Army Ranger Redemption (10 page)

Jim joined Scarlett and took her grandmother’s thin hand in his. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“Nice to meet you, too, young man and you can call me Evelyn. Granny this, granny that—makes me feel ancient.”

“I brought you the yarn.” Scarlett waved it in the air.

“Drop it in the basket. Would you two like something to drink? Tea? Coffee?” Evelyn winked. “Something a little stronger?”

“Jim doesn’t drink, Granny, and it’s a little early for me.”

“Nothing like Slick, are you?”

“No, ma’am, and some water would be fine.”

“Go make us some tea, Scarlett, and bring Jim a glass of water.”

“Okay.” Scarlett rolled her eyes at him before she headed for the kitchen.

Evelyn patted the cushion beside her. “Have a seat, Jim.”

He sat down, turning his body slightly to face her and her penetrating stare.

“War hero, huh?”

“I just survived is all.”

“Did you?” She curved her bony fingers around his wrist with surprising strength and closed her eyes. Her frail body bolted upright and her eyelashes fluttered.

“You did more than survive. You helped the others, but—” she squeezed harder “—you have guilt. So much guilt. They took the other three but left you.”

“The other three?” Jim licked his lips. She couldn’t be talking about the cell in Afghanistan anymore. He’d been held there with more than three people.

“Do you mean the Timberline Trio?”

Evelyn’s eyes flew open. “Is that why you’re here?”

“Granny, are you reading him?” Scarlett walked into the room with a tray in front of her.

Evelyn released his wrist. “Why are you back in Timberline, Jim?”

“Going through my father’s things.”

Evelyn narrowed her eyes as she took her cup from Scarlett. “Don’t try to fool an old woman, Jim.”

“Especially an old woman who has the gift.” Scarlett sat down next to him and put his water and her tea on the table in front of them. “Why don’t you tell Granny what happened to you as a child?”

“I thought—” Jim pinged the water glass with his fingernail “—that topic was off-limits here.”

Evelyn’s dark eyes focused on Scarlett over the rim of her cup. “Is that what you told him?”

“Come on, Granny. How many times did you tell me to stop asking questions about the kidnappings? How many times was I shushed by the elders?”

Evelyn lifted her narrow shoulders. “Most of those elders are dead.”

“You mean you’re ready to talk now?” Scarlett hunched forward, her thigh bumping his.

“I don’t know what you imagine I know, Scarlett, but I want to hear from Jim first. What happened to you? You still carry it with you even after everything else you went through during the war, your captivity.”

“My cap— How did you know about that?”

“I felt it, Jim. Tell me what happened in Timberline.”

He launched into the story about his attempted kidnapping and how his father had threatened him with bodily harm if he dared tell another soul about it.

Evelyn listened with her eyes closed and through occasional sips of tea, nodding calmly as if his story didn’t surprise her one bit.

When he finished, the silence hung heavy over the room, and Evelyn appeared to be sleeping. Jim raised his brows at Scarlett, who put a finger against her lips.

Evelyn drew in a breath and inhaled the steam from her hot tea. “You probably believe there was bad blood between the Quileute and the Lords of Chaos, don’t you do?”

“I know my father for what he was—a bigot. He held ugly stereotypes about the Quileute and wasn’t shy about voicing them.”

“There was that side of him. Do you think our tribe was completely blameless?”

“I know there were fights.”

“There were fights. We had our own troublemakers. Did you know that?”

“Young men with not a lot to do?” Jim swirled the water in his glass. He’d been one of those. “I can believe that.”

“They managed to keep busy with...other activities—illegal activities.”

“Are you telling me that the Lords of Chaos and the Quileute were working together?”

“They had business that crossed paths.”

“Granny, what does this all have to do with the Timberline Trio?”

“Drugs.” Jim placed his glass on the table with a click. “The Lords of Chaos moved drugs through the Washington peninsula and they got them from suppliers.”

“Some of our tribe members were suppliers of drugs?” Scarlett’s gaze darted between him and Evelyn.

He’d let Evelyn give her the bad news.

