people being emotionally invested in anything she did or said.
Like a machine, she did her job, checked the boxes, and moved on.
Her work was immaculate, but she never let herself get too attached to it.
Or anyone she worked with, for that matter.
She leaned his way to offer an olive branch.
“Listen, I told you I’d stay in town for as long as you need my expertise.
If that’s what this is really about, my schedule hasn’t changed.
” Guilting her into extending her visit was unnecessary.
She was entirely at his disposal. “I may or may not have told you this, but I’m on two months of use-or-lose leave days.
” It was a long-overdue break from her heavy travel schedule.
She’d been promising herself for years that she would take one.
If anything, Gil’s expression grew sadder. “When was the last time you took a day off, April?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “What does that have to do with anything?”
He faced her squarely. “You truly have no idea?”
She wasn’t sure why he was making such a big deal of it. From where she was sitting, it was none of his business. “Why are you picking me apart like this?” Though she didn’t wear them on her sleeve like most people did, she had feelings, too.
He reached up to grip his head in his hands.
“I’m not…that is, I didn’t mean…” He stopped, lowered his arms, and tried again.
“Nobody is picking you apart.” At her aghast expression, he added, “At least, that’s not our intent.
Your resume is pure gold, but your resume alone isn’t why this child,” he pointed at Kaya, “begged us to reach out to you.”
“Child!” Kaya hissed out the word in protest, but it was unclear if he heard her.
He kept talking. “She can correct me if I’m wrong, but what she was really asking was for us to bring a hometown girl onto the case. Somebody who understands the unique dynamics between our small town and the rez. Someone who knows our culture and speaks our language. Somebody who’s one of us.”
April drew a sharp breath, unable to remember a time when anyone had ever spoken to her in such an inclusive manner. It was both humbling and daunting. It also left her feeling exposed.
“He’s not wrong,” Kaya murmured at her elbow.
April pressed a hand to her pounding heart, unsure she could live up to such a lofty list of requests. “I’ve been gone from Heart Lake for a very long time. Maybe you set your expectations of me a little higher than you should have.”
“I don’t think so.” Gil shook his head so vehemently that it baffled her. “After what you’ve accomplished already? No way! You’re exactly who we need on our team.”
She gazed between the two men, feeling like she was riding an emotional roller coaster. Were they happy with her work then? Because a few minutes ago, she’d gotten the opposite impression.
Gil shot a harried look at Luke, silently begging him to step in.
Luke’s expression was impossible to read. “I think what Gil is trying to say is that folks on the same team don’t wait a few hours to share the latest developments on a case with each other.”
That again? It felt like they were beating a dead horse.
“As I said before, I wanted to inform Tiana Dakota’s next of kin first. I’ll admit it was unorthodox, but it was the right thing to do.
” She wasn’t backing down on that issue.
The way she’d handled things had gained them a valuable ally in Uri Dakota.
Kaya made a humming sound in the back of her throat. “Dr. Chandrakanta is being modest. She actually used my fear of reprisal about showing up at the morgue uninvited as leverage to gain a face-to-face meeting with my uncle. Pretty clever if you ask me.”
“I didn’t,” Gil barked, “but I agree it was clever.”
She grinned in triumph. “She also convinced my uncle to give up his phone number.”
“Running Bear has a phone?” Luke’s mouth fell open. “Since when?”
“Kaya,” April groaned, twisting in her chair to face the law student. “We promised your uncle we wouldn’t say anything about it!”
“No, you promised,” Kaya corrected loftily, looking entirely too pleased with herself. “Though I don’t intend to share his number with anyone, Mr. Remington and Sheriff Hawling are right. We need the police on our side.”
“We are on your side!” Luke looked outraged that she would insinuate otherwise. “That’s the whole point we’ve been trying to make. Quit treating us like we’re not!”
“Fair enough.” She gave a bounce of excitement in her seat. “Uncle Uri carries a burner phone. We only just found out ourselves. He made us memorize the number, which means you’ll have to go through us to reach him.”
“What have you done, Kaya?” April whispered, unsure how she was going to explain this to Bear the next time she saw him. If he took it as a betrayal on her part, her work on the case was as good as done. She might as well pack her suitcase and go home.
Kaya continued in the same blithe tone, “It’s not like he’s out there causing a public disturbance or anything. He’s out there trying to keep me alive.”
“While actively looking for Tiffany Masterson, from the sound of it,” Luke mused, looking grave.
Her oldest friend in the world exchanged a hard-to-read look with him. Then he smiled. It was faint, but it was undeniably a smile.
April’s suspicions prickled. “You already knew about Bear’s burner phone, didn’t you?”
“Nope.” Gil’s expression turned gloating. “But we do now.”
She shook her head in disgust at him. “Only because you tightened the screws on my lowly assistant. It was a cheap shot.”