Starlight Dunes (7 page)

Nick raised a brow.
“You’re not ready to divulge these other factors, are you?”

River smiled
again. “Another night maybe.”

“
That’s extremely candid for you to admit that digging up artifacts is so theoretical,” Jordan said.

“
It would be disingenuous of me otherwise. Don’t get me wrong. Like other archeologists, I deal in facts and figures, what I find in the ground. I live by carbon dating just like others do, most of the time anyway. But I also take my Native heritage seriously. The part of me that grew up listening to magical tales about supernatural beings is in here.” She tapped her chest. “I don’t turn away from who I am or where I came from.”

“But keeping an open mind is probably
what brought Scott to your door.”

“
More like brought me here to his. But it’s also why I’m the best person for this job here in Pelican Pointe. This is a different kind of site altogether for me. That’s why I lobbied to get it. I’ll have a successful dig site here because I’m thorough and I’m willing to give Marcus Cody his due. I want to learn as much from him about the Chumash people as I do by digging in the dirt.”

“
As soon as the cliffs collapsed and gave up that canoe, I started reading about carbon dating on the Internet,” Nick admitted.

River
nodded again. “A fascinating subject to have over dinner and my own personal favorite. Even though I liked working in the lab, it wasn’t for me. Give me field work any day over sitting inside four walls. Plus, I love to get my hands dirty, merge what I take for fact about the area, any area where Native people lived and thrived.”

“Will you take soil samples?”

“Sure. We’ll take whatever we happen to come across down in that hole and send it to the lab for testing. I get the results back, I come up with a theory. I can sustain that theory because I believe it will more closely resemble the truth rather than some of these crackpots who go on and on about cannibalism and human sacrifices occurring in this part of North America.”

“But the
Aztecs did practice human sacrifice,” Nick reminded her.

“And I concede
there’s proof of that but certainly not all tribes did, not the ones who lived along the coast, not the Chumash.”

“You’d make a great host for one of those programs on the
National Geographic
Channel
,” Jordan decided.

River laugh
ed at that. “I just love what I do. I want you guys to know I’m going to miss this place when I check out. You’ve made me feel incredibly welcome.”

“
That’s the idea. I know your reservation is up Monday but we hoped you’d extend it,” Jordan said. “We enjoy having you here.”

“
If only I could. I’d love nothing better than to do that but the budget won’t allow it. Once Julian and Laura, my crew, get here and bring the RV to town, I’ll have to give up the full-size shower and rough it. God, I’m going to miss that luxurious queen-sized bed and all the comforts of home like we’re doing now, sitting around a regular table instead of that tiny thing in the RV. Having all these amenities are a little slice of heaven for me. Not to mention having to give up your cooking.”

“Any time you or your team needs a place to stay, feel free to
come back. We’d love to have you.”

“Believe me
, if I could work it into my budget, I’d prefer staying right here to sharing an RV with a couple of goofy lovebirds.”

“
Hmm. What if we dangled a better price in front of you?” Nick prompted. “We’re approaching the off-season.”

“Better price? Now you have my attention.”

Nick threw out a figure.

“I could definitely work with that using my allowable per diem. Add in a little of my own money
and I think it might work for me. We may have ourselves a deal, Mr. Harris, because living in that tin can gets old really fast. Besides that, I’m pretty sure I’m in love with Promise Cove. I’m pretty sure I understand why Scott is so reluctant to give it up.”

“Is it true Marcus Cody isn’t all that keen about this dig?”
Jordan asked.

“You heard right
. Marcus may not trust me yet but the rest of the family seems like a sure bet.”

A
t the Cody house in Santa Cruz, Marcus stood in the kitchen helping his wife of forty-three years load the dishwasher after supper. While he might not have been sure about River Amandez his wife, Lindeen, was showing the first signs of total adoration. She’d already talked the woman’s ear off all the way down the 101 on the trip from Pelican Pointe to Santa Barbara. Lindeen liked what she’d learned from the pretty archaeologist.