The old woman dropped her chin to her chest. “They were bad apples, Scarlett. Even as a child you must’ve been aware of your uncle Danny and his feud with your father. Of course, Danny’s influence never spread to the entire tribe, despite his best efforts.”

“But the elders must’ve known about it, known about Danny.” Scarlett jumped up from the sofa and took a turn around the room, her arms folded across her chest. “Why else would they try to protect these
bad apples
?”

“Nothing was known for sure. There was no proof.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Scarlett pressed two fingers against her temple. “I still don’t understand what this all has to do with the Timberline Trio kidnappings.”

Evelyn laced her fingers together in her lap. “I can’t tell you that. I only know the Lords of Chaos and that gang of Quileute were in business together, and I believe that business involved the kidnapping of those children. Now that I’ve heard Jim’s story, I’m more convinced than ever.”

Jim ran his knuckles across his jaw. “Did the elders tell you to keep quiet, Evelyn?”

“They did.” She held up her hand at Scarlett, who had begun to speak. “I didn’t have any proof I could take to the police, anyway, Scarlett, so don’t give me that look. I was never allowed to get that proof.”

“Was there any evidence?” Scarlett sat on the edge of the coffee table and clasped her grandmother’s hand.

“There was the pink ribbon.”

“Pink ribbon?” Jim and Scarlett said the words in unison.

“You found it. Don’t you remember, Scarlett? You picked it up off the ground. You brought it to me and complained that it felt hot in your hands. You didn’t understand your gift yet, so you didn’t realize what the ribbon’s warmth meant.”

Jim interrupted her. “But you did.”

“I couldn’t get a read on it.” Evelyn wrapped her hands around her cup as if to warm them. “And then it was stolen from me.”

“I stole it.”

The cup in Evelyn’s hands jerked, sloshing the tea inside. “You took the ribbon?”

“I couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t let me keep the ribbon, so I snuck into your knitting basket and took it back.”

“How do you know this—” Jim twirled his finger in the air “—pink ribbon had something to do with the Timberline Trio case?”

Evelyn wrinkled her nose and screwed up her eyes as if looking into the past. “I didn’t at first. I just wanted to protect Scarlett from any visions she wouldn’t know how to handle. But then the gossip started up about the kidnappings. I’d heard from someone who’d heard from someone else that a pink ribbon was taken from one of the little kidnapped girls—Kayla Rush. When I heard that, I went to retrieve the ribbon, but someone had taken it.”

Scarlett raised her hand. “That would be me.”

“I suppose it’s too much to hope for that you still have it somewhere.” Jim blew out a breath.

“Yeah. I mean, I have some trinkets and mementos from my childhood, but I can’t imagine I still have a ribbon.”

“You never showed it to anyone, did you?” Evelyn struggled to sit forward, and Jim reached over the table to take her hand.

“Maybe a few friends. I don’t remember.” Scarlett dipped next to the table and gathered Jim’s glass and her own mug. “Do you think that’s why I’m involved now? Somebody thinks I know something?”

“Perhaps.” Evelyn reached for her knitting in the basket at her feet. “A few of that bunch have returned to the reservation recently, including Danny.”

“That’s interesting.” Jim moved the basket within Evelyn’s reach. “A few of the Lords of Chaos have returned to Timberline, too. Is someone or something calling them home?”

Evelyn’s hand trembled slightly as she picked up her needles. “I hope not.”

“We’ll get out of your hair, Granny. If you think of anything else, let us know.” Scarlett stroked her grandmother’s head.

“Thanks, Evelyn.”

She aimed one of her knitting needles at Jim. “You have nothing to feel guilty about, young man.”

He winked at her and followed Scarlett from the house. “That was enlightening but not useful.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I could look for that pink ribbon and try to get something out of it.”

“That’s a long shot.” As he approached his bike parked outside Evelyn’s house, his spine stiffened and then he cursed.

“What’s wrong?”

Jim strode to his bike and dropped to his knees. “Someone slashed my tires.”

Chapter Eleven

Goose bumps raced up Scarlett’s arms, and she jerked her head to the side to scan the road. Was this malicious mischief because someone didn’t want Jim Kennedy here or was it because someone didn’t want them talking to Granny about the Timberline Trio?

