After she washed her face and hands, Castaña walked back into the living area. One room, a wood stove took up the east wall, a single bed the west one. A scarred oak table was set at an angle in the middle of the room. Eagle motioned them to sit, and after they settled themselves around the table, no one spoke. Castaña was reminded of her mother’s venison stew and a lump formed in her throat.
Eagle seemed to sense her mood. “What’s this talk about Martin missing?”
Castaña filled her in. “Have you seen him? Or heard anything about him?”
Eagle shook her head. “I haven’t seen Martin since, let’s see … oh, about a month ago. He stopped in to see if I needed anything. I had just run to Payson for supplies and was set up fine, so I said no. Martin said he’d be back sometime this month, but I haven’t seen him.”
“Did you see those BLM agents who were murdered?”
“Sure did. They wanted to use my corrals to gather up the mustangs. I said no way in hell was I going to allow them to capture the horses here.” Eagle’s small eyes squinted almost shut with remembered ire. “These government people are destroying, not protecting the animals.”
“Do you have any idea who might have shot those men?”
“The way they spoke to me I could’ve filled their rears with buckshot myself, but I didn’t.” Eagle glanced at her shotgun hanging over the front door.
“They were rude to you?” Patty’s voice matched Castaña’s astonishment. Eagle was the kindest woman imaginable. They must’ve really been awful for her to get mad enough to threaten using her shotgun.
Eagle snorted. “Rude is a nice word. One of them called me a nasty name I won’t repeat in polite company.”
“That’s terrible.” Castaña sipped hot coffee. “This puts a different spin on things doesn’t it?”
“Do you think they made someone else mad enough to kill them?” Patty asked.
“Possibly.” Castaña turned her thoughts elsewhere for a minute. “Do you know where the mustangs are?”
“The last bunch runs mostly up on the flats by the ranger station.” The old woman’s face filled with sadness. “There are only around eighty now.”
“That’s it?” Castaña sat in stunned silence. Five years ago, there had been more than a thousand mustangs in the Apache-Sitgreave. Now only one herd ran free? Was the government’s goal extinction? Martin must’ve been losing his mind with grief and anger.
Eagle’s eyes were sad. “Yes. Thanks to the government, there’s less than a hundred horses left here. And those BLM men wanted to take another bunch away. To what? Auctions no one goes to, or shipped to holding pens in Oklahoma? Worse yet, to slaughter? It makes my heart hurt.”
Castaña couldn’t disagree.
Chapter Eight
By the time Jake woke the sun had fallen.
Not light, not yet completely dark. He blinked a few times, clearing his vision. Lacey and Heather had built a fire and the flames invited him to come closer. He moved to stand and a groan slid out of him. He hurt like hell. Every muscle in his body felt like it had been stretched out, twisted and then snapped back in place. Forcing himself to his aching feet, he staggered toward the fire.
Lacey and Heather came out of the tent and Heather said, “It’s late. If you’re going to make it back to the canyon before it gets too dark to see, we need to leave right away.”
Friendly girls. Castaña didn’t know him either and she had taken him in and both housed and fed him. “Yeah, okay.”
Heather tossed him another granola bar and a bottle of water. “Here.”
He ate, and then slid his boots on swollen feet. With a barely suppressed moan he said, “Ready.”
Heather moved in front of him, Lacey behind. Both girls carried lanterns, but he couldn’t help feeling like a prisoner being marched to the gallows.
“Wait.” He stepped around Heather so he was facing both girls. Their faces shone a pale milky color in the yellow lantern light. “Have you seen another man out here anywhere? I got separated from my buddy. He’s about six feet, long black hair usually tied back with a leather thong. A running horse tattoo on his neck.”
“No,” Heather muttered.
Lacey shot a quick look at Heather, then shook her head. “We haven’t seen anyone. Just you.”
He wasn’t convinced she was telling the truth, but there wasn’t any point in arguing with her. He fell back in line behind Heather and Lacey trailed him. They walked out of the camp at a clip that made his sore feet wish for Cloud or Rojo. “What about mustangs? Seen any?”
Heather didn’t slow her pace. “No.”
He glanced over his shoulder and Lacey shrugged. “Uh-huh. Why?”
