Tainted Mountain (24 page)

But the elevator wasn't empty. Nora's heart stopped.

The young Native American man in blue scrubs looked up and gave them a distracted smile. He carried a plastic tray full of vials and other lab paraphernalia. “How're ya doin'?”

Heather shoved the chair into the elevator. “Good.”

Nora stood paralyzed while the young man stepped out. He didn't give them a passing glance as he hurried away.

“Let's go, Lara Croft,” Heather said.

Nora stepped into the car and the doors shut. They descended to the ground floor and out the back hallway to a courtyard with flowers, grass, and benches. All lovely, normal, no police chase, nothing but Charlie humming tunes from his psychedelic phase—his earlier one, that is.

Nora still couldn't breathe and her heart might quit again any time. But they strolled at a normal pace along the paved path, passing other patients enjoying the summer sunshine. Although Nora could only follow dumbly along, Heather even smiled and nodded at people.

A sidewalk veered off the garden path between two buildings, leading to the front of the hospital and the parking lot. Without altering their pace, Heather directed the chair into the deep shadows between the buildings. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out the car keys.

“Bring the car up and we'll load him in. Easy as pie.”

Nora snatched the keys and scrambled for the car. Running through chocolate pudding would be easier. Her nerves were shot and she knew she was thinking like a crazy person. With every step she was sure Gary was closing in. When he discovered Charlie had disappeared he would call for backup. Police would circle them like sharks.

Eventually she reached Heather's car. It seemed like two moon cycles but it probably took thirty seconds. She fumbled to unlock the door and shook so badly it took three tries to slide the key into the ignition. She fired the engine and made herself take a deep breath to get control. Peeling out of the parking space might draw attention. She started to count. If she pronounced each number slowly, maybe her movements would slow to the beat and help her calm down. Thirteen, fourteen, back up, brake, sixteen, seventeen, put it in gear. Twenty-two, twenty-three, drive slowly down the row, turn. Thirty-five, thirty-six, pull up to the slit between buildings, put it in park.

Heather appeared with Charlie. His chin rested on his chest and his mittened hand dangled from the side of the chair. Passed out or fallen asleep. He was alive though. Right? He didn't move.

Heat rose from the pavement. Nora opened the back passenger door and she and Heather lifted and shoved Charlie into the backseat. Nora grabbed a jacket and other clothes in the backseat to make a pillow and settled his head, arranging his legs.

“Let's go.” Heather said then shouted, “Now. Now!”

Nora jerked her head up. Heather bounded around the front of the car and into the driver's seat.

Over the rumble of the idling engine, Nora heard what she'd been expecting all along:

“Stop!”

She still crouched over Charlie, his feet hanging out the open door.

Gary ran from the front of the hospital, reaching for the gun strapped to his side.

Forty

Heather rammed the RAV4
into gear and stomped on the gas, sending Nora tumbling across the seat. She bounced off Charlie and got wedged between the floor and seat. Her head slammed against the frame as the door closed, catching her hair in the jam. The door hit Charlie's feet and bounced open again.

Nora pulled herself up in time to see Gary raise his gun. She hoped he aimed for the tires or, better yet, shot like bad guys in movies and missed them entirely.

Heather raced from the parking lot, squealing a right onto the street, throwing Nora to the floor and sending the door swinging again, which took out another clump of Nora's hair and gave Charlie a new set of bruises.

Nora struggled to right herself and pull Charlie's feet inside. The vehicle swayed around corners and bumped through rough intersections, tossing Nora from side to side. With difficulty she managed to catch the door on one of its swings inward and
snick
it shut. She checked Charlie.

With his eyes closed he hummed tunelessly. He was conscious again, so they hadn't killed him, but enough pain medication flowed through him that the car door didn't seem to hurt him. For now he floated in a happy place.

Which was much more than could be said for Nora. She climbed to the front seat and looked out the window. They sped down a forest road, packed smooth but unpaved.

Heather stared down the road. “One thousand two hundred eighty-two what?”

Nora didn't have the patience for a game. “What are you talking about?”

“What are you counting?”

She didn't realize she was still counting. “Moments until I lose my grip on sanity.”

“You could have stopped at five.”

A giggle welled from somewhere in Nora's gut. It rose to a full boil of belly laughs.

