Chilling Effect (18 page)

with it if necessary.

She skidded to a stop at the bottom of the hill.

CHILLING EFFECT

“Boom’s here.”

“Good.” Ruby answered without taking her eyes off Buckmount.

Aroostine was reasonably confi dent he wouldn’t try anything. His

eyes were glazed, and he seemed to be having trouble focusing. He

also had to have one heckuva headache. All the same, she was glad

Boom had arrived—more than glad, to be honest.

She heard loose rocks tumbling down the hill and turned to see

Boom sliding down the embankment sideways, as if he were snow-

boarding. Lily ran behind him, a pink-and-green backpack banging

against her shoulders as she bounded toward her mother.

“Mom!” she shouted, racing past Boom.

Ruby shoved the gun into Aroostine’s hands. Lily jumped into

her mother’s arms and wrapped her legs around her waist. Ruby

hugged her daughter close, stroking her hair.

“What were you thinking, bringing her here?” Ruby asked over

the top of the girl’s head.

“It’s after two o’clock, Ruby. We’re unlikely to be back home

before school lets out.” Boom seemed chastened by the scolding,

shuffl ing his feet in the dirt.

“Oh. Right. Of course.” Ruby dropped the subject.

Lily lifted her cheek from her mother’s shoulder. “Boom said

he saw Mr. Buckmount taking you away from the house, Mom.”

“You did?” Ruby asked.

“I wasn’t sure what was going on. But something felt wrong to

me. So I borrowed Isaac’s car and headed toward school to pick up

Lily. I’m glad I did. We got here a lot faster than we would have

otherwise.”

At the mention of Buckmount, Boom turned and looked at the

man. As instructed, he was lying fl at on his stomach with his hands crossed behind his back. He strained his neck, forcing his head up

to meet Boom’s gaze with a defi ant expression.

“You old fool.” Boom spat in the dirt near Buckmount’s head.

141

MELISSA F. MILLER

“You’re one to talk.”

“Here—” Aroostine handed the gun to Boom, butt fi rst. “I

took out the bullets.” She dropped them into his palm. “I need to

get back to Joe. Can you stay here with Ruby until the tribal police come? She already called them and asked them to send two units

and requested that Chief Johnson come to the scene, too.”

Boom dangled the gun from two fi ngers as if he were reluctant

to touch it. She knew the feeling.

“Why two units?”

Aroostine stared hard at Buckmount and answered in a low voice

so Lily wouldn’t hear. “Because we found two drones that need to

be secured.”

Buckmount’s face remained impassive. No reaction.

“I’m not sure the tribal police are the right people for the job,”

Boom said.

“I’m sure they aren’t. But they’ll do until the Department of

Defense and Homeland Security work out who’s sending a team.

I called Washington already. Th ey’re probably in the middle of a

heated round of Rock, Paper, Scissors as we speak.”

He didn’t laugh.

“Th at last part was supposed to be a joke.”

“Th is is a very grave matter, daughter. Th e government will

vilify us.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so, Boom. Th ey’re going to

want to sweep this little event under the rug as quickly as they can.

Public perception and whatnot.”

“I hope so.”

She gave him a smile meant to reassure him, but her mind was

back at the cave.

“I really have to go. I’m afraid Buckmount’s goons are already

on the way to the cave.”

“Cave?”

142

CHILLING EFFECT

“Yeah, the drones are in a large cave back near the foothills of

a mountain—”

Boom interrupted as she tried to describe the location. “I know

the cave. Go. I’ll bring Atlas and his offi cers and meet you there.”

“Th ank you,” she said. Th en she walked over to Ruby, who was

still clutching her daughter to her chest.

“I have to go. You’re okay now. He can’t hurt either of you.”

Ruby nodded.

Aroostine reached out and patted Lily on her narrow back. Th e

girl turned and beamed up at her. Aroostine’s throat threatened to

close.

