Navajo's Woman

Joanna cleared her throat.

“I’m a little annoyed with your cousin Joe,” Andi amended.

“I like Joe,” John Thomas told her. “He brought me an Atlanta Braves cap and a baseball signed by Chipper Jones.”

Andi forced a smile. Joanna chuckled under her breath, then shooed her brood down the hall, leaving Andi alone in the foyer. Okay, get this over with, she told herself. Walk right into J.T.’s den and tell those infuriating, old-fashioned, domineering men that in order to represent the Lapahie family, you insist on having a personal involvement in the search for Russ and Eddie.

J.T. handed Joe a bottle of beer, then sat across from him in a huge wing chair upholstered in a striking Navajo blanket-style fabric, a mate to Joe’s chair. Joe liked the masculine look of the room, which he thought reflected his cousin’s mixed heritage and his own unique personality quite well. It was obvious that the woman who had decorated this room not only knew J.T. well, but cared deeply for him. His cousin was a lucky man to have found someone like Joanna.

Crossing one leg over the other, J.T. shook his head. “There’s no evidence that the boys were involved in the crime.”

“Circumstantial evidence at best,” Joe agreed. “They were seen running from Bobby Yazzi’s home shortly after gunshots were fired, which places them with Bobby at the time of his death. And they haven’t turned themselves in to the police, which makes them look guilty of something, even if they’re not.”

“Do you think they’re guilty of something other than being scared kids?” J.T. asked, then took a swig from his beer.

Joe circled his thumb around the mouth of his bottle. “Eddie’s never been in any kind of trouble. I know he couldn’t have killed Bobby or even been a party to his murder. I’m sure he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“What about Russ?”

“I don’t know about that boy. The last thing I want is to believe that Russell’s son has committed a crime. If I have to bring in Russ, it’ll be like arresting Russell all over again. Is anybody going to believe that I want to help that boy, and not condemn him?”

“‘Anybody’ being Andi Stephens?” J.T.’s lips curved up in a hint of a smile.

“I saw her today,” Joe said. “She was at Kate and Ed’s when I arrived. She still hates me. Still blames me for what happened to Russell.”

“Russell Lapahie was a good man who made a bad mistake.” J.T. rubbed his beer bottle back and forth between the palms of his hands. “You did the legally responsible thing. You were a police officer with a sworn duty. Russell committed a crime. He was wrong. You were right.”

“Yeah, sure.” Joe set his beer on the round wooden side table that separated the matching chairs, then stood and walked over to the big window facing the U-shaped veranda that circled the back of the house. “If I was right, then why did everyone I knew—except you and Joanna and Kate and Ed—turn against me? Why did even my fellow officers look at me as if I’d been the one who committed the crime?”

“Everyone liked Russell. He was a respected man in the Navajo community. At the time Russell killed himself, people reacted emotionally. Today, I don’t think anyone blames you for what happened. In retrospect, they realize that Russell took the easy way out and that what you did took courage and strong convictions.”

“Andi still blames me. And I’m sure Doli and Russ do, too. I doubt I can ever redeem myself in their eyes.”

“And is that what you want to do—redeem yourself with Russell’s family?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

J.T. stood, walked over and laid his hand on Joe’s back. “When we find Eddie and Russ and prove they weren’t involved with Bobby’s murder, that should go a long way in helping you get back into Andi’s good graces.”

“What Andi thinks of me doesn’t matter. Not anymore. But what happens if when we find the boys, it turns out that Russ did kill Bobby Yazzi? What do I do then? I’m not a police officer now. To whom do I owe my allegiance?”

When Andi approached J.T.’s den, she found the door standing wide open, revealing the backs of the two men silhouetted by the late-afternoon sunshine pouring in through the window that faced west. J.T. was tall and lean, an inheritance from his bilgaana father. Joe, a full-blood Navajo, was an inch shy of six feet and more stockily built. His skin was a shade darker, his hair a rich blue-black. There had been a time when her heart skipped a beat whenever she saw him. Even now, she could not control the unwanted attraction she felt.

Should I knock? she wondered. Or should I simply barge in? They seemed deep in conversation. The polite thing to do was knock, announce her presence and state her business. But before she could follow through with her intention to use the good manners her mother had drilled into her since childhood, J.T. spoke to Joe.