Heather swung from the packed dirt road onto a trail and they slammed into rocks in the road, bouncing high enough to make Nora's head bang the roof.

Nora only laughed harder. Tears cascaded down her face.

Heather ventured a glance at her, then quickly back at the road. She swerved, throwing Nora against the door with a crash.

Nora's sides hurt. She was hysterical, and some part of her knew it. Soon she'd come completely unhinged.

Heather braked hard, made a nearly-ninety-degree turn, drove into a thicket of pines, and killed the engine. “Knock it off,” she growled at Nora.

Nora sobered. There was nothing funny about this. What was the matter with her, anyway? She looked back at Charlie.

He knelt on the floor of the backseat. His voice sounded like he spoke around a mouth of cotton balls. “You girls know how to stage a jailbreak.”

“You're a freak,” Heather said to Nora, with as much irritation as a teenager can pack into a few words. And Heather was particularly skilled in that area.

Maybe they weren't exactly safe, but Barrett wouldn't find them here. They needed a plan. Nora took a breath but instead of words, she let out a laugh and started again.

Heather rolled her eyes. Then she smiled and chuckled despite herself. Soon her laughter joined Nora's in a tango of hysterics.

After a time, they settled down, wiped the tears from their eyes, and grew quiet.

“Charlie?” Nora asked.

“Don't suppose you grabbed some meds on your way out the back door?” he piped in.

She shook her head.

“Ah, well,” he said.

Heather turned to the backseat. “You said you know a lot about people on the Hopi rez.”

Charlie sounded fuzzy. “I spent a fair amount of time out there when I was young. Good people.”

“Benny said I was from a powerful clan.”

Charlie's words slurred even more than usual. “Are you Hopi? You look Hopi.”

Frustration edged Heather's words. “Benny knows me.”

Charlie's eyes drooped closed. “To know you is to love you.”

Heather reached over the seat and took Charlie's hand. “Do I look like anyone you know?”

Charlie struggled to open his eyes. “You're a vision. A beauty.”

“That's not what I mean. He called me Sikyatsi.”

Charlie's head dropped back and he mumbled something that might have been a name, but it strangled in a deep snore.

Heather twisted in the driver's seat and glared out the wind-
shield.

Nora wanted to comfort Heather, but she wasn't sure how.

Heather looked back at Nora. “Are you going to tell me why we kidnapped Charlie and what we're running from?”

Nora opened her door and stepped into the forest. She had to think.

Heather got out and walked around to her. “I saw Poppy coming out of the elevator while Officer Buttface interviewed me. Was he visiting Abigail?”

Nora nodded.

“Did he see you?”

Nora shook her head and finally spoke. “He was nice to Abigail but he wanted to know where I was. When he found out you were going to ask Charlie about your family, he got really upset.”

Heather raised her eyebrows, adding insult to the sarcasm of her tone. “Oh good, she does something more than nod her head and laugh.”

“Can you stop with all the smart-alecky attitude?”

Heather plopped down on a rock. “Sorry. I'm scared, okay? I don't know what to do about Poppy and I'm probably in trouble with the law too.”

“You? Scared?” Nora sat down next to her. “You can blow up my lift, run in and out of the rez, go all
Starsky and Hutch
through town, and now you tell me you're scared?”

Heather put her chin in her hand. “I do what I have to do.”

Nora stared into the silent forest, the Ponderosa pine thick and dark.

What was that? A flash of blue? Her heart lunged, followed by a flare of anger. No. This was crazy and she wouldn't look, wouldn't let her imagination and more hysteria make her believe the kachina man followed her.

“We've got to figure out what to do.” Nora's voice sounded harsher than she expected.

“About what? Charlie in the backseat of my car? Poppy wanting
God only knows what from you?” She licked her dry lips. “Poppy …
Poppy ordering that man to kill Big Elk? Ordering Gary to arrest you?”

Nora rubbed her forehead.

“You know, when you do that, you look just like your mother,” Heather said.

“Wouldn't it be nice if someone said something today that wasn't disturbing on some level?” Nora glared at Heather.

“And that's her look too.”

“Gaa! Stop it.” Nora couldn't help her outburst.

Heather laughed. “Really. You're almost as good at that you-low-life-scum look as Abigail.”

“I'm an amateur compared to her.”

