Whispering Spirits (4 page)

“What?”

“When I was at your apartment, Joshua kept
looking at his watch, almost as if he was either expecting someone
he didn’t want me to see or he had someplace to go.”

“That really doesn’t tell us much, does it?
Has anyone called you since that first time?” Summer didn’t like
strangers calling and threatening her father. Jordan must have been
into something…but what? “You sure there’s nothing else you might
have seen and didn’t give it much thought?” She waited while her
father gave her question some thought.

He turned toward her and pulled on his long
braid. “There was a black bag on your coffee table.”

“What kind of black bag? You mean like a
garbage bag?” The pounding to the backside of her skull increased
and she fought the nausea that threatened.

“It was more like a computer bag or small
case. You know they are about four inches thick and they zip shut.
Now that I think about it, it was partially open and…I don’t think
there was a computer in it.”

“Could you see anything inside?” She tried to
think if she’d seen Jordan with anything like that, but she
couldn’t.

“No…I just know there wasn’t a computer
inside because they pretty much fit tight and the bag
looked…wobbly. Joshua noticed I was looking at it and stepped in
front of me. You have any idea why he had that at your apartment?
Where were you?”

“I was…angry with Jordan for giving our
tickets away so I went out for drinks with my girlfriend, Candice.
Actually, she was the one who called me and suggested we go
out.”

“You’ve known this girl for a long time?”

“We’ve been friends for some time. Why?” Her
friend would never have anything to do with this.

“If Jordan gave your tickets to his brother,
why wasn’t Joshua at that concert instead of at your
apartment?”

“What time were you there?” Her father was
right, she struggled to listen.

“It had to be around eight thirty. I’d
planned on staying the night. Instead I turned around and
left.”

“I wonder how many times he used my apartment
without my knowledge. I wish I knew what was in that bag. If only I
could ask Jordan.”

“You think Jordan caught onto what his
brother was up to? You think Joshua could have killed Jordan?”

“He didn’t kill Jordan. A guy by the name of
Derek Wallace did. But someone also killed Ali Murdown in Jordan’s
shower. I’ve had a feeling Joshua didn’t just show up at Jordan’s
apartment as he claimed. I have a feeling he was already there
before I got there.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t seem surprised or
even upset his brother was dead. I knew Jordan and Joshua didn’t
get along very well, but I never thought it was as deep seated as
it appears.”

“Did you tell the detective on Jordan’s case
all this?”

Summer drew in her lips and released them,
making a popping sound. “I…I really don’t trust the
napi’kwan
police. One look at me and I can tell they could
care less about a Blackfeet girl’s boyfriend.”

“I understand your hesitation. I too have
trust issues with the white man’s police. You should talk to
Running Crane. He is one of us and connected with the Bureau of
Indian Affairs.”

“If I find a need, I’ll seek him out.
Otherwise, there’s no reason.” The last person she wanted to
contact was her high school boyfriend’s brother. It seemed she had
a track record for disliking her boyfriend’s brother. The thought
almost made her laugh.

“I think you’re not telling me everything.
Maybe you didn’t know Jordan as well as you thought. He was in
politics, wasn’t he?”

“He worked for Lawrence Borden who is running
for a Democrat senate seat. I don’t see how that can be
misconstrued as illegal.” Summer cringed as her father rolled of
his eyes upward. “I get you don’t like
napi’kwan
government,
but that doesn’t or didn’t make Jordan a bad person.”

“I never said it did,
Niipo
. I just
think there was something going on that you weren’t aware of. He
was murdered. There has to be a reason.”

“He never said anything to me…I…had no
idea…he was into something dangerous. I couldn’t tell.”

“He might have thought no one would suspect
him and he was in the clear. The brothers were involved in
something illegal together. Whatever was in that bag is what this
is all about.”

Summer closed her eyes a moment, then opened
them. “I won’t believe Jordan would do anything illegal unless
someone proves it. He was a good man,
Inn
. All this
speculation is giving me a headache, let’s talk about something
else.”

