Chilling Effect (11 page)

“What are you, some kind of Luddite? Drones, civilian drones,

are big business. Especially in Oregon. Th ere’ve got to be eighty

private companies working on civilian drones out there—maybe

more. But the programs are completely safe and walled off from

weaponized drones, Higgins. Get a grip.”

“Wrong. Apparently, through the magic of budget cuts, the

Department of Defense decided to cost share with the Federal

Aviation Authority. Th ey may not practice detonations over White

Springs, but they’re fl ying military drones out of the facility. And, apparently, some have gone missing.”

After a long, heavy silence, Sid let loose a string of invective

that made Aroostine’s ears burn. She could picture him, stomping

around his offi ce with his stupid wireless headset fi rmly in place, his face getting redder by the second. She waited.

“Th at’s not . . . are you sure?”

“No, I’m not sure. It’s an unsubstantiated rumor. But, some-

one broke into the cocktail waitress’s house this morning and left

a message threatening her daughter if she doesn’t keep her mouth

shut. So, whether it’s true or not, someone’s worried about the word getting around.”

“Crap.”

“Exactly. I need protection for the mom and girl, Sid. And I

need someone to look into Buckmount, fast. I think it’s time to call in the guys with the guns. Th is isn’t a lawyer problem at this point.”

Sid exhaled. “See, here’s the thing . . .” he trailed off .

“Oh, good, there’s a thing.”

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MELISSA F. MILLER

“It’s politically delicate. Th e G-men can’t just muscle their way

onto a federally recognized Native American reservation. Th ere are protocols.”

For a wild moment she considered telling him about her vision—

as if that might impel the bureaucratic machinery into action. But

she dismissed the thought almost immediately. Even if, by some mir-

acle, it worked, she’d lose credibility with Sid forever. Messages from psychic beavers weren’t going to help her get her job back.

“Missing weapons, a dead guy, and a child in danger should

move the needle.”

“Probably, eventually—but it’s going to take time.”

“Who’s going to take care of this kid until all the right butts

get kissed?”

His answer was both what she expected and what she dreaded.

“You are.”

Joe drummed his fi ngers on the side table and smiled blankly at

Ruby. She clearly wasn’t in the mood for small talk, but they couldn’t just sit there and stare at each other while Aroostine conducted her whispered conversation with Sid in the back room.

He cleared his throat. “So tell me about Lily.”

Ruby looked up from examining her chipped nail polish. “Why?”

“Because she must be a special kid. After Aroostine met her, she

insisted we needed to help bring Isaac’s killer to justice. She made an impression on my wife, so I’m curious about her.”

Th e hint of a reluctant smile crossed Ruby’s face.

“She is a special kid. Always has been. I got pregnant with her

when I was a senior in high school. Her dad took off , just van-

ished from the reservation one day. Even his folks couldn’t fi nd him.

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CHILLING EFFECT

Anyway, I fi nished up school. She was supposed to be born in August, but Lily had a diff erent plan. She came in June—six weeks early.”

Ruby paused and shook her head at a private memory then

continued, “Man, was she a fi ghter, though. Th ey sent us home even though she wasn’t even fi ve pounds. Tiny but fi erce, the doctors said.

And that’s the way she’s always been. She’s a tough kid and smart

as the dickens. Creative, independent. She deserves better than this dump, that’s for sure. Th at’s one reason I liked her being around

Isaac, you know? Show her there’s more to the world.”

She fell silent again. He could tell she was thinking about the

threat that had been left on her kitchen counter. He couldn’t blame her. He tried to imagine being a parent and knowing his child was

in danger. Just the thought of it chilled his blood. Part of him wondered why Ruby stayed on the reservation at all if she found it so

depressing. But that was a thought for another time. Th ey had to

focus on protecting her daughter now.

“We won’t let anything happen to her.”

Her dark eyes narrowed, and she pinned him with a shrewd,

searching look. “Is that a promise you can keep? Who are you guys,

anyway?”

“I’m a carpenter.”

She blinked. “Like, with wood?”

