Seeing Is Believing by Lindsay McKenna Page B

slope, they could see three rooms fashioned from long, thin pieces of red sandstone. The back of Diana’s neck prickled. It was a warning. She gripped Wes’s arm to get his attention. He’d told her to communicate by hand signals in order not to give their presence away.
    He leaned down, placing his ear near her mouth, and Diana whispered, “I sense two people up there. They’re in the dwelling.”
    With a nod, he straightened. Sliding his hand into the fold of his jacket, he unhooked his Berretta 9 mm pistol from its holster. Snapping off the safety, he put a round in the chamber. Wes saw the terror in Diana’s eyes, and he was sorry she had to see this side of him—the mercenary, the soldier. But above all, he didn’t want her harmed. Gripping her arm, he pressed her back against the smooth sandstone cliff, a huge alligator juniper providing them some cover.
    “Stay here,” he rasped in a low tone. “Whatever happens, you stay here until I call for you to come up.”
    Diana nodded. She reached out, gripping Wes’s arm. “Be careful. Please…”
    “You can bet on it, honey.” Leaning over, he captured her lips, kissing her deeply.
    Then he was gone, silently climbing the slope toward the cave dwelling. Diana touched her tingling lips where he’d branded them with his molten kiss. She knelt down, allowing the juniper to keep her hidden from view. She was seeing Wes in action, and he was like a lithe, dangerous cougar moving silently toward the cave. Her heart was thundering in her chest. Diana could taste the fear in her mouth as he quickly moved into the cave, his pistol drawn and ready to fire, and disappeared from view.
    Swallows sailed effortlessly around the opening to the large-mouthed cave. The raven, perched high atop the canyon wall, was cawing nonstop. Diana froze with anxiety. What had Wes found? She tried to brace herself for the sound of gunshots. Terror paralyzed her. What if Wes was shot? Killed? Tears blinded her, but she anxiously wiped them away.
    Wes reappeared. He had holstered his gun and was waving for her to come up. Releasing her breath, Diana quickly scrambled from her hiding place. What had he found? As she carefully made her way up the sucking, sliding sand of the slope, she wondered if he’d found anything at all.
    SHAD11006SEEING IS BELIEVING

Chapter Six
    D iana joined Wes just outside the three-room Indian dwelling, gasping for breath, and he quickly guided her to the second room of the complex. Ruth Horner was sitting on the ground, next to a large, heavy set Native American dressed in a white cotton shirt and jeans. He held a blue-painted rattle in one hand and a brown-and-white eagle feather in the other. Ruth wore a pale pink tank top, a pair of jeans and sensible hiking boots. Both stared up at Diana and Wes accusingly, their privacy obviously disturbed. Diana felt heat rush to her face.
    “I’m so sorry,” she stammered, opening her hands. “We didn’t mean to intrude upon your ceremony.” She looked to Ruth, who had piercing green eyes. The woman’s gray-and-brown hair had been fashioned into short braids, and without a doubt, she looked different and better than the picture of her in the lab coat that Wes had shown Diana days ago. Happier, perhaps.
    Wes placed his hand on his hips. “Psi-Lab sent us after you.”
    Ruth’s face crumpled. “I didn’t think you’d find me,” she said in a low voice. She glanced at her companion. “I thought the red gourd would throw you off my trail.”
    Wes sat down on a flat rock, keeping his eyes on the scowling Indian. He introduced Diana. Ruth Horner’s face was taut with distrust and unhappiness.
    Diana hesitantly took a seat on a nearby rock. She could feel such sadness around Ruth. When the tears glimmered in the woman’s eyes, she wanted to weep in empathy. “Could you tell me why you put that dangerous gourd in your room?”
    Ruth rubbed her eyes and shrugged. “I knew Psi-Lab would send out guard dogs to find