I studied her over the rim of my cup. Geneva had been the prettiest girl in our graduating class. Natural honey blond hair, dark blue eyes, razor sharp cheekbones, and a thin, regal nose. Early on she’d grown into a woman’s body, full hipped and curvy, with big breasts the envy of every girl in school. I would’ve hated her if we hadn’t been best friends since kindergarten.
She was still gorgeous even though she’d plumped out considerably. Now, deep fatigue lines were etched around her eyes, and she didn’t smile as often as I’d remembered.
“Molly will be right down.” Geneva sipped coffee, leaned back in the chair, and sighed. Probably the first time she’d sat down all morning. “How is Hope doing?”
“She sleeps a lot. She cries a lot. She doesn’t talk much.”
“I can’t imagine losing one of my children.” She shuddered. “I don’t even know what to say. God. Molly and her friends are just numb. We all are. Stuff like this doesn’t happen around here.”
“I know.” I bit down on a cookie and sighed softly because it was so crisp and sweet and tasty. I hoarded two more and glanced up guiltily when Geneva didn’t keep the conversation going. As longtime friends we rarely had awkward pauses. It didn’t matter if we hadn’t seen each other in two days or two years, we always picked up where we’d left off. Her silence left me unsettled. “What?”
“I don’t know how to say this.”
“Then just say it straight out.”
“Why are you talking to Molly?”
I snapped a cookie in half. “Has the sheriff been here to talk to her?”
“No.”
“Then there’s your answer. Dawson is doing nothing to find who killed Levi, and it isn’t because he’s busy working on the Yellow Boy case.”
“No offense, but what can you do?”
“Figure it out on my own.”
“Good Lord, the rumors are true. You are turning into your dad.”
I blushed, but I wasn’t surprised she’d made the connection. “Kids can’t keep secrets. Somebody knows something. Even if I have to talk to every teenager on the rez and in the county to find out who might’ve wanted Levi dead, I’ll keep at it until I get some answers.”
“What happens if you run out of time? Don’t you have to go back to active duty?”
I paused a beat too long because Geneva demanded, “Well?”
“I’m on medical leave.”
The blood drained from her face. “What happened?”
“Had a freak eye injury that won’t allow me to return to my former position.” The army liked their snipers to take out targets on the first try. If I couldn’t, there were plenty of younger shooters who could.
Geneva slapped her hands on the table. “I cannot believe you didn’t tell me this before now. Jesus. I oughta smack you.”
“You’d hit an injured soldier?”
“No. But I’m still pissed off.”
“You’ll get over it. You always do.”
Geneva made a face that read maybe I won’t. “So is that why you’ve been dragging your feet? Because if you can’t go back to duty, you might have to live here?”
“Have to live here? Nice dig.”
“You know what I mean. You couldn’t wait to get out and see the world. You never wanted to be a ranch wife with a half-dozen kids…” She clapped her hand over her mouth.
Wow. That was another good dig. I didn’t react this time.
“Damn, Mercy. Sometimes I don’t think before I open my mouth. I don’t get out much.”
“Forget it.”
Geneva babbled to cover the awkward silence. “Sometimes I wish we could sell this place. Move into a split-level in Rapid City with three bathrooms. The kids could walk to school. Brent could get a normal job, and there’d be enough money for Dan to go to college. I wouldn’t have to worry about making ends meet.” Color spread across her cheekbones. “Sorry. Then I think about what Hope’s going through and Estelle’s going through… I got nothing to complain about.”
“You will complain once you see what Krissa and Nikki did to the bathroom,” Molly said from the doorway.
I faced her. “Don’t you look bright and fresh.”
“Only until I clean stalls later this afternoon.”
Geneva scrambled out of her chair like she couldn’t wait to get away from me. “The weeds in the garden are calling my name.” She squeezed Molly’s shoulders and left us alone.
Molly and I sat in silence. I could be polite or I could get to it. “Tell me about Levi and these kids he’d been hanging out with lately.”
“I don’t really know Moser and Little Bear, but I’ve heard they are bad news.”
“How so?”
“Drinking and driving. Stealing stuff. Starting fights, especially with the cowboys.” Her eyes met mine. “The white cowboys. Until recently Levi hung around Albert and Axel. Then Albert and Axel were both in Moser’s group and they left Levi out. From what I’ve heard from Sue Anne, Moser and them guys didn’t want Levi because he wasn’t Indian enough.”
How little they knew. But it fit with what Levi told me.
“To show you how mean those guys are, Moser and Little Bear teased Levi, letting him hang out with them sometimes, making him do stuff, acting like they might let him in, all the while knowing their elder wouldn’t accept Levi into the club.”
“Do you know who this elder was?”
“No.”
“Did Albert want to leave the group after this leader wouldn’t let Levi in?”
Molly nibbled her cookie like a mouse. Crumbs fell on the plastic tablecloth. She stayed quiet as a mouse, too.
I forced myself to be patient. “Molly?”
“No one can leave once they’re in. I guess Moser and Little Bear told Albert he couldn’t be friends with Levi anymore.”
“Or what? What could they do to him?”
“Punish him.”
Damn. This just got more and more bizarre. “What kind of punishment?”
“I’m not sure.” She rearranged the cookies on the plate in a flower pattern.
I placed my hand over hers. When she looked at me with innocent eyes, I hated what I had to do. “My nephew is dead. His mother is home bawling her eyes out because she can’t understand why someone killed her son. I need to know what these so-called friends are doing before they hurt anyone else.”
“I can’t tell you because I don’t know. I’m white. I’m not in the group.”
I needed a different tact. “Who would know about the punishments?”
A long pause. Then she softly said, “Sue Anne White Plume.”
The Indian girl from the dance. Why wasn’t her name on the list? “Was she dating Levi?”
“They liked each other a lot, but they were both quiet about it. I think they were sneaking around behind Moser’s and Little Bear’s backs.”
“What’s the best way for me to contact her?”
“You can’t go to her house. Her parents are like total drunks. They’d freak out and use it as another excuse to beat her.”
I forced myself to ignore the beat her portion of Molly’s warning. “Does she have a cell phone?”
Molly shook her head. “She doesn’t have enough money for food half the time, which is why she works at Taco John’s.”
Few kids in this country had it as bad as the kids on Eagle River Reservation. “When’s her next shift?”
“She said she’s working tomorrow from ten to two.” Molly chewed her lip and pulverized the cookie in her fingers. “You won’t tell her you talked to me? Because I don’t want her to be mad.”
“I’ll try to keep you out of it. One other thing. If Sheriff Dawson stops by and asks you questions, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention my name.”
“Why not?”
“Let’s just say the sheriff and I don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things.” I scooted back from the table and tried to lighten the situation. “Krissa said something about showing me some kitties?”