In the Arms of Stone Angels (12 page)

“You're his doctor?”

“Yes, I am. And I have to tell you. When I saw the reaction he had with you on your last visit, it blew me away. I've tried everything and gotten nothing from him. But you? You got him to actually look at you. You have no idea how big that was, do you?”

I should have taken off my sunglasses, but I couldn't. I wasn't ready for this man to see me.

“Why is he like that? It's like he's…brain-dead.” I chewed the corner of my lip and winced. I'd forgotten about the cut.

“He's catatonic. I believe he experienced something highly traumatic that made him that way. It's like his mind can't accept what happened. He's not ready to face it. And if you're a friend of his, you might have an idea what I'm talking about.”

Yeah, guess I had firsthand knowledge of what he was talking about.

“It's not fair he's locked up here. It's like he's doing the time for something he's never been convicted of. Will he ever get better?”

“Before you came along, I might have told you something different. But you got a reaction from him and that's why I was hoping you'd come back, so we could talk.” He took a deep breath and fixed his eyes on me. “I could use your help.”

“Me? What are you talking about?”

I felt my heart racing and the hospital corridor closed in. This man had kind eyes and he wanted to help White Bird, but something didn't feel right about him. I couldn't put my finger on why I was so anxious.

“I'd like to schedule time for you to visit with your friend, under my supervision, of course. You'd have to follow my
instructions to the letter, but I think you'd make a difference in his treatment.”

“I don't know.” I shook my head and my throat was suddenly dry.

“But you're his friend. Don't you want him to get better?”

“Yes, but…”

I knew what he was doing. I'd used his move before. The guy was using my guilt against me like a weapon. I was White Bird's friend. Why wouldn't I want to help? But I didn't trust this man.

“If you want him to get better, I'm only asking for a little bit of your time. Is that too much to ask…for a friend?”

The jerk in the lab coat was trying too hard.

“No, it's not. But I want time to think about it.”

“What's there to think about? You're his friend.”

“Yeah, mister. I get it. You don't need to whack me over the head with your guilt hammer. You could let me see him. Why do you have to be there?”

“Because I'm his doctor.”

The way he said it—like him being a doctor trumped my friend status or aced any other job on the planet—turned me off. It was like arguing with Mom and her big comeback would be “because I'm your mother.”
Big deal!

And he glared at me now. The kindness in his eyes that I had seen before was gone.

“Not good enough.” I raised my chin. “How about a show of good faith? Will you let me see him now…just for a little while?”

The man clenched his jaw and didn't say anything. I knew he was mad, but I kept my mouth shut until he came back with an answer.

“No. I control who visits him. And if you won't cooperate, then I'll make sure you don't see him again. I'll alert security.” He had the nerve to hand me his business card. “Call me, but only if you'll play by my rules.”

This guy made sure I knew he was White Bird's gatekeeper and in control. And he was used to getting his way. I looked at his business card and gritted my teeth when I saw his big shot title. He was in charge of stuff and wasn't just a doctor handling White Bird's case.

And yeah, he had the authority to let me see White Bird if I changed my mind and played his game of intimidation, but I didn't like him and I was too stubborn to give in. I didn't say another word. I walked by him and headed back to the reception area.

And that made Dr. Ridgeway mad.

“Do you want to see him spend the rest of his life in an institution?” he called down the hall after me. “Because that's what could happen if you don't help him.”

Why was the guy trying so hard? If he really wanted to help his patient, he would have given in on letting me see him. He was the adult and the man in charge, but he'd resorted to playing hardball. And that made me wonder what he was up to.

I needed time to think. I left the hospital feeling more down than before. Not seeing White Bird—not even a glimpse of him—tore at me. But knowing that damned doctor would keep me from seeing him pissed me off. I didn't think I could feel any worse until I looked up.

Mom was standing where I'd locked my bike. And she didn't look happy.

“Oh, shit,” I mumbled and took a deep breath.

“I thought you were at the movies.” She crossed her arms, daring me to lie to her.

“Didn't feel like it.” I crossed my arms, too. “Were you spying on me?”

Mom was seething. She glared at me, as mad as I've ever seen her. Accusing her of spying wasn't my smartest move, especially considering that I'd proven she couldn't trust me.

“You came to visit that boy, didn't you?” She didn't wait for me to answer. “Is this your first time here?”

I could have lied, but I didn't.

“No. I had to see him, Mom. You don't understand.”

“Put your bike in my car. We're leaving. And when we get home, you're going to explain why it's so important for you to see him.”

She turned and didn't wait for my usual drama. And without an audience, I had no choice but to get my bike and follow her. I didn't know what I would say. Maybe it was time for the truth—whatever that was.

