way.
Instead, I get more silence so I forge ahead.
“Could Mary and Sarah have heard something the night of the meeting? Maybe a conversation between George and the men he was sitting with on the deck?”
Kayani presses the palms of his hands against his eyes.
“Did you find anything to connect George with the counterfeiters?”
“No.”
“Then they might have been tourists he took out that day.
We need something concrete to connect them.”
I touch the charm. “If George goes looking for this, he’l know someone has been in his shed. He’l know someone recognizes what he is. How do you think he’l react?”
“Skinwalkers are reviled in Navajo society. He’l want his secret protected.”
“How does one become a skinwalker? Frey said it had to do with desecrating the body of a loved one. He didn’t believe George could ever do that.”
“Wel, it looks like he was wrong, doesn’t it?” Anger flares in his voice. “It is said that if a Navajo pronounces the ful name of a
He draws in a breath, a look of purpose tightening the lines around his eyes and mouth.
I put a hand on his arm. “No. Don’t. If you speak George’s name and it works, we may never find out if he is behind the counterfeiting. Or who is working with him. Protecting the good of your people is important, isn’t it?”
Kayani breathes out. His eyes narrow a bit as he looks at me. I suppose he’s wondering why I, a stranger to the Navajo, so easily accepts that he could kil with the invoking of a name.
But he doesn’t ask.
Wordlessly, he takes the charm from my hand, opens the car door, steps onto the desert floor. He throws the charm down, crushes it with the heel of his boot. Then he picks up the strands of hair and lets them gust away on the breeze.
“Let’s get back to Daniel,” he says. “He must be warned.”
CHAPTER 42
FREY IS WAITING FOR US ON THE PORCH WHEN WE
arrive back.
“Where’s John-John?” Kayani asks the minute we’ve jumped out of the truck.
“Inside. He’s already asleep. The poor kid is dead tired.”
He looks from Kayani’s face to mine and back again.
“What’s going on?”
There’s so much Frey doesn’t know about our afternoon excursion that it takes both of us several minutes to bring him up to date. His reaction is predictable.
He directs his anger first at Kayani and me. “You two went off without letting me know what you were doing. What if you’d gotten caught? What if George had decided to shoot you again with a bone charm? Or you, Kayani? John-John would be next and I would have known nothing about it.”
Kayani accepts Frey’s wrath. “You are right. It was stupid not to let you now where we were going. But at the time, we thought we were hunting smugglers, not a
It wasn’t until Anna found the proof in George’s shed that we realized John-John was in trouble.”
“Did you destroy the charm?”
“Of course, my friend.”
“Then it is time I pay George a visit.”
Kayani nods in understanding. “It was my first reaction, too. But Anna reminded me we don’t yet have proof that he is behind the counterfeiters. We must be sure one way or another before we act. There is a greater good to consider.”
“Not to me there isn’t.” Frey is on his feet, ready to sweep any obstacle out of his path. “I won’t give him an opportunity to harm my son.”
“I love John-John, too,” Kayani says quietly. “I have known him since he was a baby. I wil die before I let harm befal him. We must come up with a way to protect John-John while pursuing the truth of the other matter.”
“And how do you propose to do that? Do you have a plan?”
“Maybe,” Kayani replies. “We wil take turns tailing George round the clock. At least one of us wil always be here with John-John. We wil make sure no one, especial y George, gets close to him.”
“And how do we tail him when he’s out on one of his tours?” Frey’s voice is tight with frustration. “There’s no way to fol ow him in a car. He’d spot that in a minute.”
“I’l take care of that,” Kayani says. “On horseback. I know the land as wel as George. I know where he takes the tourists. If he makes any unplanned spots, speaks with anyone not part of a group, I wil see it. He wil not spot me, I can promise you that.”
Frey is not ready to let go of his rage toward George. “I wil give you twenty-four hours,” he says. “Not a minute more. If you find nothing you can use to stop the counterfeiters in twenty-four hours, I wil go after George on my own. I wil make him talk.”
I don’t know if Sarah told Kayani that Frey was a shape-shifter, or if he is aware that Frey’s other form is panther. The look that passes between the two men, however, makes me suspect that Kayani knows what Frey is capable of.
Kayani checks his watch. “George wil be returning home from the lodge. Daniel, you wil watch the house tonight. I wil stay here with Anna. If you see anything suspicious, cal on the cel.”
“No,” I interrupt. “I should take the night watch. Frey should stay here with John-John. You both should.”
repliesni looks ready to argue but Frey is looking at me.
In the same way Kayani knows what Frey can do, Frey knows what I’m capable of. He knows I’l do whatever’s necessary to keep George from coming anywhere near John-John. More important, he wants to stay close to his son.
“I agree with Anna,” he says. “She should take the night watch.”
Kayani’s expression reflects skepticism and surprise.
“Anna, do you even remember how to find George’s place?”
“I do. I have become more adept at noting geographical points. His home is close to a mesa. I’m sure I can find it again.”
“Hunt’s Mesa,” Kayani says. “Let me show you on a map.”
He trots out to his car and returns with a map. This is not the typical tourist map, though, it’s a map that marks al residences in the tribal park. There are wel over a hundred, spaced far apart with no paved roads connecting them.
“I had no idea there were so many homes in the val ey.”
Frey presses close to look. “Where is George’s?”
Kayani traces the route from Sarah’s to George’s. He is—
was — actual y her closest neighbor.
Frey’s anger resurfaces. “He had John-John the night of the accident. He said he was taking him to Sarah. I never thought to ask when he showed up at the hogan why John-John was at his house. I was too relieved that he hadn’t been in the truck.”
Self-recrimination rings through his voice.
“Doesn’t matter, Frey. John-John is safe. We’l keep him that way.” I hold out my hand. “Do you have the keys
