In the Arms of Stone Angels

chapter twelve


Next Morning—8:00 a.m.

Abandoning my usual fashion circus, I kept things simple and dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt with sturdy boots. Today would be about searching hard and I didn’t want to hold anyone back because of blisters or the heat. When I saw Joe’s blue truck rolling down our street from my upstairs window, an army of butterflies pinged off the inside of my belly. I was anxious to get started. I finally felt like I was helping White Bird by doing something real. And I had my fingers crossed that Joe could help me turn my luck around.

I blasted down the stairs to find Mom.

“Joe called while you were in the shower. He said Deputy Tate is on board. He’ll be at the bridge by eight-thirty,” Mom said as she ran a hand through my wet hair, touching up her handiwork. “Please…be careful.”

“I will. And I’ll call you if we find anything, okay?”

She nodded, but she didn’t look happy. I knew she wanted to go with us, but she couldn’t. The painters were already working and they wouldn’t be done for days.

“And don’t forget the things I packed for you and the guys. It’s gonna be hot today. You’ll need ’em.”

Mom had made breakfast to go for all of us—scrambled eggs and bacon wrapped in flour tortillas. And she’d packed bottled water, snack bars and a thing of sunscreen in the knapsack where I carried my spiral notebook and my collection of sunglasses. After our late night, I didn’t know when she had time to pack the goodies.

“Thanks, Mom.” I kissed her goodbye and she walked me out.

When I got in Joe’s truck, he waved at Mom, who stood on the front porch.

“I packed us water and other stuff.” He pointed his thumb to the bed of his truck where he had three knapsacks. And I laughed.

“Mom did, too. Guess we’ll have plenty H2O, but I bet you don’t have these.” I unwrapped his breakfast and handed it to him so he could eat and drive. He looked happy after his first bite.

“Mmm. Good. Be sure to thank your mother.” He nodded. “Since my wife died, I don’t cook much.”

“You were married?”

I should have said, “Sorry about your wife,” but I was more shocked that he’d gotten someone to marry him. He was such a…guy.

“Is that so unbelievable?” He smiled and took another bite of his breakfast. “We were married for twenty-one years. She was a good woman.”

“How did she die?” I asked.

Joe got real quiet. And I wasn’t sure he’d answer me. Eventually, he said, “It was sudden. A brain aneurysm.”

“How awful.”

I flashed on the memory of the dead woman I had seen at Joe’s place, the first time I’d met him. I had only caught a glimpse of her at his front window, but the image of her sad eyes had stayed with me. I suddenly knew who she was. And I also got a strong flash that she had died at home, alone. I don’t know where these thoughts come from, but I’d learned to trust them.

A part of me wanted to ask Joe if he knew his wife was still with him, but that felt like a major intrusion—a line I shouldn’t cross. The way I saw it, the dead had rights, too. No matter how curious I was about her, it wasn’t any of my business. And besides, when he didn’t say anything more, I knew it was time to change the subject.

We talked about my nightmares and what they might mean. And although I saw that Joe was concerned for me, he held back his real thoughts on how White Bird had reached out to me. I had to accept that his tribal and spiritual beliefs were deeply personal and not easy to share with an outsider. Eventually we got around to talking about Dr. Ridgeway and the Red Cliffs Hospital.

“I know this is your decision, but if you visit White Bird at that hospital, you should tell your mother. She’s got a right to know. What you’d be doing is risky. And she’s still your momma.”

“But what if she stops me?”

“I don’t think she will,” he argued, without taking his eyes off the road.

“You got a better crystal ball than I do?”

Joe didn’t answer, but I saw the corner of his lip twitch.

“Will you go with me?” I asked. “I don’t trust that doctor.”

“Oh, but you trust me?” He smiled for real. “Yes, I’ll go with you.”

“With you as the Grand Pooh-Bah of the Euchee tribe, maybe we can mess with the doc’s head,” I said. “I’m sure the guy usually gets his way, but I’d like to see how he handles being off balance. It might be our best shot at doing what’s right for White Bird…our way.”

I stared straight ahead with a grin on my face, but from the corner of my eye, I saw that I had Joe’s attention.

“Sounds interesting. What do you have in mind?”

I turned to catch a glint in Joe’s eye and I knew he’d go along. Dr. Ridgeway would get a taste of Shaman magic, whether he wanted it or not.

Outskirts of Shawano—8:35 a.m.

