Rogue (Book 2) (The Omega Group) (10 page)

The conference room was relatively quiet when Carter and
Gina burst through the door. All eyes were immediately on them.

“Is something wrong?” Myrine asked.

“You could say that. Gina just saw the guy that kidnapped
me.” Carter looked at his father. “It was Bill.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Chief Mockta slammed his hands on the
table in front of him. “Your jealousy knows no bounds, Carter, and as for your
friend
here”—the venom in his voice when he spoke of Gina was evident—“I would have
thought you’d know better than to believe anything she has to say.”

Chief Istaqa stood. “Do not speak that way about a member of
my tribe, Chief Mockta.”

The tension in the room grew as, one by one, the conference
attendees stood to defend their chiefs. As angry voices filled the air, Carter
couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu. Once again, he and Gina were tearing
their tribes apart.

Not this time.

“Mirissa,” Carter said. “Can you give me a hand with this?”

The smirk on Mirissa’s face told Carter that she’d just been
waiting for someone to ask. As she raised her hands in front of her, the
conference table shook. She turned her palms outward and thrust them to the
sides. Both tribes, Yavapai on the left and Havasupai on the right, were thrown
against the wall. Their shock-induced silence was all the cue Carter needed.

“Now that I have your attention, let’s lay out some ground
rules. First, you will speak only when spoken to. Second, when you speak it
will be with the utmost respect to everyone in the room. Third, and most
importantly, you will get rid of all of your preconceived notions about who is
good and who is bad. Anyone who doesn’t follow these rules will be given to
Mirissa as a plaything. Are we clear?” As heads nodded throughout the room,
Carter signaled Mirissa to release them. “Thank you. Now have a seat.”

As the tribal representatives scrambled to follow his order,
Carter gestured for Myrine to take her seat at the head of the table.

“This is your show now. We’ll follow your lead,” Myrine
said.

Carter smiled and nodded his thanks, then addressed the
Havasupai. “When my friends and I were escorted out of the village yesterday,
Bill wasn’t there. Do any of you know where he was?”

The men looked to each other and then back at Carter,
shaking their heads. Bidzil was the only one with the nerve to speak. “I
assumed he was with his wife. Her injuries from the raid weren’t
life-threatening, but it seemed an obvious conclusion.”

“Did any of you see him before, say, dinnertime yesterday?”

As the other men at the table shook their heads, Chief
Mockta spoke. “Just because we didn’t see him, doesn’t mean he wasn’t there.”

“Agreed,” Carter said. “But it also doesn’t mean he was.
Yesterday afternoon, Gina saw a man wearing a baseball cap dragging me through
the woods just outside her village. When he realized he wasn’t alone, he took
off. Just now, out front of the hotel, she saw a man of the same height and
build wearing the same baseball cap. It was Bill.”

The chief’s eyes turned angry. “That’s what you’re basing
these wild accusations on? A mild resemblance and a baseball cap? There are
many men with similar caps and even more that fit Bill’s general
description—including you, Carter.”

Carter couldn’t argue his father’s logic. He and Bill had
often been mistaken for each other growing up, and a baseball cap was hardly a
fingerprint. Their evidence, if you could call it that, was circumstantial at
best. “We still need to question him. If he is the robed man from the visions,
we need to find out sooner rather than later.”

“This is ridiculous,” Chief Mockta grumbled. “Bill is a
loyal Havasupai Council member. He would not deceive us like that.”

“Forgive me, Chief Mockta,” Bidzil interrupted, “but William
has always coveted Carter’s rightful place in our tribe. It stands to reason—”

“Carter has no place in our tribe!” The chief shot up from
his chair.

Mirissa stepped forward, but Carter stopped her. “For now,
we just need to find Bill. He left in a taxi. Anyone have any idea where he
might be heading?”

One of the Yavapai men tentatively raised his hand, a slight
flush rising on his cheeks. “I’ve seen him with Rosie a few times. At the
Trading Post.”

Carter let out a sigh. “Seriously?”

Myrine stepped forward. “Who’s Rosie?”