“I’m pretty sure someone did this with a knife.” Jim ran his hands along the shredded pieces of his tire.

Crouching beside Jim, her shoulder bumping his, she asked, “Who would do something like this here?”

“Either it’s someone on the reservation with an old grudge against Slick or someone with a new grudge against me.”

A truck rolled up, spewing exhaust, and Scarlett rose to her feet and covered her nose and mouth with one hand.

Her cousin Jason waved through the window. He parked next to Jim’s bike and hopped out of his truck. “I thought it was my turn to look in on Granny.”

“I had something to drop off.”

Jason’s eyes widened as he took in Jim examining his bike’s tires. “What happened?”

Jim cranked his head around. “I guess someone wanted to keep me on the reservation.”

“Someone here did that?” Jason scratched his head beneath his black beanie.

“Did you just get here? Did you see anything?” Scarlett studied her cousin’s face.

“Me?” He stabbed his chest with his thumb. “You think I did this?”

“Did I say that? I just asked if you saw anything...or anyone.”

Jason took a step back toward his truck. “I just drove onto the rez. I didn’t see anyone running away or burning rubber or anything like that if that’s what you mean.”

Jim brushed his hands together and pushed to his feet. “Resentment of the Lords still run high around here?”

“Not that I know of. That was a long time ago, man. This isn’t going to hurt my chances of buying one of those sweet bikes, is it?”

“Not if you give your cousin, me and my bike a ride back to my place.”

“Yeah, sure. No problem.” He pointed to Granny’s house. “Should I stop in to see her?”

“I’m sure she’ll want to see you, but—” Scarlett grabbed Jason’s arm as he started to move toward the house “—don’t tell her what happened out here. I don’t want her to worry.”

“Whatever, but I don’t think Granny’s going to be worried about Jim’s tires getting slashed.”

“Just keep it to yourself. Shh.”

“Okay if I load my bike into your truck bed?”

“Go ahead, or you can wait for me and I’ll help you.” Jason continued up the steps and disappeared inside the house.

“Do you think he knows anything?” Jim lowered the back of Jason’s truck and shoved a hand in his pocket as he scoured the landscape through narrowed eyes.

“No. What are you looking for?”

“Something I can use as a ramp.”

“Granny has some old construction materials in the back of her house. I keep telling her to toss the stuff, but she hates to throw anything away.”

“Lead the way.”

She crooked her finger, and Jim followed her around the side of the house. “Wood?”

“That’ll work.”

Together, they hauled a two-by-four to the front of the house. Jim wedged it against the back of Jason’s truck just as Jason exited the house.

“I can help you with that.” He jogged over and took Scarlett’s place on the other side of the ramp. “I’ll secure it while you roll the bike up.”

Jim wheeled his bike up the makeshift ramp and put it on its side. “I appreciate it.”

She asked her cousin, “You didn’t mention this to Granny, did you?”

“Said Jim was having problems with his bike and I was giving you two a ride back.”

“Thanks.” She hopped into the truck after Jason and Jim squeezed in beside her.

On the ride back to Timberline, the three of them discussed who could be behind the vandalism of Jim’s bike, but she and Jim kept mum about their true suspicions.

When they arrived at Jim’s cabin, he and Jason unloaded the bike, and Jim invited him into the garage to look at the other motorcycles.

While Jim and Jason were in the garage, Scarlett sat on Jim’s front porch, stretching her legs in front of her and tapping the toes of her boots together. Dax and his bike were gone, but she figured he’d be back. He had business in Timberline, and Jim was convinced that business involved more than looking over Slick’s motorcycles.

Jason emerged from the garage with a big smile on his face.

She called out, “You see something you like?”

“Oh, yeah. Do you want a ride back to your cabin? I drove by earlier and it’s still a mess.”

“I left my car here.” She pointed to her now-clean car parked at the side of the house. “And I have someone coming out tomorrow to start the cleanup and landscaping—your friend, Tony.”

“He told me.” Jason raised a hand to Jim, who was locking up the garage. “Thanks, man. I’ll be back later when I have the cash.”

