Eagle, Kathleen by What the Heart Knows Read Free Book Online

hours by the time they found the body. Had a good head start. They
won't catch up to him."
    "But
they're trying, aren't they?"
    "They
say they are, but this is the rez. Crimes go unsolved here all the time. Our
own cops and courts don't do the big ones, the felonies. That's federal, which
is another world." He shrugged, glanced away, swallowed some resentments
he figured he'd inherited, the ones that came wrapped around your neck when you
were born on a reservation. "Anyway, what difference does it make? If they
find the driver, what, we've got more closure?"
    "At
least you'll know for sure what happened. It's a terrible thing to just drive
away."
    "You're
right about that. I'm good with this hand." He signaled that he was
staying with his cards, and he was working on a follow-up to the hand hint when
he noticed his brother ambling down the five carpeted steps as if he owned the
place. Damn, he was about to butt in and likely take over. Good old Mr. Smooth.
    Helen
turned over the card they'd both lost interest in seeing. "And the thing
is, your father was an important man who had a lot of"—she glanced up at
Reese as she claimed the bet he'd just lost—"irons in the fire."
    "How're
we doing over here?" Carter asked, moving in next to Helen. "I do
believe this is the first time my brother has actually set foot in our
establishment. What do you think of all this? Not too bad for a little
halfway-to-nowhere rez, huh?"
    "It's..."
Reese made a pretense of taking a survey. "Flashy."
    "Not
like what you're used to in the Cities, but for around here, this is
excitement. Not so much this time of day. Nights and weekends we draw quite a
crowd. This lady right here draws a crowd." Helen questioned the claim
with a look, and Carter grinned like a proud papa. "You do. The cowboys
wait in line for a seat at your table." He slid Reese a sly wink. "One
guy told me he just liked watching her hands."
    "Good
way to lose your shirt," Reese said.
    "Not
here. We're only interested in your money. Right, Helen? Gotta watch this guy.
If he starts betting his clothes, you call me."
    "Yes,
I will, Mr. Marshall."
    "Didn't
anyone offer you something to drink?" Carter signaled a woman with a tray.
"What's your pleasure? You know, you ought to take a look at the lodge,
brother. You'd be more comfortable here than out at the ol' man's place. I stay
here a lot myself. You don't know what kind of restless spirits might be
wandering around out there. Gigis, you know."
    Reese
accepted a soft drink since the young woman had gone to the trouble of making
the detour. "When did you start worrying about gigis?"
    "After
my big brother left me with no protection." Carter washed the dry joke
down with his own drink, then hoisted the glass in his brother's direction.
"He went away and left me stranded with a bunch of ghosts. The old man was
stuck in the past. It was getting to the point where all he really wanted to do
was hold us back."
    Us meaning
the tribe. Reese still thought it remarkable that Carter had been able to turn
around so completely. Their mother had died shortly after Carter was born, and
a priest had persuaded their father to give the baby up. The church had placed
Carter with a white family in New York. Rose had gone to live with their
grandmother. Reese was old enough to go to school and make up his own mind, and
when his father had asked him whether he wanted to go away, too, he'd said no.
So he had stayed and looked after Roy. In his mind, that was what he was doing,
even though he was only about six.
    Years
later, when Roy had dragged Carter back kicking and screaming from the
Marshalls of New York, Reese couldn't help wondering what the point of it was,
besides the fact that Carter was some kind of whiz kid and Reese was just
another Indian ball player. Roy had said that it was important for Carter to
know who he was, and since he'd been instrumental in getting the Indian Child
Protection Act through Congress, he was bound and determined to use