Aimee Thurlo - Stargazer's Woman

“Do you believe in women’s intuition?” she asked.

Max smiled slowly as the silence stretched between them. “What’s your intuition tell you about me?”

Kris measured her words carefully. “You define yourself by the work you do and the secrets you keep. You’ve made a home for yourself among these secrets. But someday you may find they’re not enough.”

Max started to answer, then changed his mind. In his gut, he knew the truth when he heard it. But she was wrong about one thing. He’d accepted the need to keep the secrets he guarded—especially one. But there was no peace or sense of home inside him because of it. He was a man of facts with a secret that facts didn’t support.

A stargazer.

He’d known what he wasn’t supposed to know…information that could get them both killed if he made one miscalculated move.

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To Mitch, who knows where all the bodies are buried.

With special thanks to Lt. Col. Elizabeth S. Birch USMC

for her help.

Aimée Thurlo is a nationally known bestselling author. She’s written more than forty novels and is published in at least twenty countries worldwide. She has been nominated for the Reviewer’s Choice Award and the Career Achievement Award by Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine.

She also cowrites the Ella Clah mainstream mystery series, which debuted with a starred review in Publishers Weekly and has been optioned by CBS.

Aimée was born in Havana, Cuba, and lives with her husband of thirty years in Corrales, New Mexico. Her husband, David, was raised on the Navajo Indian Reservation.

Max Natoni—They said he was a stargazer, but he trusted his instincts as a former cop a lot more than the old medicine man’s hocus pocus. As a warrior for the Brotherhood, his own training would be enough to protect his dead partner’s sister.

Kris Reynolds—Her sister had been killed on assignment with Max Natoni while protecting a fortune in precious metal. Kris needed answers more than riches, but her heart kept getting in the way.

Hastiin Bigodii—The medicine man led by example, but Max followed his own rules.

John Harris—For a dead man, the former cop got around a lot. A killer who knew every trick in the book, even in death he couldn’t be trusted.

Bruce Talbot—His job was to find a way to get the missing platinum back and save the reputation of his company. Was he just overzealous, or could he be the inside man in a crime gone awry?

Detective Lassiter—The retired marine had it out for Max, but he cut Kris a break—marine to marine.

Jerry Parson—When he and his crew weren’t working over stolen cars, they were working over the competition—which included anyone who got in his face.

Deputy Robert Joe, aka Guardian—He was the Brotherhood of Warriors contact inside the sheriff’s department, so why was he getting in the way?

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Max Natoni joined the circle of men gathered inside the cave of secrets. The red sandstone walls that surrounded them held the echoes of tradition and honor. It was that core of strength that had sustained the Brotherhood of Warriors under all circumstances.

The pungent scent of piñon from the small campfire in the center of the chamber filled the air, and the flames cast fleeting shadows on the faces of those gathered there. He could see loyalty and courage—their life’s blood—indelibly etched on the features of each man present.

Max knew most of those gathered around the fire only by their code names—the only form of identification that would be used tonight. He’d be addressed as “Thunder,” the name given to him by Hastiin Bigodii, the medicine man who currently served as their leader.

The Brotherhood of Warriors, established during the time of Kit Carson, was an impenetrable line of defense that stood between the tribe and its enemies. This elite force worked in the shadows—rarely seen but always felt. It existed so that the Diné, the Navajo people, could walk in beauty.

Much was demanded of anyone wanting to join their ranks. They’d undergo trials meant to break all but the strongest. Most ultimately failed. In the end, only the best of the best remained and earned the right to join the Brotherhood of Warriors.

Though he was staring at the fire, Max could feel Hastiin Bigodii’s gaze on him.

“Thunder,” Hastiin Bigodii said at last, “you’re named for Yellow Thunder, who had the power to find things. You, too, have that gift, though you still haven’t accepted it and learned how to use your ability.”

Max started to argue, then clamped his mouth shut. He was a man who relied on facts. Logic was the only foundation he trusted. That’s why he’d become a police officer, and later a detective, for an Anglo department outside the Rez.

Then the unimaginable had happened.

After that, Max had been forced to carve out a new life for himself. The land between the sacred mountains, the Rez, was his home now, and the men around him were his brothers in every way that counted. He wouldn’t fail them.

“I am the man for this job,” Max said. “John Harris, the ex-detective from the Farmington Police, betrayed us. Though my partner paid with her life, she also made sure Harris didn’t find what he tried to steal—the tribe’s platinum. I know the way my partner thinks—thought—and can figure out where she hid it.” He released a deep breath. “She and I worked together as police officers for many years. That makes me the logical choice for this assignment. I ask the Brotherhood to give me a chance to complete what we started. Let me restore the harmony and balance, the hózhg.”

“Pride—and revenge—that’s what’s really driving you, isn’t it?” The challenge came from a warrior known as Wind. Although Max and he were also first cousins, here, they were bound by something deeper than kinship—an unqualified allegiance to the Brotherhood of Warriors.

“It’s more than that,” Max replied firmly. “My partner died defending that platinum, but now her reputation’s in question. Too many are convinced that she was involved in the theft, even though she forfeited her life protecting that shipment. Her sacrifice cries out for justice.”

“You’re too personally involved. That’ll decrease your effectiveness. She was a well-paid courier who was hired to deliver the platinum our tribe purchased. That’s all,” another warrior he knew only as Smoke said, his voice a mere whisper. “She knew the risks.”