Like he’d promised, Deputy Will Tate was parked near the mouth of the trail that led to the haunted bridge over Cry Baby Creek. He’d ditched his uniform and was dressed in a blue T-shirt, an OSU ball cap and faded jeans with hiking boots. And his patrol car was nowhere in sight. With arms crossed, he was leaning against a red SUV. I was glad he’d downplayed the cop thing. Police cruisers drew attention and I didn’t want anyone else to know what was going on until we got good news.

Word traveled too fast in this town as it was.

“Deputy Tate, glad you could make it.” Joe held out his hand and they shook. “We appreciate you coming before your shift.”

“Call me Will.” And when he turned to me, he said, “Hey, Brenna. Joe says you have a theory about a sweat lodge?”

Even though my theory wouldn’t free White Bird, I hoped it would cast enough doubt to reopen the case. And that was good enough for now. I told him what I suspected.

“Interesting.” Will nodded. “I’ve seen the case file and there wasn’t anything mentioned about a sweat lodge or the boy’s vision quest. If we locate this lodge, we might find more evidence, but you have to be prepared. Whatever we find might make things worse for your friend.”

“Can things get worse?” I asked.

The deputy smiled. I didn’t mean my question to be funny. I really wanted to know.

“And whatever we find,” Will added, “if it pertains to the case, don’t touch it. Let me handle any evidence. And I’ll have to tell the sheriff. It’s my job.”

“Okay.”

“Then let’s go.” The deputy led the way.

We grabbed our gear and headed out. And even though I sounded sure about White Bird, I had my doubts. My luck was for shit. If there were anything in these woods that could make things worse for him, I’d find it.

We started at the bridge where I’d found him kneeling over Heather’s body. It had been hard for me to be there again. I never thought I would’ve returned in a million years. But there I was, acting tough like I could handle it.

Inside, I knew better.

That old rusted bridge had stood in silent witness to what had happened underneath it. I stared at it as I walked under. Rust stains bled down gray, bleached wood like blood. And the reason the bridge had been built no longer mattered. It spanned the dry creek without a purpose, going nowhere for decades. Why had White Bird come here?

“This is where you saw him?” Will asked and pointed to a spot under the bridge. I told him what I remembered.

“Yeah. I was over there, behind those trees. He didn’t see me.” Flashes of terror rose hot in my stomach when I told them what I knew. It wouldn’t have taken much to make me throw up. And the heat wasn’t helping. “He was staring off, like he didn’t even know where he was.”

I caught Joe watching me. His concern told me all I had to know about what he was thinking. He was looking out for me like Mom would’ve been. And right now, I was worrying him. After taking a deep breath, I told them what I knew and my voice sounded like someone else was talking.

“After I called 911, he didn’t run. I don’t think he heard me. He was chanting something I didn’t understand. And he was rocking back and forth. It scared me.” Even though it was already hot, a chill raced up my spine. “He was acting…crazy.”

“Was White Bird tested for drugs after his arrest?” Joe asked the deputy.

“Yeah.” Will nodded. “He was definitely under the influence. Notes in the murder book said the kid was really messed up. But something else was going on, ’cause drugs would’ve worn off. That’s when he went to Red Cliffs for evaluation.”

The deputy took a good look around and pointed down the creek. “Let’s spread out, but keep each other in sight.” After he explained a grid pattern to organize the search, he finished by saying, “Call out if you see anything. And keep hydrated. It’s gonna be a scorcher.”

We didn’t say much after that. We kept our heads down and worked it hard, feeling the gravity of what we were doing. I looked for Heather, but she never showed. Although I never saw her, that didn’t mean she wasn’t there. She’d found another way to haunt me. I felt her under my prickling skin and flashes of her battered my mind with images I’d never forget.

Heather was just as cruel dead as she’d been alive.

Hours Later

When the sun beat down on us directly overhead, I knew it was close to noon as I sucked down more water. In the sweltering heat, my boots felt heavy and sweat clung to my skin like a fine layer of grit. Sunscreen had helped for a while, but it had melted off.

Cicadas buzzed in waves from the scrub oaks and mesquite trees, nothing more than a mind-numbing white noise. We worked our way along a rocky ridge, peering down into a red clay gorge near a tributary of the old creek. Even though I drank water, I didn’t have to pee. Mainly because I didn’t want to deal with the inconvenience, but I was battling dehydration. We all had slowed our pace and were taking more breaks.