Heather nodded. “She is good. She's got that Queen Abigail attitude, you know. But you're like the Lady Di of the family. You're classy and royal and seem sort of above everyone else. But you've got that soft vulnerable thing going on too.”

Nora narrowed her eyes in irritation. “You're full of shit.”

Heather burst out laughing. “Not Lady Di at all.”

A small grin tugged at Nora's mouth before she remembered what a terrible mess they were in.

“We had to get Charlie out of there because your father threatened to hurt him.”

The teasing smile vanished. “Not Charlie! Why would he do that?”

“Whatever Charlie might know about your family is something Barrett doesn't want you to find out.”

“And he's going to hurt Charlie to keep him from telling me?”

“I think so.”

Heather looked at her skeptically. “Where did you come up with this?”

Nora told her about the conversation she'd overheard.

Charlie mumbled from the backseat, his eyes still closed. “A cold wet can of liquid painkiller might keep me alive.”

Nora opened a side door and put a hand on Charlie's forehead. He didn't feel feverish. One good thing. “I'm sorry, Charlie. It's almost dark. Maybe we can do something soon.”

Heather leaned through the open back door and gently kissed Charlie's cheek. “I'll protect you from Poppy.”

After Heather's calculating and calm attack of the situation, this tenderness surprised Nora. Just when Heather seemed like nothing but a Barrett clone, she flashed a human side.

Charlie took hold of Heather's hand and patted it. “You gotta stop trying to clean up Barrett's messes. He's a big man and he makes big problems. You can't make up for him and you're going to kill yourself trying.”

Heather's eyes shimmered with tears. “You're probably right.” She cleared her throat. “He's not even my real father, so I don't know why I feel responsible for the evil he creates.”

Nora stood close to Heather. “Whatever Barrett is up to, it's not your burden. It's hard enough living your own life without having to make amends for someone else.”

Heather nodded. “I know you're right. But in Hopi, we believe in balance. I should be able to balance Poppy's bad with my good.”

Nora put an arm around Heather's shoulders. “Are you telling me that because Abigail is my mother, I am responsible for all her actions? That's a chore I'm not willing to take on.”

“The Hopi elders say that two or three righteous people are enough to fulfill the Creator's mission. Some say even one truly righteous person can save the world.”

Charlie smiled at Heather, still only half lucid. “You are good, no denying that. Let your goodness shine and leave Barrett off your scales.”

Heather looked at the ground. “It would be different if he were my real father, I guess. Are you sure you don't remember Sikyatsi?”

Charlie shook his head. “It sounds familiar but my memory isn't as good as it used to be.” He looked stricken. “We should have brought Abigail with us. She's not safe when Barrett is on the loose.”

A spear of apprehension shot into Nora. “This is insane.”

Charlie said. “Let's get the goods on Barrett and we'll all live happily ever after.”

“I'd settle for all of us living.”

Charlie's head then fell back and he snored.

After several minutes of silence, Nora shrugged in frustration. “Cole thinks Scott's murder is at the crux of everything.”

Heather considered. “Okay. Then I guess we need to do some research.”

“What do you mean?”

Heather walked to the back of the RAV4. “Don't get mad at me.”

“Did you blow something else up?”

Heather shot her a withering look. “I said I was sorry about that. I didn't know you very well then.”

“I'm not forgiving you yet. When we're safe from Barrett and your environmental and ethnic brethren, you and I are going to have a talk.”

At least Heather looked contrite. She opened the back of the vehicle and reached inside to pull out a box.

That stupid box. It contained grief, anger, pain, and rejection. Nora remembered when Maureen's roommate brought it to the lodge. Why hadn't she burned it?

Heather looked at her with a mixture of embarrassment and guilt.

“It's okay,” Nora said.

Heather carried the box to a flat rock and bent over it. She rummaged beneath odd items and pulled out a sheaf of paper. “Why was Scott working for Poppy?”

“Barrett? Scott worked for Barrett?”

Heather waved the paper. “This is from Southwest Consultants.”

The box held her dead husband's possessions from a life she didn't know existed.

“Southwest Consultants is Poppy's uranium company.”

Nora hadn't known that. But then, why would she care? “Okay. But I don't know why you'd think Scott was
working
there.”

“He's got a whole stack of papers from them.”