The Shadow Page 10

  About twenty feet in from the shoulder of the road were bright orange construction cones blocking access. Beyond, five men were standing in front of a dump truck, which towed a trailer hauling a backhoe. Two white gas company pickups were parked beside the barrier.

  Emily waved at her foreman as Jonas drove past, pulling up in front of the cones.

  A big man in the gas company’s tan trousers and shirt, wearing a bright yellow vest and hard hat, came over immediately.

  “You can’t park here, sir. We’re checking a gas line for leaks. Better turn around, because we’re going to be here for hours.” The spokesman, whose name tag read Michaels, motioned toward another employee walking along the fence line with a sensing instrument.

  “I don’t smell any gas. Who reported the leak?” Jonas asked, stepping out of the truck.

  “I don’t know. The field service office dispatched us.”

  Emily crossed in front of the vehicle and stood beside Jonas. Three other men in coveralls, carrying large shovels, moved toward them.

  “Just give us five minutes,” she said quickly, hoping to avoid more trouble. “I live down that road and my foreman has construction equipment that needs to go through.” She kept her tone neutral, opting for a rational approach.

  “Sorry, lady—too dangerous. Now clear the area. Tell your foreman that this could very well take all day, so they might as well head back to the yard.”

  She was determined to keep her temper in check, but the man’s attitude plain irked her. “I want to see your work order,” Emily demanded, stepping up to the man and staring up into his face. She was five-seven, but he had a height advantage of at least a foot.

  “Sorry—in an emergency the paperwork comes later.”

  “Bull,” Jonas growled. He’d enjoyed seeing her challenge the tree trunk in front of her. That fiery determination of hers was something else. But she needed backup, and that’s why he was here. “You get a call, you get a job order, even for a safety check. Produce it for the lady now, or put away your gear and take off.” He stepped up within a foot of the man, his eyes hard.

  “Back off,” one of the oncoming workers snapped.

  Jonas sized up Big Mouth instantly. He looked like a body builder with a steroid hangover. The gorilla was carrying a shovel at quarter arms, more like a rifle than a digging implement.

  Jonas reached out and, with lightning fast reflexes, grabbed the shovel, pushing and twisting at the same time. The big man struggled, but lost the fight.

  As he staggered back, he spat out an oath, then lunged at Jonas like a stampeding bull.

  Jonas turned his side to the charge and stepped back at the last second. The man crashed into the front of their truck, then whirled around, his fists up.

  Emily stepped between them, holding her arms out in both directions. “Stop!”

  She looked from Jonas to the gas company men who were moving in closer now, ready for a fight. “Everyone needs to calm down and start acting civilized.”

  “Step out of the way, Em,” Jonas said, his voice a deadly purr, his eyes hard and gleaming like flint.

  “Having trouble, Emily?” A voice came from up the road. It was her foreman, Ken, and three of his men were directly behind him.

  Emily knew that in another second, all hell would break loose. Somehow, she had to keep this from escalating. “Hang on a minute, Ken.”

  She faced the gas company’s foreman and raised her cell phone. “All right, Mr. Michaels. Who do you suggest I call first—the sheriff, or maybe Channel 4? Oh, I know. If I call the law, I’ll get both, since the reporters will pick up the incident on their police scanners.”

  “Just hold on there, Ms. Atkins. There’s no need for this to become some sort of incident. We’re just trying to track down a leak.” He turned to the man who held the sensor. “Any readings, Bob?”

  Bob was slow on the uptake, and didn’t respond until one of his colleagues jabbed him in the ribs, shaking his head simultaneously.

  “Uh, no,” he finally replied.

  “Good call, Bob,” Jonas said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the hood of his truck. “Guess you gentlemen can pack up now and leave. You might check back down the road toward town. I think I smelled something funky when we crossed the bridge.”

  The men backed off, but the muscle-bound weight lifter turned to Jonas and pointed.

