Another Chance (12 page)

Daniel Chetan
looked from the dog to Jordan and back again, then to the vehicle now coming to
a stop at the gate to the yard.  Jordan had lost her healthy, glowing
tan.  Her face was pale and her full lips were pulled into a tight line
across her mouth.  This must mean trouble, he decided.

Bhrandii
sensed Jordan’s unease and began to growl aggressively as the sheriff stepped
out of the car and moved toward the gate.

Knowing she
couldn’t control how she was feeling, Jordan stood and walked to the door of
the kitchen and spoke firmly to the dog.  Obediently, he retreated into
the house and she pulled the solid door and the screen door shut, leaving him
secured inside.

When she
turned around, Sheriff John Davis was approaching the steps.  He walked up
them and glanced at Jordan’s company then looked back at her.  “Afternoon,
Jordan.”

She
nodded.  “Sheriff John.”  It was a reply filled with dread.

“We need to talk,”
he said simply.

Again she
nodded.

Feather pushed
back her chair and started to rise, but Jordan stayed her with a hand. 
“Go ahead and finish your supper.  Sheriff John and I will walk down to
the barn.  It shouldn’t take long.”

Jordan led the
way.  When they were out the gate, the sheriff began to speak and Jordan’s
stride went from strong and self-assured to hesitant and weak.  Daniel
watched, not knowing what the conversation was about, but sure that it was not
good news for Jordan.

“We heard from
officials in Poplar Bluff about half an hour ago.  Lambert has been there
and they think he knows where you are.”  John Davis was telling
Jordan.  “The couple who lived next door to you back then was found dead
this morning.”

“No!” 
Jordan gasped.

John nodded. 
“The old man had a bullet in his head, Mrs. Swartz died of an apparent heart
attack.”

“He murdered
Mr. Swartz?”  Jordan couldn’t accept that.  They were such a sweet
couple.

“They found
Lambert’s finger prints all over the place.  He tried to make it look like
a burglary, but they checked for finger prints and it was him.”  John
wanted to spare Jordan the pain, but didn’t see any way to do it.  “They
found a bunch of Christmas cards that Mrs. Swartz had saved.  They had
been plundered through.”
 
He paused but
just for a few seconds.  “Jordan, did you send Christmas cards to them?”

She
nodded.  “He killed Mr. Swartz and caused her to have a heart attack to
find me?”

“Looks like
it. I’m so sorry, Honey.
 
I hate having
to tell you this.”

She felt her
legs growing weak and staggered.  John Davis grabbed her and wrapped his
arms around her to support her and provide her a shoulder to cry on.  She
did.  Her whole body shook with her sobs.  She couldn’t believe that
Lambert could have killed that wonderful couple just to find out where she
lived.  They were dead because they had been friends of hers.  It was
her fault they were dead.  Two more people dead because they cared about
her.  It was too much.

They hadn’t
made it inside the barn when Jordan fell apart and John was very aware that the
young couple on the porch could still see them.  Slowly he helped her into
the barn and into her office.  He eased her onto her chair and knelt in
front of her, her head still on his shoulders.  He let her cry, one of his
strong hands patting her shoulder comfortingly.

At the house,
Feather looked at her brother.  “What do you think happened?”

He
shrugged.  “It must really be bad.  She looked like she was crushed.”

“I wish there
was something we could do.”  Feather said softly.  “She seems like a
really nice person.”

Wolf nodded in
agreement.  He directed his thoughts to the dog, still growling inside the
house.  He felt fear.  The dog didn’t understand, but was afraid for
Jordan.  Wolf tried to soothe the animal and was somewhat successful, but
not completely.  The growling subsided, but the animal paced restlessly on
the other side of the door.

It was a long
time before Jordan and the sheriff emerged from the barn.  The brother and
sister could see she still looked shaken and pale as they got closer.  At
the door of the patrol vehicle, they stopped and when the sheriff spoke to her,
Jordan nodded then slowly turned and walked through the gate.

Feather had
already cleaned up everything except Jordan’s plate and when Jordan saw that
she smiled at the girl weakly.  “Thanks for cleaning up for me, Feather.”

The Indian
girl smiled.  “It was the least I could do.”

