“Which I shall take,” Tiernan said. “I will sleep on the back porch and Ella can have my room.”
“No,” Ella said. “I’ll take the cot.”
“Don’t be arguing with me, Thunder. I shall win in the end. I always do.”
In the end, Ella caved like he knew she would. She was tired, scared and obviously glad to have someone make decisions for her, if only for now.
As if now was long enough.
The more Tiernan got involved with Ella Thunder, the more certain he was that there was more waiting for them. He could fall for her if he let himself, if the prophecy of doom didn’t hang over his head.
He would like nothing more than to sleep with the woman, to hold her close, to make love to her.
Which would put her in mortal danger.
Tiernan told himself to back off, to think of her as the sister he never had. Unfortunately, he’d never been good at taking orders, not even from himself.
When he threw himself on the cot to sleep, it was with her image in mind. The moment he scrunched his pillow beneath his cheek—exhausted and stressed—Tiernan felt the present slip away.
“C’mon, boy,” she says, her voice shaking, “let us get out of here, quick now.”
“What’s wrong, Aunt Megan?” he asks, looking in the direction that she does and seeing a long, dark auto coming toward them.
“That man,” she gasps, holding his hand tight and practically dragging him across the street, “he lost his son in a bombing and thinks my brothers are to blame!”
The scream of tires fills his ears and he looks back and trips.
And then she’s screaming and lifting him by his arm so that it nearly pulls free of his shoulder and the next thing he knows he’s flying through the air and then his ears fill with an explosion of sound….
***
At daybreak the next morning, Ella called her grandparents and lied to them. Sort of. She said car trouble had kept her at a friend’s house for the night, but she didn’t elaborate. She figured she’d avoid telling them what had really happened so that they wouldn’t worry. They’d already lost their son tragically and were too old and frail to deal with another frightening situation.
Which was the only reason she would be staying on the refuge—to protect them. Ella feared that if she remained in the house, danger would seek her there. Still, she had to make sure the grandparents were all right and figure out a way to break the news to them without giving Grandfather a heart attack.
After running Tiernan to the gas station for new tires, which she figured would take him a while since the station wasn’t yet open, Ella drove home to change clothes and pack a case.
And there got a breathtaking surprise.
Nathan’s truck was sitting outside the house.
Her pulse rushing through her, she ran to the house and threw open the door only to hear the clatter of breakfast dishes and Grandfather’s laugh.
“Let me help you with those dishes,” she heard Nathan say.
And then Grandmother said, “Just take your coffee and go in the other room, Nathan. I don’t need help in my kitchen.”
“All right.”
Ella was still standing in the doorway when Nathan strolled into the living room, coffee mug in hand.
“Ella, there you are.”
Still unsettled by his appearance—and by the appearance of his truck—Ella asked, “Nathan, what are you doing here?”
“Visiting the grandparents—they are my grandparents, too, remember. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No, not with that.”
“What, then?” Nathan sauntered into the living room where he took a seat on the couch.
Ella followed but remained standing. “You reported your truck stolen yesterday.”
“Someone did steal it.”
“Then why is it parked outside?”
“Apparently, whoever took it left it near the government building sometime during the night. Jimmy Iron Horse called me about it a couple of hours ago. What the hell, Ella?” Nathan’s expression darkened, sending a chill through her. “He also told me you claimed I tried running you off the road!”
“Did you?” she choked out.
“First, how could you think I would? Second, how could I when my truck was gone?”
A convenient story, Ella thought, clenching her jaw so she wouldn’t say it. Nathan could be telling the truth. She’d thought Jimmy was the likeliest suspect when it came to framing her father. Maybe the head of the tribal police was the one who took the truck and then returned it.
“If I misjudged you, then I’m sorry for that.” If Nathan indeed was innocent, Ella regretted thinking otherwise. “I need to get ready for work.”
“Not until we talk. That’s really why I stopped by this morning.”
“Talk about what?”
“I saw you and McKenna with Leonard last night and wondered what was going on.”
“I was catching up with an old friend.”
“Is that all?”
“What else?”
“I don’t know, Ella. Just be careful of Leonard. He’s not exactly what he seems to be. He goes around talking like he’s helping the rez by running the casino when all he’s really helping is himself.”
“I don’t understand. He’s given people work, the tribe money.”
“Not so much. Unfortunately, the casino simply isn’t making the profit it should be.” Nathan took a last sip of coffee, then set the mug down on a table. He seemed both concerned and angry as he said, “The rez is little better off than it was before the casino was built.”
“Then how did Leonard get enough money for his fancy house?”
“Exactly my point! Rumor has it Leonard messed with the books so he could siphon off the money for himself.”
A possibility, Ella knew, but one she didn’t want to consider. The Leonard she knew had been irresponsible but he hadn’t been a thief. Not that she knew of.
What if Nathan was lying to turn her suspicions elsewhere? The thing about his truck being returned the same night it had been stolen was pretty convenient. If it ever had been missing in the first place.
Ella would like to test him psychically to see if she could tell what was going on in his head. But even if it was possible—and she wasn’t sure she could manage it—Ella was certain he would know. Nathan might not be a shaman, but he undoubtedly had some power left.
Considering he was in the mood to talk—to place blame—she decided to take advantage of the situation. She sat in the chair opposite her cousin and leaned forward to draw him in.
“Nathan, do you think Leonard has ever used what he learned from Father to his own advantage?”
“Leonard’s no shaman.”
“No, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t messing around with his powers.”
“To do what?”
“I don’t know.” Ella needed to be careful how she questioned Nathan. She didn’t want him to know he was suspect. Not that she wanted him to be guilty of anything. “What about in the past? Did Leonard ever do anything he shouldn’t have?”
“Who hasn’t?” Nathan took a swig of his coffee, then set down the mug. “What are you getting at, Ella?”