“Your allegiance is to yourself,” J.T. said. “If Russ is guilty, then you have to do what you believe is right, not what will gain you popularity points. You know that as well as I do.”

“I made a huge mistake telling Kate and Ed that they should let Eddie remain friends with Russ. If only I’d advised them to keep Eddie away from Russ, then my nephew wouldn’t be in the situation he’s in now. On the run. Wanted by the police.”

Andi had heard all she could endure. It was just as she had suspected—Joe and J.T. both thought Russ had killed Bobby Yazzi. Their objective was to find and save Eddie, even if that meant tossing Russ to the wolves. They didn’t care what happened to her brother.

“Russ did not kill Bobby Yazzi!” Andi stormed into the room, anger boiling inside her.

Both men snapped around to face an enraged woman. Noting the startled expressions on their faces, she glared at them, hoping they felt as guilty as they looked.

“Andi, we didn’t know…that is, you should have let us…” J.T. stammered. “I’m sorry you overheard that part of our conversation and misunderstood. Neither of us believes that Russ is guilty. It’s just that we know he’s been in trouble quite a bit the past couple of years.”

“And Eddie is a saint, who wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for my brother.” Andi paused several feet away from the two men, planting herself firmly in front of them.

“You’re putting words into our mouths,” J.T. told her.

“Andi’s very good at doing that.” Joe mumbled, but Andi understood what he’d said.

“I’m here to tell both of you that whatever type of search y’all instigate to find the boys, I’m going to be a part of it.”

“We don’t need you interfering and creating problems,” Joe said, his dark gaze narrowing on her.

“We’ll keep you informed about—” J.T. tried to explain.

“No!” Andi walked right up to the two men, who stood side by side, stiff and unyielding. With only inches separating her from them, she pointed her finger right in Joe’s face. “Just being informed isn’t good enough.”

“J.T. and I will be splitting up the job of looking for Eddie and Russ,” Joe said. “I’ll be following up most of the leads that require any traveling, while J.T. spearheads a local investigation for the family. Since Joanna is so close to giving birth, he doesn’t want to get very far away from her.”

“It seems y’all have everything all figured out.” Andi frowned. “Eddie’s family is well represented by the two of you, and I intend to make sure Russ’s interests aren’t forgotten. Wherever Joe goes, I go. He can look out for Eddie, and I’ll look out for Russ.”

“Andi…” J.T. held out his hand in a gesture of friendship. “Come on. Sit down and we’ll talk this thing through until we reach a satisfactory decision.”

“I don’t need to sit down or talk anything through. The only decision that will satisfy me is to be included in the search.”

“You’re being unreasonable,” Joe said, his voice deadly soft. Then he added in a growling whisper, “But then, you always were.”

“Is it unreasonable to want to protect my brother?” Andi asked. “Is it unreasonable of me not to trust you to do what is best for Russ as you will for Eddie? And it is unreasonable for me to believe that you will not protect our family from further disgrace?”

“You honestly believe that when the time comes, I won’t do the right thing, the honorable thing?” Joe broke eye contact with Andi and gazed down at the floor, avoiding her intense scrutiny. “Before we’ve even begun the search, you’ve condemned me. How do you think you and I can work together? It would be impossible.”

“Impossible or not, we must work together.” Andi looked to J.T. for confirmation, but before he could speak, Joe did what he was so very good at doing. He ran away. Again.

“Give my regrets to Joanna,” Joe said. “I’ll have dinner with your family another time. I need to get settled into my old place. You can follow through and get that ad placed in the Navajo Times. Maybe the boys will see it and contact us. We’ll start out first thing in the morning questioning anyone who has a connection to either Eddie or Russ.”

“It won’t do you any good to run,” Andi said. “You’re just postponing the inevitable. I know how to find you, and from now until the boys are safe, you won’t get away from me.”

Joe nodded to J.T., gave Andi a hard, menacing glare and strode out of the den, leaving behind a fuming Andi and a somber J.T.

Joanna Blackwood stood in the doorway, glancing back and forth from her husband to Andi. “Isn’t Joe staying for dinner?”

“No,” Andi said. “I think I ran him off.”

“What happened?” Joanna asked.