  “Oh, I forgot—your shovel.” He tossed the implement, and the man had to jump to catch it.

  Five minutes later the gas company vehicles were on their way, heading toward town.

  “That’s too bad,” Jonas said as he watched them leave. “It would have been fun to mix it up a little.”

  Ken nodded. “I’ve got to say, I’m a bit disappointed myself.”

  “Hey, maybe they’ll come back, boss,” one of the construction workers called out.

  Emily glared at them, threw her hands in the air and climbed back into the truck.

  “You were all kidding back there, right?” she asked when Jonas joined her.

  He shrugged and gave her a playful half smile. “But I’ve got to say, I was impressed with your style. All things considered, I’d rather tangle with Michaels than have a face-off with you.”

  “I was trying to keep all of you from getting hurt!”

  “You were something to watch—dark eyes staring daggers at the guy, skin flushed. Just beautiful!”

  “You beast!”

  Before she could say anything else he pulled her toward him and kissed her hard. All he’d wanted to do was quiet her, but the minute his mouth covered hers, fire spread through him.

  Hearing her whimper as his tongue danced with hers made a surge of heat blast through him. He’d never wanted anyone or anything more than he wanted Emily at that very moment.

  Hearing a knock on the driver’s side window, he cursed the interruption, and reluctantly pulled away.

  “What?” he growled, staring at Ken.

  The foreman grinned. “We’ll follow you in?”

  “Yeah,” Jonas snapped, then switched on the ignition. “The road’s clear now. Give your crew the go-ahead.”

  “What was that really about—with those gas-company people?” Emily asked, trying hard to forget the way his kiss had made her feel. The surprise, the passion behind it, had left her stunned—and what’s worse, wanting more. “Was that just another attempt to slow up the project?”

  “I think so,” he said. “Who else might know you’re short on funds?”

  “The people at the bank, I suppose, but I don’t make my finances public.”

  “Your real-estate attorney knows your finances down to the last dollar, probably—the one who was conveniently unavailable today,” Jonas added thoughtfully. “How much do you really know about Jefferson?”

  “Not much, except that Dad knew him, and he’s the only real-estate attorney in this area.”

  “What about Woods? What kind of work does he do?”

  “Grant’s a CPA. Sometimes he takes on work for the county, but mostly he’s self-employed. Why?”

  “I’m trying to figure out who might have hired those men.”

  “According to the signs on the trucks, and their uniforms, they were from the gas company.”

  Jonas shook his head. “The signs look real enough, but they were the magnetic stick-on kind. The gas company paints their logos in place. My guess is that those men were hired by someone who wanted to slow down your construction and set you back another few thousand bucks. That guy Michaels—it probably wasn’t even his shirt.”

  Jonas parked by her trailer. “I need to go look into a few things, but you’ll have plenty of backup nearby,” he said, gesturing to Ken and his men, who’d come in right behind them.

  “Go do what you have to. I can handle things here,” she said firmly.

  “You’re a strong woman who doesn’t like to depend on anyone. I get it, Em. I really do,” Jonas said. “But working as part of a team increases the odds in y
our favor. In times of trouble, each person brings something to the mix—one more asset that helps complete a successful mission. Being able to stand on your own two feet is important, but so’s using your support.”

  After she climbed out of the cab, he drove slowly past the construction crew, who were already hustling to get started, lowering the ramps on their equipment trailers. Recognizing a member of the Brotherhood among the workers, Jonas gave him a nod, and drove on.

  He was halfway to the highway when he saw another pickup parked by the side of the road. Diné Nééz was leaning against the driver’s side, waiting, as if he’d been expecting Jonas.

  That was impossible, of course. Jonas had only made the decision to contact him and arrange to meet a few minutes earlier. Yet, there he was.

  “Yáat’ééh, nephew,” Diné Nééz said as Jonas pulled up alongside.

  “Yáat’ééh, Uncle,” he answered. Though there was no kinship between them, the term uncle denoted respect.