“She was a local escort. Judging by how much he’s blushing”—Carter
tilted his head toward the Yavapai man—“she still is.”

“Then we’ll start there,” said Myrine.

Bill Soyala stared at the passing trees as his taxi
meandered along Desert View Drive. Getting from one place to another near the
canyon was never quick. All of the roads, including the highways, followed what
looked on a map like the trail of a drunken hiker. The distance between two
points was virtually doubled by the routes people were forced to take.

With each passing mile, Bill’s anger increased. He clenched
his fists in his lap as he thought of the smug look on Carter’s face when
they’d asked him to leave the meeting. That bastard was ruining everything.
After all these years, he still thought
he
was the better man.

As kids, they’d been so close. At least, that’s what he’d
thought at the time. Carter was the chief’s son, a natural athlete, and the
most popular boy at school. Bill was
a nobody
. Neither
of his parents had important jobs. They’d sold trinkets to tourists, which put
them at the lowest possible place in the hierarchy. Bill had been destined for
mediocrity by accident of birth.

In the third grade, when Carter stopped a fifth grader from
taking Bill’s lunch, things started to look up. People noticed him for the
first time in his life. The great and powerful Carter Mockta had befriended
him.

From then on, they’d done everything together. On the
playground, Carter always picked Bill for his team. In class, they were
partners for every project. Over the years, they grew to be more like brothers
than friends. Bill’s dream of one day becoming
a somebody
had come true.

That illusion, however, was shattered when he went on his
first real date. Although Carter had girls falling all over themselves to be
with him, Bill was eighteen before he finally got up the nerve to ask someone
out. He’d been so excited when Sheila actually said yes.

He took her to Havasu Falls. At first, he thought things
were going well. When she continually steered their topics of conversation toward
Carter, he realized what her true motivation was. She was using him to get to
his best friend. When he confronted her about it, instead of an apology, she
gave him the truth. The truth he’d denied for years.

Carter only became his friend because he felt sorry for him.
He’d
stayed
Bill’s friend because it made him look charitable. Sheila
told him how Carter asked her to agree to the date just so he’d have an evening
away from him. When Bill’s eyes welled at the embarrassment, she’d grabbed his
hand and said, “We all have our roles.”

And she was right. Except his role would no longer be as
Carter’s sidekick. He had bigger plans in mind. He was just as strong and just
as smart as Carter, but he was far more cunning. He kept up appearances,
playing the dutiful best friend, and waited for his opportunity. Over a year
later it came, and it was glorious.

Now he’s back, screwing up everything I’ve worked for.

The memory of his humiliating expulsion from the conference
room came crashing back. The Yavapai snickering under their breath. Carter’s
look of supreme satisfaction. Even the chief, who’d been like a father to him
after his own died three years prior, had turned against him. A knot formed in
his gut, twisting until sweat trickled from his brow. He fidgeted in his seat,
unable to find a comfortable position, until he noticed the cab driver watching
him in his rearview mirror.

“Are you all right, buddy?” the driver asked.

“I will be.”

Tomorrow, Bill would turn everything around, but for now,
all he wanted to do was get to Rosie. The last few days had been filled with
one disaster after another, and he needed the kind of comfort only she could
give.

When the taxi finally pulled into the Cameron Trading Post
parking lot, Bill could hardly contain himself. He tore through his wallet,
threw cash at the driver, and, fumbling with the door handle, almost fell out
of the car.

Rosie would be waiting for him in the restaurant, most
likely eating a meal she had no intentions of paying for herself. It was their
routine, and had been for almost six years. When he first hooked up with Rosie,
shortly after his disastrous date with Sheila, he’d rented one of the Trading
Post’s motel rooms. After he became one of her regular clients, she allowed him
to start coming to the trailer she kept in the RV Park behind the motel. The
money he saved not renting a room was quickly reallocated to meals and drinks.

Their arrangement was mutually beneficial. She used him for
his money and he used her for her
talents
. It was the only honest relationship
Bill had ever had.

When he saw her sitting at her table, eating her dessert,
the knot in his stomach immediately dissipated. For the next hour, at least,
there would be no thoughts of Carter.

