Realm of the Wolf Book I: Wolf Dance (11 page)

about all the weird things that have been going on around

here." His voice rang with pent up frustration.

"We can't wait around for him. We'll just have to get in

touch with Wildlife Management ourselves. Maybe we'll get

further with them," Laura added.

"Yeah, well we have another problem."

She eyed him curiously.

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"Another one of the men has disappeared." Jessup's eyes

reflected the worry that had begun to gnaw at him.

"We'll just have to replace him." Laura felt drained, almost

to the point of giving up.

"This time it's different. This one left his car and all his

personal property, just like Mitchell. We left him there to

watch over the camp for the weekend and when we returned,

he was nowhere to be found. We searched half the night,"

Jessup finished in a voice grim.

"I stopped by there on Saturday, on my way to that old

fort you told me about. I saw him then." Her voice took on a

distant quality as she searched her memory for clues.

"We decided to stay over until Sunday morning, so we

really don't know how long he has been gone, but the fact

that you saw him Saturday at least tells us that much."

They were both silent for several moments before Jessup

again spoke. "You might want to talk to the police when they

send someone out to investigate, but that won't be until

tomorrow since he isn't officially missing yet." Jessup was

clearly disgusted.

Laura shook her head. "Makes you wonder how they've

kept this place from falling apart as long as they have."

Jessup slammed his big hand down on the desk. "I near

forgot to tell you. Your grandfather called a while ago. Said he

would try and call you tomorrow morning."

With all the events of the past weekend, Laura had

completely forgotten her grandfather's call. Dismayed, she

ran her fingers through her hair. For some reason that Laura

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could not put a finger on, she felt it was extremely important

to talk with her grandfather.

Quitting time crept up on them and still there had been no

word from Justin on the status of her Bronco. Laura began to

wonder how wise it had been to hand her automobile over to

him, but of course there was not much she could do about it

at the moment so she decided to ask Jessup for a ride home.

Jessup not only gave her a lift home, but insisted on

picking her up the next day for work. With not the slightest

idea of what to do with herself for the rest of the evening,

Laura took a book out to the porch.

Halfheartedly, she attempted to lose herself within the

novel's pages, but gave up after five minutes of staring at the

same sentence. Laura thought about the big mess that this

job had turned into. She was beginning to wish that she had

listened to her grandfather and never come here.

Her eyes scanned the sheltering woods that surrounded

the cabin. They were beautiful and tranquil, but one could not

miss its undertones of sinister darkness. Laura closed her

eyes, and for the first time in many years she listened to her

Navajo heart. It sang out its warnings of evil, foretelling of

her destruction if she should dare love a man of the

Sungmanitu
.

Laura's eyes flew open. Where had that thought come

from? It was true that Justin had not been far from her

thoughts for the past few days, but was she actually falling in

love with him?

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She was not a believer in "love at first sight" but there was

no denying the fact that Justin drew her like a magnet. Even

the thought of his touch sent shivers through her body.

How did he end up in her thoughts every time she

pondered all the disturbing aspects of this job?

Spending the evening alone filled her with a deep sense of

uneasiness, and she now regretted not having invited Jessup

to have dinner with her. At least she would not have been

sitting here alone—dreading nightfall.

The office was a madhouse. The phones had not stopped

ringing since she had come in this morning. They heard from

all sorts of people who wanted to put in their words of protest

against the clear-cutting.

The sheriff had left only moments ago, convinced that

someone in Beaver Creek was responsible for all the recent

troubles. Laura didn't know why this conclusion made her

uneasy, but it did.

Jessup's voice pulled her from her thoughts. "It's your

grandfather, Laura." He held out the phone to her.

A wave of much needed comfort washed over her as she

took the phone. "Hi, Grandpa."

"What's wrong Laura? Where were you yesterday?" His

raspy voice was overcome with worry.

"Oh nothing." The lie felt as if it would burn her tongue. "I

just didn't feel well yesterday and couldn't make it in early. I

was calling to see if you were okay."

"Things are as they should be here."

"I'm glad to hear that." Laura was grateful to know that

her grandfather was faring well.

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"When are you coming home?" he prodded.

"Soon, Grandpa. Things should be wrapped up here within

a few weeks." Laura knew it was wishful thinking, but she

didn't want to worry him.

Busby's keen senses didn't miss the undercurrent of stress

in Laura's voice. "You should leave them to their own

problems and come home now," he insisted.

"Grandpa ... you know I can't do that." Laura tried to be

firm, but she could feel herself wavering.

Busby caught this. "You are playing with forces that you do

not understand, Laura, and putting yourself in danger. Leave

them to suffer their mistakes alone."

"What danger ... Grandpa? What do you know about the

Sungmanitu
?"

There was only silence.

"Grandpa!"

"Leave the white men to pay for their own mistakes and

come home to your own people, Laura." The line went dead.

"Grandpa!" Laura's voice rose. There was no answer. The

connection had been broken.

Laura sighed as she hung up the phone.

"Problems?" Jessup asked.

