Jared and Sara left the bookstore and headed back to David Whitefeather’s office. She was so shocked she was trembling. Not because Jared came close to losing his temper with his cousin, but because of how he’d introduced her to Joel. Her stomach was on spin cycle.
He turned to her with wide eyes and touched her face. “Are you OK?”
She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. “I need to sit down.”
He whipped out his phone. “Dave, it’s me,” he said, tersely. “We’ll be a little late. I’ve got something I need to take care. Great. See you then.” He helped Sara to a nearby bench. “Do you need another bottle of ginger ale?”
Sara smiled weakly. “I think I can get by without it. I just need to calm down a little.” She bent over her knees, buried her face in her hands and took some slow breaths.
Jared leaned over and gently stroked the back of her head. “Are you sure?” She nodded. “Sorry, I scared you like that.”
“There for a minute, I thought you were gonna smash his face in and give yourself away.”
“I was,” he chuckled.
~ ~ ~
Minutes passed. They sat in silence while Jared played with a lock of her hair, twisting it around his index finger, impatiently waiting. “Feeling better?”
Sara leaned against his arm. “A little.”
He pushed some loose hairs behind her ear. “So, are you gonna give me an answer?”
She frowned. “To what?”
“You didn’t hear? I proposed to you, Sara.”
Her breath caught. “You were serious? That was a real proposal?”
Jared snorted. “Well, it was supposed to be, but I’m beginning to wonder if maybe I.…”
“Oh, my!” She interjected, breathlessly. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her heart pounded. She felt as though she might hyperventilate.
“Sara? Breathe, honey! Sara?” He cupped his hands over her mouth and nose. “Breathe! Take slow, deep breaths. That’s it – in and out.”
Her ears stopped ringing; her head stopped spinning. She moved his hands and held them between hers. “I think I can breathe now.”
“Can we talk about this or would you rather….”
“No!” she broke in.
His eyes widened. “No, we can’t talk about it?”
“No – yes – oh, I’m messing this up. Yes.”
“Yes, we can talk about it?”
“Yes.”
Jared softly smiled. “So, what’s your answer?”
She played ignorant. She wanted to hear his proposal again, under more pleasant circumstances. “I’m sorry, what was the question?”
He arched an eyebrow and softly chuckled. He wasn’t buying it. Cautiously, he cupped his hands as though he thought she might hyperventilate again. “I asked you to marry me. Will you be my wife?”
Sara smiled. “You’re serious?”
Jared snorted again. “Well, I was, but you’re beginning to scare me.”
She tried to use the back of her hands to clear away her tears, but she was fighting a pointless battle. Fresh floods replaced the ones she’d brushed away. She was so choked up she couldn’t speak. She nodded.
“Yes?”
She nodded again and stared into his eyes. “Yes,” she whispered. Jared stared back, quietly reading her. A wide grin spread across his mouth. He kissed Sara with so much hunger it made her dizzy. She honestly thought she might lose her breath again. Who would’ve believed it possible? Certainly not her, but it was true. It was happening.
He swung her around several times and set her feet on the ground. She swayed. He kissed her again and took her hand. “For a while, I was afraid I might’ve proposed too soon.”
“You did scare me, but not because I’m afraid or have any doubts about marrying you. I’m a little concerned. Mother will assume I’m pregnant.”
“Can’t have that, can we?” he laughed.
They strolled toward the park exit. Sara snorted, assuming the question had been rhetorical. “I’m not sure how my Dad will take it. I’m not even sure how Lucy will react.”
“Well, what’s done is done. No matter what they think, I’m not taking my proposal back, especially, not since you said yes. Let’s get back to Dave’s office, so we can get this over with and decide on our next move.”
------------
“Well, what’s the news?” Jared asked.
David sighed and slid a manila folder across the desk. “You were right, of course.”
He studied David’s eyes and scanned through Sara’s test results. His eyes hardened. He closed the folder and rested it on his lap. Agitated, he tapped his thumb against the side of the armrest. “How did it get into her system?”
David leaned forward and rested on his elbows. “Orally, but it was a fairly strong dose, more than it should’ve been.”
Jared turned to Sara and softly smiled. “Everything else looks OK, but we need to figure out where you were drugged, and who gave it to you.”
“I have no idea,” she shrugged.
“Try! I wanna make them pay, especially if it was Joel!”
David’s pulse pounded in his ears. He glanced at Sara and swallowed hard. “He’s right, Sara. If you can remember anything, it would help.”
Her heart rate sped up. She looked at David, wondering if she should trust him. As if reading her mind, Jared spoke. “Sara, whatever you say here goes no further. We can trust Dave.” He arched an eyebrow. “Can’t we, Dave?”
He swallowed hard again, forced a smile and nodded. “Anything you say in this office stays here.”
Sara exhaled. “Parts of it are fuzzy. I’m not sure I can….”
“Honey, please try,” Jared broke in. “Did anything unusual happen while you were at the bookstore. Did Joel say or do anything outta the ordinary?”
She drew in a short breath. “Jared, you’re scaring me. Is something gonna happen to me because of this drug?”