“Yeah, like that.” He was technically a master woodworker, but

he doubted Ruby would be impressed by the distinction.

“Um . . .”

“Aroostine’s a lawyer with the Department of Justice,” he rushed

to assure her.

“Yeah, that’s what she said. But I mean,
who
are you? You’re white, obviously. She’s native, right? I mean, she looks like it,

but she sure doesn’t act like she grew up on a res. I fi gure with a name like Aroostine, though . . .” Ruby trailed off , whether from

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MELISSA F. MILLER

embarrassment at her stereotyping or just because she really couldn’t place Aroostine, he couldn’t tell.

“She’s a member of the Lenape Nation. But she was adopted

by a white family when she was about Lily’s age.” As he said the

sentence, something clicked into place in his brain. Aroostine had

been about Lily’s age when her grandfather had died and she’d been

whisked away from her heritage. Her fi erce need to help the girl

was starting to make more sense—to him, at least. He wondered if

Aroostine had pieced it together.

“Oh.” Ruby fell silent again, processing the information.

He resumed his drumming on the side table. Th ey sat like that

until Aroostine emerged from the bedroom.

“Well?” he asked.

“Sid’s working on getting protection for Lily and Ruby.”

Ruby’s head snapped up. “What kind of
protection
?”

“It’ll depend. How would you feel about a vacation, somewhere

back East? Could you get off work?”

“Probably. I’d have to pull Lily out of school, but, shoot, she’d

learn more on a trip off the reservation than she wil sitting at a desk for the next fi fty years.” At the notion of getting away for a while, Ruby’s face softened and her shoulders relaxed.

Aroostine nodded her agreement at the sentiment.

“Okay, it’ll take a few days to arrange. In the meantime, we’ll

stick around and help keep an eye on Lily while you’re at work.”

Joe felt his eyebrows shoot up his forehead. Th ey would? Th ere

went their getaway.

Aroostine painted him with a look like she knew exactly what

he was thinking and thought he needed to get over it.

He twisted his mouth into a knot and gave her a look right

back. Th ey weren’t qualifi ed to act as bodyguards for the girl.

Her black eyes fl ashed.
Later, not in front of Ruby.
Th e message came across so clearly it was as if she’d spoken the words aloud.

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CHILLING EFFECT

He nodded; there was no point in trying to argue now. Aroos-

tine on a mission was an unstoppable force.

“Sure, right. So now what?” he asked.

She rewarded him with a warm smile and turned back to Ruby.

“What time does Lily get home from school?”

“Um, the bus drops her off at quarter to four. I have to leave

for work at six tonight.”

“Great. You catch a nap. Joe and I are going to get our stuff and

check out of our hotel. We have a few errands to run, too, but we

should be back well before Lily gets home. Just in case, though, we’ll stop by Boom’s and ask him to keep an eye out, too. Is that okay?”

Ruby nodded slowly. “Yeah. Boom’s an odd duck—stuck in the

past. But most folks respect him. I don’t think anyone will mess with us if it’s clear he’s got our back.”

“Perfect.” Aroostine crossed the room and took the woman’s

hands in hers. “We aren’t going to let anything happen to you and

your daughter. You have my word.”

For his part, Joe sincerely hoped that was a promise they could

keep.

83

Th ey walked Ruby home and confi rmed that her house was empty.

She locked herself in with a promise to rest. She sure looked as if she needed it—her eyes and skin were dull and tired and she was pale

with worry. But if she showed up for her shift looking so much like the anxious mother she was, she’d never get any tips. Th e heaviness of Ruby’s responsibilities was weighing on Aroostine. She had to

wonder how the woman—younger than she was by a few years—

was coping so well.

She walked in silence toward Boom’s house, lost in her thoughts.

Beside her, Joe kicked up dust with his feet. He cleared his throat once, and then a second time. Belatedly, she realized he was trying to get her attention.

“Sorry. Do you want to say something?” she asked.

He stopped in the middle of the path. His blue eyes fl ashed

with a rare glint of steel.
Uh-oh.
She held her breath and waited.