 

Mom didn't say a word to me all the way home. It was the quiet before the storm and we both knew it.

My mind raced with all the things I could tell her, but nothing sounded right. A part of me wished we could just talk. I needed someone to listen and not judge me, but that definitely wasn't my mother. Mothers always had an answer for everything. And it was never something a kid wanted to hear.

When we turned onto our street, I saw the painters were gone, but an old blue pickup truck was parked in front of Grams's house. In the lengthening shadows of early evening, it took me a minute to recognize the man behind the wheel.

“Oh, hell.” I cursed under my breath and Mom heard me.

“Who's that?” she asked. “You know that man? He's parked in front of our house, Bren.”

I heaved a sigh and stared at the long-haired, dark-skinned man in the truck. Wearing a cowboy hat, he watched us with interest as we drove toward him. His dark eyes never wavered. And he intimidated me as much as he'd done the other night.

Joe Sunne had come to see me. And now I'd have to explain his visit to Mom, too.
Joy!

“Yeah, I know him.” I turned toward her when she pulled into our driveway. “And I can explain everything, but I need to talk to him first. Give us a minute.”

“Oh, no, you're not talking to that man without me. You have anything to say to him, you'll do it in front of me.” Mom was done talking. She threw open her car door and got out.

“Oh, brother.” I rolled my eyes, but Mom was long gone.

She was heading for the old beat-up truck as Joe Sunne was getting out. Not knowing what brought the man to my door was bad enough, but what he'd say to me in front of my Mom made me sick with worry. As I walked toward the truck, heat rose to my face when I saw both of them staring at me.

I had a bad feeling that I was heading for another crap shower.

“Mom, this is Joe Sunne. He's a tribal elder and a Shaman for the Euchee tribe.” I spit out the man's full pedigree, hoping Mom would be impressed and not so mad at me. A long shot. “This is my mother, Kate Nash. We're from Charlotte, North Carolina. Just came back to fix up my grandmother's old place. She died not too long ago.”

When I played the grandmother card again, I hoped he'd take pity on me. I had a hard time looking the man in the eye. He had a way of staring that made me feel like he could read my thoughts. You'd think that keeping my mind a blank slate wouldn't be hard, but it was.

“Sorry to hear about your grandmother,” he said.

When he directed his comment to me, I looked up and met his gaze. The stern expression I had seen the other night—after I'd intruded on him—was gone.

“Your daughter came to see me yesterday evening. I'm saying this because, if she's like most kids, she didn't tell you.”
He shifted his focus to Mom. “She came to ask me about White Bird. You might know him as Isaac Henry.”

“Is that so.” Mom crossed her arms and glared at me. She'd done the math and knew I'd taken the car to run my little side trip. I knew that choice tidbit would add another log onto the fire of our argument, once our visitor left. “And what brings you here, Mr. Sunne?”

“Please…call me Joe.” He took off his hat and tossed it through the open window of his truck. “I came to talk to Brenna and ask her a question, Mrs. Nash.”

“Kate. Call me Kate. You want to come inside, Joe?”

“No, thanks. This may not take long.”

I didn't like the sounds of that. One question and he'd be gone. My dread at seeing him had shifted to worry that he'd come for a good reason and I'd have to prove myself for him to stay and help.

“What did you come to ask?” I'd gotten tired of them talking around me.

“Why do you care so much about White Bird?”

“Yeah, Bren. Tell us both.”

Two sets of eyes stared at me like I'd farted in church.

“It's complicated.” I stalled.

“Then simplify it for us.” Mom wasn't cutting me any slack, but the edge had gone out of her voice. She really wanted to know.

I could have told them that I loved him and that the guilt of me turning him in had gotten too much for me to handle, but my feelings for White Bird were deeper than that and what we shared was private. So I told them what I could and spoke from my heart.

“I'm part of his tribe. He asked me to be his family and I said yes.”

Mom cocked her head and I had a hard time reading her face. Did she feel betrayed that I had chosen White Bird as my family? I wanted to tell her that saying “yes” to him didn't mean I had disowned her, but I wasn't sure she'd believe me.

Joe Sunne's expression was easier to read.

“A tribe has to do with blood.” He shook his head. “You can't say ‘yes' and make that happen. It doesn't work that way.”

“Why not?” I asked.

Even Mom turned to him for an answer, but when he only shrugged, I had something to say.

“You act like you don't even know him. Why is that? He's Euchee, like you. Even if he's not full-blooded, why would you treat him like shit?”

“Brenna.” Mom grimaced. “Watch your language.”

