“It’s like you said.” She tucked the corner of the towel under her arm. “He didn’t expect my brakes to fail so spectacularly and maybe already planned to follow up with the snake warning as kind of a double whammy.”
Sam scratched his chin. “You know what else is weird?”
“Besides you standing there making excuses for Wade?”
He jiggled the bag. “If nobody other than a Yaqui would understand the meaning behind the snake with the arrow, would Wade really do something so obvious?”
“You’re asking these questions like my cousin is a normal person. He’s unhinged. Why else would he act this way?” She pushed past him, the ends of her wet hair flinging drops of water at him.
“I don’t think he’s unhinged, Jolene. There’s a lot of money at stake with this project. He’s not about to watch it fail. That’s why I don’t think he’d do something as blatant as sending you that snake.” He followed her into the bedroom. “I wonder where Chip found it.”
Jolene turned in the middle of the room and flicked her fingers. “Out, please. I let you have a peek once, but don’t get used to it.”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am, but if you’re running off to see Wade, I’m coming with you.”
He exited her bedroom, dropped the bag with the snake on the counter so Chip couldn’t get at it and returned to the bathroom to clean up. He rinsed out the tub and scooped up Jolene’s wet clothes and dumped them in the hamper.
Turning, he nearly bumped into Jolene at the door. She’d changed into a pair of denim shorts and a red University of Arizona T-shirt. “Thanks for straightening up the bathroom. I heard the buzzer go off for the dryer. You can change out of your male stripper clothes and back into your uniform.”
He spread his arms. “You think this is male stripper material? You need to get out more.”
She tugged at the elastic waistband and let it snap back in place. “You don’t need to wear these so low on your hips.”
“I do if I want them to cover my ankles.” He held up his foot. “No wonder I gave these to you.”
He headed toward the laundry room and scooped his warm clothes from the dryer. He shook out his slacks and shirt and draped them over his arm.
“I’m going to get dressed in your room, if that’s okay.”
Jolene looked up from toweling off Chip. “Go ahead. Do you think Chip will lead me to the spot where he found the snake?”
“Maybe, but does it matter? You don’t have a security system here, no cameras. Wade, or whoever, left it on your front porch or in your backyard or your driveway. He probably knew Chip would grab it.”
She snorted. “Can you really picture Wade shooting a snake with a bow and arrow, and then creeping around my house with the thing in his hand? He had someone plant it. I’m sure of that, just like he had someone fix my brakes at the rez. There are plenty of young people who want to get in the good graces of Wade Nighthawk.”
“We can always ask your neighbors if they saw someone lurking near your house.”
“I’ll ask around.” She pointed to his uniform. “Get dressed. Then we’ll pay a little visit to Wade.”
Sam ducked into her bedroom and peeled off the sweats. He had a ways to go to win back Jolene’s trust, but at least she’d put away those daggers that were in her eyes—a shared goal always helped.
When he came out of the bedroom tucking his shirt in his pants, Jolene greeted him, his equipment belt hanging from her fingertips.
“Hurry, this is heavy even without the gun.”
“You are in a rush.” He took the belt from her, looped it through his pants and reached for his weapon on the counter. “What’s the hurry?”
“I want to catch Wade and Cerisse before they go out.” She hitched her purse over her shoulder and slid the cover over the dog door. “I don’t want Chip dragging in any more dead reptiles.”
“You’re really going to stride right up to his door and accuse him of killing snakes?” Sam opened the front door and poked his head outside. “Storm passed.”
She pushed past him onto the porch. “One storm passed but Wade has a whole other type of storm heading his way.”
Twenty minutes later, Sam’s truck navigated the curvy road up to the foothills. He tapped on the window. “If your brakes had failed on this road, you really would’ve been in trouble.”
“Sliding into the wash wasn’t enough trouble?” She crossed her arms. “I could’ve drowned.”
“Don’t remind me.” He squeezed her thigh. “When I heard a black truck had been in an accident, my stomach dropped.”
She threw him a sideways glance. “Really?”
“What do you think?” He snatched his hand back from her leg. “Did you imagine I stopped caring about you...ever?”
Massaging her right temple, she said, “I don’t know what to think, Sam. I guess I never expected to see you back in Paradiso, and let’s be honest. You didn’t come here to see me. You’re in Paradiso for your case, which happens to coincide with my interests.”
He released a long breath. Too much, too soon. “Is Wade’s house around the next bend?”
“The only one on that stretch—beyond the white gates. He’s so pretentious.” She huffed through her nose and dug her fingers into her biceps.
“Is this his money or Cerisse’s? I know her family is wealthy, but Wade did all right in the real estate business.”
“A combination of the two. Her father got him started, and Wade took off.”
“Is she Yaqui?”
“Half on her mother’s side.”
Sam slowed his truck and made a sharp right turn into a driveway bordered by towering saguaro cactus. He hunched over the steering wheel and whistled. “Nice place. I don’t think I’ve ever been here before.”
He pulled around the circular driveway behind Wade’s Humvee and a shiny