Jordan dropped
back into her chair and pushed her plate away.  “I guess I owe y’all some
sort of explanation.”

“No,” Wolf
spoke up firmly.  “We don’t need any explanations.  We aren’t goin’
to judge you.  We just want to know if there is anythin’ we can do to make
this trouble go away.”

He felt jolted
by the weak smile she flashed at him.  He knew she hated the weakness she
was feeling right now.

It was a
feeling she had struggled against for a long time in her past and she was
struggling against it now, but there was a new element in this fear. 
Something she wasn’t prepared for.

“Maybe it will
help me, if I talk about it.”  Jordan hadn’t felt the need to share her
inner self with people for a long time.  The psychiatrist had warned her
not to close herself off from others but Jordan had done it anyway.  Now,
suddenly she needed someone to share her feelings with.  They were
practically strangers, but she sensed in these two people, some of the strength
and understanding she needed.

Quickly she
ran through the story of meeting Lambert at a feed store where she
shopped.  Offering him no encouragement other that politeness he began to
stalk her.  Fearing she was over reacting to his advances, she hadn’t told
her husband until she knew he was stalking her, and then he broke into their
house one night and tried to kidnap her.  In the struggle that followed,
he had murdered her husband.

“Now he’s
escaped from prison and killed two more people just to find out where I
am.  The sheriff thinks he’s coming here to kill me and he’s probably
right.  It was my testimony against him that put him in prison for, what
was supposed to be, the rest of his life.”

Wolf was taken
by surprise by the fury he felt on discovering that anyone would want to harm
this woman.  He knew he found her physically attractive, but he discovered
that he also felt surprisingly protective for her being practically a stranger.

“How well do
you know the sheriff?” he asked.

Jordan
shrugged.  “He was my father’s best friend.  I’ve known him all my
life.”

Daniel Chetan
nodded.  “Then he will do whatever it takes to keep you safe?”

Jordan looked
at the man sitting across the table from her.  “Sure.”  She saw
something in the astonishing blue eyes of this man that made her feel sheltered
and she was confused by that long forgotten feeling.  She wanted to look
away, but the concern and tenderness she saw held her eyes captive.

“Well,”
Feather’s voice broke the silence and ended the spell she was under. 
“This Lambert just needs a little Indian justice.  I say that when he gets
here, we strip his skin off and stake him to a fire ant bed.”

Wolf tore his
eyes away from Jordan’s and looked at his sister in surprise.  “Easy
there, Warrior Woman.  You just might be jumpin’ the gun here.  This
is something that’s none of our business.
 
I’m sure the sheriff will take care of it.”

Jordan smiled
at Feather, a glimmer of humor in her expression.  “I don’t want anyone
else hurt because of this mad man, and your brother is right.
 
Sheriff John will take care of me.”

Feather looked
at her brother for support.  “And do you plan to just ignore this?”

His chest
swelled with pride for his sister’s anger toward what she considered a threat
to her friend.  She had never been one to hide her feelings.  “We
need to give Jordan a little time to digest the information the sheriff gave her. 
We can talk after we’ve done the chores.”

It was the way
of the Indian people not to react or make decisions until much thought was
given concerning any problem.  Their grandfather had taught them
this.  It was one lesson Feather had always had problems with.

She
nodded.  “Jordan, you know how much grain your horses get.  If you’ll
just give them that, Wolf and I will stall them and see that everything else is
taken care of.”

Jordan smiled
at Feather.  “I need to work.  It will give me time.”

“Then we all
work together.”  Wolf said.  He walked to the kitchen door and opened
it, allowing Bhrandii to join them.  “You’re a good friend to her,” he
said as the dog bounded past him to lean his body against Jordan’s legs.

Shaking the
dog’s big head between her hands, Jordan somehow felt a part of her fear lift
off her shoulders.  Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing to develop
friendships.

The chores
were soon finished and the three young people stood at the barn, Jordan having
finally settled Pride in her stall for the night.

“I probably
shouldn’t ask you, but do you want Feather and me to stay here tonight? 
We can sleep in our trailer.”  Wolf asked.

Feather nodded
her agreement with her brother’s offer.

