Jenna Kernan - Undercover Scout

Before Kee’s call, Ava had broken into the tribe’s clinic, which she knew was due to reopen this week. As she suspected, all their files were digitized and the computers password-protected. Kee’s and Hauser’s passwords had been easy to discern, but the clinic’s was a different story. So much for that plan, she thought. Shifting approaches, she’d placed a hidden camera directly over the administrator’s desk. Then she could remotely activate the camera, which had a six-hour battery. But then she had to wait for the clinic to open and for Betty Mills to log in before Ava could gain access to their system.

She wondered how long before their police discovered she was here and how long before her police force learned that she’d very definitely gone off the reservation. What she was doing could cost her her job. Her position gave her authority, respect and the autonomy she’d always longed for. She didn’t want to lose all that. But she was willing to chance it because the only thing more important than being a detective was finding Louisa and saving those missing girls.

She wondered if Day’s disappearance was related to this case. Suspicious things were happening and they all spun like a tornado around that clinic.

She hoped the worst thing that could’ve happened to Dr. Day was an accident that had left him lying along the trail somewhere with a twisted ankle and without a phone. But her gut told her that his disappearance could be related to her case.

Kidnapping a federal employee would be a terrible move and very brazen. Even if they thought he was investigating the clinic and closing in on the culprit, which he likely wasn’t, it would be better to...push him off a cliff.

The thought made Ava’s stomach churn.

Ava stared up at the mountain. Somewhere along that trail were several cliff dwellings. She’d never seen them but her sister, Sara, had told her about them. That also meant that there were cliffs.

Kee pulled up in his old blue pickup. He climbed down and hurried toward her, looking distracted as he greeted her by clasping both elbows and kissing her on the cheek. She was so rattled by the simple brushing of his mouth on her cheek that it wasn’t until Kee was already halfway to Day’s Subaru that she realized what he intended.

“Don’t touch that!” she called.

He paused and turned back. “Why?”

“Umm, what if something happened to him, then wouldn’t this be a crime scene?” That wasn’t well-done, she thought.

Kee backed up. “A crime scene?” He looked even more agitated as he looked in through the dusty windows from a safe distance. “Everything looks normal. He didn’t lock it.”

“You know this trail?” asked Ava, drawing him away from the vehicle.

“Part of it. It’s a quarter mile past the pasture to the lower ruins. I only hiked to the upper ruins once.” He rubbed his leg and frowned. “Couldn’t keep up with my kid brothers.”

How hard that must have been, always being the slowest, Ava thought. She touched his cheek with the palm of her hand.

“Well, you can keep up now.”

They shared a smile and she resisted the urge to step closer. His hands went to her waist and she moved away, not wanting him to discover her service weapon.

“There’s miles of trails up there,” he pointed to the ridgeline against the crystal blue sky. “And cliff dwellings, several. I suppose Richard could have tried to bike it.”

From the distance she heard a low rumble.

Kee turned toward the road. “That will be Ty. You know about him?”

She had run his record but she didn’t say that. Instead she offered a half-truth. “I mentioned meeting you to my sister. And...”

Kee flushed. “She naturally mentioned Ty and...my father, too?”

She nodded, wondering why he looked so ashamed. He hadn’t robbed a store. Mr. Perfect, she thought again. No missteps except the ones of his family reflecting badly on him. The law didn’t judge families; it judged individuals. She did the same. But she knew the pain caused by the poor decisions made by family members. Her mother had been a train wreck and Sara had gotten pregnant in high school. It happened.

“No one is perfect,” she said.

“I’m not like my dad.” He met her gaze and she thought the expression was not shame but anger. Was he angry at his father for being a con or at her sister for gossiping? “I’ve never broken a law in my life.”

She’d have to see about that.

“In fact, seeing my dad’s sentencing, well, it changed me. I’d always been cautious because of my leg. But that made me realize that your reputation, well, it’s more breakable than bones.”

She thought about how one wrong step and her own reputation would be beyond repair. She had a stellar law enforcement career, but even that wouldn’t survive the fallout of her rogue investigation if she was caught. But wasn’t Louisa’s life worth that?

The distinctive sound of a powerful engine brought all heads about.

“That’s his chopper,” said Kee.

“Harley?” she asked, raising her voice as the rumble became a roar.

“Indian,” he said. “Wait. That’s a new bike.”

Ty made an entrance. Up until today, Ava had only heard about him. The family black sheep, currently under investigation for his role in the abduction of Kacey Doka. They had statements from both his youngest brother, Colt, and Kacey, but neither could testify as they were in witness protection. The signed statements implicating Ty in Kacey Doka’s kidnapping from the clinic should be enough to convict him in tribal court. So why were they letting him run around free?

The roar grew louder and Ava had to shout to be heard.

“Isn’t he bringing the dog?” she asked.

Kee nodded and pointed. In rolled Ty Redhorse on a coffee-brown-and-cream Harley Davidson motorcycle laden with so much chrome she could see reflections of the sky and road and man all at once.

At first she thought he was riding double, and he was, after a fashion. The dog sat behind him, paws on his shoulders, with goggles on his massive head. As Ty pulled forward, she could see the shepherd sat in a bucket fixed to the rear seat and wore some sort of restraining belt.

The engine idled and Ty fixed his stare on them both. No smile, she realized, and he looked less than pleased to be here. Ty’s hair was shoulder length and cut blunt. He resembled Kee but for the cleft in his chin. He also sent all her cop senses into high alert. That challenge in his eyes as he met her gaze would have made her pull him over if she had her cruiser.

Badass didn’t cover it. And he wore black, of course.

Ava regarded the dog, with its lolling, pink tongue and—what appeared to be—a wide grin.

“Looks like a wolf,” said Ava.

“German shepherd mix,” said Kee.

“Mixed with wolf,” she said and Kee laughed.

The deep masculine rumble did crazy things to her insides.

“Ty thinks it’s funny because he’s riding with his bi...” Kee changed his mind about what he was going to say and motioned to Ava. “Shall we?”

Ty rocked the bike onto its kickstand. He greeted Kee with a bear hug that nearly lifted Kee off his feet. Ty was taller, broader and more intimidating.

Kee had a cell phone clipped to his clean, fitted jeans and he wore a blue button-up shirt with a turquoise bolo and brown lace-up shoes. Ty had a knife clipped to his leather belt and had a wallet connected to a belt loop by a stainless-steel chain. He wore black leather chaps over jeans, high moccasins with the distinctive toe-tab marking them as Apache footwear and a black muscle shirt that revealed a tribal tattoo circling each arm. What he didn’t wear was a helmet.

She watched Ty stroke his dog’s pointed ear, momentarily bending it flat before releasing her from the bucket-style pet transporter. The dog came forward to sniff Kee and then turned to Ava. She extended her hand, but the dog stopped short of her and dropped to all fours, lying alert before her.