Aimée Thurlo - Restless Wind

“We’re just getting to know each other,” Dana answered cautiously.

Maria gave her a puzzled look, making Dana suspect she wasn’t used to getting lukewarm responses from Ranger’s girlfriends.

Dana was tempted to explain that they were simply business partners, but then changed her mind. Ranger was here to get information, not give it out.

“I gather this isn’t a social visit,” Maria said, giving Ranger a curious look. “You sounded…tense on the phone.”

“I’d almost forgotten how observant you are,” he said.

“It helps when you’re an accountant. So tell me what brings you here,” Maria answered with a tiny smile.

“I need your help,” he said directly.

“No problem. What do you need?”

Her response surprised Dana. Maria hadn’t even hesitated. Jenny had told her that Ranger had a way with women. Maybe the memories he created were worth the price of heartbreak.

Dana found the thought intriguing…and disconcerting. It was a little scary to feel herself so drawn to a man who should have come with a warning label-or maybe a disclaimer.

“You’ve worked for the city for years now. What department wears brown uniforms?” Ranger asked.

Maria thought about it, then shook her head. “The only departments I can recall off the top of my head are sanitation and maintenance, but I’m sure there are others, too,” she said, then added, “Come to think of it, animal control officers wear that color. One of their people came by last week and captured a stray dog that had been getting too close to my neighbor’s miniature horses.”

“Roughly, how many people total are we talking about in that color uniform?” Ranger asked.

“Fifty, more or less,” she said after a pause. “But I won’t be able to give you anything more concrete until Monday.”

“We’re looking for a guy who wears a brown city uniform, moonlights and isn’t too picky about the jobs he takes on,” he added, then gave her a description of the man Jennifer had seen.

“That physical information will rule out the women and a good number of the men. I’ll see what I can find out.”

“Before Monday?” Ranger pressed.

“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Before Monday, if I can, but I’m not promising anything.”

After accepting something to drink and enjoying some small talk, Ranger and Dana left.

“You’re very quiet all of a sudden,” Ranger remarked as they headed back west toward the reservation.

“You and Maria get along great. I’m surprised you’re not still dating.”

“We’re friends. That’s all we ever were.”

“Has there ever been anyone really special in your life?”

He paused thoughtfully, then finally nodded. “A few times,” he said, then correcting himself added, “Twice.”

“What happened?”

“My first love jilted me,” he said somberly.

Surprised, she turned to look at him.

“Her parents gave her a horse for her twelfth birthday-and after that, she never had time for me.”

She scowled at him. “I was being serious!”

“Me, too,” he teased.

“Okay, what about your second love?”

He smiled slowly at her. “That’s still a work in progress.”

Her heart did a quiet somersault and there was a little hitch in her breath. Realizing from his expression that he was only too aware of his effect on her, she glanced away.

“Where to now?” Dana asked at last.

“We’ve stirred up enough trouble tonight. I think it’s time to pack it in.”

“So we’re going back to the safe house?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Our best chance is to stay on the move. I have another place in mind. But I need to make a call first and my cell’s not getting a signal here,” he said, placing the phone back down on the seat.

Stopping at a gas station, he walked to the pay phone outside and dialed. She strained to hear, but she couldn’t make out much.

Seeing him keeping his back to her, and his voice lower than normal, forced her to face a difficult fact. He still didn’t trust her, but in all fairness she couldn’t blame him. Ranger’s priority was to find Hastiin Sani’s killers, and he mistakenly believed she was withholding information that could help him do that.

They would never really be able to work together. That much was clear. It was time for a drastic change of plans. There was only one way for her to keep her promise to Hastiin Sani and not endanger Hastiin Dííl. The first chance she got, she’d have to get away from Ranger. Trujillo and the others wouldn’t be on the lookout for a woman traveling alone, not now. She’d change her appearance and complete the task on her own.

He joined her a moment later and they drove west through Shiprock and then headed on toward the Arizona border. They turned south again a short time later and drove down a narrow highway, then onto a graveled road that went past a trading post she didn’t recognize.

Dana concentrated, trying to get her bearings. All around them were piñon-and juniper-covered hills, and with only the moon to light her surroundings, she was having very little luck.

“Where are we? I know we were heading toward Beclabito for a while, but then we went south again, right?”

“We’re close to the Arizona state line, in a mostly traditionalist area. There are very few modern amenities out here, and that keeps away those who require air-conditioning and telephones. I’ve always loved this part of the rez myself. Open country is part of every Navajo…though some forget.”

“It’s beautiful, but life out here would be hard,” she said softly, seeing a stunted piñon tree growing precariously on the side of a cliff.

“It can be. Mother Earth nourishes The People but also tests us constantly. It’s our beliefs that keep us strong. In the Diné Bekayah, Navajoland, the mountains have names and they watch over the Diné. The Holy People are with us as Wind, Lightning, Thunder, Sky and Rain. We know which offerings will appease them and how to call down their blessings. Living in balance and harmony, honoring that all things are connected, we walk in beauty.”

His voice resonated with a deep love for his tribe and this sometimes inhospitable land. Ranger was a man with loyalties that went deeper than the eye could see. “Your heart is here. I wish I had that sense of home. I envy you that.”

“I’ll share mine with you,” he said and covered her hand with his.

Despite all the barriers she’d put in the way to protect her heart, his words and the gesture touched her. Then, slowly, rationality returned. Ranger was a man on a mission.

She pulled her hand away and shifted in her seat. “Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you to my family home. My parents are both gone and the house stands empty, but my brother and I have maintained it. We use it from time to time to go hunting and fishing, or just to get away.”

She wondered how many other women he’d taken up here as well.

As if reading her mind, he added, “I’ve never taken anyone up there,” he said. “I’ve known many women,” he added slowly. “That’s hardly a secret. But this place says too much about who we were as a family. It’s a simple place that means a lot to me and I didn’t want anyone passing judgment on it. But from what I know about you, I think you’ll be able to see with more than just your eyes.”

He sounded sincere, but she knew that his goal was to gain her trust, and find out everything she knew. Opening up to her, revealing personal matters, could have been part of his strategy.

“You grew up with traditionalists?” she asked.

He nodded. “It wasn’t an easy life, but we worked together. Our family was very close. Everything about our old home reminds me of who I was once. Memories are everywhere.”