The Ties That Bind by Andi Marquette Read Free Book Online Page B

hasn't gotten that problem resolved. He's such an asshole about it. Anyway, I guess a friend of his called the place they shared on Monday wanting to know where he was because they were supposed to work on some plumbing together. That's when the girlfriend--Tonya--thought something might be up because even though he's a drunk, she said, he never bailed on his friends. I'd give him props for that, but he never showed up as a dad when River and I were kids. And when he did, he was usually drunk and an absolute prick."
    "How come she didn't wonder why he didn't call her?"
    "She said if he was drinking, he wouldn't call her for a day or two because he felt guilty about it." She rubbed her forehead with her other hand.
    "She said that to River?"
    Sage nodded. "He asked the same question."
    I squeezed her hand. "So how'd she get River's number?"
    Sage sighed, still rubbing her forehead. "She didn't. She went through his things and found River's name next to the number for the company he guides for in Montana. She called them, they contacted River, and he decided to call her back, since he figured it must be sort of serious if she's calling her boyfriend's estranged son..." her voice trailed off.
    "Wait a second," I started. "If this Tonya says your dad's been gone about a week, how did he mail the letter?"
    "River was leading a guide trip until Saturday--yesterday. The letter was in the pile of mail he had waiting for him and the postmark on it was a week ago Friday."
    She extricated her hand from mine and reached into her shorts pocket. She pulled out a scrap of newspaper and handed it to me. I recognized it as the article I'd ripped out of the Journal yesterday and taped to my computer. I looked at it, then at her and that thought I'd filed the day before popped right back to the front of my mind.
    "You don't think--" I started.
    Her fingers drummed on the armrest even faster. "The timing's right. And the description of the body seems to match, too."
    "Fuck," I muttered. "If it is--honey, I'm sorry."
    "For what?" She seemed puzzled. "Given his past, his choices most likely put him out there."
    "We don't know that for sure. It could have been a random crime. Maybe he was on his way home from work or something and--" I caught myself. I'd already decided that Sage's dad was the dead man found on the Navajo Reservation. The evidence isn't in yet, I remonstrated myself.
    "Doubtful." Sage smiled, a little sad, emotions I couldn't read flickering through her eyes. "You didn't know him. He was not a nice man. River and I don't have good memories of him and it's a very good thing that Mom threw him out of the house when she did. The only tie I have to him is genetic and that doesn't mean shit to me, no matter what he said in that letter." She stood and leaned in to kiss my cheek. "Thanks for the sentiment, but there's nothing to be sorry about."
    I hugged her close and rested my head on her belly as she stroked my hair. Her voice held finality. She, too, had already decided the dead man on the Rez was her father. "Doesn't matter what you thought of him," I said. "If he is dead, it might still bring shit up for you and River." Like that damn letter obviously did.
    She didn't respond right away, just continued stroking my hair with one hand while the other rested on my shoulder. "I love you," she said after a while and I hugged her even closer.
    "Right back at 'cha."
    She chuckled. "I'll call Mom. See if she's heard anything."
    I reluctantly released her. She leaned down and brushed a kiss across my lips before she went inside. I sat staring at the article from yesterday's paper but I didn't see the words.
     
     
    I HEARD THE front door open and close and I washed my hands in the kitchen sink and wiped them on the dish towel. I finished just as Sage appeared in the doorway.
    "Hey," I said, smiling. "How was the studio?"
    "Good," she responded. She closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around my waist. "Mmm. My sexy girlfriend