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Scarlett waved to Prudence and her grandmother on the way into the reservation and then pulled up in front of Granny’s house.
Scarlett called out as she opened the unlocked front door. Sitting in the same chair as before, Evelyn raised her head from her knitting, her dark eyes glowing in her lined face.
Scarlett crossed the room and dropped to her knees at her grandmother’s side. “Are you okay, Granny? You look tired.”
The old woman rested her hand on top of Scarlett’s head as her gaze met Jim’s. “Your brother was attacked.”
“He was. The news spread already?”
“Is he going to live?”
“The doctors don’t know yet. Fifty-fifty, they’re telling me.”
“Get him out of Timberline as soon as you can.”
Scarlett touched Evelyn’s knee. “What do you know, Granny? We think more kidnappings are planned, and there are drugs—missing drugs. As soon as those drugs get into the hands of the wrong people, the kidnappings will start.”
Her knitting needles paused and she closed her eyes. “I don’t know why he kidnapped those children.”
“But you know who? Was it Uncle Danny?”
“Not then.” Evelyn combed the yarn in her lap with trembling fingers. “Danny wasn’t the leader, but he followed him and did his bidding as part of the Q-gang.”
“Who, Evelyn? Who ordered the kidnappings and why?”
“Do you remember him, Scarlett? Rocky Whitecotton?”
A furrow formed between Scarlett’s eyebrows. “Whitecotton? Tommy’s family?”
“Yes, a cousin or something, a big man, a force in the tribe, but one that fomented dissent and hatred. He tried to recruit your father, but he had better luck with Danny.”
“Are you saying Rocky Whitecotton was behind the kidnappings, Granny?”
“Everyone thought so.”
“But nobody told the sheriff’s department or the FBI?” Jim ground his teeth together. The Quileute were no better than the Lords of Chaos—protecting their own at the expense of others.
“We didn’t know for sure, Jim. He terrified the rest of us, threatened us. Nobody ever had any proof, just our suspicions.”
Scarlett hopped to her feet, running a hand through her hair. “Rocky’s been gone for years.”
Evelyn nodded. “Just about twenty-five years.”
“Why?” Scarlett flung her arms out to her sides like wings. “Why would Rocky Whitecotton kidnap three children from Timberline?”
“That I can’t tell you, Scarlett. I can only give you the long-held suspicions of an old woman, but I know Rocky had some criminal organization going and he recruited Danny and tried to recruit your father.”
A sharp pain lanced her temple and Scarlett sucked in a breath. “The accident that snatched away my family happened before the kidnappings.”
“Yes.” Granny’s eyes dropped to the discarded knitting in her lap.
“Do you think...?” Scarlett took a turn around the room, the pain in her head turning into a dull throbbing. “Could my father have been punished for refusing to go along with Rocky?”
Granny placed a thin hand to her forehead. “You don’t think that didn’t occur to me all these years?”
Jim put his arm around her waist and drew her close. “And now Danny is back to do more of Rocky’s bidding. I think it’s time we call Agent Harper and tell him everything we know.”
“But if Chewy or any of the other Lords get their hands on those drugs, they’ll be ready and willing to carry out Danny’s plans.”
“We won’t stop looking for the drugs, but we need the full resources of law enforcement to stop Danny, and there’s no way we can count on Sheriff Musgrove.”
Granny shook her head. “Danny may already have Musgrove in his back pocket. Don’t trust him.”
Her lips touched Jim’s ear and she whispered, “Should we tell her about the clue?”
“Maybe she can help.”
“Granny, Jim’s brother left him a clue about the location of the drugs before he was attacked. It was, ‘Find the drugs, stop the kidnappings. Begin at the beginning.’ Does that mean anything to you?”