  “You handled the problem with the gas company well,” he stated.

  “You saw?” Seeing him nod, Jonas glanced down at the now-empty road. “I’m sure the whole thing was staged—another attempt to stall the construction project.”

  “Since your call earlier, we’ve been trying to find that real-estate attorney, Jefferson. We’ve had no luck.”

  “The stakes are high for Ms. Atkins. Though he has no clear motive except the desire to buy the land, her neighbor, Grant Woods, concerns me.”

  Diné Nééz nodded. “We’re checking into his finances to get a clearer picture of him. But watch your back. Our enemies are more numerous than we believed at first.”

  Jonas drove back toward Emily’s place, still trying to figure out how he had known about the confrontation with the utility people so quickly. Maybe the Brotherhood warrior who was a member of the construction team had phoned in a report.

  Yet even so, Jonas had a feeling Diné Nééz hadn’t been far, and had come in after that to gather his own intelligence. The ability to be there when needed, and gone the next, characterized the Brotherhood’s entire mission.

  As Jonas returned to the site, stopping long enough to allow the workers to back the bulldozer off the big trailer, his thoughts once again centered on Emily. Something more than funding lay at the root of her fears, and one way or another, he was going to find out what that was and help her through it.

  Destiny had brought Emily back into his life, maybe to remind him of love, and it was that same feeling that would eventually force him to leave her behind. Her long-term safety would demand his absence. But before he left, he’d complete what he’d set out to do. He’d restore harmony so she could walk in beauty. It would be a fitting, parting gift to the woman he loved.

  Chapter Nine

  Emily paced inside the trailer. She’d never really gotten over Jonas. But what continued to draw her to him was more than the brief past they’d shared. Faced with the man he’d become, she found her feelings for him had deepened—and that was the problem. Life had taught her that love couldn’t be trusted. Her mother had seemed happy at home, yet one day she’d left them without warning. No amount of love had been able to hold her.

  It would be that way with Jonas someday, too. His nature demanded freedom, not emotional commitments.

  The only person she could ultimately depend on was herself. Trying not to think of the lonely road ahead, she went outside and watched as the crew demolished her father’s old house. The bulldozer made quick work of the walls, then continued its assault, grinding the roof into rubble.

  Her chest tightened as she watched her past being reduced to dust. She missed her father—his love and his support. When she’d needed him most, he’d been there for her. His strength had held her up and given her courage. Now he was gone, too. She wiped away the tear that ran down her face.

  “Are you all right?”

  She hadn’t heard Jonas come up, and his voice made her jump. Emily quickly scrubbed any moisture from her face and turned around.

  “Just saying goodbye to the past,” she said, and forced a smile. “I’ve got so many plans! First the inn will go up. Then I’ll build my own private residence right over there, where my mom had planned to build her workshop,” she said, pointing. “That old concrete pad will be torn up and a new foundation laid.”

  “How big will you make your home—three or four bedrooms?”

  “It’ll be one bedroom with a small office. I want a cozy house, not a large one,” she said. “Actually, it won’t be much larger than the place my mom had in mind.”

  “What kind of hobby did your mother have?”

  “She was an avid quilter. Mom spent months and months designing the work space she’d planned for herself. She had everything figured out, down to the shelves,” Emily said with a sad smile. “But we never got beyond pouring the concrete foundation.”

  “Did you ever find out what happened to her?” he asked in a gentle voice.

  “No. Everything had been perfectly normal, and we were all excited about the upcoming construction. Then the day before the slab was poured, she just disappeared.” Emily’s voice was heavy. “Her car was discovered in town, parked just a block from the bus station. But no one there remembered her face, and passengers on the bus usually pay in cash, so there was no trail. Her purse was gone, along with a few hundred dollars she’d set aside to buy shelves.”

