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Dinner that night was fun. Shandra watched as her aunt, uncle and cousin all tried to make the child, Fawn, feel at home and important.
The little girl ate everything Jo put on her plate and smiled at Martin and Andy as if they were her best friends.
“Did you meet Princess?” Shandra asked.
Fawn’s whole face lit up and she smiled. “She have white spots.”
“Fawn is going to be a great cowgirl, she sat on Princess and wasn’t afraid,” Uncle Martin said, smiling.
The little girl nodded her head.
“That sounds like fun. Maybe we can go riding together while I’m here,” Shandra said.
Fawn shook her head. “Momma say don’t go strangers.”
Shandra was once again struck by what a good mother Nelly had been. “I’m not a stranger. Jo is my aunt, Martin is my uncle, and this guy here is my cousin,” she said, pointing a thumb toward Andy. “We’re family now.”
Fawn scrunched her face as if thinking. “Like Mawmaw Birdie and Uncle Tripp and Uncle Duke?”
Shandra glanced at her aunt. Duke had been in the child’s life and so had Tripp, Wendy’s boyfriend. “Yes, like Mawmaw and your uncles.”
The child’s face brightened. “We can ride.” She clapped her little hands together.
“You have to practice first in the corral,” Andy said, already behaving like a protective big brother.
“In corral,” Fawn said, smiling and picking up a green bean.
A jazz tune sounded in the distance.
Her phone.
Shandra excused herself from the table and hurried over to where she’d placed her purse on the couch in the living room.
Ryan.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Hi, beautiful.” He cleared his throat. “I just had a conversation with my friend in the FBI.”
The insinuation in his voice had her cringing. He knew she and Velma broke into the crime scene. “Did you find out anything?”
He laughed. “You know I found out you and Velma picked a lock to get into an FBI crime scene. What were you two thinking?”
“I just wanted a look around. But the FBI and Logan arrived too soon.” She wasn’t going to apologize for trying to help solve Nelly’s murder.
“That’s Special Agent Troy Tremaine. Word has it he is a stickler for everything going by the book. You might want to keep away from him.” Ryan’s voice was warning her to back off, but his words were giving her the option. He knew her too well.
To change the subject Shandra said, “Aunt Jo and Uncle Martin are adopting Nelly’s daughter, Fawn.”
“That’s nice. You sure they aren’t too old to take it on?” Ryan’s tone said he knew she’d changed the subject on purpose.
“Jo has always wanted a daughter. I think it will be good for all of them.” She bit down on her bottom lip before saying, “I had thought of doing it.”
“Adopting the girl?” The words came out soft and low, thoughtful.
“Yes. We’ve talked about it.”
“We have. Once we’re married and feel like we’ve settled into the whole thing, we can either work on making a family the fun way,” his voice dipped into the husky, sexy tone she’d come to love, “or by adoption. Or both. But first we need time to settle in.”
“I agree to everything you said.” It still amazed her that this man had changed her whole outlook on men and life.
“Do you want to know why I called?” His tone was playful.
“You mean it wasn’t to catch me being naughty?” After she blurted it out, she realized she’d acknowledged what she did was wrong.
Ryan laughed. “Gotcha! No, it wasn’t to tell you, you were caught with your hand in the cookie jar. I’m coming tomorrow. I switched and got Friday off as well as all next week.”
“That’s wonderful! We can go to a casino in Omak tomorrow night.” Her mind was spinning with the fact they could talk to Duke sooner rather than later.
“Since when have you become a gambler?” he asked.
She laughed. “Not to gamble, to talk with someone who might be a person of interest in Nelly’s murder.”
“Shandra, what did I just say about the agent assigned to the murder?”
“But he doesn’t know about this person. I know because of my connections here.” She smiled. People were slowly accepting her as a Higheagle and a family member of the reservation.
“How do you know he doesn’t already have this man in his sights and that you’ll be stepping into his investigation?” Ryan had dealt with Shandra’s hardheadedness enough to know when to push and when to back off. Unfortunately, when it came to the murder of someone she knew, she tended to dig in and not let go.
“Can you find out if he’s looking into a Duke Waters?” she asked sweetly.
Ryan laughed. “Now you break the sugar out when you want me to ask a friend to put his job on the line.”
“No! I don’t want you or your friend to get into trouble. I have a feeling about this guy. We need to talk to him. I’ll tell you all the details when you get here.”
Ryan made a note of the name and visited with her a few more minutes before hanging up. Dialing his friend’s number, he wondered when the friendship card would be filled and Derek would tell him to go fly a kite when he asked for information into cases he shouldn’t have any knowledge about.
“Ryan, my man, what’s up?” Derek asked, his voice open and warm.
We’ll see how long that lasts. “Hey Derek, how’s the wife, kids, life?”
His friend rattled on for several minutes and when he’d finished the update said, “I received your wedding invitation. Colville Indian Reservation seems like a strange place for a destination wedding.”
Ryan laughed. “It would be if the bride wasn’t half Nez Perce.”
“Ahhh, and she’s up there causing the agent in charge of a murder investigation fits.” Derek laughed. “Man, you picked yourself a spitfire. Did you know she picked a lock to get into the crime scene?”
A grin spread across his face even though he’d never let Shandra know he found her spunk and inventiveness hot. “Yeah, I heard that. And as you can guess, I’d like to keep her safe. Any chance you could keep me apprised of who Agent Tremaine is looking at as suspects?”
Derek’s side of the conversation went silent.
“Derek, if that’s asking one too many favors, I understand.”
“I’m back. He has listed a Tripp Talman, seen arguing with the victim, and a Jessie Lawyer, also seen arguing with the victim the night before.”
Jessie Lawyer? Why was that name sending up bells?
“Thanks. I’m headed up there tomorrow to keep Shandra in check. I’ll make sure she doesn’t go busting into Tremaine’s case. I owe you another steak dinner.”
“Yes, you do.”
A thought struck. “You wouldn’t happen to have the ME’s findings, would you?”
“Stabbing. She figures an eight-inch blade made of a thick metal. Bruising around the entry has an unusual shape for most knife handles. The person wielding the knife was either lucky or knew what they were doing. ME says the knife went in at an angle to do the most damage.”
“And the weapon hasn’t been found?” Ryan knew the answer but wanted to make sure.
“No. The agent and a tribal police officer searched the area around the sweat lodge, but haven’t come up with one.” Derek made the sound of a half laugh. “Sweat Lodge. Didn’t know those things were still used.”
Ryan wasn’t going to tell him he’d been requested by Shandra’s Uncle Martin to do a ceremonial sweat with Shandra’s male family members. He’d stared down the enemy in Iraq and gang lords in Chicago, but thinking about sitting naked in a dark enclosed area with Shandra’s male family members, he was terrified.
“They still hold ceremonial sweats, I guess. That’s what Shandra told me. Thanks for the information.” Ryan said a few more pleasantries and ended the conversation.
He’d learned two important things. Shandra was on the tail of someone the agent didn’t know about and there was a good chance the person who killed Nelly had done it before. He wasn’t going to get a lick of sleep tonight. He might as well pack his clothes and head for the reservation.