She inhaled deeply and started to run, up the hill, over the

valley, and back to the dark cave where her husband sat, guarding

two sophisticated pieces of military equipment armed only with a

dented wristwatch. She dug the toes of her shoes into the earth and ran faster than she thought possible.

143

Forty-nine more minutes.

It had been an hour and eleven minutes since Aroostine left.

She’d said if she wasn’t back in two hours to go for help. One hun-

dred and twenty minutes of not knowing if she was okay. If she’d

been picked up by a helpful motorist or Isaac’s murderer. If she had tripped over a root and snapped an ankle and was lying, writhing

in pain, in the dirt. Or—if he was being honest, the nightmare sce-

nario that had been running through his head in a loop—if she’d felt a dark shadow pass overhead and then been annihilated, pulverized

into dust in a fl ash of heat and light.

Joe eyeballed the drone as if it might tell him something about

his wife’s fate. Unsurprisingly, it sat silent and still, like an animal waiting to spring.

Stop it.

He stood and walked to the mouth of the cave, telling himself

he was just keeping his muscles loose. He wasn’t afraid of a machine.

CHILLING EFFECT

He made windmills with his arms. Jogged in place. Did some

halfhearted jumping jacks. Checked the watch again.

Forty-seven more minutes.

He was going to go crazy in this cave before he managed to hit

the two-hour mark. He scrubbed his hands over his face. Maybe

some fresh air would help. It couldn’t possibly hurt.

He strode out of the cave—four big steps—and breathed in

deeply. Th e breeze ruffl ed his hair. A bird chattered nearby. Th e woods were shady now that the sun had begun its afternoon descent.

But the light that did manage to stream through the trees was a welcome change from the funereal gloom inside the cavern.

Forty-four minutes.

He turned his face up to the sky and closed his eyes for a long

moment.

Th e sound of twigs snapping and grass rustling fi lled the quiet.

He popped his eyelids open and swiveled his head, looking for the

source of the noise. He saw nothing. But now his heart was banging

so loudly in his chest that he also couldn’t hear anything other than the sound of it thudding.

“Hello?” he called. He scanned the ground for a thick stick or

other suitable weapon.

“Joe?” came the reply.

Aroostine.
His shoulders relaxed, and his breath whooshed out in an enormous sigh of relief. Th e drumming of his heart slowed

and quieted to normal.

A moment later his wife emerged from the woods. She ducked

under a bough and stepped onto the path. A frisson of joy shot

through him at the sight of her. But no one followed her out of the trees. She was alone. His joy evaporated—or, more acurately, burst

suddenly as if someone had stuck a pin in it.

“No help?”

“On its way.”

145

MELISSA F. MILLER

She joined him in front of the cave and wrapped her arms

around him. She clung to him so tightly that he couldn’t draw a

breath, but he didn’t complain. Instead he pressed his nose into

her hair and clung right back. Th ey stood that way for a long time, he didn’t know how long, because checking his watch was the far-thest thing from his mind. Instead, he held his wife wordlessly and breathed in her scent—she smelled like sunshine and, after a night

sleeping on the ground, a hint of earth.

After a while, she relaxed her grip and stepped back a half step.

“Am I glad to see you.”

“Evidently.”

Her mouth curved into a bow. “Sorry. I just . . . I was so worried.”

“Never apologize for a hug like that,” he told her. “So, how’d

you get to town and back so quickly?”

“I didn’t.”

She leaned against the outer wall of the cave and began to tell

him the entire story—how she’d run across Lee Buckmount threat-

ening to kill Ruby, how she’d bashed his skull in, and how she and

Ruby had restrained him until Boom arrived.

“Do you really think Buckmount would have killed her?” he

asked when she paused to take a breath.

“I really do. He was so angry. He knew she knew
something
, but he didn’t know what. He was never going to accept that Isaac hadn’t shared any specifi cs with her.” She shuddered.

He moved closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Cold?”

“No, I got a chill.”

He realized that, despite her dispassionate delivery, the encoun-

ter with Buckmount had rattled her—maybe even more than had

the discovery of the drones.

