As they drove back to the plant, Daniel glanced over at her. “Martin can be hard-nosed about security matters. Don’t be surprised if he downgrades your clearance until this matter is settled.”
Surprised, she stared back at Daniel. What he’d said was logical, but until now, she hadn’t even considered that disastrous possibility. If Martin restricted her access, she’d be unable to continue her work at the facility. In essence, she’d lose the account, and at the worst possible time. Every cent she had was tied into her fledgling company. She couldn’t afford to forfeit a contract.
She’d been worried about being forced to accept protection, but that no longer seemed like such a bad alternative. Holly took a deep breath. Part of her job entailed persuading people to open their minds, and that’s exactly what she’d have to do now. Her livelihood depended on it.
Chapter Six
Daniel dropped Holly off in Martin’s office. “I’ve got something I need to do. I’ll catch up to you in a few minutes.”
She nodded, her eyes still on Martin, who was finishing a phone conversation. “I’ll be here.”
He watched her a moment longer. The incident had rattled her more than she’d admitted, but he had no time to dwell on that now. While still at the accident scene he’d received a call from his brother, Detective Preston Bowman of the Hartley Police Department.
He’d known all along that his brother would eventually investigate the incident with Holly since it had happened on his beat. So when Preston had insisted they meet for coffee at the plant, he hadn’t hesitated.
As Daniel went into his office, he saw his brother was already there.
“You made good time,” Daniel said.
“I had a meeting at the tribal police station. I was in the area.” Preston gave his brother a long, thorough inspection. “You look beat.”
“No, just angry.”
“I received the report detailing the assault on Holly Gates.” Preston studied his brother with a laser-sharp gaze. “Be careful, Dan, you can’t just jump in every time somebody needs to be rescued.”
“This is just business.”
“You sure? From what I’ve already heard here and there, she’s a looker.”
Daniel refused to make eye contact. He hated the way Preston could read him so easily.
“The woman works here. I’m just lending a hand.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sell that to someone who doesn’t know you.” Preston sat on one of the chairs and waited.
“So what did you want to see me about?” Daniel asked, refusing to sit. He stared at a painting of Shiprock on the wall, wishing he had a window to distract him.
“Just wanted to know how things are going. Gene’s staying at your place?”
“Yeah, for now. I’m glad he took the job of taking care of the paperwork associated with Hosteen Silver’s trust. The old man had nothing except for the house and cabin, but there are still a million things that need to be handled.”
“Yeah, I hear you. Paperwork—it’s never ending.” He paused for a long time, then stood and walked over, putting his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “We need to get this woman out of your head for a minute and talk family.”
“She’s not in—” Daniel said, looked at Preston, then shrugged. “Okay, yeah, maybe a little.”
“Gene told me about the note Hosteen Silver left in the safe-deposit box. I thought those final request letters Hosteen Silver left each of us would be it, but obviously I was wrong,” Preston said, taking a seat again. “Do you still have a copy of the note?”
“Yeah. The original’s still in the box. Have a look,” Daniel said, then pulled it out of his pocket. “I’d like your take on this.”
“This is the story about Changing Bear Maiden, Coyote’s wife, but there’s a question mark over the entire text,” Preston said. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why save and protect such a well-known account, and more importantly, why the question mark? To Hosteen Silver these weren’t legends—they were a way of explaining the world. Everything had its purpose.”
“I think he was trying to send us a message, something he wasn’t quite sure about, that only we should see. Unfortunately, I’m drawing a blank,” Daniel said.
“Me, too,” Preston said at last, handing it back.
“It was left there for a reason,” Daniel said.
Preston nodded. “I agree. We’ll have a family meeting once everyone’s home and figure it out together. In the meantime, keep thinking.” Preston walked to Daniel’s coffeepot and found it empty. “What’s a guy gotta do to get a cup of coffee around here?”
Daniel reached for the doorknob and cocked his head. “Come on.”
They walked down the hall, side by side, then Preston poked Daniel in the ribs. “Can’t wait to meet this Holly woman, Dan. She’s got you all turned around inside.”
“Yeah, right,” Daniel muttered as they approached the small coffee bar at the cafeteria.
Preston shot his brother a look and chuckled. “Oh, yeah. You’re going down, bro.”
HOLLY SAT IN Martin’s office, searching her mind for a way to convince him. The fixed look on his face told her she had her work cut out for her.
“Your problem is a lot bigger than I originally thought,” Martin said. “The person after you is persistent enough to pursue you in broad daylight. That could end up affecting security here at this facility.”
“Nobody can say for certain that today’s incident was related to what happened outside the café last night,” Holly said. “More important, it didn’t happen here.”
“I’d like you to consider taking a leave of absence. We need your services, but not if there’s any chance that you pose a risk to operations at this plant.”
“You offered me protection this morning,” Holly said, looking over at Daniel, who’d come in just moments ago. “Is that still on the table?”
Martin nodded slowly.
“Then let me take you up on that now. In addition, I’ll ask the security officer to teach me how to defend myself,” she said, but, out of the corner of her eye, saw Daniel shake his head. “Also, I’ll have them recommend locks and safety devices I can use in my home and car.”
“Forget the self-defense lessons. You can’t fight this type of assailant on your own,” Daniel said, his voice calm. “You’d need months of training to be able to neutralize his size, strength and height advantage—not to mention experience.”
“I’m not advocating a long, drawn-out, hand-to-hand battle. All I’d need to do is break loose so I can get help,” Holly said.
“You won’t need combat training if you have security with you at all times, but I like the rest of what you proposed,” Martin said. “It’s a done deal.”
She breathed a silent sigh of relief. At least she still had a job.
“Security is meant to keep you safe, not restrict your work. It’ll be easier on you if you remember that,” Martin said, leaning back in his chair and regarding her for a long moment.
“I will,” Holly answered. “And I really appreciate what you’re doing.”
“As I’ve said before, we need your help here. You deal with the demands of our culture as easily as you do your own. You remember that we don’t shake hands, and in fact, we dislike touching strangers.