Page 31 of Arresting the Warlord

“You do.” Jake helped me up. “You okay?”

A shudder shook me. “Elder Benally shared his death with me, and I never, ever want to do that again. Where’s that dammed sword?”

Jake grimaced. “It’s impaled in the woman’s chest.”

“Did you get a good look at the suspect?” General Jones inquired.

“I did.” I flashed Jake and the General the image of the murderer.

“It’s Cantor,” General Jones snarled.

“Who’s Cantor?”

“A renegade Coletti warrior who escaped from the Vesta penal colony. Jivo had tracked him to Earth,” Jake answered.

His arms folded across his chest the General studied the heads. “Is Elder Benally still here?”

I looked over at the shaman and scowled. “Yes.”

“Good.” The General’s gaze settled on me. “Find out if there’s anything else he can tell us.”

“Yes, sir.” I stomped over to Benally.“What do your shaman senses tell you about the man who killed you?”

“He is coyote. This trickster is filled with deceit and rage. We are a threat to him, and he will keep on killing our people until he is stopped,”Elder Benally replied.

“Was he alone?”

“Yes. Now open a portal,”Benally commanded.

“Yes, Elder.”I connected with the esoteric plane and chanted, “Miraculin sepulcrum ibidem solus novum. Domum rotundam vivtorie construxit!”

A glowing portal appeared over the butte.

“Go in peace to meet the creator,”I said.

The instant Elder Benally’s ghostly form shot through the doorway, it vanished.

Jake glanced around. “The other victims have already passed over?”

“They have.” A cold pit formed in my stomach as I surveyed the crime scene. “Cantor considers shamans a threat and he’s determined to kill us all.”

General Jones frowned. “How many shamans are left?”

“My father and me.”

“You’re not leaving my side,” Jake declared.

“I can take care of myself and I now have this swell body armor.”

“Cantor’s a formidable warrior and crazy to boot.”

I raised an inquiring brow. “You think you can beat him?”

“I know I can beat him,” Jake shot back.

“Fuck!” General Jones spat.

We both turned to look at the General.

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