The man stood silent for a long time. He fixed his eyes on me and I did the same back to him. After what seemed like an eternity, he blinked and looked human.

“Your daughter's right, Kate. And she deserves an answer.” He cleared his throat and glanced away. I knew whatever he'd say would be hard for him. “I've been a coward when it comes to this boy. And your daughter came to me the other night to speak up for him. That took guts. And I respect that.”

Mom looked at me and narrowed her eyes as if she was seeing me for the first time.

“It looks like we've got things to talk about,” my mother said. “Why don't you come inside, Joe. Please.”

He nodded and followed Mom to the house and I walked two steps behind them. I had a strong feeling that White Bird was with me. And I pictured him smiling.

 

Deputy Will Tate had started his shift with more of a purpose than his usual patrol duties. The incident with Brenna Nash had been bugging him ever since it happened. That kid was hard to forget. And when she kept her mouth shut about what had happened, that worried him. His gut told him that he had to watch out for the quiet ones—the kids who took a beating without complaining. That meant someone else posed more of a threat than cop trouble.

And it didn't take him long to find out who that might be.

Being a liaison officer to the local high school, Will knew plenty of the local kids. The sheriff had assigned him the job as part of his rookie duties. And with him being a young deputy, the assignment fit. He had a small office on school property with regular hours for him to interact with kids. And with his visibility, he not only kept incidental crimes to a minimum at the school, but he also had become more visible to the community. The program was innovative and he liked being a part of it.

Putting his connections to good use, Will spent his past few shifts calling on the kids who owed him a good turn, ones who might be honest with him. But when even those kids played it cagey—and kicked out the same story verbatim—he was even more worried for Brenna.

“You're hiding something about that Seaver party. What's got you spooked?” he pushed Tyler Dixon for an answer. “Since when do you keep your mouth shut, Tyler? It's not in your nature, man.”

Tyler was heading into his junior year and was the editor for the school paper. He was a bit of a big mouth with an ego
to match and prided himself on reporting the truth. Maybe his rebellious nature only went as far as the cafeteria menu and parking lot issues.

“I told you. I wasn't there until later, but I heard stuff.” The kid sprawled on a bench along a hiking path by Walnut Hill pond. He'd been playing Frisbee with his dog, Taco, a border collie–terrier mix. Will had seen the kid from the street and drove into the park to talk to him, one-on-one.

“Like?” Will leaned against a tree with his thumbs hooked into his duty belt. “Come on. You know you're dying to tell me 'cause you like stirring things up. You've got the instincts of a big city reporter, so talk to me.”

Tyler sat quiet for a long moment and stared down at the black-and-white-spotted dog stretched out at his feet. The dog's long tongue dangled from its panting mouth.

“I heard Jade DeLuca and Derek Bast made things happen. I don't know how far they went, but those two don't have limits, if you know what I mean. And they fed their concocted story to the other kids to stack the deck against that Nash girl. But I have to tell ya, I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of either one of those idiots. Derek is a mean son of a bitch, but Jade is worse. She's a backstabbing snake and not even her bodacious boobies make up for that.”

The kid smirked and gave him a visual, holding out both his hands. Taco wasn't impressed. The dog groaned and went to sleep.

“Why would they want to hurt Brenna Nash?” He knew enough about the Heather Madsen case to suspect this was all connected, but he wanted to hear what Tyler had to say.

“You weren't in town when Heather got whacked, but it's all linked to her, dude. In my opinion, that girl had serious issues. And she'd pissed off plenty of folks to make a hefty list
of enemies, including Jade DeLuca,
numero uno
on Heather's hit parade.”

“Jade? I thought she was Heather's best friend.”

“Well, you know what they say. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. That pretty much described those two. Heather was one mean bitch and anyone in her inner circle knew that firsthand.”

“Then why would anyone want a part of that?”

“Good question, dude. I heard she dealt out the good with the bad. Personally, that wouldn't be my thing, but some folks don't know how to stand on their own two feet. They get desperate to belong, you know?”

“So if Heather had plenty of enemies, are you saying someone else might have killed her?” Will cocked his head and grimaced. “Because from what I've seen of that investigation, Isaac Henry was a clear front-runner.”

“I'm not saying anything. We're just two guys talking here.
Capisce?
” Tyler raised his voice, clearly uncomfortable with his line of questioning. “I'm just into conspiracy theories, okay? And that Indian kid seemed like a convenient suspect. The investigation was over before it began. Considering your boss had a connection to a kid who should have been questioned, I just think that's funny, is all. And that's all I'm gonna say.”