“You’re okay.”

146

CHILLING EFFECT

“I know. I just . . . I think I held the gun that took Isaac Palmer’s life, Joe.” She stared down at her hand.

He gave her a moment then asked, “What did Sid say about

the drones?”

She looked up with a miserable expression, as if the topic

pained her.

“Th e government’s putting together an ad hoc, cross-agency

team to come out and handle the mess. All they want the tribal

police to do is secure the darned things until they get here—and to do it without anyone noticing.”

“Where are they going to store two monstrously large aircraft

on the down low? Do the tribal police have an airplane hangar?”

She made a disgusted noise. “Th ey want the chief to station two

men here. Th e plan is to leave them in the cave until the Defense

Department can arrange transport back to Pendleton.”

“Here?”

“Th at’s what they want.”

“What did Chief Johnson say about taking two offi cers away

from the reservation for an unspecifi ed period of time?”

“Nothing yet—Sid wants me to be the bearer of that happy news.”

“Ouch.”

“Oh, there’s more. Justice doesn’t want tribal police to question

Buckmount. Th ey want me to interview him.”

“You mean about the drones?”

“About all of it—the drones, Isaac’s murder, Ruby’s abduction

and attempted murder, the embezzlement at the casino.”

Th e mask of disgust didn’t slip from her face, but he sensed a

hint of excitement in her voice.

“Th at’s great, though!” He said it with as much enthusiasm as

he could muster.

She painted him with a bemused look. “You think so?”

147

MELISSA F. MILLER

“Th is is your break, Roo. Your ticket back to the fast track.”

“Hmm. I thought you weren’t such a fan of the fast track.”

Boom’s admonition about clipped birds echoed in his ears. He

took his time answering but when he did, he spoke from a place of

truth.

“I’m not. But I’m a huge fan of yours. And I want you to do

what fulfi lls you. Will that fulfi ll you—getting back into Sid’s good graces and another shot at being a superstar prosecutor?”

She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’m not sure, to be com-

pletely honest. I thought it’s what I wanted.”

“But?”

“But I feel like something is shifting inside me. It’s hard to

explain. Being on the reservation. Seeing Lily growing up here. I

think . . . I don’t know what I think.” Th e raw emotion running

through her voice caught him off -guard.

He searched for a response. But the sound of loud motorized

vehicles shattered the stillness of the woods. Car doors slammed,

and loud voices shouted to one another.

“Here comes the cavalry,” he said.

She straightened her shoulders and took a centering breath.

“One thing I do know is this part isn’t going to be fun—telling

Chief Johnson he’s been relegated to chief babysitter isn’t going to go over well.”

148

As a rule, Aroostine hated to be proved wrong. But in this case, she could make an exception to that policy.

Chief Johnson had just about melted into a puddle of relief

to hear that she was taking over what had to be the biggest case to come out of the White Springs Reservation since, well, ever. He

assured her he’d provide whatever resources and support she needed

and practically ran back to his car to radio for a second offi cer to come out and join Offi cer Hunt on caveman duty.

Judging by the resigned slump of his shoulders, Hunt was

somewhat less enthusiastic about the turn of events than his boss.

“Seems like you sure manage to get yourself into trouble, don’t

ya’?” the police offi cer observed.

“Mmm. Seems as though there’s an awful lot of trouble to get

into around here.”

He narrowed his eyes and gave her a frown but didn’t respond.

Joe coughed into his hand to cover a laugh.

MELISSA F. MILLER

“So, who handles security at the testing facility? Is that in your

department’s jurisdiction?”

She asked the question casually and without judgment, but

Hunt answered stiffl y.

“Th e facility is on our land, yes, but the Tribal Board voted to

contract that work out to a private fi rm.”

“Outsiders?”

Hunt sucked air through his teeth, considering the question.

“No. Matter of fact, the board awarded the contract to Buck-

mount Security Services, Inc.”