And
she wasn’t above sharing how she felt with her husband. “They’d make a perfect couple. She’s unattached. She seems sweet. And she’s cute as a button. What could Brent find wrong with any of that?”

Marcus
, however, remained stoic. At sixty-seven, the man still wore his long hair, albeit white, tied back in a ponytail. He’d been far less charmed with the vibe he’d gotten from River than Lindeen had been.

He c
almly poured himself another glass of iced tea and stated flatly, “She’s hiding something.”

Lindeen fluffed her graying mane of black hair and waved him off. “So was Hayden and look how that turned out. We have our first grandchild and our youngest has never been happier.”

But Marcus stood firm. “River isn’t what she seems. Besides, you need to stay out of Brent’s love life. I told you that already.”

“That’s why this time I’m playing it crafty
.
This time
I’m not letting on that I like her. First mistake. Psychology. Reverse thinking,” she said, tapping the side of her head. “If I push him her way, you and I both know he’ll run the other direction for sure. You know your oldest son. This is the
one
, Marcus. She’s Native. She’s perfect for our Brent.”

Marcus didn’t reply right away. Instead he looked over at his petite
wife. Glancing back down at the liquid he’d poured, he thought for a moment before he said, “Lindeen, River’s from out of state. California isn’t her home. Think about it long and hard before you push her on Brent. This woman travels the globe. What makes you think she’d be content giving all that up? Her heart’s in her work. I sensed that about her right away. Have you thought about that at all? Do you want to see Brent up and leave the state, to uproot his life to follow River Amandez all over the world?”

“What on earth makes you think he’d do that?
He’s settled here. His home’s here. Once the insurance company settles, he’ll rebuild it.”

“
Be that as it may, I’m convinced she has problems of her own locked up inside. Brent doesn’t need to be dragged into more drama at the moment.”

“Why
do you say that?”

“Other than someone wants him dead
, you mean? In case you haven’t noticed, our son is at a crossroads right now with his life, his career.”

Lindeen paled
at that. Then she thought about it for another minute. Like any good matchmaker though, she quickly rebounded and waved off her husband again. “If you mean the fact the county hasn’t let him come back to work yet, that’s just temporary. He’s the sheriff. The people elected him. The county can’t just dismiss that. He’ll be back on the job in no time. You’ll see. But that other stuff about River, I admit I hadn’t considered any of it. She is rather dedicated to her work, isn’t she?”

“
She is. Not to mention there’s something…off…about her. But first and foremost, why would a woman like that who travels for a living, put down roots here in California? There’s no reason for her to do it, none at all. And if she and Brent should happen to get together
briefly
, I doubt it would last. I’m afraid your oldest son is a confirmed bachelor. After his disastrous marriage, I doubt he’ll ever consider matrimony again at all. The sooner you accept it the better off you’ll be.”

“But you’re planning on pushing this security detail on him, right? The
two of them will be in close proximity for months. The setup’s perfect, more so than any of mine have been.”

“
Indeed I plan on getting the council to hire him for security but not to fix him up with River Amandez. But because he’s the best man for the job even with one bum leg,” Marcus stated. “Fixing him up was never my objective. I have no intentions of making that trip into Pelican Pointe every day for the next two months. Fact is, Brent’s already there. It makes sense. I just have to get him to see that.”

Lindeen’s shoulders slumped. “I really did think River would be perfect for him.
But now I can see your point. I suppose I need to call Julianne and see if she’s busy this weekend. I still have hope the two of them might connect that way. It’s time I had her over to supper anyway. Do something nice to pay her back for running to the store for me all those times when my back was out.”

Marcus gave his wife a disbelieving look.
“Right. That story might fly with Julianne. It might even fly with Brent, but not me. I love you dearly, Lindeen. You’ve been the love of my life for forty-three years now. But you need to let Brent find his own woman. You need to give that boy some breathing space. He’s right about that, you know. And if it never happens, if he never finds that special woman to share his life with, I’m telling you, you need to accept it and move on.”