“Just curious. I’ve always wanted to see them.”
Dark fell as they walked and it took all of Jake’s concentration to keep from falling on the unfamiliar trail. Heather marched along as if she had been over it a million times. Lacey didn’t seem to be having any trouble negotiating the path either, but without his own source of light he was having more trouble than the girls. Towering pines folded in around them and the half moon was barely visible between the boughs. Jake was fairly certain he hadn’t seen this place last night, but he couldn’t swear to it.
Without warning, Heather stopped and he slammed into her. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she muttered.
Was she this surly with everyone, or was it just him? “Why’d we stop?”
“You’re not much of a hiker, are you? We need to stay hydrated.” She reached in her fanny pack, withdrew two bottles of water and handed him one.
Gratefully, Jake took the drink. He’d hiked plenty, but he hadn’t been sun-stroked and left for dead before or ridden bareback all night either. But Heather wasn’t the only one who didn’t want her business out in the open so he kept his mouth shut. “I’m more of a city boy. You two seem right at home out here though.”
“We were raised in the city — ” Lacey’s voice cut off as Heather shot her a glare. Did she have something to hide, or was she just ultra private?
“I grew up in Phoenix.” He hoped Lacey might share a little more, but she didn’t say anything else. Heather obviously had some kind of hold over her.
Heather reached for his bottle and stowed it along with hers in her fanny pack. “Ready?”
“Yeah. How much farther?”
“About another mile to the canyon rim,” Heather said shortly.
“That’s it?” Had they traveled that far already?
She turned away. “Yes.”Jake fell in behind her. Where was Castaña? What had she thought when she returned and found him missing? Had she brought Staton with her? Jake hated the other agent’s involvement. It was bad enough Staton knew what had happened last time. He didn’t need the man’s cynicism now. Jake couldn’t afford another screw up if he wanted to stay with the FBI.
He had to bring Martin in. He had to solve this murder.
There was no room for his feelings for Castaña.
There wasn’t any other choice if he wanted to salvage his career.
At the rim of the canyon, Heather and Lacey pointed Jake in the right direction and vanished before he could properly thank them. He found his way down the trail and back to the canyon without any trouble. The cabin was dark and empty. Where was Castaña? The horses were gone, but the food and sleeping bags looked exactly the same. Was she on the trail of Martin? Or had she fallen into some other trouble?
Jake didn’t know what else to do but wait for morning. Even if he knew which way she’d gone, he didn’t think he’d make it back to the edge of the canyon without collapsing. He made a fire, opened a can of soup and boiled water for coffee. Digging around in the supplies, he found a bottle of Tylenol and swallowed three in a single, dry gulp.
He added coffee grounds to the water and lifted the soup and coffee off the flames. He found crackers and cheese then settled at the table to eat. Reminding himself to go slow because a couple of granola bars were all he’d had since last night, he savored his simple meal.
With a full belly and the Tylenol starting to take effect, he was beginning to feel human again. A long soak in a hot tub and a massage would really do the trick, but since neither of those things was available he’d have to settle for what he could get. A leggy brunette came to mind. Castaña. Somehow, Jake didn’t think she’d be offering him a massage any time soon. He wouldn’t turn her down if she did, though. No point giving himself an ache for something that was never going to happen.
He decided to check the body.
Limping down the canyon, he circled the flashlight’s beam over the spot where he left the body. He wasn’t surprised to find it gone. Castaña had obviously brought back help. Although several people had milled around and destroyed whatever evidence might have been there, Jake knelt and examined the ground. As expected, he didn’t find anything on the churned up earth. Why had the dead guy stood in front of a herd of galloping horses and tried to turn them? Or had he just been in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Frustrated by the lack of answers, Jake stood and headed back toward the cabin.
• • •
By mid-morning, Jake was walking across Castaña’s barnyard.
His body couldn’t take much more abuse. Nothing moved as he crossed the sandy stretch between the barn and the house. He stepped up on the porch and knocked on the front door. He hesitated when no one answered. Walking into someone’s house uninvited wasn’t his usual style.
As he waited, he replayed the last two days.