Jingling the keys in his palm, Jim joined her at the porch as Jason turned his truck around.

“You gave him a deal, didn’t you?”

“He’s a nice kid, really appreciative.”

“Is your brother going to mind that you’re selling one of the bikes for a steal?”

“Dax won’t care as long as I leave him a few. He doesn’t care about material things.”

“Then why the crime?”

“Beats me. Excitement? A big snub to authority?”

She traced a crack in the wood handrail with her fingertip. “I wonder if it was the same for that gang of Quileute who was involved in drugs.”

“Could be, not that I’m discounting money as a motivator for most criminals. It just never motivated Dax.”

“So, the Quileute gang manufactured or procured drugs and sold them to the Lords of Chaos who turned around and sold them on the streets.”

“Or distributed them elsewhere.”

“And somehow the drugs and money are tied to the kidnapping of three young children. How?” She picked at a piece of chipped paint.

“Trafficking maybe.”

She clenched her teeth against the chill racing up her spine. “That’s horrible.”

“Sometimes the world is a horrible place.” He covered her fidgeting hand with his own and his warmth seeped into her flesh. “Are you okay to go home by yourself?”

She flung out her other arm. “It’s daytime. I’ll be fine.”

“I never did get the chance to install your new locks.”

“Not that those locks would’ve protected me against the fire last night, and since the firefighters just left my place unsecured, the locks wouldn’t have prevented the break-in, either.”

“True, but that’s no reason to ignore basic security measures. That was an extraordinary event last night.”

“Funny thing about those extraordinary events.”

“What?”

“They seem to be happening to me on an ordinary basis.”

“Ever since the Timberline Trio case was unearthed.”

“Pretty much.” She disentangled her hand from his and pulled herself up by grasping the porch’s handrail. “My cousin Annie is coming by to help me clean up this afternoon, so I won’t be alone. I’m going to have a look for those childhood mementos.”

“Looking for a pink ribbon?” He stood on the step above her, towering over her even more than usual.

“Yep.”

“Be careful, Scarlett.” He smoothed a hand down her arm. “Don’t tell anyone about it.”

“I’m not going to run around town blabbing it. I’m convinced there’s not one person in Timberline who can keep a secret.”

“Not even the sheriff’s department.”

She leaned back to look into his face. “Why do you say that?”

“How else did that story of the pink ribbon get out? If the kidnapper took something from one of the children, you’d think the police and the FBI would want to keep that quiet.”

“It’s the Quileute. We hear things. I’m pretty sure that info wasn’t available to the other citizens of Timberline.”

He bent forward and touched his forehead to hers. “Just be careful. We don’t know who’s watching and listening.”

Her fingers dabbled against his jaw, and she felt his warm breath caress her cheek.

Then he wedged a finger beneath her chin and, tilting her head back, brushed his lips against hers.

The roar of a motorcycle engine broke them apart, and Scarlett glanced over her shoulder at Dax, his long hair blowing behind him.

“What are you going to tell your brother about the tires?”

“I can’t hide that the tires were slashed, but he doesn’t have to know anything about what we discussed with your grandmother.”

Dax parked his bike next to Jim’s and circled the damaged motorcycle. Then he pulled off his helmet and shoved his sunglasses to the top of his head as he trudged to the porch.

“What the hell happened?”

“Someone took a knife or a box cutter to my tires at the reservation.”

Whistling through his teeth, Dax shook his head. “Old resentments die hard, don’t they?”

“Could’ve been teenagers.” Jim shrugged his broad shoulders. “Reminded me of something you’d do.”

“Guess so. How’d you get back here?”

Scarlett waved her hand in the direction of the road. “My cousin gave us a ride in his truck.”

Jim descended the porch steps and buried his hands in his pockets. “I’m selling him one of Slick’s bikes.”

“That’s cool, man.”

“I’ll give you half the proceeds.”

“As long as you didn’t sell him the two I was eyeing, I’m good.” Dax rubbed his bloodshot eyes, the deep lines on his face making him look more like Jim’s father than his older brother. “I’m gonna head inside and get some shut-eye. I’m beat.”