"Yes, you could say that. My grandfather thinks that you

are all fools and that I should have nothing to do with this evil

business." Laura was more troubled than what she let Jessup

see.

"Your grandfather just may be right." Jessup smiled.

Busby sat in the corner of the small trading post, eying the

pay phone on the wall. It was hard to resist the temptation to

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ring Laura again and demand that she return at once. It

would do no good. Even if he told her the truth she wouldn't

believe him.

His eyes wandered from the phone to Kenny, who had just

finished waiting on the only customer of the morning. Old

Dino gathered his purchases and staggered toward the door,

leaving behind the sour odor of cheap whiskey.

Busby shook his head sadly. So many of the people had

fallen to the dark spirits— it sickened him to witness it day

after day.

Kenny was busy washing the counter, attempting to clear

away some of the never-ending dust. Now there was a good

boy and handsome too, his dark eyes were gentle and caring,

especially for Laura.

Busby would never understand why Laura had not stayed

and married Kenny. She had always been a willful child, and

Busby had not been too surprised the day Laura announced

her intentions of moving to Santa Fe to look for work.

He struggled to rise from the chair he had been sitting on

and he made his way to the counter. Resting his old frame

against the wooden surface, he waited for Kenny to

acknowledge his presence.

"How's Laura getting on?" Kenny asked with a smile.

Busby eyed the younger man speculatively—evaluating the

odds of obtaining his help in this situation. Deciding they were

good, he pushed forward.

"Kenny, Laura could be in danger."

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This instantly captured the young man's attention and he

immediately grew more serious. "Why's that, Grandpa

Busby?"

"I cannot be sure of the danger until I go to South Dakota.

I need to ask if you will take me there."

Kenny was shocked at the request. As far as he knew,

Grandpa Busby had only left the reservation on very few

occasions throughout his seventy-five years.

"If you need to go to South Dakota, I will take you ... but

why there?"

"I don't know how much time we have, so I will have to

explain on the way."

The urgency in the old man's voice disturbed Kenny, but

he knew it would do no good to question Busby further at the

moment.

"We better get moving. That's a long ways." Kenny put

more confidence into his voice than what he felt.

Exhausted, Laura leaned back in her chair, hoping for a

few moments of peace. Nobody seemed to be happy about

Duccini's presence. They had received so much opposition

from, not only the locals and the ecologist, but just about

everyone in between.

Jessup had made the decision to postpone cutting until the

problems could be worked out.

The only people whom they had not heard from were the

Sungmanitu
. Considering their hatred of Duccini, this struck

Laura as quite odd.

The sound of Justin's bike outside got Laura's attention.

Rising, she went to the door. Justin killed the engine and

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reclined on the backrest. It was as if he knew Laura would

come to him, and as expected she went out to greet him.

"Hello, Justin."

"Laura."

Her name slipped smooth as satin from his lips. The sheer

sensuality of his voice sent Laura's pulse racing.

He waved the keys in front of her. "Your truck is fixed.

Would you like a ride to pick it up?"

Laura wavered, remembering the thoughts that had taken

possession of her the night before, but she quickly pushed

them from her mind.

"Just let me tell the boss that I'm leaving."

Being so close to him had the same effect on her as fine

wine and by the time they reached his cabin she was feeling

faintly dizzy with longing. It was taking everything she had to

ignore it.

Justin helped her from the bike. "You should have no more

problems with it," he told her.

"Thank you very much." Laura reached into her purse.

"How much do I owe you?"

"How about a smile?" he told her in a voice softer than his

caress.

Her spirits rose, and she felt unreasonably happy all of a

sudden. It was flattering that he would go through so much

trouble for her.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

He nodded.

"So ... do you live here alone?" The question came out

before she had a chance to think about what she was saying.

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As soon as the words left her lips she was wishing she could

take them back.

"I'm not involved with anyone." He winked.

Laura blushed all the way to her toes. "I didn't mean to

pry."

"Not at all. I would have told you a long time ago, if you

had asked." Justin held her eyes with his. Laura had to catch

her breath when she saw the heat of unmasked desire in their

depths.

Knowing that she was not strong enough to hold either of

their passions at bay, Laura thought it wise to change the line

of conversation. "So why is it that no one from Beaver Creek

has been around to protest the clear cutting?"

At once she saw her mistake. His mood swing was sudden

and dark. It was as if he had slammed the door to his soul. In

that instant the realization came to her. This was a subject he

had purposely avoided. He had mentioned it only a couple of

times, and one of those had been the night of the dance.

"Would it do any good?" His voice held a note of deep

bitterness.

Laura had no answer for him.

"The white man has always taken what he wanted with no

regard for my people. We have no reason to think it might

change now." He was looking into the western sky, his eyes

seeing something that hers could not, or had forgotten how to

see.

What could she say? She knew the truth of his words only

too well. The silence between them was like a brick wall—

Laura fought to tear it down.

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"So ... is this your home ... did you grow up here?" Laura

forced casualness into her voice, but inside her emotion was

raging.

"I was born here, but when I was a baby my mother left—