Authors: Andi Marquette

The Ties That Bind (43 page)

BOOK: The Ties That Bind

11.33Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

ads

Chris didn't say anything for a long time and I didn't offer any comments, either. She took another swallow of beer before speaking. "And he and Purcell kept going."

"Surano admits he freaked and that he should have stopped."

"But he didn't."

"No."

"Why didn't Bill just leave the road and continue through the desert?"

"I don't know." And maybe we'd never know
.

"What do you think?" she asked after another pause.

"I don't know that, either." I took another swallow of beer. "I don't know what's out there, but something happened to me and Sage. And Monroe. I don't know if we can call it collective psychosis or a group hallucination, but something chased me and Sage and something scared Surano that night Bill died. And something attacked Monroe. Maybe it is just a nutty feral dog. Or a coyote with a really bad attitude. I don't know. The worst part is, I don't think we'll ever know what happened out there, either last Friday or the night Bill died." I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated all over again.

Chris nodded, thoughtful. "Maybe some things you don't want to know," she said. "
Abuelita
tells me sometimes that some things are beyond our understanding. Maybe there is a logical explanation, and it's a coyote gone crazy." She shot me a sidelong glance. "And maybe it's not."

"You ready to take me to the loony bin?" I wouldn't blame her if she did.

She smiled and squeezed my shoulder. "No,
esa
.
No estás loca
. Not in a bad way. You, of all people, know that people can do fucked-up shit. And you know that people can make themselves believe anything. But I think now you're coming to understand that sometimes, we may not know the answers. Not right away. And that is never a bad thing. Knocks you off your academic pedestal, maybe." She winked and took another sip of beer.

I stared at her again.
Oh, my God.
"Something weird happened to you, too," I said accusingly. "And you've never told me."

She smiled again and shrugged.

"What? Dammit, Chris, you owe me."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You've given me total shit for the skinwalker stuff."

"Maybe I was in denial."

"What the fuck? How long have we been friends? And you haven't told me everything?" I stood and placed my hands on my hips, almost indignant.

"Be grateful I've spared you some of that." She raised her eyebrows at me.

"I don't believe this. My best friend has been holding out on me. That is so not fair. I don't think you deserve another beer," I threatened.

She looked at me, plaintive, and I glared at her in return, trying to maintain a fierce expression. It didn't work. I started laughing. "Dammit, I can't be mad at you."

"I know. And I'll tell you eventually. But right now, I want

another beer. And I think you should have one, too. Down time?" I didn't disagree.

"HOW'S YOUR JAW?" Sage asked, voice soft in my ear.

"Not bad." I pulled her closer as we danced, something slow and sexy on the CD player, pools of candlelight splashed across our living room floor.

"How's Chris?" The question meant,
"Did she lecture you and if she did, was it warranted?"

"Good. Surprisingly good." Which meant that she hadn't lectured me.

Sage sighed with relief and we danced a bit longer before she spoke again. "Did you read Ellen's e-mail?"

I pulled away a little. "No. When did she send it?"

"This afternoon. She CC'ed you. Did you not check yours?"

"No. What's up?" A little twinge of angst ricocheted in my gut.

"She asked if we'd be interested in a Blessingway ceremony next week, at her family's place on the reservation."

"Yes."

She looked at me, surprised. "You're sure?"

"Look, I'm not going to pretend that I don't think about what you told me and it doesn't make me a little insecure sometimes. But you and I, we're in the
now
. You'll always share a past and a connection with Ellen, whether I was here or not. I need to just accept that. Besides, I think maybe a ceremony like that will..."
Will what?
I searched for words, found them. "Clear bad ju-ju." Yep. That's exactly what it would do.

Sage kissed me on the cheek and held my gaze with hers and in it, I saw conviction. A shared journey. I saw us, and for the second time that day, I felt like crying.

"And Kara?" she asked. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there today to see her off."

"No worries. She may soon be living nearby, after all. Or not. But if she does, there'll be plenty of time to see her, then. Whether you want to or not."

She giggled. "Did she say anything about Shoshana?"

I ran my hands down her back. "Nope. And no, I didn't ask."

She pulled back so she could look into my eyes. "Well done."

"Maybe it's a summer romance. Or just a weird one. She did say it messed with her a little, that Shoshana's uncle was involved in--" I hesitated.

"Dad's death," Sage finished. "I wondered how that might make her feel. Not that Shoshana is responsible in any way for what her uncle did or does."

I nuzzled her neck as the song changed to something as sexy and slow as the previous one. "It's Kara's gig," I said. "If she wants to talk to me, she will. Until then, I think I should focus on you and me."

"I'll do the same." She kissed me, long and deep, and sparks flowed from my lips to my toes, along the current between us. "I can't guarantee I won't drive you crazy," she murmured against my mouth.

"Ditto."

"I can't guarantee that as I unpack my baggage I won't be an impossible bitch," she continued, lips grazing mine. My heart sped up.

"I know. And I can't guarantee that sometimes I won't be an insufferable, arrogant, academic asshole."

"Mmm. True." Her eyes sparkled and I thought about unexplored rivers, and how the same things can look different when light changes, and that life wasn't always a spectator sport.

