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She lifted her brow at Luke in a gesture that she hoped would alert him that she had not heard a word.
Luke steepled his hands together as if preparing for prayer. “Sophia has been in all the recent briefings, but the Bureau did not put forth your theory. I think it would be of benefit to share it now.”
She agreed with that. And listening to their problems sure beat worrying about hers. The minimum administrative leave was five days. But she was already past that. Was that bad? And when exactly would they give her the “pertinent information” they promised her? Last she’d heard the autopsy was complete. When would they release her weapon?
“Yes, I’d appreciate that,” she said as she turned to the chief, but she could not resist another look at the detective.
His hair was short, dark and thick with a definite wave. She’d like to rake her hands through that hair.
Chief Tinnin pushed the gum to his cheek, placing it there like chewing tobacco.
“Ms. Rivas, our tribe isn’t convinced that the threat of the eco-extremist group BEAR has been neutralized by the death of their leader, Theron Wrangler.”
Her office had gone over this in a briefing before the shooting. During the devastating wildfires in July, a prominent citizen and eco-advocate had been murdered. Suspicion had been cast on his wife, Lupe Wrangler, but no evidence was found and she was cleared.
“We feel BEAR is alive and well and that our reservoir system is a likely target for attack.”
BEAR was the acronym for Bringing Earth Apocalyptic Restoration. In layman’s terms, they wanted to blow man back to the Stone Age, where he couldn’t destroy the planet. Some part of her believed man was the earth’s biggest threat. But she was no eco-warrior.
Luke surprised her by revealing information she felt proprietary.
“The FBI believes that the death of Theron Wrangler has crippled their organization,” said Luke.
Bear Den took it from there. “A member of our society witnessed Lupe Wrangler shoot her husband.”
Luke rubbed his forehead and then picked up where Bear Den had left off. “We could find no proof, no evidence to support this man’s claim that Lupe Wrangler killed her husband.”
Bear Den broke in, his voice now containing a dangerous edge. “Her daughter also witnessed the shooting. You have two witnesses.”
“Nonetheless, the Bureau could not break Lupe Wrangler’s alibi.”
“She should be in custody,” said Tinnin.
“I agree and I’m here doing what I can.” He had his hand on his neck again, massaging away the tension that now crackled in the room.
“We believe the witnesses. It’s not over.”
She now recalled the theory that Wrangler’s death might trigger sleeper cells to action. Could these men be right? She decided to proceed as if the threat was viable, as she had been trained to do, until she knew otherwise.
“Tribal Thunder contends that this is not over,” said Jack Bear Den.
“Tribal Thunder?” she asked.
“These men are Tribal Thunder.” Luke motioned to Tinnin and Bear Den. “It’s the warrior sect of their medicine society.”
She knew about medicine societies—mostly that they were misogynistic groups, all male and secret as heck. Sophia looked from one to the other and speculated on their activities. Certainly protecting their people would be their prime objective.
“Just a few ground rules before you two visit the dam.” Tinnin pinned her with his eyes—he no longer looked tired, but was rather deadly serious. “You will be with one of my men at all times.”
Her gaze went to Bear Den. It was him, of course. She knew it and the prospect excited and terrified her.
“Detective Bear Den will escort you.”
“That’s not necessary.”
Tinnin glanced to Luke and then back to her. “Your cousin wants assurances you are protected because of the recent incident. He and your supervisors feel there may be an ongoing threat.”
She doubted that. Sophia glanced at Bear Den. He looked capable, but an FBI agent did not need the protection of a small-town cop.
“Detective Bear Den is very good and knows the territory,” said her cousin. “He’s an ex-marine. Weapons specialist. He’s been a tribal detective for seven years here and knows the terrain. He is an honored member of his medicine society, the Turquoise Guardians, and of the elite warrior society, Tribal Thunder. He’s their best.”
Best of nine, she thought.
“You can trust him to keep you safe.”
Bear Den spoke to her and his voice was deep and rich as dark coffee. She loved the sound.
“My honor,” he said.
She cast him a dubious look and he inclined his chin, as if readying for a fight.
“Detective Bear Den will make sure you are safe,” said Luke. “It’s a condition of your consultation.”
“My supervisor onboard with this?”
“He had no objections.”
She blew out her frustration. “Fine.”
“So you will have protection 24/7,” said Tinnin.
“Maybe twenty-four. Certainly not seven. This won’t take as long as you think,” Sophia assured him. Her confident smile was met with silence. “I’d like to get started.”
Because the sooner they started, the sooner she could get out of here.
“Detective Bear Den will bring you up to the closest reservoir now,” said Luke. Bear Den cast her a wicked smile.
And that was when it happened. Her body, always reliable, and her mind, always predictable, both short-circuited at once. Her stomach flipped as she squinted at him trying to figure how the upturning of his lips could make her go all jittery inside. She met the steady stare and the challenge with a smile of her own. The connection grew. He had an air of confidence and a physicality that inspired her to all kinds of bad ideas.
“Check in with me tonight, okay?” said her cousin. “Let me know when you expect to be finished your consultation and I’ll come get you.”
She tore her gaze from the detective.
“Sure thing,” she promised.
