The Warrior's Way

“They’ve been investigating since Sunday. SAC said he’d keep me updated. He really hasn’t.”

“SAC?”

“Special agent in charge. He’s my liaison to the thirteen-member SIRG. That’s ‘shooting incident review group.’”

“Really?” Thirteen seemed like overkill. But this was the FBI. He knew that their investigation would be exhaustive and in-house.

“I haven’t heard anything since Thursday, when he told me the autopsy had been completed and that I should get my personal weapon back next week.”

“Any results from the autopsy?”

“He’s still dead.”

Jack almost laughed, but reined it in. She looked so grim.

“So what’s next?”

“Interviews with the two witnesses. Photographs. Diagrams and the report by the administrative director of the office of inspections.”

“That’s a real thing?”

She cast him a scowl. “Of course. He’s chairman of SIRG.”

“Supervising the cast of thirteen.”

“Twelve, minus himself.”

“I can see why you’re nervous.”

“No. You can’t. Your shooter had fired at you. My shooter was pointing a camera. One of the witnesses also had a phone and may have taken a photograph or video.”

“More evidence.”

“Yes.”

“You feel you made a mistake?”

“No. But what matters is what SIRG thinks. If they rule my actions unjustified, I could lose my job. Everything.”

There was a definite note of panic in her voice.

“All the schooling, training, work...gone.” She snapped her fingers. “Like that. And I’m not going back...” Her words trailed off.

Back where? To her reservation? He cast her a questioning look, but Sophia had clamped her mouth shut and laced her fingers so tightly in her lap her fingernails were going blue.

Jack offered her the only thing he could think of. “You have his name. I can run him through our system.”

Her eyes shifted to him.

“You’d do that?”

Jack didn’t say so aloud, but he’d do a lot more than that for her because despite knowing that she could not wait to put him and his tribe in her rearview mirror, he was desperately attracted to her.

“I would.”

She wrapped her arms around her knees and rocked back and forth. He lay a hand on her shoulder and she stilled and glanced up at him.

“Thank you.” She placed a hand over his. It wasn’t until her hand slid away that he could breathe again.

“Yeah. Don’t mention it. Name?”

“Martin Nequam.”

Jack asked for the spelling and she provided it.

The light had changed again, casting the sky in bright fuchsia and red. He glanced away from her, taking in their surroundings.

“It gets pretty dark up here at night,” he said. “And the road can be tricky. We’d best head down. Get you settled. And I want to introduce you to the others.”

She followed him back to the SUV. “What others?”

“The men of Tribal Thunder, Dylan, Ray and my brother Kurt. Carter, when he gets home. And Ray’s wife, Morgan.”

“You’re not talking about the daughter of the man who murdered the Lilac gunman?”

“The very same. Also Dylan’s fiancé, Meadow Wrangler.”

“The Meadow Wrangler? As in, daughter of the murdered prime suspect and leader of BEAR.”

“It’s her mom. Even Meadow says so.”

“Interesting attack team. You have at least two members who might be working for BEAR.”

“They’re not.”

Sophia got back into his vehicle and clipped her seat belt, saying nothing to that. She would not be offering any more advice and she would sure as heck not be making any more jokes.

“You wanted to be sure we weren’t alone.”

“So instead we have a party.”

“Planning committee.”

“If you really feel threatened, then they should be planning an evacuation.”

They drove along the road that was more switchback than straightway. The angle of descent was jarring and Sophia had to hold on to the handgrip above her passenger window to keep from jostling into Jack Bear Den, whose wide body spilled across the center console and into her personal space.

She was not sure what to make of him. He was a detective, sworn to protect and serve. Did blowing the opposite ridge qualify? Only if he was right and the dam failed. But then there would be no time to set the charges. They would have to be placed early.