“Probably not, Sara,” David said. Jared studied his eyes, intrigued. “There are a few cases where people have had flashbacks. They can be frightening, especially if you’re not expecting them, but they’re usually harmless and….”
“Please!” Jared broke in again, trying to control his irritation. “If we don’t figure out who did this, they might try to do it again or worse.”
“Alright! Lemme think!” Sara frowned and drummed her nails on the armrest.
“Tell me exactly what happened. What was said, everything!”
David held up a hand. “Don’t push her, Jared. Sara, close your eyes and relax. Tell us what you can remember.”
“OK. We went into the store. Myra pulled some books off the shelves and told me the pros and cons of the authors. We talked a little about the Quileute, and Myra mentioned something about an out of print book. She went to the restroom, and I noticed Joel, standing at the end of the aisle, eavesdropping on our conversation. I know I shouldn’t have, but I was curious. I asked him if he knew where I could get a book about true Navajo legends. He told me about a book he had, and how much it would cost.”
“Sara, I need to know what he did! Could you get on with it?”
She glared at him. “Alright, Jared - geez!” She closed her eyes again. “I um, I didn’t wanna look conspicuous, so I grabbed two of the other books and took them to the checkout. I paid Joel cash for the out of print book and used your credit card to pay for the others. Joel put it through the machine, and it was rejected. He tried it a couple more times, and still it didn’t work.”
Jared narrowed his eyes. “That’s interesting. I’ve never had any trouble with my credit card.”
“Yeah, well, anyway. He held your card up to the light. There was something over the strip, so he cleaned it off with some kinda cleaner. He keyed in the information manually and handed the card back to me.” She paused and frowned. “Wait a minute! Now, I remember! The card was still wet. I complained, and he….”
David held up a hand. “Hang on, Sara. Jared, can I see your credit card?” He held it under his desk lamp. One end had some kind of sparkling residue on it, but not over the magnetic strip. David glanced at Jared and snorted.
“Gotcha, you bastard!” Jared smirked. “Sara, wait here!” He kissed her cheek. Before she could respond, he and David had left the room.
~ ~ ~
Her head pounded. She lay on the brown leather sofa, to see if it would ease off. She closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep. She began dreaming about wolves again, but this time, there were only two; one with dark charcoal fur, and a bigger one with black fur, standing at least two heads higher than the other wolf. By its size and behavior, Sara decided the black wolf was the alpha.
The other wolf circled around it, snarling and baring its teeth. Its hackles stood on end. The alpha stamped its feet, snarled and stood its ground. Saliva dripped from its sharp teeth as his head towered over the charcoal wolf.
It rolled onto its back and exposed its belly as an act of submission. The alpha stood over it, pressing its paws into its chest. It seemed the fight was over.
The charcoal wolf grabbed a purplish flower between its teeth and shook it at the alpha, blinding it with pollen. The pollen wasn’t normal. It was white and sparkled in the sunlight.
The alpha shook its head, side to side. The charcoal wolf saw its opportunity and grabbed the alpha’s throat. Skin ripped, bones cracked; Sara watched in horror as the charcoal wolf bit off the alpha’s head and swallowed it whole. It glowered down at the lifeless body of the alpha. It licked its blood off the ground and slowly morphed into a man.
Sara screamed. The beheaded alpha morphed into a man, as well, Tom, Jared’s father. The other man had killed him.
A white wolf with glowing crimson eyes appeared and ran to Tom’s side. It morphed into another man, Jared. He knelt and cradled his father’s body, groaning and lamenting.
The other man morphed back into a wolf and stealthily approached Jared from behind. It reared up and lunged for him.
“No! Jared!” Sara screamed. “Behind you!”
He couldn’t hear her. The wolf grabbed Jared by the back of the neck. She screamed at the top of her voice.
In seconds, Jared was there, holding her. Then David came through the doorway. “Sara, what’s wrong?”
“Jared! You’re alive! You’re not hurt.”
“No, honey, I’m fine.” He shared a worried look with David.
“Oh, God! Your father – he’s dead. The other man killed him.”
Jared held her. “Sara, Dad is fine. It was a dream. It’s alright. No one has been hurt.”
“But it was real, Jared, the wolf, and you, and your father.” She buried her face in his shoulder.
This wasn’t like her. She’d had dreams before. She’d never had trouble filtering out what was real and what wasn’t. Why was this happening to her now?
“It was probably a flashback, Jared,” David suggested.
“What did you find out about the credit card?” Sara asked. Earlier, when Jared had confronted Joel at the bookstore, she’d been afraid for him, now she wanted him to rip Joel’s head off. She wanted to rip his head off!
“The same substance that was in your bloodstream.”
Sara glanced at Jared. “So what now? Can we press charges against him?”
“It’s not that simple,” Jared sighed. “Although we can prove someone put the drug on my credit card, without more evidence, we can’t pinpoint who. While I’m confident Joel is guilty, there will be other fingerprints on my card, besides his. The police might even try to say I did it. I’m the one who gave you my credit card.”
Sara frowned. “No, Jared, you didn’t do it.”
