Lawe's Justice (32 page)

“The Navajo team rescuing and hiding these children are here, in Window Rock.” Diane knew they were, she could feel it, and Thor was just as certain.

“Diane, I’m going to assume you have more than just gut instinct backing your conclusions.” Jonas sighed wearily as he laid his hand on Rachel’s shoulder as she fought back her tears.

“Jonas, Amber is my niece and I love her as much as I love my sister. And I would never place all my faith in just my gut if it were my sister’s life hanging in the balance in such a way.”

She had circumstantial evidence, her belief, her gut instinct and the fact that she knew Terran Martinez had been in the area was enough proof for her.

If Pride Leader Lyons refused to allow her this chance because he didn’t like the lack of information, then it was no less than a certainty that Jonas and Lawe would refuse her as well.

That didn’t mean it would stop her.

“Do you believe you can draw Fawn or Honor out if they’re near?” Jonas finally asked.

This was his child. The child that may not have come from his genetics, but she was definitely a part of his soul, just as her mother was.

“I’m certain if anyone can, then I can,” she stated confidently. “This is where I excel, Jonas, you know that.”

Callan sighed wearily and spoke when Jonas remained silent. “Very well, we’ll go along with it for now,” he agreed. “But by the end of the week I want answers. I want some kind of proof I can take before the Navajo Council to ensure their cooperation. Find it, Ms. Broen, before we all end up regretting it.”

•CHAPTER 16•

Find the link to the group of Navajo charged with collecting and hiding Breeds, created or hybrid, as well as the human children and/or adults involved in any experimentation on the Breeds or their genetic profiling, and do it within a week.

What a tall order. And her week was nearly up.

Lawe had kept his word though. He had allowed her to do whatever she needed to do. He even stood back when necessary and without asking; he’d never once questioned the working relationship she had with Thor.

She wasn’t fooled though. This battle wasn’t over.

And time was running out. She had one day left to produce information. After that, Jonas would threaten the Navajo Nation Council with sanctions if he didn’t get the information he wanted on Honor Roberts and Fawn Corrigan.

And she was just tired of wasted time and effort.

It was a damned good thing Diane had excellent contacts. Contacts who wanted the identities of that group to suggest they take the job of hiding more than Council-threatened Breeds and humans.

No matter how they tried, there was no way of finding them, though. If there had been, then the men her uncle collaborated with would have found it.

Moving through the darkened rooms of the suite the Navajo Council had made available for her and Lawe, Diane slipped silently past the balcony doors she had managed to jimmy earlier and keep from locking.

Lawe would have a fit over this, she knew, but she was tired of the shadows and the constant smothering presence of Breeds surrounding her. She needed to run wild and free to clear her brain. Besides, she knew for a fact that Liza Johnson used the running trail that wrapped around the small park for her morning exercise.

If she hurried, she would get there in time to scout out the area, then lie in wait for the friend whom Coyote Breed Ashley Truing cared so much for.

Taking Lawe with her would only serve to intimidate Liza, who seemed to have a sense of fear where Breed males were concerned. Diane knew what a fear of men looked like in wary eyes.

Just as she knew that Liza and Chelsea Martinez had been the reason Isabelle hadn’t ended up raped by her ex-boyfriend recently.

Climbing effortlessly from the balcony before grabbing hold of the strong, dense vine that grew along the building, she began silently lowering herself to the ground below.

Lawe had left the room minutes after they had been escorted to it by a team of Breeds. And if she hadn’t misunderstood, then she knew those Breeds were outside her door and charged with making certain she was protected while Lawe was busy.

Son of a bitch, she was so tired of protection.

This was becoming ridiculous.

Jumping to the ground, Diane came to a crouch, her gaze adjusting to the darkness outside as she searched for any Breed Enforcers who might have reached this side of the hotel while patrolling.

They hadn’t. The soft green grass that met the building was a part of the golf course, which stretched out behind the Navajo Suites. On the other side was a large pool, a park for kids and a variety of other simple amusements.

Straightening up, Diane sprinted quickly across the grass and headed for a stand of trees bordering the golf course before the Breed guards could get a whiff of her scent and stop her.

Liza Johnson was suspected by Diane’s contact to have been the go-between in the pickup of several other Breed children, a scientist with Navajo roots who had been forced to work with the Council and a young woman whose mate had been killed.