“
Nah-ah
is excited you’re coming to
spend the summer with her.” John Timber Wolf backed out of the
parking spot and merged into highway traffic. “She’s been preparing
for her time with you for weeks.”

“How can that be? I just decided to take care
of her yesterday.”

“You know I’ve stopped trying to figure out
how she knows things. She’ll tell you
kay’issta’pssiwa
.”

“She may believe it’s a spirit, but I don’t.
I haven’t believed in the old ways for a long time. We have to
forget all that nonsense and move with the times. The people’s
biggest problems are self-inflicted. If you ask me, they should
shut down all the reservations and the crutch of clinging to the
old ways would be gone. Our people would be forced to blend into
society.”

“You really believe that? You think our
people would be better off forgetting where we come from? To lose
our ancestry would be to lose our direction. If you don’t know
where you’ve come from how do you know where you’re going?
Niipo,
you’ve lost your way. It’s good you are back.”

“I’m not back. I’ve returned only to take
care of
Nah’ah.
It’ll give me time to decide which job I
want to accept.”

“You could teach Native American Language and
be true to the ways of your people. You could teach Native American
History and make a difference in the future of the Blackfeet.”

Summer leaned against the headrest and closed
her eyes. “We have to make our own futures and it’s not going to
happen if our people stay on the res.”

“Is that what Jordan taught you? You have a
napi’kwan
boyfriend and you suddenly are ashamed to be
Blackfeet?”

“I didn’t say I was ashamed of being
Blackfeet, I just think our people need to realize they all need a
change. To cling to old ways will only keep them depressed and
poor. There’s no future in that. We’ve had this conversation way to
many times. We always end up angry. This is one subject we’ll never
agree on. I don’t know why we always end up—”

“Look, over on that dead tree. It’s an
owl.”

She glanced at her father and read the fear
in his face. “You still believe the spirits of the dead appear in
the form of an owl? Really,
Inn
? You want me to believe it’s
Jordan’s spirit and he’s here to haunt me because he was
murdered?”

“He might be asking you to find his killer.
Keep watching for him to reappear. You should not ignore
truths.”

“You do realize how ridiculous that way of
thinking is—right? It’s a flipping owl,
Inn
. Nothing more
and nothing less.”

“Watch your mouth young lady. You would be
smart to hold that tongue with your
nah’ah
.”

Summer’s cell phone rang and she hesitated to
answer it. She dug in her purse and noticed the caller was
unidentified. She swallowed hard, then said, “Hello?”

“You’d be wise not to go blabbing your story
to the Res police. Keep your mouth shut and nothing will happen to
your father or you.”

“Since I’ve nothing to blab, it won’t be
hard. Tell me something, what was in that computer bag? What
exactly was Jordan and Joshua into? I’m not a part of whatever it
was, so why don’t you just leave me alone. The more you push me,
the more involved I’ll become.” She knew she shouldn’t challenge
the man on the phone, but she needed answers. Maybe he’d reveal
something without realizing it.

“What do you mean? What computer case? I
thought you didn’t know anything. Tell me what you know or I’ll put
a bullet right into your father’s forehead.”

“You expect me to believe you have a rifle
zeroed in on us right this very moment? How—” A bullet hit the
windshield between her and her father. It left a huge dent in the
glass.

“Pull off at the next rest station and stay
in the car.”

“Now why would we do that?” She swallowed
hard.

“What’s going on, Summer? At first I thought
a rock hit the windshield, but now I believe it was a bullet. Who
you talking to? Is he the one who shot at us?”

“
Inn
, he wants us to turn into the
next rest station and—”

“Like hell we will. I am not playing his
game.”

“He said he’ll put a bullet in your forehead
if we don’t.” Summer’s headache peaked and she retched into a
plastic bag.

“There’s only one place he could have gotten
that shot off and we just passed it. I’m not stopping.”

“Your father will regret his decision. I’m
not through with either of you.”

