Page 32 of Rawhide and Ransom

“I took the fight to them.” Running Bear spread his hands. “Now, we’re playing offense instead of defense. Someday, you’ll thank me.”

“For using Annalee as bait?” Hawk couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this angry. “You’re going to be waiting a long time for someday, sir.”

“You would’ve never let anything bad happen to her.” His mentor’s voice was steely.

“We were run into by a maniac trying to kill us both!” He was a bodyguard, not a crash-test dummy.

“And you lived to talk about it,” Running Bear reminded. “Believe me, I knew what was at stake. That’s why I stayed on my knees the entire time you were gone. Not only did the Lord protect you, we’re one step closer to catching Annalee’s and Miley’s would-be killer.”

“We are?” Hawk wanted to believe that, but there were still so many variables in play.

The councilman nodded gravely. “My brother is hospitalized, so there’s no chance he was the driver of the hit-and-run vehicle.”

“Unless he paid a hitman,” Hawk pointed out.

Running Bear ignored his words. “His stepson is chained to a wheelchair, so he isn’t likely the hit-and-run driver, either.”

“Maybe. Maybe not, sir. There are a lot of other factors to consider.” Hawk still wasn’t convinced.

“We’ll investigate each and every one of those factors,” Running Bear assured, keeping his voice down for Hawk’s ears alone. “But none of this would’ve been possible without the tribal council voting to fund an investigation, and they wouldn’t have voted the way they did if you and Annalee hadn’t given them such a strong reason to.”

He’d been playing chess, carefully setting the stage for a much longer game. Hawk still didn’t like the subterfuge Running Bear had employed, but it was hard to complain against the outcome.

“It’s only a theory at this point, but I suspect whoever wanted Chayton dead also wants his widow and daughter dead. Now all we have to do is figure out why, then prove it.”

Before it’s too late.Hawk finished the troubling thought inside his head. It was a tall set of orders. Getting Chayton Dakota’s death moved from the natural causes list to the homicide list wouldn’t be an easy task. For starters, they’d have to exhume the body and run a new autopsy, but Annalee would probably give her permission for that.

Hawk cocked his head curiously at Running Bear. “Please assure me the council is hiring a P.I. from Lonestar Security.” There was no other firm he trusted more than the one he worked for.

The councilman gave an affirming nod. “If we’re lucky, they’ll assign the case to your friend, Johnny Cuba.”

“We’ll be in good hands with him.” Not only were they friends, Hawk trusted the man implicitly.

“I’m counting on it.” Running Bear grew antsy like he always did when he was ready to disappear into the woods. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a patrol to get back to.”

Hawk pounded a fist against his heart like he always did when they parted ways.

Running Bear returned the gesture. Then he was gone.

Hawk wasted no time jogging over to Annalee to share the latest development with her. When he reached her side, however, he found himself at a loss for words.

She held a finger over her lips to buy his silence while slowly pivoting his way with a trio of butterflies resting on her arm — two big ones and a small one.

It looked like a whole butterfly family. He drank in the smile on her face like a man dying of thirst. She was so lovely on both the inside and the outside that it made him dizzy.

She watched the trio of insects while he watched her, until they fluttered their wings and took off.

He immediately stepped closer. “I just found out something that I think you’ll appreciate hearing.” He broke the news to her as gently as possible about the tribal council’s vote to treat her husband’s death as a homicide.

Her eyes took on a glazed sheen. “How can I ever thank you?”

“No thanks are necessary. He was one of us.” Hawk wasn’t sure if she truly understood that yet. “Even though he was raised away from the tribe, he never forgot who he was. The first time he sent money to the charity fund on the rez, his letter had said he owed his Comanche heritage for how profitable Gilbert Farm had become.” He couldn’t express what he was going to say next strongly enough. “The elders on the tribal council have long memories.”

He didn’t tell her that Running Bear had used her as bait to motivate the council to launch an investigation into her husband’s death. All Annalee needed right now was to know she was surrounded by a tribe of people willing to protect her and her daughter — her husband’s people and her future husband’s people.

Ever since the church service they’d attended together a week ago, he’d been reading and re-reading the Book of Ruth. He’d been researching what it meant to be a kinsman redeemer. And although their circumstances didn’t fit the exact same scenario, he wanted to be her Boaz.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Annalee’s words weren’t much louder than a whisper.

---