Lindeen harrumphed at that. “I’m only thinking of Brent. And after what happened to him, our boy almost died, Marcus. Brent needs someone
in his life.”

“I’m aware we almost lost our son, Lindeen. But at some point you have to respect Brent’s privacy, his wishes. He’s asked you to butt out.
I know because I’ve heard him do it before. He’s been patient about it so far, good-natured about it even, but since the explosion, I’m picking up changes in him.”

“
The disability thing again?”

“Brent’s always been our adventurous
one, seeking new undertakings at that. Remember when he up and joined the army and headed to Iraq. That’s our Brent. Now Ethan, Ethan’s always had a more creative side to him, less impulsive—and he’s showing that in his writing now. But since that night Brent woke up in the hospital, he’s having a tough time with something—something is troubling our boy, Lindeen. The medical disability is only part of it. He isn’t dealing well with hobbling around and having to fight to get his job back. They haven’t even given him the chance to return to work part-time, which is unusual.”

“
I think it’s a political ploy by his replacement, that Jim Richardson.”

“
Brent thinks so, too. Because politics are entering into the equation, he’s having difficulty accepting the whole downtime thing. I don’t know how to help him other than get his mind on something else.”

Lindeen stared at her husband. “
Like the security job?”

“
That’s the goal. There are rumors that this Richardson fellow is making plans to challenge Brent at the polls if he decides to run for re-election next spring. To be honest, I think Brent’s lost faith in the system. He gets injured and immediately his second-in-command starts a campaign to replace him—for good. I’m not sure Brent cares one way or the other though. In fact, he doesn’t seem interested in much of anything these days. And that’s what bothers me.”

“Of course, he isn’t
interested in anything else. He was seriously injured. He has to concentrate on getting better, getting his body to heal from all the injuries. That’s all it is.” But then Lindeen narrowed her eyes, beginning to catch on. “That’s the real reason you want to turn this security job over to him at this dig site, isn’t it? You want to get his mind off the explosion, get him focused on something else, anything else, other than his job right now and all the political ramifications, even if it’s a stupid rent-a-cop job.”

“That’s right. That’s why
I don’t see your fixation with River working out. My advice is to stick closer to home, shift gears toward Julianne again. But I’d be wasting my breath to try to talk you into anything. I know better than that.”

“There’s no reason to take that tone with me, Marcus Cody. You know I only want what’s best for my sons.”

“I know. So why not see if Julianne’s free for Saturday night. It’s just a meal. And who knows? Maybe it’ll work out this time.”

“I really had my heart set on River
though. Imagine what beautiful children they could make together.”

Marcus shook his head. “Get over it. Right now we have bigger issues than dreaming about imaginary grandchildren.
Brent needs something to take the focus off getting his job back. He needs some downtime, a breather.”

“He needs to find
out who did this to him.”

“I know he does
—and he will—but right now a mini vacation wouldn’t hurt, away from the grind and pressure of what he’s used to at the sheriff’s office.”

“
The dig site will be a mini vacation? I’m not so sure about that. What should I do then?”

“If you
invite Julianne, this time don’t be so obvious about it. Ask Ethan and Hayden to join us.”

Lindeen’s eyes lit up, not really needing much more of a boost to get on board with the idea.
“I’d get to spend time with Nate.”

“
There you go. Suggest they drag a reluctant Brent here along with them. Maybe then when he finds Julianne already sitting here, he won’t be able to kick up a fuss in front of everyone. Plus, he’ll be more open to asking her out himself.”

“Good idea,” mumbled Lindeen as she went to the kitchen phone
on the wall and punched in Julianne Dickinson’s number. “The local girl has to have the inside track, right?”

“The
y say the home team always has the advantage. Let’s hope that’s true.”