Beat up, rescued by Castaña, walked half the night through the forest, met up with two tree-hugging blondes —
Of course. He’d been so exhausted when he’d been with Heather and Lacey otherwise he would’ve seen it immediately. The resemblance between the two blondes in the forest and Briar Rose was striking. The three girls looked as if they could be related.
If they were kin to Briar Rose, they would have to know Martin as the father of her baby. But he had asked them if they knew Martin, even described him, and they had declared they didn’t know the man. Why would they lie? He’d have to go back and question them again.
Briar Rose appeared from the side of the house carrying a basket of strawberries. When she saw him, she stumbled to a stop. “Oh, hi.”
“Good morning.”
She darted a glance by him. “Did you find Martin?”
“Not yet.”
“Come in,” she invited. As she passed by, he caught a whiff of the sweet fruit and his belly grumbled.
They entered the kitchen where she placed the berries on the counter. Without asking, she poured him a cup of coffee and placed it in front of him. She poured the strawberries into a colander, ran them under the faucet and then began slicing them. No questions.
Jake, too, waited until she split the strawberries between two bowls, retrieved a small pitcher from the fridge and sat across from him. He poured thick cream over the fruit and tasted it. “Good,” he sighed.
She smiled. “Yes.”
“Have you heard from Castaña?” He took another bite.
“Not since she came to tell the cops about the guy who got run over. Did something happen to her?”
Why would she think that? “I don’t think so, but we got separated and I haven’t seen her since.”
Motioning toward his empty bowl she asked, “Would you like more?”
“No, thanks.” He studied her over the rim of his cup. “Where are you from, Briar Rose?”
“Nowhere special.” She rose and began clearing dishes.
“Do you have any family?”
She turned on the water faucet. Was it his imagination, or did her hand shake? “Why?”
“I’m just curious.” He hoped a low key approach would get her to open up a little.
For a long minute, she didn’t answer, concentrating on washing their dishes. “I have a huge family.” Washing and rinsing a spoon seemed to take her a full five minutes. “We’re from a small town outside of Phoenix called Sunspot.” She dried the spoon with great care. “I prefer not to talk about them.”
He waited a moment then asked, “Do you have sisters named Heather and Lacey?”
“No.” She got very busy putting away the berries. Didn’t anyone around here tell the simple, straight truth?
“How did you meet Martin?”
With her back to him, placing the dishes in the cupboard she said, “At the roundup last year.”
“What roundup?”
“Every year there’s a wild horse roundup outside of Payson where some of the horses are offered for sale. I stopped by to look at the horses and met Martin.” She turned around with a secret smile and rubbed her belly. “One thing led to another.”
“Lucky you.” He meant it. He wished he could meet a nice girl to have a family with, but after the way Linda had tricked him, getting him shot in the process, he was more than a little gun shy. Castaña’s face came to mind and he quickly forced her out of his head. She might not be as deadly as Linda, but she was just as determined to keep her loved one out of jail.
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I hope he comes home soon.”
“You don’t think he’s hurt?”
She shrugged. “Who knows with Martin.”
He stood. He wasn’t getting anywhere by badgering her, and he might in fact make her clam up completely. “Do you care if I use your shower?”
“Of course not. I’ll lay out some towels for you.” She waddled out of the kitchen.
Jake walked out to the corral, leaned on the fence and dialed Kelso. He filled him in then asked, “Do you have anything for me about the Castillo women?”
“There’s nothing on Castillo’s sister. She’s clean as a whistle. She’s never even had a traffic ticket.” Jake’s heartbeat sped up at Kelso’s clearing of Castaña. “I can’t find a thing on the other girl, but with no date of birth it’s a little tougher. I can’t find any record of Martin Castillo ever being married.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. From what I’ve learned of Martin, he’s not one to follow anyone’s rules but his own. Briar Rose told me today her family’s from Sunspot. She also said she’s from a huge family.”
“You talking about that little hole in the wall an hour outside of Phoenix? Wasn’t there some kind of cult based there?”
Jake couldn’t wrap his memory around the exact details. “Sounds right.”
“That’s something,” Kelso muttered. “Okay, I’ll see what I can dig up.”
“Thanks. See if you can find out anything about the guy who got run over in the canyon, will you?”