Will knew what Tyler was suggesting. And he had to admit that he'd thought the same thing about Sheriff Logan's conflict of interest since Derek Bast was his nephew and had been part of Heather's circle.

“But why pick on the Nash girl? If what happened at the Seaver party was about retaliation for what happened to Heather, why go after Brenna Nash? She was the one who turned in Isaac Henry.”

“Who knows how psychos think? But if I had to take a
guess, I'd say someone wanted to point a finger at Brenna because of her Tonto fetish. White on brown doesn't always play around here with some folks. That's no big deal for me, but each to his own.” He twirled the Frisbee on his finger and kept talking. “This town got real riled up when they heard about those two hooking up. If I was writing this movie, I'd say that playing the race card made a good smoke screen for the real killer to hide what might have happened.”

“And what was that?” Will asked. Tyler definitely had his interest.

“Don't know. That's why it's a mystery.”

When the kid laughed, Will slumped onto the bench next to him. With Derek Bast being related to the sheriff and Jade DeLuca's family being well connected in town, he would have an uphill battle to dig into this thing with Brenna Nash. He had a bad feeling he'd be unearthing something dark and ugly. And if he did run his own investigation, he'd be alone in pursuing it. The sheriff would be all over him. Second-guessing his boss's case—a case everyone in town thought was a done deal—would really muck up the works.

He should have let things go, but keeping his mouth shut when things weren't right wasn't in his nature, either.

“So if you were plotting this movie—” he grinned at Tyler “—who would you put on the suspect list for Heather's murder and why? Hypothetically speaking, of course.”

Tyler smiled back and kept talking. Guess the kid had guts after all.

Bricktown Ballroom—Oklahoma City

Known for its live music, the Bricktown Ballroom was a converted warehouse of red brick with massive exposed wood beams jutting through its tall ceilings. Colored lights were
dim, barely bright enough to see faces. And even though the place smelled like smoke and alcohol, Jade DeLuca loved the casual vibe that focused on the music.

And tonight would be no exception.

The ballroom was packed and Jade felt the electric mood that ran through the crowd. Everyone was talking and drinking and stealing glances at the stage as they waited for any signs of the band, Brain Crush. Lucas Quinn played lead guitar and was the front man for the hot new group. His band was on the fast track and Jade thought they were way better than the Flaming Lips, a very popular alternative music band that originated out of Oklahoma City and had made it big. And that was saying something about Lucas.

Brain Crush had played in Bricktown many times, a sweet gig and a hot spot for entertainment that was located near the downtown canal in OKC. And when Chloe had told her about Lucas playing there, Jade really wanted to go. She had used her fake ID in Bricktown before and she knew she could get into most places. And it took only two hours to drive there from Shawano.

But messing with Chloe was the main reason she was here. Jade took advantage of the fact that the girl didn't want to drive to OKC alone. Chloe had already offered to pay for her gas and all her expenses if she drove, including the cover charge, drinks and food after. So Jade took advantage of her pathetic excuse to buy friendship and invited Nicole and Brandy—telling them all their expenses would be paid for, too.

Chloe never objected. That's what a total loser she was.

Jade had bought drinks for a crowd of strangers, using Chloe's tab, and was passing the drinks around when an announcer came on the stage and introduced Brain Crush. And as she expected, Lucas was amazing and the first set was
incredible. Elbow to elbow, the crowd jammed to the music and screamed after each song. With cool videos playing on a big screen behind him, Lucas was in his element and he was crazy good.

“He looks yummy,” Jade screamed to Chloe over the music.

The girl nodded and hadn't said a word since the music started. She only stared up at the stage with buggy blue eyes, drooling over her crush. She had it bad. Real bad.

“You gonna talk to him at the break?” she asked. When Chloe only grimaced back with a crazed look that was a mix between deer in the headlights and pure panic, Jade came up with an idea. “You should let him know you brought a group down from Shawano. He'd like that.”

Even in the dim lights off the stage, Jade saw Chloe smile. She had dangled the bait and Lucas Quinn made an enticing lure. When Chloe went back into ogling Lucas onstage, Jade got to work. She moved through the crowd until she spotted the person she was looking for. After everything had been arranged, she sat back and waited for the band to take a break.

Jade didn't have to wait long.

At the break, Lucas made his way through the crowd. He was stoked and grinning, looking cuter than ever. Hands reached out to touch him and people called out his name and waved. Chloe was rooted where she stood. Her eyes were glued onto Lucas, but she was too scared to approach him until Jade waved her hands and gestured for her to go. Even though it was too loud for Chloe to hear, Jade mouthed the words, “Go! Talk to him!” And good little Chloe did as she was told.