Liza was highly involved in the Bureau of Breed Affairs as a liaison between the office and the Navajo Council and community, and she was also a close friend to several high-profile Breeds. If anyone in Window Rock knew where Honor Roberts was hiding and the identity she had taken, then it would be Liza.

Using the golf course’s heavy boulders, the stand of sheltering trees and the artificial hills for cover, Diane made her way quickly from the hotel to the other side of the course, praying Breed eyes hadn’t seen her escape.

Once there, she turned along a narrow path, no longer bothering to stay hidden in the deepest shadows as she pulled the hood of her jacket over her head and hoped any Breed surveillance wouldn’t immediately realize who she was.

There were no Breeds assigned to this area, though, she knew. At least, the plans she’d been privy to hadn’t shown any. There was always the chance that Lawe had ensured she not know exactly where the Breeds were patrolling, but she didn’t think he had. As he saw it, since she’d been given permission to conduct her investigation, she would have no reason to slip away to do it.

No reason other than the fact that she could no longer bear to be surrounded by big hulking brutes determined to die for her. Lawe had kept his word, but as Rachel had warned her, other Breeds had made a vow, and they didn’t care to shadow her and Lawe, and especially her and Thor, whenever they saw her out.

God, could she survive watching another man she knew, possibly Lawe, the man she loved, die for her? She’d seen it once before. She had watched the life drain from Padric’s gaze as the bullet he’d taken to his chest to protect her had killed him.

The memory of it flayed her. She had never escaped the nightmares that forced her to relive it and couldn’t seem to convince herself that she was older, more experienced, and definitely more merciless than she had been then.

She also wasn’t nearly as reckless as Lawe wanted to believe she was. Moving past the small children’s playground and entering the city park, Diane stopped at the tall stone monument that marked the missing members of the Navajo Nation as well as other tribes who had been used in Breed research.

There were fifty-seven names total, men and women whose lives had no doubt been lost long before the Navajo had ever learned of their deaths.

Stepping within the long shadow cast by the heavy edifice, Diane stopped, her gaze narrowing against the predawn light as she committed her surroundings to memory. Then, with a soft breath of air, she imitated the happy little chirp of one of the birds singing out so sweetly.

The answering call had her lips tilt up in fondness.

“We’re going to get our asses killed.” Thor stepped from the shadows of an overgrown pine several feet away and made his way to her.

Dressed in black, a cap covering his white blond hair, his utility belt strapped with a variety of weapons and tools, he looked like the highly efficient warrior he was.

Diane snorted at the prediction. “Are you scared?”

“Pretty much.” He sighed, his gaze restless as he canvassed the area.

“Want me to send you home to momma for a diaper and nap, Thor?” she mocked.

“You’re a bitch, Di.” He sighed again. “A true hard-core bitch.”

“Yeah, yeah, so you keep telling me.” Her tone conveyed a deliberate lack of concern, but she could feel her heart racing with fear.

The fear that something would happen to him. That if push came to shove, then he too would throw himself in front of a bullet for her.

“I have her schedule,” Thor told her before she had a chance to ask if he had managed to get the information she’d assigned him while she and Lawe were at the hospital to check on Ashley.

“Good.” Diane nodded. “What is it?” She glanced up at him, wondering if she was going to have to drag every piece of information out of his ass.

“She leaves the house at daylight,” he said softly. “She had stopped running after her friend Isabelle was nearly raped by a date. He was stalking Isabelle and the friends were terrified he would strike at them in retaliation. It was the same bastard who nearly kidnapped Isabelle and shot Ashley.”

“The same one Gideon killed,” she murmured. “Gideon beat us here, Thor.”

“But we expected it.” Thor shrugged easily. “And what’s with this ‘us’ bullshit? There was no ‘us,’ boss. You forgot to tell me about this little side trip. I had to guess, remember?”

“Still put out, Thor?” she asked as she leaned back against the memorial to wait for daylight and the woman she was going to track down this morning.

“Still put out,” he agreed, though his tone wasn’t nearly as relaxed as it had been. “You and I are a team, no matter what. Or so I thought until you ditched me.”

