Page 30 of Arresting the Warlord

I grimaced. I really wanted to try out my new skills, but now wasn’t the time. “Okay.”

Jake dropped into the pilot’s chair and fastened his harness. “You ready to go into space?”

“I am.”

Jake’s hands flew over the console. With a roar the shuttle catapulted out of the landing bay. An endless fall of stars filled the viewscreen.

Whoa! I’d always dreamed of going into outer space and visiting other worlds. I just didn’t expect it to happen like this. The shuttle swung around giving me a bird’s-eye view of Earth. It really did resemble a big, blue marble with white swirls.

“I sent the crime scene photos to your bracelet, CeeCee. Look them over and tell me what you see,” General Jones instructed.

“Yes, sir.” I tapped my screen and frowned. Our serial killer had attacked a Navajo guide and his tourists with a sword. Which he had conveniently left behind. The big question was why. The victim’s mutilated heads were lined up on a boulder and bloody body parts were strewn in every direction. “I think killing his partners pissed him off.”

“I want to know where he found Testavorrs and how they ended up on Navajo land,” General Jones said.

Jake interjected, “It’s isolated and there’s very little technology. It’s the perfect place to hide out.”

The General grunted in agreement.

I scrolled through the pictures. “His rage is growing and if we don’t find him soon, there will be more bodies.”

“We’ll stop him,” Jake promised.

Monument Valley filled the viewscreen. It was a flat, sagebrush covered desert interrupted by clusters of majestic, red sandstone buttes. The valley is sacred to the Navajo people who have lived here for over five hundred years. Their predecessors were the mysterious Anasazi who left behind petroglyphs to document their lives. Tourists still came from all over the world to see this natural wonder.

Chapter Six

East and West Mitten Buttes resemble two gigantic mittens with their thumbs facing inwards. Jake landed the shuttle at the base of the west butte and shut down the engines.

Once the landing ramp was lowered, I followed General Jones out and stared in shock at the unearthly rainbow hovering over the crime scene. Oh, no! I rushed over to officers Nez and Yazzie. One look at the sick horror on their faces and I knew. “Elder Benally?”

Officer Nez nodded. “Yes.”

I took off running. That murdering bastard was deliberately targeting shamans.

Jake scooped me up and teleported. There was a flash of black and we were standing next to the boulder with the heads. “Is Elder Benally still on this plane of existence?”

I opened my psychic eye. “Yes, he waited for a shaman to come. Put me down.”

Jake dropped me on my feet. “Be careful.”

I walked over to where Elder Benally’s ghostly form awaited me. A headband held back his long gray hair. He was wearing a red western shirt and jeans. A turquoise necklace hung from his neck.“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I can but showing is more effective,”Elder Benally answered in a flat, dead voice. He placed his hand on my forehead and wham! I was there as a large man in Coletti battle armor suddenly appeared on the hood of the tour jeep. An ugly scar dissected the man’s face. Before we could react, the murderer swung his sword.

A cry of agony broke from me as the sword bit into our neck. For a brief second, I watched our life blood splatter across the windshield and then everything went black.

Muscular arms cuddled me, and Jake’s worried voice penetrated the blackness. “C’mon buttercup, wake up. You’re mine now. Do you hear me? Mine. My mate for all eternity. How do you feel about that?”

His mate? My eyes snapped open. For all eternity? With a growl, I punched Jake in the mouth.

Jake rubbed his jaw. “There you are.”

“You’re such a jackass.”

“I know, but I’m your jackass.”

Everything came rushing back and I gasped, “I’m not dead.” I felt my neck. “And I still have my head.”

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