“Hey, stranger.” Rosie always greeted him the same way, as
though she hadn’t seen him every single week.

“Thanks for meeting me on such short notice. It’s been a
rough couple of days.” Bill sat across from her and waited impatiently as she
enjoyed an ice cream sundae. His tapping foot clearly irritated her.

“All right, I’m done,” she said.

Bill immediately signaled to the waitress to bring their
check. When he reached for his wallet, all he found was an empty pocket.
“Dammit. I must have dropped my wallet when I got out of the cab. I’ll be right
back.”

He stood so quickly he almost knocked over his chair. The
waitress gave him a strange look as she laid the check on the table, but Rosie
just rolled her eyes. As he pushed through the front door he looked over his
shoulder. The waitress’s back was to him, but he could see Rosie talking to her
like they were old friends.

The parking lot held several cars but no people were in
sight. Bill frantically searched the ground near where the cab dropped him off.
His wallet was laid open on the gravel, a fresh tire track marring its leather
surface. He scooped it up and headed back inside.

When he opened the door, he heard familiar voices. His gut
once again clenched.
They must have come in through the motel. But, why?

“And you haven’t seen Bill today?” Carter said.

“Nope. Not today.” Rosie was using her best “I’m innocent”
voice.

Bill held the door open a few inches so he could hear their
conversation while staying out of sight.

“It’s important that we find him, Rosie.” That voice
belonged to one of the park rangers. He’d met her several times over the years.

“Why? Has he done something wrong?” Rosie was playing her
role perfectly.

“He’s wanted for questioning in connection to an attempted
kidnapping,” the ranger said.

“What? Kidnapping? No way. I don’t want any part of that.”
Rosie was losing it. Her loyalty to him ran only as deep as his wallet, and
that wasn’t very deep. She would give him up any second.

Bill quietly closed the door and scanned the parking lot. He
found what he was looking for—an older model Ford Taurus—and went to work. As a
teenager, one of Carter’s wilder friends had given them a crash course in auto
theft. Everyone assumed that Bill wasn’t listening, but they were wrong.

A couple of minutes later he was driving down the highway.
Time
for plan B.

Carter stared at the parking lot, Ranger Christner at his
side. They’d just missed him. Rosie put on a decent show of not knowing where
Bill was until, of course, she realized the trouble he was in was far more serious
than any solicitation charge she might receive.

“How did he know we were coming?” Ranger Christner asked.

“I don’t think he did. It was just dumb luck.” Carter turned
to the ranger and said, “Thanks for coming with me. Having local law
enforcement around makes things a lot easier.”

“No problem. Technically rangers aren’t law enforcement, but
people tend to forget that distinction.”

Her casual attitude gave Carter some insight into why Han
was so taken with her. “You seem to be handling all of this stuff pretty well,
Ranger.”

“Please, call me Kell. I’ll admit to being more than a
little freaked out last night, but I’ve lived at the canyon my whole life.
Strange is sort of normal here.” A grin spread across her face. “And it’s nice
to finally have proof that you guys can shape-shift.”

Carter’s expression must have broadcasted his concern
because Kell immediately raised her hands, palms out, and said, “You don’t have
to worry. Your secret is safe with me. I just meant that it’s nice to finally
know I’m not crazy.” Kell paused, looking at him as though trying to gauge his
reaction. “You’re not going to lock me away in that hotel room again, are you?”

Carter laughed. “No, and I’m sorry about that. We just need
to be careful.”

“I get it. Plus, I’m of a lot more use to you out here.”

Smart girl,
Carter thought. “We need to talk to Rosie
again. Maybe Bill let something slip during one of their meetings that will
help us find him.”

They returned to the table where the waitress was now
clearing dirty dishes. Before he had the chance to ask, she said, “Rosie went
back to her trailer. She’s a little freaked out.”

Kell raised her eyebrows and the waitress handed over a
small piece of paper with directions. “I figured you’d be asking,” she said.