Jordan smiled
at the girl first and then at him.  She shook her head negatively. 
“Thank you, but no.  Sheriff John will have someone watching the house all
night, and besides that, I have Bhrandii and a 38 pistol.  I’ve had lots
of time to practice with the gun and I hit what I point it at.  I’ll be
fine.”

“Are you
sure?”  Feather asked.  She felt bad to think of leaving Jordan to
face the long night alone.

Jordan gave
her new friend an impulsive hug.  “I’ll be fine.  I promise. 
Now the two of you need to go enjoy a relaxing night, sleeping in real
beds.  I’ll see you in the morning.”  To prevent any more objections,
she turned and with Bhrandii in tow, headed up the short path to the brick
house.  Wolf and Feather watched, then retreated to the truck and climbed
in.  The girl looked at her brother.

“What do you think?” 
She asked.

He shrugged
his broad shoulders as he put the truck in gear and began to drive it slowly
down the lane toward the highway.  “You asked and she declined.  What
do you think?”

Feather turned
her dark eyes on him, a storm gathering behind their darkness.  “I think
she is trying to be brave, but I know she has to be scared to death.  The
man killed her husband and her friends and now he’s coming after her.  She
might not think she needs help, but I do!”

Wolf chuckled
softly.  “I’m sure you do, Warrior Woman, but you heard her say the
sheriff will have someone watchin’ the house all night.”  He reached out
one of his swarthy hands and lightly pinched the end of his sister’s nose.

Angrily she
slapped his hand away.  “Wolf, she might need us tonight.”

“Tonight the
sheriff is having the house watched.  Tomorrow I will meet with him and
see how much danger he feels she is in.  Maybe we can help after
that.”  Wolf knew the threat was new and the department would be very
vigilant.

Early the next
morning, Wolf was seated in front of the sheriff’s desk, looking across at the
lawman as he perused the resume Captain Ferguson had faxed.

Finally the
sheriff looked up.  “I didn’t know I was in the presence of a hero.”

Wolf dropped
his head.  He wondered what was in the papers that Captain Ferguson had
sent to the sheriff last night.  “I’m just a man that wants to do the job
I’m assigned, the best I can do it.  I’m not a hero.”

Davis looked
up from the papers again.  “If half of what he says about you is true, I’d
be a fool not to hire you.  How long were you undercover?”

“Roughly nine
months.  The first three it was just getting’ my foot in the door. 
After that, it was deep cover.  I hardly ever got to go home.”  Wolf
remembered how much he had missed being at home during that time.

“Why didn’t
you speak up yesterday when I saw you out at Jordan’s place?”  John Davis
cast the younger man a direct question with unwavering eyes.

Wolf hadn’t
made any reference to having been at Jordan’s house and wasn’t sure the sheriff
had recognized him.  The question was meant to catch him off balance.

“I wasn’t sure
Captain Ferguson had spoken to you at that time, and I’m not sure how Jordan
will react to me hitting you up for a job.”  He returned the steady
scrutiny from the sheriff.

“How well do
you know her?”  Davis asked.

“I met her
yesterday when I delivered a horse to her.  She’s lettin’ me and my sister
keep our horses there until we find a place of our own.”  Wolf was
beginning to feel like someone being interrogated.

“Your sister?”

“Yes, my
sister.  She was there with me.”

Now Davis
looked away.  “Oh yeah.  Pretty little thing.  So she’s your
sister?”

Wolf’s black
brows knitted into a frown.  “Yes.  We had the same mother and
father, so that makes her my sister!”

“Sorry. 
I didn’t mean to sound like I didn’t believe you.”  Davis knew when to
back off.  “I was surprised to see y’all were having supper with
Jordan.  It’s well known around here that she keeps to herself. 
Figured you had a horse there in training.”

Wolf didn’t
respond.

John Davis was
sincerely hoping that this man was as good as his previous supervisor thought
he was.  He would be an asset to any branch of law enforcement. 
“What are you expecting to get as a starting salary?”

Wolf looked
out the big window of the comfortable office.  “As much as I can
get.  I’m experienced, but I realize that you don’t know me from Adam’s
house cat, so if you give me a chance at what you usually pay new deputies,
we’ll see how it works out.  When you think I deserve a raise, then you
provide it.  If I find I’m not earnin’ raises as fast as I think I should,
then I’ll let you know.”