Winds of Change

1 His phone was ringing. Jake Wilcox rolled over in bed and cracked an eyelid, noting how his bedroom was still quite dark, with only a faint dim glow beyond the wooden blinds telling him that morning was on its way, that it wasn’t still the middle of the night. He rolled over and grabbed the phone so he could look at the screen and see what time it was. Six-twenty, which felt about right, based on the amount of low light filtering into the room. He’d set his alarm for six-thirty, wanting to get on the road as soon as he could. Now that he had his parents’ blessing — well, more or less…they weren’t exactly happy about his decision to move to Wyoming with Addie Grant, the woman who had stolen his heart, but neither had they tried to stop him — and now that he had his cousin Molly to watch the house until he decided whether to sell it or rent it, he didn’t have any reason to linger in Flagstaff. But then his brain locked on the uncomfortable realization that no one called at six-something in the morning unless it was an emergency or something was terribly wrong. The number on the phone wasn’t familiar. “Jake Wilcox,” he said, hoping he sounded calm and assured, not like someone who’d just been awakened from a deep sleep by a call he hadn’t been expecting. A man’s voice, one he knew he’d never heard before. It was deep and slow and deliberate, something in its timbre indicating that the person speaking was at least several decades older than he. “Jake, this is Carson Archuleta.” At once, Jake sat up in bed, the unease that had already been nagging at him morphing into a flash of sharp-edged anxiety. “What’s wrong?” Because he couldn’t think why the head of the Northern Arapahoe tribe would call him at such an ungodly hour of the morning…unless something awful had happened. “Addie,” Carson replied, his voice heavy with worry. “She’s been taken.” “‘Taken’?” Jake repeated. At first, the simple word didn’t want to penetrate his sleep-fogged brain. Almost at once, though, realization dawned, bright and terrible as the lightning bolts Addie commanded with her weather-working powers. “By Randall Lenz?” “I believe so…unless she had someone else trying to track her down.” God, Jake hoped not. Agent Lenz on his own was quite enough for them to deal with. Scrubbing his hair again in the vain hope that doing so might help to wake him up more quickly, Jake asked, “What happened?” “He must have brought a team with him,” Carson said. “That’s the only explanation, because I had three men guarding Addie’s house in your absence. She was feeling worried about being alone.” With good cause, apparently. Right then, Jake cursed himself for leaving her in Riverton by herself. She’d assured him that she would be fine, and they’d both honestly thought she was safer in Wyoming than she would have been if she’d come with him to Flagstaff, but it seemed they’d both been mistaken. Horribly mistaken. And he also cursed the miles that separated him from Riverton now, even though he didn’t know what the hell difference being there would make. Addie was gone. “My men were overpowered,” Carson went on. “They didn’t see their attackers, which tells me they were skilled and stealthy.” “Are your people okay?” Jake asked. Even though worry for the woman he loved knotted his gut and sent adrenaline surging through his tired limbs, he had to hope that Carson’s men hadn’t paid the ultimate price for the protection they’d offered. “They were knocked out, but they’ll be all right in a day or so,” the older man replied. “I have a feeling Lenz’s team wanted to make sure they didn’t suffer any life-threatening injuries. Even on tribal lands, that sort of thing would have opened up all sorts of inquiries by the authorities.” Although he guessed the question was probably futile, Jake decided he needed to ask it anyway. “Any idea where they took her?” A pause, and then Carson said, “I have a feeling you probably know the answer to that better than I do.” “Maybe,” Jake allowed. Carson had been nothing but an ally in this mess, but at the same time, Jake didn’t feel comfortable telling him that yes, he actually had a damn good idea where Lenz had taken Allie, thanks to his younger brother Jeremy’s superior computer-hacking skills. Archuleta didn’t seem put off by the equivocation, and went on, “I have reports that a private jet landed at the airport outside Riverton a little before dusk and then took off around ten-thirty last night. I assume the jet belonged to Agent Lenz.” “Probably.” A pause as Jake rubbed his forehead, all the while wishing he could snap his fingers and make a mug of coffee appear magically in his hand. However, while his telekinetic gift sometimes came in useful, it didn’t allow him to bend time and space quite that much. “But how did he even know to look for her in Riverton? She did a damn good job of covering her tracks.” “You found her,” Carson said, his tone so mild that the words couldn’t really be construed as a rebuke. “Yeah, but….” The words trailed off there as Jake realized he probably shouldn’t explain his brother’s magical gift with computers to someone who was next thing to a stranger, even if the other man did happen to know there was a hell of a lot more to Addie than met the eye. “She told me she would be careful,” he added, knowing even as he spoke how inadequate those words sounded. A sigh rustled its way through the phone’s speaker. “No doubt that was her intention. Unfortunately, the universe decided otherwise.” “I don’t understand.” “There was a fire. A prairie fire, threatening the casino. She didn’t want the tribe, the town, to lose something that supported so many people in the community. So….” Carson went silent then, but he didn’t need to finish the sentence. Jake understood all too well what must have happened. A fire that no ordinary methods could put out, but one that Addie, with her vast weather-working gifts, could extinguish easily. She brought the rain, and saved the casino. And doomed herself at the same time. Amazing how steady his voice sounded as he said, “Thanks, Carson. I need to talk to my cousin, figure out what to do next.” Most people probably would have asked what Jake’s cousin could possibly do in such a situation. However, the tribal leader didn’t question his words, whether because he knew something of how witch clans were structured, or simply because he didn’t think it was his place to probe too deeply. Instead, he responded, “Is there anything you need me to do?” Not unless you’ve got a team of people there on the reservation who know something about breaking into secure government facilities, Jake thought, although he didn’t bother to say those words aloud. As much as he would have liked the help, he had a feeling the Wilcox clan was on its own with this one. “Can you keep an eye on Addie’s house?” he asked instead. “And maybe come up with some sort of cover story as to why she won’t be in to work for a while?” “Consider it done,” Carson replied. “It’s the least I can do, when there’s a very good chance the casino wouldn’t still be standing if it weren’t for her intervention.” “I appreciate it,” Jake said, and left it at that. There was no point in telling Carson that he didn’t think the casino was a fair exchange for the life of the woman he loved. Obviously, Addie had believed it was worth the risk. She’d known that Randall Lenz had tracked her to Kanab because of the storm she’d caused there, and so she must have known there was a very good chance he’d be able to find her in Riverton if she used her powers in such an obvious way. Those worries hadn’t been enough to stop her from doing what she knew was right, though. And that was why Jake loved her…or at least, it was just another in a long list of reasons why she’d stolen his heart. Addie Grant was not the sort of person to shy away from making the hard choices, even when she understood all too well what those choices might cost her. “I’m sorry,” Carson said again. “All my well wishes — and those of my tribe — go with you.” “Thanks,” Jake replied. Right then, he wasn’t sure whether well wishes would be enough.