Diana Palmer - Before Sunrise

She blinked, trying to recall the terminology. “A dead body,” she translated, “on the reservation.”

He nodded curtly. “Just barely on it, about a hundred feet or so from the actual boundary. He appears to be of Cherokee descent, because we also found a tribal registration card, with the name and number missing, and we found part of a membership card from a professional anthropological society, which we assume was his—the part with his name was missing. So was his driver’s license.”

She gasped. “That man who called me…?”

“Looks like it could be. We can’t go on Cherokee land unless we’re asked. And this makes it a federal matter. But I have a cousin on the reservation police force, and he told me. It’s all real hush-hush. The FBI is sending a special agent out to investigate, someone from that new Indian Country Crime Unit they’re forming. I just wanted to warn you that they will want to talk to you.”

“What?”

“You were the last person who spoke to the victim,” he said. “They found your telephone number scribbled on a pad next to his phone at his motel and looked it up in the phone book. That’s when Cousin Richard called me—he knows I hang around the museum a lot.” He studied her worried expression. “Somebody killed the guy, in his motel outside Chenocetah, or on the deserted dirt road where he was lying. The road leads the back way onto some construction sites, near a mountain honeycombed with caves. A jogger found him lying on the side of the road early this morning with a bullet in the back of his head. She’s still being treated for shock at the local clinic,” he added.

Phoebe leaned against a pillar at the front of the museum, trying to catch her breath. She’d never imagined that she might end up involved in a murder investigation. It took a little getting-used-to.

“Maybe I should join her,” she said, and not completely facetiously.

“You’re not in any danger. At least…I don’t think you are,” he added slowly.

She lifted her face and met his eyes. “Excuse me?”

He frowned. “We don’t know who killed him, or why,” he said. “Unless that story of his was concocted. And even if it is, there are three new big construction projects underway in the area. If what he told you is true, there’s no way of knowing where he was looking when he found that site.”

“Who did he work for?” she asked.

“They don’t know yet. The investigation is still in its preliminary stages. There’s one other thing—you can’t tell Marie.”

“Why not?”

“She can’t keep her mouth shut,” he replied quietly. “There’s an investigation going on, and I’m telling you about it because I’m worried for your safety. I don’t want it told all over the county, though.”

She whistled softly. “Oh, boy.”

“Just in case, have you got a gun?”

She shook her head. “I shot a friend’s pistol once, but I was afraid of the noise and I never tried it again.”

He bit his lower lip and drew in a long breath. “You live out in the country. If I can get a target, will you let me come out and teach you how to shoot?”

She felt the world shake under her feet. Drake was happy-go-lucky on ordinary days. But he wasn’t kidding about this. He was genuinely worried about her. She swallowed hard.

“Yes,” she said after a minute. “I’d be glad to have you teach me, if you think it’s necessary.” She gave him a searching look. “Drake, you know something you aren’t telling me,” she murmured.

“A site like that, with an unknown set of possible Neanderthal remains…” he began slowly. “If it existed, it would make it impossible for any developer to build on it. We’re talking millions of dollars in time and materials and labor, wasted. Some people would do a lot to avoid that.”

“Okay,” she said, forcing a smile. “So I’ll learn to shoot.”

“I’ll talk to the FBI agent when he, or she, gets here,” he added, “and see what we can come up with by way of protection.”

But she knew how that would end. Government agencies, like local law enforcement, had the same budget problems that she did. Funding for around-the-clock protection wouldn’t be forthcoming, despite the need, and she certainly couldn’t fund it herself. All the same, the thought of taking a human life made her sick.

“You’re thinking you couldn’t shoot somebody,” he guessed, his dark eyes narrowing.

She nodded.

“I felt that way, before I went into the Army,” he told her. In fact, he’d just come out of it the year before, after a stint overseas. “I learned how to shoot by reflex. So can you. It might mean your life.”

She winced. “Life was so uncomplicated yesterday.”

“Tell me about it. I’m not directly involved in the investigation, but jurisdiction is going to depend on where the murder actually took place. Just because he was found on the Rez is no reason to assume he was killed there.”

“Would a killer really want the FBI involved?” she asked.

“No. But he might not have known he was involving federal jurisdiction. The local boundaries aren’t exactly marked in red paint,” he reminded her with a cool smile. “The dirt road where the body was found looked as if it was close to Chenocetah. But it wasn’t. The reservation boundary sign was lying facedown about a hundred yards from where the tire tracks stopped.”

She pursed her lips, thinking. “The killer didn’t see the reservation sign. Maybe it was at night…?”

He nodded, smiling. “Good thinking. Ever considered working on the side of truth and justice, fighting crime?”

She laughed. “Your department couldn’t afford me,” she pointed out.

“Hell, they can’t afford me, but that didn’t stop them hiring me, did it?” he asked, and grinned, showing perfect white teeth. “You take care of your museum, and I’ll do my best to take care of you,” he added.

She frowned.

He held up a hand. “In a nice, professional way,” he added. “I know you think I’m an overused man.”

She did gasp then. “Marie!” she raged aloud.

He laughed. “I’m not offended, but that’s why I said you shouldn’t share secrets with her.” He lifted both eyebrows. “Actually, it’s a little like peacocks.”

“It’s what?”

“A peacock makes a fantastic display to attract females. His feathers may be a little ragged, and the colors may be faded, but it’s the effect he’s going for. Sort of like me,” he added, smiling faintly. “I’m not Don Juan. But if I pretend I am,” he said, leaning toward her, “I might get lucky.”

She laughed with pure pleasure.

“Didn’t you see that movie with Johnny Depp, when he thought he was Don Juan?” he teased. “It worked for him. I thought, why the hell not? You never know until you try. But I had to lose the cape and the mask. The sheriff wanted to call in a psychiatrist.”

“Oh, Drake, you’re just hopeless,” she said, but in a softer tone than she’d ever used with him.

“That’s better,” he said, smiling. “You’ve been wearing winter robes. Time to look for spring blossoms, Miss Keller.”

“Sometimes you actually sound poetic,” she pointed out.

He shrugged. “I’m part Cherokee. Remember, we’re not just ‘the people,’ we’re, ‘principal people’ in our own tongue.”

Every tribe was “the people” in its own language, she recalled, except for the Cherokee, who called themselves “principal people.” They were an elegant, intelligent people who had their own written language long before other tribes.

“No argument?” he asked.

She held up a hand. “I never argue with the law.”

“Good thinking,” he stated, straightening so that his close-fitting uniform outlined his powerful body.