"Can we at least guarantee we'll talk about things?"

"I will gladly make that guarantee." She put her head on my shoulder and I breathed in her scent, thinking that as difficult as the last couple of weeks had been, in some ways, it had brought us closer together, and whatever we faced down the road, I felt confident that we'd face it and get through it, somehow. I closed my eyes and swayed with her, delighting in the feel of her body against me, her heat beneath my palms.

"How about we put the processing on hold for a little bit?" She nipped my earlobe and I no longer had coherent thoughts.

"Please."

She smiled at me in a way that took me back two years, to the first night we ever shared. "I love you," she said, and I read truth in her eyes.

"I love you back." I kissed her until both of us were breathing hard and as she led me to the bedroom, I understood, in that moment, that some things I might not ever be able to explain, but that was okay. Things like love, laughter, pain, life, death, and everything in between. Things that needed no explanation, and searching for one might perhaps blunt their effect, and make us lose sight of the essence of living.

"You're processing," Sage whispered as she tugged at the button on my shorts.

"Damn psychics," I whispered back.

"So what have you determined in the past few minutes?" She eased my zipper down.

"That I'm crazy about you."

"And?"

"And that's it."

She stopped, pretending to be shocked. And then she pulled me close, using my shorts as leverage. "Live this moment with me," she said, her hands slipping to my hips, lips brushing my chin.

And I did. Gladly.

'Til next time...

About the Author

Andi Marquette was born in Albuquerque and grew up in Colorado. After completing a couple of academic degrees in anthropology, she returned to Albuquerque where she completed a Ph.D. in history. She fell into editing in 1993 and has been obsessed with words ever since, which may or may not be a good thing. Currently, she resides in Colorado where she edits, writes, and nurtures a fascination with New Mexico chile.

More Andi Marquette titles to look for

Land of Entrapment

K.C. Fontero left New Mexico in the wake of a bitter break-up to take an academic fellowship in Texas. With a doctorate in sociology and expertise in white supremacist groups, she's on her way to an academic career. But a plea for help from her ex, Melissa, brings K.C. back to Albuquerque to find Melissa's troubled younger sister. Megan has disappeared with her white supremacist boyfriend and K.C. knows she has the expertise to track the mysterious group, and she knows she'll be doing a public service to uncover it. What she doesn't know is how far into her past she'll have to go to find both Megan and herself and the deeper she digs into the group, the greater the danger she faces.

ISBN 978-1-935053-02-6

State of Denial

The body of a young gay man buried along the Rio Grande leads Albuquerque police detective Chris Gutierrez down a path of dark secrets and old hatreds. Trying to deal with the other detective assigned to the case--the sexist and homophobic Dale Harper--Chris tracks the killer to an older unsolved case, and to the doors of a local megachurch and a popular minister with ties to ex-gay groups. Enlisting the research skills and networks of sociologist and best friend K.C. Fontero, Chris works to build the case and make an arrest before the killer strikes again, even as she must also face her growing feelings for attorney Dayna Carson. Struggling with her attraction to Dayna and the complexity of a difficult case, Chris is drawn into an ominous and potentially deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a man who might kill to protect his own secrets.

ISBN 978-1-935053-09-5

Other Quest Titles

Hanging Offense

by Cleo Dare

Mandy Barnes, her trust betrayed by her husband Jay, needs a summer away to think about her marriage. She opts for a seasonal job at Bryce Canyon National Park in remote southern Utah and there meets Jo Reynolds, a lesbian park ranger from California. Mandy is attracted to Jo, but uncertain of her own sexuality.

On a hike into the wilderness, Mandy chances upon some vintage coins in a rusted can and is then plagued by violent dreams of a murder from the past. Are the coins connected to the dreams? Will deciphering the mystery of the past help her unravel the tangled knot of the present? Can she overcome her fears to find renewed trust and true love in Jo's arms?

ISBN 978-1-935053-11-8

Tunnel Vision

by Brenda Adcock

Royce Brodie, a 50-year-old homicide detective in the quiet town of Cedar Springs, a bedroom community 30 miles from Austin, Texas, has spent the last seven years coming to grips with the incident that took the life of her partner and narrowly missed taking her own. The peace and quiet she had been enjoying is shattered by two seemingly unrelated murders in the same week: the first, a John Doe, and the second, a janitor at the local university.

While Brodie and her partner, Curtis Nicholls, begin their investigation, the assignment of a new trainee disrupts Brodie's life. Not only is Maggie Weston Brodie's former lover, but her father had been Brodie's commander at the Austin Police Department and nearly destroyed her career.

As the three detectives try to piece together the scattered evidence to solve the two murders, they become convinced the two murders are related. The discovery of a similar murder committed five years earlier at a small university in upstate New York creates a sense of urgency as they realize they are possibly chasing a serial killer.

The already difficult case becomes even more so when a third victim is found. But the case becomes personal for Brodie when Maggie becomes the killer's next target. Unless Brodie finds a way to save Maggie, she could face losing everything a second time.

ISBN 978-1-935053-19-4

VISIT US ONLINE AT

www.regalcrest.biz

At the Regal Crest Website You'll Find