  Emily stared at the concrete pad, lost in thought. “The sheriff’s department and Farmington police looked into it, but eventually concluded that she’d taken off on us,” she said finally. “At the time they were hot on the trail of another woman, a young housekeeper who’d gone missing a week earlier. They believed that woman had been kidnapped. Since there was no evidence of a crime here, that other case took precedence.”

  Jonas watched her. Dignity was mirrored in her eyes, and beyond that, something irreparably broken.

  “Picking up the pieces of your life after something like that must have been very hard.”

  “It was. Dad was never the same. He’d hole up in his home office or his workshop. I got involved in school activities, trying to stay busy and keep my mind off things at home. After I left for college, I always found reasons not to come back. It wasn’t until a few months ago that things changed between Dad and me.”

  “What brought that about?” Jonas watched her reaction, noting that the second he asked the question, she stiffened, almost as if startled that she’d spoken so freely. As the seconds stretched out, he had the definite impression that she was mentally scrambling for a reply.

  Finally she spoke. “I told Dad about my plans to build an inn and he suggested I come home and do that here. He’d been looking for a new investment that would see him through retirement, and I needed a partner, so I took him up on it.”

  His time in the Brotherhood and the military before that had taught Jonas to sense omissions. That instinct kicked in strongly now. He was certain that Emily had left out a critical part of her story. Under ordinary circumstances he wouldn’t have intruded on her privacy, but the situation was far from normal.

  What you didn’t know could get you killed. He thought of his Navajo buddy, Marc Atcitty. Marc had been questioning a young boy he’d spotted following their patrol through the village. But, distracted by gunfire from another direction, he’d let the kid go—without patting him down first. Seconds later the boy, a suicide bomber, had detonated his explosive vest, killing Marc and two other Rangers. One moment of omission or carelessness—that’s all it took to claim a life.

  No matter what it took, Jonas intended to find out what Emily was so determined to keep from him. He’d bring all his resources to bear, and before long, he’d know everything there was to know about her.

  As her phone rang, she reached into her pocket. “I placed an ad for some of the antiques I inherited. It was a way to raise a little cash. Hopefully, this’ll be a buyer.”

  She flipped it open. “Yes, the Hoosier cabine
t is still available,” she said.

  Jonas moved away, trying to make up his mind how to go about finding the answers he needed about Emily. Only half aware of her conversation, he looked off into the distance.

  “Jonas?”

  He glanced back at her, wondering what he’d missed.

  “Could you help me move some things away from the Hoosier cabinet in the metal storage compartment? I’ve got an interested buyer, and I need to answer a question about the spice rack.”

  “Sure. Let’s go.”

  They walked over to the unit, and after she removed the padlock, walked inside.

  “There it is, behind the mantel,” she said, pointing.

  They made their way among the fixtures, furniture and appliances stored there, and managed to reach it a moment later.

  “Blast! The sliding doors are stuck.” Emily tugged hard on both brass knobs, but nothing happened.

  “Let me see if I can give you a hand,” he said, moving past her.

  He gave the knobs a good yank, then shook his head. “They didn’t even move. Let me get a flashlight and see if there’s something jammed in the track.”

  As he moved away, she stood on tiptoe, then yanked the lefthand knob hard. The entire oak cabinet suddenly wobbled, then started to come down on her. Jonas was there in an instant, holding it in place with both arms, straining from the weight.

  Emily tried to push it upright, but the cabinet was heavy and there was very little room for maneuvering.

  “I’ve got it,” Jonas rasped. “Move away and go get help.”

  When she tried to step back, the cabinet wobbled again. “If either of us moves, this thing will topple on whoever’s left behind. The front casters came off, and it won’t stay put no matter what.”

  In as loud a voice as she could muster, she cried out for help, but the noise of the bulldozer drowned her out.

  “Move away!” Jonas grunted.

  “No.” Though her arms were trembling from the effort, she refused to let go. She glanced desperately around the metal storage unit. “I can’t see where the casters fell, but I’ve got an idea. I’m going to have to let go for just a second.”