Chapter 6 Secret in the Cistern
April didn’t hear what the police chief said to Bear, partly because the police chief’s long hair blocked their exchange from view and partly because he wasn’t speaking loud enough. He hadn’t wanted her to hear what he said.
Bear playfully bumped his knee against hers again as he stood and followed the tough-looking police chief out of the building. It was his way of telling her not to worry. He knew she was fluent in reading body language.
“I saw that,” Kaya hissed over the seat at her.
“Saw what?” April blandly met her gaze. She angled her head at Bear and Adriel, hoping to change the subject. “Do you think they want their privacy?”
Kaya bounced to her feet. “Don’t know. Don’t care. We have a case to solve.” She grimaced when Bo stepped protectively closer to her.
April watched Ben bristle again, so she deliberately positioned herself on his other side as they left the building. “I’m the one who insisted on a bodyguard for her. He’s just doing his job.”
“I see.” Ben gave her a curious once-over. “If you don’t mind me asking, ma’am, why are you telling me this?”
“I thought you might appreciate knowing this isn’t about Bear trying to keep you and his niece apart.” She didn’t mind his question one bit. She was glad they were having this conversation. “He wasn’t kidding or playing games when he said if he didn’t want you dating his niece, you wouldn’t be.”
His expression grew wary, as expected, but she was undeterred.
“I would take it as a compliment,” she urged softly. “Uri Dakota isn’t easily impressed. He must really see something in you.” I hope I helped it along.
Ben grimaced. “Something besides my last name, you mean?”
“That’s exactly what I meant.” She nodded slowly.
“There’s no denying your two families have choppy water under the bridge.
His caution is justified. If you care for Kaya as much as I think you do, you’ll understand.
You’ll find a way to understand.” There.
She’d said and done what she could. The rest was up to him.
His jaw tightened. Then he nodded. He shot a glance at Kaya and Bo, and his earlier bristling eased.
“It won’t always be like this,” April added in a hushed voice. “You have my word.” Between her growing friendship with Kaya and her rekindled feelings for Bear, she was determined to see this case through to the end. She was Team Dakota all the way!
He almost smiled. “I’m glad to hear it, ma’am.”
Bo’s hovering wasn’t really needed at the moment. Most people on the rez treated the Dakotas like royalty, so it was the safest place in the world for them. However, Bo might not know that. He was simply following orders.
“Good talk, ma’am.” Ben caught up to Bo and made an effort to draw him into a conversation. To April’s delight, they were soon chatting amicably, which was a first.
She gave herself a mental high-five.
Kaya glanced over her shoulder at her, then dropped back to fall into step with her. “Things went about as well as could be expected between Uncle Uri and Ben,” she grumbled.
April was just glad it hadn’t gone any worse. “It wasn’t easy for your uncle, but he did it for you.”
“I know.” Kaya’s expression softened for a moment. “And maybe for you?”
What? April choked and coughed to cover it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I think you do.” Mischief glinted in Kaya’s eyes. “I know there’s something going on between the two of you. What I saw back there was more than a handshake.”
Since April couldn’t deny it, she tried to downplay it. “What you saw was a reunion between friends. We haven’t seen each other in years.”
“Friends? Oh, I get it now. That explains everything!” Kaya rolled her eyes. “Right down to the way you guys were looking at each other like you wanted to keep looking at each other for the next forty or fifty years. I’ve got eyes, you know.”
Uh-oh! April caught her breath, wishing she’d been more careful. However, the way Kaya was talking made it sound like she thought her uncle’s feelings were involved, as well. Was she correct, or was she simply teasing?
“The look on your face right now!” Kaya jabbed a finger in her direction. “That’s what I’m talking about, and Uncle Uri was wearing the same look. There’s something going on between you guys,” she repeated.
April’s lips parted in protest, but Kaya talked right over her. “Maybe you didn’t even realize it was happening, but now you do.”
“If you say so.” April kept her voice light as she returned her attention to Bear and Adriel.
“What I’d really like to know is if we need to be concerned about what’s happening over there.
” No sooner had the words left her mouth than the serious-looking conversation between Bear and the police chief disintegrated into snorts of laughter and shoulder punches.
“Worried?” Kaya made a scoffing sound. “As if! My uncle can handle himself.”