She shook her head wearily. “There was too much riding on this, too big a threat to Liza as well as Honor Roberts, if I managed to find her. It wasn’t fair to her to add additional danger to her life.”

“We both know I’m no fucking traitor,” he hissed through the darkness. “Give me a break. And if you believed that crap that just spewed from your lips, then I wouldn’t be here now.”

Her lips twitched at the angry tone and the descriptive words he used.

“You’re right,” she agreed. There was really no sense in arguing the point.

She must have surprised him, though, because he didn’t say anything for long moments.

“It’s because of Padric.” He sighed again. “Hell, Di, you can’t wallow in guilt forever, you know.”

Actually, she could, if she wanted to.

“I’m not trying to wallow in guilt,” she told him. “I simply wanted to protect you from Gideon. He has no compunction about killing a man, but he’ll allow a woman more leeway. In that respect, he’s like any other Breed.”

Thor simply grunted, an indication that he still felt his question hadn’t been answered.

“So you tracked this Liza girl down,” Thor muttered. “What makes you think she knows where the Roberts girl is, or who she is?”

Diane shrugged. “She’s the best bet. She works closest with Terran, Ray and Orrin. She has since she was sixteen. Her family is close friends with the Martinezes and she and Terran meet often with Ray and Orrin Martinez for long discussions. If she’s not privy to inner secrets then she’s sleeping with all three of them, and I simply can’t see that one happening. Just because I agree doesn’t mean I like slipping around like this.” He sighed. “You and Lawe have an agreement.”

“And he refused to listen when I tried to tell him I need to meet with her alone.” She sighed.

“He’s been damned patient,” Thor pointed out. “And he’s done his best.”

She had to agree, he had done his best. Better than that if she wanted to admit the truth.

“I didn’t say I liked it,” she murmured. “I said it didn’t make sense not to have at least one location, one person who knows where everyone has been hidden or relocated. But she refuses to deal with Breeds. She’s not going to talk to me with any of them hovering. Especially Lawe.”

That person had to be Liza.

Diane had spent months, more months than she wanted to remember, investigating all the players, scientists, research assistants and techs from Brandenmore Research. In Window Rock, she’d tracked familial lines and all new citizens who had moved into the area within the past twelve years.

She had spent countless hours searching for answers, for the identity of the missing Honor Roberts and Fawn Corrigan along with the Bengal Breed known only as Judd.

Liza Johnson was the closest she had gotten. The daughter of the current chief’s best friend and military buddy. She was the granddaughter of the medicine man’s best brother. Their families were so entwined as to be all but blood kin.

All but blood kin.

There was no shared blood, only the shared bonds of friendship, battle and loyalty. She glanced at Thor with a sense of overwhelming sadness. They had those bonds, but how satisfying it would have been to have been on this small mission with Lawe. To see how he could handle the woman she truly was.

To have Lawe watching her back, sensing any dangers that would have come, riding the adrenaline high coursing through their bodies. To know, yes, they would die for each other, but that Lawe wouldn’t endanger himself for her needlessly or overlook the strengths she had.

As the first light of dawn rose in the sky, both Diane and Thor crouched in the continued shadow of the spear pointing toward heaven.

She tried to pretend it was Lawe at her back, but no amount of pretending, no bit of imagination could place him there when he wasn’t.

“Five minutes,” Thor said, his voice so soft it was barely a whisper. “She runs alone unless Isabelle and Chelsea Martinez accompany her. Isabelle is currently in residence at the hotel with Malachi Morgan. Chelsea and her father are staying in the Chief’s Suite at the Navajo Council chambers. All the members were called in just before you and Lawe arrived, from what I understand. I suspect it’s to discuss relocating the two girls and the Breed before they can be found.”

Diane shook her head. “They wouldn’t risk it.”

She glanced around, the ache in her chest intensifying, the regret and feeling of dread pulling her down as the knowledge that she was in this battle without the warrior whom nature had chosen as her other half tore at her heart.

She’d never ached like this when she and Padric had been separated by missions or wounds. She’d never felt hurt or anger when Padric had disagreed with her or when he’d refused to accompany her.

She didn’t like this.

Blinking rapidly, she fought the emotion that threatened to overwhelm her.

This wasn’t mating heat. Mating heat was sexual. It was a blinding, overwhelming, uncontrolled hunger for a mate.