It was on one of my rest stops that I saw a glint of something that had reflected in the sun. It caught my eye.

“What’s that…over there?” I called out to Joe and pointed. “Something metal.”

I didn’t wait for Joe or Will to see it. I stayed on the ridge and headed straight for where I had seen the reflection. As I rounded a bend, I heard the sound of creek water and followed my ears. The ridge overlooked the rolling hills below. And the water made the view an oasis in the heat. Without seeing a sweat lodge, I knew White Bird would have picked this beautiful spot for his vision quest.

“It’s here. I know it.” I called out to Joe and the deputy. And I heard the smile in my voice. “He’d camouflage it, so look real good.”

Within minutes, we’d found what we came looking for.

“Oh, my God. This is it,” I called out to the others when I found the entrance. I pulled back the layers of blankets over the opening and looked into the dark lodge.

“You did it,” I whispered to him and pictured his smiling face.

White Bird had his sweat lodge in a dense stand of trees and it had been hidden in thick brush. We almost missed it. The structure he’d built looked undisturbed, but the fire pit was in a shambles with the stones shoved away and the ash pile filled with debris. It was yards away from the hut and closer to the creek.

“He did a fine job.” Joe nodded as he looked over what White Bird had done. “As good as I’ve ever seen.”

Joe was as interested in White Bird’s accomplishment as I was, but Deputy Tate looked on the scene with a cop’s eyes as he knelt at the fire pit, putting on latex gloves he had stuffed in his pants pocket.

“Looks like someone kicked these stones out. And I see a charred watch in the ashes. It’s caked with clay, but it looks like a man’s watch. Do either of you recognize it?” the deputy asked.

After we both shook our heads, Joe said, “Usually a boy on a vision quest has no need for a watch. Time means nothing. Did White Bird have one on him when he was arrested?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to check.” The deputy gazed into the stone pit. “We’ll take this one as evidence and clean it up. Hikers might have left it.”

Joe shifted his focus back to the sweat lodge.

“These are my blankets and hides. And that’s my shovel.” He grabbed the blankets at the entrance to the sweat lodge then pointed inside the hut. “And that’s my grandfather’s knife…over there.”

“You found your knife?” I asked him, then turned to the deputy. “I thought I read in old newspaper clippings that investigators found the murder weapon and had taken it as evidence.”

“They did, yeah,” Will agreed.

“Then why would he have two knives here?” I shrugged. “I can see him taking Joe’s knife because it was made by a Euchee elder. He would have used it for everything. It would’ve been special to him. So why bring another knife?”

“Good question,” Will said.

“What kind of knife was used on the girl?” Joe asked.

“A hunting knife. Pretty common,” the deputy told him as he went inside the sweat lodge to retrieve the knife that had belonged to Joe. When he came back out, he looked closely at the blade, holding it in his gloved hands. “We’ll have to test this, but it doesn’t look like there’s blood on it.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t make any sense that he’d have two knives here. You’re right.”

“I’d always assumed my grandfather’s knife had been the murder weapon, especially after they found White Bird’s fingerprints at my place after the robbery.” Joe grimaced. “I wasn’t certain, but I was too afraid to ask. I figured if I drew attention to the weapon being my knife, that would only strengthen the case the police had on him.”

“And it would have,” Will agreed.

“But finding it now isn’t enough, is it?” I asked. From the look on the deputy’s face, I knew what he’d say.

“No, it’s not. But I’ll get a team out here to collect evidence. With your positive ID on the knife, Joe, we can link this site to White Bird. If nothing else, we can cast doubt on what happened. But I don’t think it’ll be enough for Sheriff Logan to reopen the case. People would string Matt from the highest tree once details of this case came out.”

“It’s not fair,” I argued. “If he was white, I bet the sheriff would look into it.”

Will narrowed his eyes and I wasn’t sure if he was mad at me or not.

“The sheriff is a hard man, but a fair one. I know you don’t agree, but if we brought him a solid reason to reopen this case—something the D.A. could sink his teeth into—I think the sheriff would listen.”

“You’re right, Will. I don’t agree.” I’d had enough.

I was tired and frustrated and the heat made everything worse. I couldn’t let things go. I argued with the deputy, even when I knew he was only doing his job and had done us a favor by being out here before his shift started. Joe kept quiet, but he nodded his support and let me talk without interfering.