Her voice faded into the distance as April was struck by a monumental discovery. “He’s friends with the police chief,” she breathed, “as in really good friends.” Her concern about the so-called “interrogation” taking place in the church parking lot had been completely unwarranted.
Kaya sniffed. “Everyone loves Uncle Uri. Everyone,” she repeated, elbowing April suggestively.
“If you’re fishing for compliments on his behalf, he’s a good man,” April agreed. “One of the best people I’ve ever met.”
Kaya’s expression turned gloating. “You like him, you like him,” she announced in a singsong voice. Fortunately, she kept her voice down. “You really, really like him.”
“I do.” April carefully schooled her expression.
“We’ve already established that. He and I are friends, Kaya.
Friends who go way back.” To distract her from her completely unsubtle matchmaking attempts, April changed the subject.
“I think the next order of business for me and my assistant — who clearly has way too much time on her hands — should be another field trip to Callie Haywood’s barn.
It’s still a crime scene, so we shouldn’t have any trouble getting the green light to sleuth around there all we want.
” So far, the police had yet to determine who’d desecrated Willow Chaska’s grave and relocated her bones to Haywood Ranch.
It was such a shame. April hoped they would figure it out soon.
“Ooo!” Kaya rubbed her hands together in exaggerated anticipation. “I feel like saying something movie-worthy, like the plot thickens!” She cocked her head at April. “Why is the plot thickening, Dr. Chandrakanta? I think I know the answer, but I’d like to hear your thoughts first.”
A sweet rush of exhilaration swept through April as Bear half-turned her way.
Though he was still talking to Adriel, the awareness between them escalated to heart-tingling heights.
“I, ah…” She delicately cleared her throat, unaccustomed to anyone or anything so thoroughly ruffling her composure.
“I want to search the barn from one end to the other. There has to be a trapdoor to a tunnel, a storm shelter, or some other alternative form of entry. That’s the only reason I can fathom why Bear didn’t hear those two women enter the area last night. He only heard them leave.”
“Two women?” Kaya made a disgruntled face.
“How about we just call them what they are? Traitor Tiffany and her evil accomplice! I can’t believe I ever considered her a friend, much less my best friend.
” She grew misty-eyed all over again as she relived Tiffany’s betrayal.
“We’ve been roommates, study buddies, and fellow sufferers through a few years of dry and dusty legal studies together. How could she do this to me?”
Though April had never been a mother, she instinctively reached for Kaya. “You’ve still got your uncle, Ben, and me on your team.” Bear might not appreciate her including Ben in the equation, but he was a reasonable man. For Kaya’s sake, he would adjust to the idea. Eventually.
“Thanks,” Kaya leaned into April’s one-armed embrace, resting her head on April’s shoulder.
The next look Bear shot their way was heavy-lidded and wholly approving.
April’s heart leaped and soared in response.
“My turn.” Ben announced the moment Kaya lifted her head.
The only reason he missed the steely look Bear gave him was because his attention was one hundred percent on his girlfriend.
He hugged her like she was made of delicately spun glass.
It was the type of adoration that bordered on reverent.
He truly cared for her, and he wasn’t trying to hide it.
The indulgent smirk Bo aimed at them was the most human emotion April had seen him display yet.
He was a big, beefy guy with a shaved head, who was somewhere between forty and sixty.
His all-black uniform and normally deadpan expression didn’t invite trouble.
Anyone who caught his eye was the first to look away. Quickly.
She moved toward the armored SUV, casting a hopeful look at Bear from beneath her lashes.
She’d been hoping to say goodbye to him before she and Kaya took off.
She also wanted to make sure he wasn’t angry with her about keeping Ben Haywood’s identity a secret until today.
Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing how long the police chief planned to bend his ear.
As she reached for the door handle, Bear abruptly ended his conference with Adriel and strode her way. He arrived in time to assist her into the back passenger seat. “I’m sorry that took so long. As a person of interest in the case, I’ve been properly scolded for being difficult to reach lately.”
He seemed in no hurry to leave, lingering beside the open door and drinking her in with his dark, piercing gaze.
“As if that’s anything new!” She chuckled for no particular reason, something she’d been doing a lot of lately. “Or so I’ve heard.”
“It’s true.” His gaze glinted with humor into hers. “But the people I want in my life know how to reach me.”