go back into the house and we can talk.” She glanced at her mother. “Are you able …?”
“Yes,” Margot snapped. “Quite able, thank you.” She grabbed the cane from Egan’s hand and pulled herself up, ignoring his offered hand. Shoulders straight as ever, she made her way back to the house, while they followed.
Heather lagged back to stand next to Bill. “You thought it was Oscar?” she whispered.
He sighed. “I don’t know what I thought.”
“Why do you look like you’re still angry?”
He wondered how she always seemed to know how he was feeling. “Not angry. Egan brings back bad memories, is all.”
They didn’t speak anymore until they got back into the relative cool of the cabin. Egan and Margot sat on the couch and accepted glasses of iced tea. Bill stood, arms folded across his chest.
“So what brought you by here, Dr. Egan?” Heather said after she put out water bowls for the two dogs.
“I got your message about the fossil find and my curiosity was piqued. That’s part of the thing I love about this area. The paleontological history is stunning. The Badlands are known for their abundance of fossil mammals, but there’s a good quantity of nonmammalian and plant fossils, as well.” He smiled. “Sorry. I get carried away sometimes. Anyway, I called Jean’s place to see if you were still there.”
Bill felt a scowl form on his face at the familiar use of his aunt’s name. He stared at Egan intently. “Haven’t seen you at Aunt Jean’s since I’ve been back.”
Egan seemed to come to some decision. He squared his shoulders. “You made it clear that you don’t want me around your aunt, Bill.”
Bill stared at him. “You know why I feel that way.”
“As I said before, I had only suspicions that your sister was using drugs when she worked for me. If I had had proof—seen her shooting up, let’s say—I would have come to you, but families are complicated and I wasn’t sure it was right to go to her brother with suspicions.”
Bill’s eyes flickered and he looked away momentarily. A suspicion might have been enough for him to save her life. But, situation reversed, would he have intervened if it had been Egan’s sister? A man he hardly knew? He shook his head. “That’s in the past.”
Though he did not make eye contact, he felt the doctor’s gaze on him.
“I think maybe it’s not,” Egan said softly. He drained the glass of tea as the phone rang.
Bill and Heather exchanged a dark look. “Let it ring,” he mouthed to her. If it was Oscar, he didn’t want to confirm that Heather was home. Perhaps Oscar might think that Heatherhad flown out of town. He didn’t believe it was likely, but the guy had to make a miscalculation sometime.
An angry voice poured through the answering-machine speaker. “Fernandes, someone hacked into our site using your password. You can see the results for yourself. I’m giving you ten minutes to see before I take it down.” There was muffled swearing on the answering machine. “Get me a real story by tomorrow night, and I’m not kidding around. Mr. Brown left a message for you to come see him tomorrow. Write that one up if you want, but get me something.”
Heather finally made it to the phone just as the “end of message” tone sounded. “What in the world is he talking about?”
Bill gestured to her laptop, a feeling of dread in his gut. “The online site for the
Blaze.
Pull it up.”
They all crowded around Heather as she booted up the computer and accessed the website. The story materialized in a moment.
No title, the font larger than the rest of the site.
Obituary for Bill Cloudman. On September 1 former Tribal Ranger Bill Cloudman will be tried, found guilty and executed for the crime of putting to death an innocent boy, Autie Birch. Cloudman has lived in shame since he allowed his partner, Johnny Moon, to walk into a deadly explosion to protect himself at the expense of a young man who trusted him. Bill lost his
“Yes,” Margot snapped. “Quite able, thank you.” She grabbed the cane from Egan’s hand and pulled herself up, ignoring his offered hand. Shoulders straight as ever, she made her way back to the house, while they followed.
Heather lagged back to stand next to Bill. “You thought it was Oscar?” she whispered.
He sighed. “I don’t know what I thought.”
“Why do you look like you’re still angry?”
He wondered how she always seemed to know how he was feeling. “Not angry. Egan brings back bad memories, is all.”
They didn’t speak anymore until they got back into the relative cool of the cabin. Egan and Margot sat on the couch and accepted glasses of iced tea. Bill stood, arms folded across his chest.
“So what brought you by here, Dr. Egan?” Heather said after she put out water bowls for the two dogs.
“I got your message about the fossil find and my curiosity was piqued. That’s part of the thing I love about this area. The paleontological history is stunning. The Badlands are known for their abundance of fossil mammals, but there’s a good quantity of nonmammalian and plant fossils, as well.” He smiled. “Sorry. I get carried away sometimes. Anyway, I called Jean’s place to see if you were still there.”
Bill felt a scowl form on his face at the familiar use of his aunt’s name. He stared at Egan intently. “Haven’t seen you at Aunt Jean’s since I’ve been back.”
Egan seemed to come to some decision. He squared his shoulders. “You made it clear that you don’t want me around your aunt, Bill.”
Bill stared at him. “You know why I feel that way.”
“As I said before, I had only suspicions that your sister was using drugs when she worked for me. If I had had proof—seen her shooting up, let’s say—I would have come to you, but families are complicated and I wasn’t sure it was right to go to her brother with suspicions.”
Bill’s eyes flickered and he looked away momentarily. A suspicion might have been enough for him to save her life. But, situation reversed, would he have intervened if it had been Egan’s sister? A man he hardly knew? He shook his head. “That’s in the past.”
Though he did not make eye contact, he felt the doctor’s gaze on him.
“I think maybe it’s not,” Egan said softly. He drained the glass of tea as the phone rang.
Bill and Heather exchanged a dark look. “Let it ring,” he mouthed to her. If it was Oscar, he didn’t want to confirm that Heather was home. Perhaps Oscar might think that Heatherhad flown out of town. He didn’t believe it was likely, but the guy had to make a miscalculation sometime.
An angry voice poured through the answering-machine speaker. “Fernandes, someone hacked into our site using your password. You can see the results for yourself. I’m giving you ten minutes to see before I take it down.” There was muffled swearing on the answering machine. “Get me a real story by tomorrow night, and I’m not kidding around. Mr. Brown left a message for you to come see him tomorrow. Write that one up if you want, but get me something.”
Heather finally made it to the phone just as the “end of message” tone sounded. “What in the world is he talking about?”
Bill gestured to her laptop, a feeling of dread in his gut. “The online site for the
Blaze.
Pull it up.”
They all crowded around Heather as she booted up the computer and accessed the website. The story materialized in a moment.
No title, the font larger than the rest of the site.
Obituary for Bill Cloudman. On September 1 former Tribal Ranger Bill Cloudman will be tried, found guilty and executed for the crime of putting to death an innocent boy, Autie Birch. Cloudman has lived in shame since he allowed his partner, Johnny Moon, to walk into a deadly explosion to protect himself at the expense of a young man who trusted him. Bill lost his
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