Aimee Thurlo - Navajo Justice

As her thoughts turned to her godmother, Laura began to worry. Elena was in her late sixties and had a weak heart. The last thing she needed was to come home to a disaster like this, and then be forced to spend the night in an unheated house. Lately, the nighttime temperatures had been in the low forties here in the desert. They’d have to find a motel.

“I’ve got to start cleaning up and making arrangements for a place to spend the night,” Laura said.

“I’m going to need a list and description of what’s missing first,” the officer said.

“I haven’t found anything missing yet,” she answered.

With obvious reluctance, Laura headed back to her office. It was here, where she created her stories, that the chaos the intruder had left behind bit into her heart the most. In this room, alone with the ghosts who peopled a writer’s imagination, she’d found peace. But now all there was in here was confusion. The sense that the dearest part of herself had been violated almost brought her to tears.

It would take days to get everything back in order. Thank goodness she’d just ended a project rather than being in the middle of one.

“Was this someone’s idea of a sick joke? They must have looked through every page in here,” Laura murmured, her spirits sagging.

“It appears that they were searching for something in particular, perhaps a letter or document,” Burke said. “Can you think of what that might have been?”

Hearing a familiar but frightened voice calling out from the front of the house, Laura spun around. “Oh, no! Elena’s back early.”

Laura rushed to intercept her godmother. She’d hoped to find a way to soften the blow before Elena returned. As Laura reached the front door, she saw her frozen there, terror and shock on her face.

“It’s all right,” Laura said gently. “No one’s been hurt. We can always replace things.”

Elena was a petite, well-rounded woman with an affable manner and an easy smile that made friends almost anywhere. Now she looked as if she’d just witnessed the death of a loved one.

“Someone broke into the house. In the process, they created this mess and even managed to break off the valve on the furnace,” Laura said calmly. “But the gas is turned off now, so it’s just a matter of cleaning up and repairing or replacing the furnace. And believe it or not, I haven’t discovered anything missing.”

“That’s a blessing. But without heat, how will we stay warm tonight?” Elena asked. “And just look at what they did to our beautiful home!”

“We’ll be fine. We can stay at a motel until everything is back to normal again. It’ll work out.”

“We’ll need someplace close, Laura. We’ll have to be here daily. We can’t just leave everything in the hands of repairmen,” she countered.

“The motels along the main highway aren’t too far away. We’ll make do.”

“I have an idea, ladies,” Burke interjected. “You know I bought the large three-bedroom next door, and it’s much too big for just me and my dog. Why don’t you both come stay with me until your house is repaired?”

Laura felt a prickle of excitement as she heard his offer. But, of course, it was out of the question. Sharing the home of a drop-dead-gorgeous guy was not her idea of a safe haven. Before she could say anything, however, Elena spoke.

“Such a nice offer! We accept,” she said, looking up at him with a smile. “Okay, Laura?”

Laura nearly choked. “Wait a sec.”

Seeing the police officer coming toward them, Burke turned to him. “Why don’t I go speak with the officer while you two talk things over?”

As soon as he’d moved out of earshot, Laura glowered at Elena, but the older woman beamed a wide smile.

“God always makes something good come out of even the worst of times,” she said. “That young man is single and very attractive. And with me there, he will behave. In the meantime, you two can get to know each other. Before long, you might find out that he’s perfect for you.”

“How can you say that? We don’t know a thing about him! I haven’t even figured out if Burke is his first or last name!”

“That’s one of the things you can ask him,” Elena replied, undaunted. “And we do know quite a bit about him. We know that he always dresses like a gentleman and that he pays attention to details. He heard Mr. Romero call me Doña Elena once, and ever since then he’s addressed me the same way. On a practical side, his offer means we can be close by to let repairmen in and out. I think we should take advantage of his hospitality.”

Seeing that Laura was still hesitant, she played her trump card. “And my heart…well, this has all been quite a shock. I’d like to stay close to home, because here is where I feel the most comfortable.”

Laura’s eyes narrowed. “Do you realize that you never mention your heart unless you want me to do something?” Seeing the crestfallen look on her godmother’s face, she laughed. “All right. You win. We’ll accept his offer.”

“Laura!” A male voice suddenly boomed out from near the front door.

Laura looked up and expelled her breath in a whoosh. “Not him again,” she said softly. “Ken Springer is the last person I want to see here now.”

The police officer who was packing away his fingerprint kit looked up and, seeing Laura’s expression, went to head off the new arrival.

As he approached, Ken flipped open his badge. “County arson investigator, Officer.”

“There’s no arson here, Ken,” Laura said, impatience tainting her tone. The tall, lanky lieutenant from the fire department wasn’t bad looking, but his cocky, self-absorbed attitude put Laura off. They had a brief history, one she never wanted to repeat.

“I just heard the report. Do you have any idea what that gas leak might have done to you if you’d flipped on the light? This is attempted arson as far as I’m concerned.”

“No. The gas leak was an accident. The break-in…” She shrugged.

Seeing Burke, Ken placed his arm over Laura’s shoulder.

Biting back her annoyance, Laura shrugged it off. “I’m very tired, Lieutenant Springer. If you have business here, then get on with it. Otherwise, please leave.”

Burke’s gaze locked with Ken’s. The fireman reached into his back pocket and once again flashed his ID. “And your business here is…?”

“Mine,” Laura said firmly.

Anger sharpened Ken’s features as he glanced at Laura. “You don’t need help from a civilian, Laura. I’ll handle this.”

“I want him here,” she said firmly. “Remember that you’re in my home.”

Ken held her gaze, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “I’m going to take a look around.”

As he strode off, Burke glanced at her. “Old boyfriend?”

“I went out with him twice—and that was two times too many.”

“But he’s never given up trying to make himself part of her life.” Elena shook her head sadly.

Burke nodded, but before he could comment, the police officer came up to Laura. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m leaving now. We’ll be increasing our patrols in this area, but stay alert and call us if you have any problems.” He reached into his pocket and handed her a card.

After the man left, Laura saw that Ken was still walking around the house, looking through her things. Annoyed, she strode up to him. “It’s not arson, Ken. Not even a match was lit in here. Perhaps you should go work on one of your cases.”

“How do you explain what’s happened?” he countered harshly.

Elena came up and joined them. “I didn’t mention this to the officer because it’s just speculation, but the break-in is more than likely the work of my brother-in-law,” she stated. “He’s been hoping to get his hands on the deed to a piece of property my husband left me, or the original will. He filed a lawsuit, but no hearing has been scheduled yet.”