Richfield & Rivers Mystery Series 3 - Venus Besieged

Richfield & Rivers Mystery Series 3 - Venus Besieged by Andrews, Austin Read Free Book Online

Book: Richfield & Rivers Mystery Series 3 - Venus Besieged by Andrews, Austin Read Free Book Online
Authors: Andrews, Austin
into the smoke and danced with her—an erotic dance that made a seamless
piece of their bodies.
    Rising
to separate them, I was jealous that Callie would dance with someone other than
me, aware that the two of us had never danced together and feeling even angrier
that the first time I saw her dance was with Manaba. Then Callie tugged my arm,
pulling me back to a sitting position, and I realized she was beside me,
dancing with no one.
    "Were
you up there for a moment, dancing with her?"
    "Not
in a real sense, it's spiritual."
    "I
think she's after you."
    "She's
calling on me to be one with her search."
    "Yeah,
well, I don't like what she's searching for, which I think is you," I
said, sounding like some grumbling husband with a limited vocabulary.
    Bright
lights swung across us like search beams and the drumbeat slapped to a hard
stop, the rattles dopplered into silence, and the dancers wandered off away
from the circle as a four-wheel-drive vehicle slowly inched its way up the
southern edge of the plateau. My mind grappled with how a car got up a hill so
steep it challenged a jackrabbit.
    A
short, wiry cowboy of a man in his late sixties stepped out of the SUV and
strolled over to the fire where the dancers were breaking up.
    Tipping
his hat to Manaba, he said, "Saw the fire and wanted to make sure you
women were safe up here, particularly after the wolf killing. Former Senator Cy
Blackstone." He introduced himself to a seemingly disinterested woman
attired in Navajo dress, before attempting to take Manaba's hand in a
gentlemanly gesture, but Manaba stepped back from him.
    He
had his cowboy hat pushed back on his head, so the light from the fire caught
the craggy folds of his leathery face and a set jaw that bespoke a resolve
about life that neither reason nor affection could overcome. His jeans tight
fitting, belt buckle flashing silver in the flames, and his black ostrich boots
dusty but new, he was a crossover cowboy—the kind who could push cattle or
congressmen, rope steers or statesmen—a comfort cowboy who rode the range in a
Range Rover.
    "Now
that the woman..." he paused to glance around him before continuing
"...was given a decent burial, I could sure use a favor."
    Manaba's
face revealed nothing. In fact, if you were looking for evidence that she knew
him, had expected him, hadn't expected him, disliked him, or loved him, it was
a dry hole. Nonetheless, he seemed undeterred as he kicked up the dirt with his
toe and ducked his head, not unlike a schoolboy thinking of asking a girl to
dance.
    "Lotta
the natives think this deal is like last time and they're spooked, not wantin'
to show up at the site. You go on camera and talk, it'd settle things down.
Hell, even the whites are sayin' that your grandma's callin' the wolf down on
'em. Mall means a lot of jobs—jobs for Indians too. You think about it. In
light of what you and me are tryin' to do, you give it some extra thought. It's
important to our protecting people you care about. Protection is the key to
freedom—ask any dating boy."
    He
chuckled and cast his eyes around the circle at the women. "Didn't mean to
interrupt." His tone said the opposite. In fact he'd probably made a
special trip up here to interrupt and, beyond that, even delighted in
interrupting. The sly way he sank into his own hip, pulled his hat back down
over the ridge of his brow, and spat into the fire, the sacred fire, spoke all
anyone needed to hear.
    "Well,
night, Ms. Manaba," he called over his shoulder with a laugh, as if
stringing Ms. and Manaba together was funny, and kept on talking as he walked.
"Oh." He stopped and turned back in bad Columbo style, acting as if
he'd thought of something. "You decided where you're gonna be movin' your
meetings? Mall construction's going to be coming right up here pretty quick.
This is going to make a beautiful restaurant, don't you think? People dining
and looking out over this cliff. They'll be standing in line for days.
Progress, Manaba, progress.

Similar Books

Moonbase Crisis: Star Challengers Book 1

Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, June Scobee Rodgers

Echoes of Edinburgh

Joann Durgin

The Alibi Man

Tami Hoag

Goblins

Philip Reeve

The Golden Day

Ursula Dubosarsky

The White Stag

Jamie Freeman