“I don’t know what you want. I have no idea
what Jordan was doing. I don’t have anything in safe-keeping and I
wasn’t connected to anything Joshua was involved in. If you want
answers, I suggest you have a long conversation with Joshua
Perkins. If he tries telling you anything connected to me, you’ll
know he’s lying.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you? If you’re
so innocent, how’d you know about the bag?”

“My father came to see me at my apartment and
Joshua was there. I wasn’t. My father spotted a computer bag on my
coffee table. It could have meant nothing.”

“So you’re saying we should look for Jordan’s
computer?”

“Well, that’s just it. He couldn’t see
inside, but it definitely didn’t have a computer inside it. Joshua
was acting squirrely. That’s all my father and I know.”

“If I find out you’re lying, I’ll come after
you. The devil—”

“I know, can corner you in a house, but not
in a tipi.”

“What the hell you talking about?”

“You didn’t write that on a note to me this
morning?” Summer wanted nothing more than peace and quiet.

“I don’t leave threatening notes. What’d it
say?”

She hesitated. Should she tell him? “It said,
Go back to your people…it might be the only safe place for you.
Trust no one. And in tiny print it said, “The devil can corner you
in a house, but not in a tipi.”

“I didn’t write it. That means someone else
is involved. You have any idea who could have written it?”

“No. I thought it was you. Someone called my
father, I’m guessing that was you.”

“That one I’ll admit to. Who do you
think—”

“I don’t have a clue. The only person I think
is in the middle of all this is Joshua Perkins. My father and I
have nothing to do with whatever you’re doing. We don’t know
anything, like I’ve said before.”

“If you’re lying to me, you’ll pay
dearly.”

Summer held the phone to her ear long after
silence told her the caller had hung up.

“You care to explain that call to me?”

“There’s nothing to explain. You heard what I
said.”

“You shouldn’t have told him about the black
bags. Is he coming after us?”

Summer pressed the heels of her hands into
her forehead. “I don’t think so. It seems he believed me.”

“And if he didn’t?”

“My guess is we haven’t heard the last of
him. I can’t even begin to image what Joshua’s involved in. I
wonder if Jordan accidentally figured it out and it got him
killed.”

“You can’t believe what a
napi’kwan
says. Don’t be so sure Jordan knew nothing. It would concern me
that a woman was killed in my boyfriend’s shower. Be honest with
yourself or the answers won’t present themselves.”

She glanced over at her father, then shook
her head. “If only this could be resolved so easily.” Silence fell
between them. Summer couldn’t help wondering what she’d seen
without realizing it. Could Jordan possibly be involved every bit
as much as Joshua? Where was Jordan on those many late nights at
the office? She’d never even considered he was somewhere else…and
the truth…. she didn’t really care.

Why had Jordan called both her and Joshua to
come to his apartment if he was involved? Again the logical
explanation was he’d figure out what Joshua was involved in and
wanted to confront him. Did he want her there to be witness to his
accusations? Summer’s head swam with questions…with no answers.
Maybe the most damaging question was: what was Ali Murdown doing
taking a shower in Jordan’s apartment?

Chapter Three

Summer stared at the chopper and back at her
father. “This is a joke, right?”

“No, I’m just following instructions from
your
nah’ah
.”

“Lady, the longer you make me wait, the more
it’s going to cost. I suggest we leave in the next five minutes.”
He pushed his sunglasses further up his nose and quickly looked the
other way.

Even though she really couldn’t see him well,
she glared at the pilot. “I…haven’t had time to prepare. I’m not
packed for a week in a tent.”

“More like tipi if I know
Nah’ah
. Do
you have shirts and jeans packed in any of those bags?”

Nodding, Summer walked back to her father’s
1960 Pontiac GTO and pulled out several suitcases. The largest had
sportswear and exercise clothes and she pulled it aside. She
grabbed the smaller gray suitcase that contained makeup, mirror,
and her thyroid meds. It would have to do. “Next time I’d
appreciate a bit of a heads-up. If it was anyone other than
Nah’ah
, I’d say forget it.”

“Look at it this way, you get to experience a
chopper ride. That’s something I’ve never done.”