Page 15

The tall man who flowed into the room in a brown Navajo Nation Police uniform looked to be Caleb’s age, and young for the lieutenant’s rank pinned on his collar. An elastic tie tethered shoulder-length, straight black hair behind his neck.
“Billy called, said there was trouble—” The man halted when he spotted Caleb. Dark brown eyes swept over the room and narrowed. “Who the hell are you?”
His gaze dropped to Caleb’s bare chest. “And where’s your shirt?”
A jolt of familiarity zapped Caleb. Second time that day. First the mustached thug. Now this guy. He held the newcomer’s stare, trying to gauge if the officer didn’t like strangers in his territory or if he didn’t like strangers with Gia.
Definitely personal. The guy puffed up like a jealous boyfriend.
For some reason, that made Caleb want to mess with him.
He cocked his lips in a taunting grin. “Shirt’s in the kitchen where she took it off me.”
A tick jumped in the officer’s jaw.
Gia stepped in with a calming hand. “Zach, this is Caleb Varella. He helped me out of a bad situation—and got hurt. Caleb, this is Zach Blackwater. A friend.”
Blackwater.
Recognition landed like a punch to the ribs.
Zach’s eyes flared with the same realization.
His mouth twisted. “Varella.” He extended a hand, the turquoise and silver bracelet on his wrist catching the light. “Welcome back. Cousin.”
Caleb accepted the handshake. Brief. Tight. “Been a while.”
They’d once been inseparable—chasing each other through sagebrush, hiding in arroyos until their grandfather threatened to tan their hides.
Caleb’s throat tightened. After the move to Phoenix when he was twelve, he’d begged his parents to let him come back in the summers. To breathe air untainted by cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. To escape a home trapped in the vicious cycle of toxic codependency.
The answer had always been no.
He hadn’t seen Zach since.
The memory left a bitter trace. He kept it off his face.
Zach’s posture remained stiff. “Twenty-two years. Since grandmother’s funeral.”
“Cousin?” Gia’s brows knit. “Like actual cousin? Not clan?” She glanced from one man to the other. “Got it. Now I see the resemblance.”
Zach turned to her. “What happened?”
When she hesitated, Caleb answered instead. “Two men tried to abduct her outside Lucero’s Lounge. Cartel enforcers or gangbangers, most likely. No obvious colors or ink.”
“You’d know, wouldn’t you?” Zach muttered.
The words sliced through Caleb. His cousin didn’t know the man he’d become. He’d spent his childhood judged by others because of his parents. But he wasn’t a kid anymore.
And he had nothing to prove to Zach Blackwater.
Gia shifted on her feet, her gaze darting between them, clearly picking up on the tension.
Zach pressed the mic on his shoulder. “Lieutenant Blackwater. Contact Gallup PD—”
She touched his arm, her gaze pleading. “Is that really necessary?”
Zach’s expression gentled. “Yes. I’m sorry.”