Iris Johansen - Dark Summer

"If you suspected he'd been murdered, why would you dispose of the body? You might have been able to tell from the autopsy what had-"

"Paco wouldn't have wanted his body chopped up and probed. He told me what to do with his remains. I did it."

"At the cost of letting Danner get off scot-free?"

"That was never in question. Danner would probably have been able to buy his way out of any court in the country. I knew that. He couldn't be allowed the chance." He added softly, "I wanted to be the one. I had to be the one to kill him. I loved that old man. When he died, it broke me into a million pieces."

She could see that he did. The passion vibrating in his voice was unmistakable. "But Danner's still alive."

"I had to obey Paco. God knows I never did much of that when I was growing up. But I'd made him a promise. Danner had to wait." His lips twisted. "Though I didn't think it would be this long."

"The dogs," she prompted.

"Ah, yes. There are four. Paco had acquired them through the years. He always seemed to have a dog running around him. Nika was a stray, Addie and Wiley he picked up from rescue shelters. Ned was a pup given to him by Hakan, the leader of the council, for casting a spell to cure his own dog. Addie is a golden retriever, Wiley, a German shepherd, Nika's a mixed breed, half-Weimaraner, half-boxer, and Ned. The last few times I visited him, they were constantly with him. He said they were helping him with a new spell and were much better apprentices than I'd ever been to him."

"What did he mean?"

"I didn't know at the time. I thought it was just another one of Paco's usual scathing sarcasms. He was always telling me I should stop wandering and come home where I belonged." He paused. "One night he had me sit by the fire while he chanted and made his smoke dreams. I didn't mind. It reminded me of the old days. The flames jumping, forming shadows on the walls of the cave, the acrid smell of the smoke, Paco staring into nowhere and making me believe that the world was full of possibilities…"

He was living that night again, Devon thought, gazing at his expression. Or maybe he was reliving the entire life he'd rejected.

He shook his head as if to clear it. "But the dogs didn't seem to be any better apprentices than me. They just lay around and slept and licked their balls." He smiled. "At least I didn't do that."

"Where is this going?"

"Toward the end of the ceremony, he had me feed the dogs their dinner, and he put something from his pot into the dishes." He lifted his hand. "Nothing harmful. Paco wouldn't have done that."

"Then what was it?"

"That's what I asked Paco. He answered, shií . It didn't make sense to me but he-" His cell phone rang, and he glanced at the ID. "Walt." He pressed the button. "Trouble?" He listened for a moment. "Shit. No, tell him to meet us at the ranch. I'm on my way." He pressed the disconnect, stood up, shrugging into his shirt. "Come on." He pulled her to her feet. "Walt will be picking us up in fifteen minutes. I have to get back to the ranch."

"Why?"

"I have to smooth troubled waters." He was striding down the slope. "Dammit, trust Lincoln to show up now. Why the hell couldn't he have stayed on the other side of the water?"

She had to hurry to catch up with him. "Who is Lincoln?"

"Chad Lincoln, British Intelligence. I've had to use him from time to time when I needed help, but he wants control, and I have-"

"British Intelligence. Why not the FBI or some other U.S. agency?" She shook her head. "For that matter, why bring the government in anyway? If Danner is a criminal, it should be a civil-"

"Devon." Marrok wasn't looking at her. "I can't deal with explanations right now. You've found out as much as I have time to give you. I've got to think of a way to keep Lincoln from trying to take over. I'll answer questions as soon as I can."

"You bet you will." He had left her hanging, and she was frustrated and annoyed. She wanted to know more, dammit. "Okay, tell me one more thing. What did Paco give the dogs? This shií … Dammit, I can't even pronounce it."

"Apache is a difficult language. Try shi'i'go . It's how Paco usually referred to it when he was talking about his potion."

"That's not much better." But at least she could get her tongue around it. "So what is it?"

"What does Paco's shi'i'go mean?" His gaze was searching the sky for the plane. "Summer."

"OH, NO. YOU WAIT JUST ONEminute." Devon caught up with him and stood before him, blocking his way. "I'm not letting you hand out a damn teaser like that and just walk away."

"We have to meet Walt."

"Then you can talk to me while we're walking down to the plateau. You're not leaving me hanging like this."

He gazed down at her with impatience that suddenly turned to amusement. "What would you do if I did?"

"You don't want to know."

"Oh, but I do. I'm finding that you're a constant surprise to me."

She wanted to sock him. He was standing there, smiling, every muscle of his body radiating male power and an innate arrogance of which he was probably not even aware.

"I'm tired of having you dribble out information. Lay it out on the table. Talk to me, dammit."

He lifted his shoulders in a half shrug. "You're right, I'm not being fair. Maybe I was avoiding telling you about Ned and the others. It's not exactly the easiest thing to explain or make anyone believe."

"Nothing about this has been easy." She stared him in the eye and repeated, " Shi'i'go ."

"I told you, it means summer." He went around her and continued down the slope. "In everyone's life there's a changing cycle of spring, summer, fall, and winter. But what if we could just stop the cycle and live in summer?"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"What if our immune systems could be altered to make us strong enough to delay the deterioration of cells that eventually kill us?"

"And what could do that?"

"I've no idea. But Paco evidently knew. When I went to the hiding place in that far bluff where Paco always kept his book of spells, I found out he'd been playing with a formula to make that happen. There was no formula in the book, but he wrote about experimenting, then destroying it."

"And he didn't tell you about it?"

"I told you before that Paco believed in sharing only his minor 'magic.' I think he wanted an audience, not an apprentice." He paused. "And maybe company to hold the loneliness at bay. We both needed that."

Loneliness. Yes, she could imagine the old man and the reckless young boy bound together in that strange companionship. "And he said he destroyed the formula? Why would he do that?"

"You've got to understand that old man. Paco didn't want money or power. He was just interested in the way things worked and the way he could change the way they worked. The shi'i'go was just another of his medicines to do with as he liked. If it was going to cause him trouble, then it wasn't worth bothering with. He could see already where shi'i'go could lead. Danner was hovering like a shark." His lips twisted. "And then he stopped hovering and attacked. He beat that old man to death trying to get the formula for the panacea. I don't think they meant him to die so soon. It would make sense that they'd keep him alive to try to reproduce the formula he'd destroyed. One of Danner's men must have been a little too enthusiastic and killed Paco before they could get all they needed out of him. That's why they tore the cave apart trying to find answers." He paused. "But Paco was forced to tell him about the dogs."

"What did the dogs have to do with this? He was giving the dogs this shi'i'go ?"

"Yes. The smoke and magic that night was just a bit of sleight of hand to mask the administering of the potion. I found out later that he'd been giving it to them for years. I don't know how many. Perhaps he'd come to the point where he even wanted to share with me, and this was the only way he could force himself to do it."