“Look, I hear what you’re saying, Brenna,” the deputy said. “But there’s one thing you don’t know that could really blow up in our faces if we don’t come up with something more solid.”

“What’s that, Will?” Joe asked.

“There’s a reason that the sheriff and anyone who investigated this murder wanted to hang Isaac Henry on the spot. And this didn’t get into the papers. The sheriff held it back, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t talk about this to anyone.” After we both nodded, Will heaved a sigh and rubbed a hand over his face before he went on. “It was bad enough that Heather Madsen had been stabbed so many times, but—”

The deputy stopped and looked at both of us.

“That girl had been scalped, too.”

Shawano—An Hour Later

Derek Bast had sent several text messages to Jade DeLuca, but after her late night with Chloe, Nicole and Brandy in Oklahoma City, she’d slept in and missed his first few attempts to reach her. By the time she got up and cleared the fog from her brain, she was coherent enough to get really pissed at him for not picking up the damned phone and calling her. All his text messages had been the same.

we got trouble—call me



After she got dressed, she would call Derek. With her mom out of town on business, she was staying at her father’s place. But after he had left her a note taped to her bedroom door that he had to work early and didn’t know when he’d be back, she was relieved that she was on her own as usual. Sitting on her bed, she dialed Derek’s number and when he picked up, she didn’t bother to say hello.

“If this is important, why didn’t you just call me?”

“Well, good morning to you, too.” He didn’t sound in a good mood. “You got a lot of nerve bitching me out. You asked me to follow Brenna Nash. And I don’t get one thank-you?”

Jade ignored the drama of Derek’s faked hurt feelings. The jerk always demanded attention and constantly needed his ego stroked.

“Look, you’ve got just as much at stake here. So quit your whining.” Jade looked into the mirror on her dresser and wiped a corner of her mouth, tweaking her lipstick. “What’s the texting all about?”

“I got up early and parked down the street from the Nash place. If I hadn’t done that, I would’ve missed what happened,” Derek said. She heard the smile in his voice.

“So tell me already.”

“She had a visitor. Some old Indian guy in a blue truck. He picked her up and I followed them.”

“Where’d they go?”

“You’re not gonna like this.”

She heard Derek sigh on the phone and she rolled her eyes.

“Spit it out, Derek!”

“They drove to the bridge at Cry Baby. And they met up with one of my uncle’s deputies. He wasn’t wearing a uniform, but I recognized him.”

“What? Why would they be out there with the cops?” She jumped off her bed and walked to her window. “They’re gonna find out what we did.”

“Not if we keep our mouths shut,” Derek said. “How could they?”

Jade used the word we so she wouldn’t be alone in this, but she really only cared about covering her own ass. Even though others had played a part in what happened that night, no one knew how far she’d gone. What she’d done to Heather—no one could know. No one!

“What did they do?” she asked. “Did you see?”

“No, I didn’t hike in there. I was afraid they’d spot me.”

“I knew that little bitch came back here to stir things up. She’s gonna get them to reopen Heather’s case, I just know it. And we’ll get dragged into this. That can’t happen, Derek.” Jade paced her bedroom floor. “Shit! This can’t be happening.”

“Nothing’s happened yet. We don’t know what they’re looking for. What could be up there after all these years?”

“Why didn’t you find out? You should have followed them.”

“I told you…they would’ve spotted me. We gotta play this smart, Jade. That Indian will fry for killing Heather. My uncle and this whole town are ready for that to happen.”

“Too bad Isaac Henry doesn’t know that. This thing is never gonna be over as long as his trial is hanging over our heads. He could stay in that loony bin forever.”

“So what?” he argued. “With him locked away and not saying anything to the cops, that’s as good as a life sentence. Nothing’s gonna happen to us. This whole thing will blow over. You’ll see.”

“Not if that little bitch doesn’t let this go. She’s messing this up for all of us.” Jade fell back onto her mattress and stared up at her ceiling. “We gotta teach her a lesson. And this time, we’re rampin’ it up.”

It didn’t take Jade long to come up with an idea. And Derek was psyched when she told him what she had in mind. He had a mean streak that she could always count on.

“Are you calling Chloe?” he asked.

“No. She’s out of it.” Jade didn’t bother to explain that Chloe was too weak to handle something like this. “Call some of your buddies. Tell them to meet us at our usual spot, the old culvert at midnight. Operation Warpath starts tonight.”