He pulled her to his shoulder. “No sweetheart, I would never do that, never, but from the law’s point of view, I would have to be investigated like everyone else.”
David did the math in his head. “Sara, hold out your hands.”
She glanced at Jared. He frowned. “What are you looking for?”
“The drug could’ve entered her bloodstream through a cut, but I don’t see any.” He sighed. “You said you put the card into your pocket. Unless you rubbed your eyes or put your fingers in your mouth after you handled the card, you would’ve started feeling odd about twenty to twenty-five minutes later. Do you remember rubbing your eyes or anything like that?”
Sara sighed, exasperated. “No! I can’t remember if I rubbed my eyes. What kind of question is that? I rub my eyes all the time – don’t you?”
David frowned. “Did you wash your hands before you had lunch?”
“No.”
“How about afterward?” Jared prompted.
“No! We had a sandwich. I didn’t need to!”
“OK, so this is how I see it,” Jared said. “Joel sprays the card, making sure he gets the drug on one end of it. He hands it to you, making sure he’s not exposed. You get it on your fingers, and it penetrates the upper layer of your skin. Chances are, it wouldn’t have affected you for a long time if at all, but each time you used the card, you were exposed. When you had lunch, you ingested it with your food.”
“That accounts for the amount of drug in her bloodstream.” David sighed and turned his attention to Sara. “I thought you were only exposed once.”
“She was continually exposed,” Jared said. “What I don’t understand, is why it didn’t affect me when she gave the card back?”
“Could’ve been blind luck,” David said. “She might’ve handed you the clean end.”
He scratched his chin. “I suppose,” his voice trailed off. But what about the other people who handled it? They should’ve been exposed, as well. What’s going on here? Dave, what are you up to? “What do you think, Dave? Do we have enough to get Joel?”
“Unless he got rid of the evidence after Sara and Myra left… maybe.”
“I’m not letting this go!” Jared growled.
“I don’t expect you to, and I don’t blame you either. Your girlfriend was assaulted. Of course, I expect you to do something about it. I’m only pointing out, without evidence it won’t be easy to prove.”
Jared glanced at Sara and smiled. “She’s not my girlfriend anymore.”
“I asked her to marry me. She’s my fiancée now.”
“Really? Wow! That’s great. I’m happy for you. Now about Joel….”
“Oh, sorry Dave,” Jared said. “Sara, it’s your call. You’ll have to file charges. Joel’s attorney will try to either pin it on me or prove you did it yourself. It would’ve been easier to prove if you’d only used the card one time.”
“But that’s not the case,” she groaned. “What do you suggest?”
“I don’t wanna seem like the villain here, but I have to play the devil’s advocate,” David interjected. “Have you ever used recreational drugs? Anything which would’ve made you high.”
“No!” Sara said sternly.
“All we can do, is tell the DA your story, and see if he thinks we have enough to go on,” Jared said. “But, again, it’s your choice. I can’t make the decision for you.”
“Better still,” David said. “I know someone who works with the police. You could at least talk to him and tell him your story. Maybe he could tell you whether or not you have a case.”
“Do you trust this person?” Jared asked.
“Yeah, I’ve helped him with some of his other cases. He’s good, and he’s open-minded.”
“Sara?” Jared prompted.
“Sure,” she shrugged. “I want whoever did this to pay, as much as you do.”
David smiled. “I’ll contact him, and see if I can set up a meeting. I’ll call you, when I find out the details. I assume you’ll be going to the funeral tomorrow?”
“I don’t know. It depends on Sara.”
She rolled her eyes. “Jared! We’ve already discussed this. It’s your grandfather. You need to be there for your family.”
David leaned forward in his chair and narrowed his eyes. “Do you suppose Joel will be at the funeral?”
Jared snorted. “Who knows? Who cares?”
“I was thinking about Sara. If he’s there, it might not be a good idea for her to be. It might be uncomfortable for her. Seeing him could trigger more flashbacks.”
Jared stood, bringing Sara with him. “Then I won’t go!”
“Alright, Jared. I guess I’ll see you at the convention – if I don’t see you sooner. Congratulations again on your engagement.”
“Thanks, Dave, and thanks for helping us.” If that’s what you’re doing.
“You would do the same for me,” he laughed.
“That goes without saying,” Jared chuckled. Unless I find out, you’re behind this.
He and Sara headed back to the car. “Am I doing the right thing? What if it wasn’t Joel? By us accusing him, won’t it cause more friction for your family?”
Jared kissed her hand. “Don’t worry about that.”
“But I do.”
“Well, don’t. My family is important to me, Sara. But, you are my family now, and you come first.”
------------
As they drove back to the ranch, Sara’s mind whirled with questions. Had Jared proposed under pressure? Was he too afraid of hurting her to take it back? Why did she say yes? She loved him, but she was only eighteen. Was she ready to become a wife and a mother? Did she honestly know what she wanted? Kaye would say she didn’t. Sara had never been afraid for her own life, and she wasn’t now. Jared would protect her, but who would protect him? What am I gonna do? How can I ask Jared without hurting him?