“We’ll make sure she stays in touch,” said Tinnin.
He handed her a large boxy black Motorola radio that looked a decade old. She clipped it to the waistband of her slacks.
“You ready for a tour?” asked the detective.
“Absolutely. I look forward to it.” She didn’t, because the idea of being trapped in a vehicle with him made her skin itch.
Chapter Two (#u6ede9a92-864d-5dec-af38-7ed713e92d4d)
“Agent Forrest said you were on leave. But he was unclear why you were on leave.”
She glanced at him cautiously, perhaps recognizing a fishing expedition when she heard one.
“Was he?” She made no excuses and offered no answers.
He snorted at her posture. Jack Bear Den slowed his stride to match that of his charge. Sophia Rivas was a beauty, but she wasn’t very big, reaching only to his shoulder.
She looked straight ahead with her chin up, as if nothing bothered her. Well, she bothered him. Had certainly gotten under his skin in record time.
Jack accelerated to reach the passenger side door of his SUV before she did. She increased her speed and then let him go. He had the vehicle door open when she reached him.
She looked younger than thirty-three, with wide dark eyes that shifted to scan the vehicle’s interior before she cast him a dubious gaze.
“Is that your mobile data terminal?”
The laptop was old and looked like it had been kicked down a flight of stairs, but it worked. Mostly.
“What about it?” He knew he sounded defensive. The FBI had all the toys and nearly unlimited resources, and he’d had to fix his side mirror with duct tape.
“Nothing,” she said, wisely closing her mouth.
Her gaze met his and locked in like a sniper zeroing in on her target.
For a moment he saw the trained FBI agent instead of the most appealing woman he’d seen in...forever. He was just dying to know why she was on administrative leave. He was also dying to know what she looked like naked, but that was an incredibly bad idea. He’d been assigned as her protector. It was a sacred duty and nothing came before his duty.
She carried no weapon at her hip. So she preferred a shoulder holster beneath her blazer. He couldn’t see it, but could see just a little honey-brown skin at the modest scoop of her collar. His higher vantage allowed him to also see the slope of her breasts. He glanced away, placing a hand over his own service weapon, which was clipped in a leather holster to his belt. You had to rock it backward to get it clear. Most folks wouldn’t know that. But Sophia Rivas sure would.
She glanced at his hand, his thumb locked under the belt just before his weapon. Then her gaze swept up over him in a way that made his entire body flash between alertness and sexual arousal. Finally her gaze held his. She had big amber eyes framed with dark spiked lashes and the kind of mouth that made a man do stupid stuff.
Oh, no. This was not happening. He was not having sexual fantasies about a woman who looked at his headquarters, vehicle and person with a cool disdain.
How had she ended up in explosives? Forensic explosives expert. Odd choice, that.
He reached for her elbow to assist her and she gave him a certain look that made him hesitate.
“I can make it,” she said and climbed into his vehicle. He moved to close the door, resisting the pull to step nearer to her. Then he rounded his SUV and slid into the driver’s seat.
He wiped his damp palm on his trousers before turning the key. He gave a cough meant to clear his dry throat.
“Thank you for agreeing to help us.”
“I’m not sure how much help I can be. The canyon walls are steep on both sides and we are clearly in a gap in what used to be riverbed.”
“You wouldn’t want to be here if any of the three reservoirs go.”
“Can we tour the interior workings of the dam system?”
“Yes. I’ve arranged a tour for tomorrow.”
She gave a little laugh and shook her head.
“What?”
“My cousin knows that we aren’t seeing the interior until tomorrow?”
“Yes, I mentioned it to him.”
“And yet he sent me up here today. Where is it I will be staying? I didn’t see a hotel or casino.”
“Yeah, we don’t have a hotel, or rather we do and it is connected to the casino, but it’s being renovated. Grand opening is this November. Maybe you can come back.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“Don’t worry, I have a bed for you.”
Agent Rivas was out of the car and marching toward the station before he could turn off the ignition. He didn’t see her again until he reached the squad room and that was only her back as she entered his chief’s office without knocking.
He slowed as Olivia, their dispatcher, gave him a look.
“I wouldn’t,” she advised.
He took her advice and waited. It didn’t take long. Rivas emerged red-faced and panting, her fists clenched. She cast him a murderous look and continued past him. He let her stride away, following until he returned to his seat beside her in his SUV.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Not even close,” she said. “Why didn’t you tell me that we would not be alone?”
“You didn’t really give me a chance. It’s on our tribal gathering grounds. There are several cabins. I’ll be there along with some of the members of Tribal Thunder. But you’ll have a private cabin. It’s a beautiful place beside the river and we have a lodge with a generator for gathering at nights.”
“Nights? I only packed an overnight bag. You think there will be more than one?”
“Tinnin said we’d have you until Tuesday. Time enough to see all four dams, inside and out.”
She rubbed her slender neck and looked straight ahead. “Four days. After that I’m going home, even if I have to walk.”
They sat in silence, the A/C blowing in their heated faces. The air between them seemed to move with currents all their own. He hadn’t felt this kind of attraction, ever.
“Can I call you Jack?” she asked.
“Sounds fine. Shall I call you Sophia?”
“Fine.”