Jim raised one eyebrow. “What’ve you been doing today?”

“Ridin’.”

“Not using again?”

Dax chuckled. “I’m just old, brother. See you around, Scarlett.”

“Thanks for washing my car.”

He nodded and then tromped past them, his boots heavy on the steps. He closed the front door behind him with a slam.

Biting the side of his thumb, Jim stared at the door. “Something’s not right with him.”

“That applies to a lot of people around here.” Scarlett dug her keys from her purse. “I’m going back to my place.”

“When I get my tires changed, I’ll come over and install those locks for you.”

“I’ll be there. Sorry about your bike, sorry it happened on the rez.”

“Not your fault. I’m just wondering if we’d taken your car if the same thing would’ve happened.”

“Something tells me it would have.”

She slid into her car with her lips still tingling from Jim’s soft kiss. She’d wondered what would’ve happened to her car if they’d taken it to the reservation, but even more, she was wondering what would’ve happened if Dax hadn’t interrupted that kiss.

* * *

H
ER
COUSIN
A
NNIE
aimed the hose at the last window in the front, spraying water against the glass streaked with flame retardant. “They make a bigger mess putting out the fire than the fire itself.”

“Not quite.” When the water stopped, Scarlett scrubbed the window with a cloth and then sluiced the water off with a squeegee. “I really appreciate your help, Annie.”

“I’m just glad you weren’t hurt. Who would do something so stupid? This is just not your year.”

“It’s gotta get better, right?” She traced her bottom lip with her finger. Running into Jim this trip had just about made everything a little better.

Annie turned off the water and wound up the hose. “I think getting rid of all those trees in front of your place is a blessing in disguise. I never liked parking beyond the copse of trees and then walking through them on that path—creepy.”

“But very private.”

“Too private if you ask me. When’s Tony coming out to clear the land?”

“Tomorrow. I’m hiring him to do some landscaping, too.”

“Do you need me to do anything else? I’m meeting some friends in Port Angeles tonight and need to get going.”

“No. I can do the rest. Thanks again.”

She helped Annie pack up some of her cleaning supplies and load them into the van she used for her cleaning business. When she pulled onto the road, Scarlett turned toward the house. She’d skipped lunch, so she popped open a carton of yogurt and carried it to the hall closet, which she used for storage.

The cabin didn’t have a garage, just a shed out back, but Scarlett didn’t store much beyond paint supplies there. Any photos or newspaper clippings or cards she’d boxed and stashed on the top shelves of this closet.

She dragged a chair in front of the closet and pulled two boxes from the top shelf. Would she have kept something as inconsequential as a ribbon?

Once Granny brought it up, Scarlett remembered filching it from Granny’s knitting basket. It had been important enough for her to steal back because of the way it had made her feel.

It was sort of like when she and her girlfriends would go out to the woods and spin around and around just to feel dizzy. Stroking the ribbon had given her the same sensation.

When Granny had sat her down and explained to her about the gift of the shamans, it had never occurred to Scarlett that the pink ribbon was momentous in that way.

Tucking one box under each arm, she returned to the living room and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the fireplace. She pulled the first box toward her and rummaged through its contents.

She smiled at the photos and the cards she’d saved from friends and even tried jamming the promise ring she’d gotten from Tommy Whitecotton onto her pinky finger. But no pink ribbon was nestled among the memories.

She popped the lid from box number two and fished around inside. These photos and keepsakes were from her high school years. She thumbed through a stack of senior pictures, collected from her friends, and stopped at one of a serious, dark-haired boy.

She traced her finger over Jim’s young face. She must’ve gotten up the courage to ask him for a picture. She flipped the photo over, but he hadn’t signed it. Maybe she’d stolen it from him.

Giggling like a high school girl, she plucked the photo from the bunch and dropped it on the coffee table. He’d been such a hottie back then and had only gotten better with age.

She shuffled through the rest of the photos and keepsakes but didn’t find a pink ribbon, or any ribbon. She replaced the lid on the second box and stacked one box on top of the other on the kitchen counter.