“For the record, I’m not going to try to talk you out of this.”

CHILLING EFFECT

She exhaled.

“Duly noted, for the record.” She smiled at him, but he wasn’t

mollifi ed.

“Th e reason I’m not going to argue about this is I know it’d be

a waste of my breath. Th at doesn’t mean I think this little scheme is a good idea. It isn’t. It’s a
terrible
idea.

terrible

”

She regarded him for a moment. Th en she nodded. “Yeah, it is.

As far as ideas go, this one sucks. Unfortunately, Joe, I don’t see a better alternative. Do you? If you do, spit it out and we can go back to the previously scheduled program of fi ve-star meals, overstuff ed beds, and soaks in the private hot tub on the balcony outside our room.”

He huff ed and then reluctantly said, “No. I don’t.”

She nodded. “Th en let’s get on with it, okay?”

A half smile sprung to life on his lips, and he leaned in to kiss

her by her ear. “Yes, ma’am.”

Th ey lapsed back into silence, but she reached over and inter-

locked her fi ngers with his as they continued along the path.

Her shoulders felt lighter somehow.

Th ey reached the front of Boom’s worn but tidy home, and she

hesitated. He seemed to sense the reason.

“How much are you going to tell him?”

“I don’t know. As much as we have to.”

Ruby thought it was okay to trust the old man. And Aroostine’s

gut wasn’t telling her otherwise, but she didn’t know Boom from Adam.

“He seems okay,” Joe off ered.

She shrugged. “It’s not like we really have any choices. We need

to get our stuff , and I want to stop by a library. Someone’s got to keep an eye on Ruby and Lily for us.”

“A library? You looking for some light reading?”

“I want to look at articles about the drone facility. And, yes, I

realize I can search them from my phone—or laptop. But I don’t want anyone to be able to trace it, and I think we both know—”

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MELISSA F. MILLER

“Nothing’s private in the electronic age.”

Th ey’d learned that one the hard way. But it wasn’t a lesson

either of them would forget any time soon: you never knew who

might be monitoring your every move from some remote location.

“Yeah.”

Joe looked at her for a full thirty seconds, his face serious.

“Okay. You talk to Boom. I’ll call the hotel and just let them know we’re coming. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it short and sweet.” He stepped a few feet away from the house and pulled out his cell phone.

She stepped up to the door and gave it a solid rap with her knuck-

les. While she waited, she took note of the feathered dream catcher hanging in the front window. She wondered if Boom really cared

about the old Ojibwe custom or if the decoration was for the benefi t of tourists. Her grandfather used to shake his head at old ladies hawk-ing dream catchers at fl ea markets and roadside stands. He said they were as bad as the yuppies who bought them, if not worse.
Selling
off our heritage one trinket at a time, until there’s nothing left.
At the time, she hadn’t understood. Couldn’t they always make more dream

catchers? Now, of course, she realized he was objecting to his people participating in their own cultural appropriation—a subject that she didn’t truly understand, having left the traditional ways behind.

Th e childhood memory was interrupted when Boom’s front

door swung open. He stood on the other side, completely unsur-

prised to see her.

“Aroostine. Good morning, daughter.” He beamed at her.

Th e term of endearment tripped her up, coming on the heels

of her memory of her grandfather. Her grandfather may not have

ever hung a woven, feathered web in his front window to fi lter out his bad dreams, but Boom shared his quiet gravitas. It unsettled her.

“Uh, good morning.”

“I trust you were able to rest after I left?”

After the vision.

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CHILLING EFFECT

“I did; I really didn’t think I’d go back to sleep, but that tea must have held some magic.” She was just making small talk, but he nodded gravely as if to say, yes, there was magic in the tea.

Get a hold of yourself, Higgins
, she ordered internally in her best Sid impression.

“Would you like to come in?” He stepped aside to give her a path.

“Th ank you, but no. Joe and I have to run some errands, but

I’m here to ask you a favor.”

His hooded eyes sparked with interest, and a smal smile played