The RV Park was nothing more than a flat rectangle of land,
dotted with trailers that covered the spectrum from dilapidated to luxurious.
Rosie’s was somewhere in the middle. Other than a couple potted plants that
looked to be in desperate need of water, there was nothing at all homey about
the place.
That’s probably because it’s her workplace, not her home.

Rosie opened her door with a scowl on her face. “I already
told you. I don’t know anything.”

“We just have a couple of questions for you,” Kell said. “I thought
you’d prefer to answer them here rather than at the station. That way we don’t
have to file an official report about why Bill was here to see you, and we can
just talk like friends.”

Rosie let out an exasperated sigh and stepped aside to allow
them entrance. Kell sat at the small dinner table and motioned for Rosie to
join her. Carter leaned against the kitchen counter as he took in his
surroundings. The faint smell of artificial lemons told him the trailer was
clean if not entirely tidy. There were no family pictures or personal mementos
decorating the walls or surfaces, just the basic necessities. He didn’t think
they’d find any of Bill’s belongings there.

“Do you have any idea where he might have gone? Maybe he
mentioned some place to you during one of his visits,” Kell said.

Rosie shook her head. “No. I don’t really know him that
well. He doesn’t talk much.”

Carter’s curiosity got the better of him. “How long has he
been seeing you?”

“About six years now. He’s one of my regulars.”

Kell clasped her hands together and laid them on the table.
“Six years, and you expect us to believe you don’t know anything about him?”

“He doesn’t exactly pay me for conversation.”

“Okay,” Carter said, “but anything you can think of might
help us. What about his moods? Has he been different over the last few months?”

Rosie considered the question for a few minutes before
answering, giving Carter an odd look that he didn’t understand. “When he first
started coming to me he seemed pretty angry. I’m not sure why. I figured it was
the typical ‘coming of age’ crap that all young guys go through. But over the
last few years he’s gotten a lot better. I think things turned around for him
at some point.”

“What about the last few months?” Kell asked.

“That’s just it. He’s been fine, happy almost. Look, if
you’d come to me six years ago and told me Bill was up to something bad, I
wouldn’t have been surprised. He obviously had some problems back then. Now,
though, I don’t see it.” Rosie looked at Kell and then at Carter, holding her gaze
on him a little bit too long.

“Is something wrong?” Carter asked.

“No, sorry. It’s just… you look familiar. Do I know you?”

Carter noticed a slight flush spreading across Kell’s
cheeks. He could only imagine the assumptions she was making. “I grew up around
here.”

“Oh. That must be it then. I never forget a face.” When she
looked back at Kell, she grinned mischievously. “Don’t worry, sweetie. He
wasn’t a client. I would never forget a guy like him.”

“I wasn’t worried. Can we get back to Bill, please?” Kell
seemed as uncomfortable with this new line of conversation as Carter was.

“Sure,” Rosie said. “Like I said, I don’t think he’d be
involved in anything illegal, especially now.”

Both Carter and Kell perked up at that last comment. “What
do you mean ‘especially now’?”

“He’s next in line to become chief of his tribe. They just
made it official. It’s what he’s always wanted.”

Carter looked at Kell. “We need to go. Now.”

When they got to the car, Carter put the phone on speaker as
he and Kell pulled on to the highway. “Myrine, is my father still there?”

“No. He left right after you did, along with everyone else.
Why? What’s going on?”

Carter’s brow furrowed. “I think he might be in danger. We
weren’t able to get to Bill, but he knows were on to him.”

“I don’t understand. Why would that put your father in
danger?” Myrine asked.

“Bill is next in line to be the Havasupai chief. They’ve
already had the ceremony that makes it official. If my father steps down, or
something happens to him, Bill automatically takes his place.”

Kell glanced over at Carter. “But after today, surely the
tribe wouldn’t allow that to happen.”

“That’s the problem,” Carter said. “Once the ceremony is
complete, it’s a done deal. If Bill is planning to make a move, he’s going to
have to do it quickly, before my father has the chance to officially remove him
as his successor.”

“All right, then. We’ll meet you at the hilltop. I’ll call
General Persaud and see if he can help us with transport.”