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“It’s all right,” I said. “Most people don’t have a lot of experience with this kind of thing.”
“We’ve always allowed Chloe to explore whatever she found interesting,” Jordan put in. He’d watched the exchange between mother and daughter without comment, probably because he’d heard that sort of back-and-forth multiple times before. “And it’s not that we doubt your talents. But this is our daughter’s safety we’re talking about here. I think it’s understandable that my wife might be concerned about trusting it to a few lit candles and some sage waved around.”
At his seat, Calvin shifted, and I could tell he didn’t much care for the other man’s dismissive tone. However, I’d encountered that kind of attitude plenty of times before in my life — and, no doubt, would meet it countless times in the future — and I wouldn’t allow myself to get too ruffled.
“It’s true that on the surface it might not seem like a lot,” I said. “But you’d be surprised by how changing the energies of a place can ward off people with negative intentions.”
“Don’t treat me like I’m a kid,” Chloe said. “Please.”
That last word, uttered quietly and simply, seemed to be what struck home with her parents, because neither of them offered any protests.
“If you think it will work,” was all Heather said, and I nodded.
“I’m sure it will.”
They left a little past seven, and Calvin and Chloe and I spent the rest of the evening watching a movie. None of us wanted to talk about Jack’s murder or all the tumult of the day, although Calvin got a text message midway through the film and smiled.
“Alec Scurlock will take the case,” he said. “He apologized for getting back to me so late, but he was out on the Navajo nation all day and didn’t have good cell service. He wants to meet with you tomorrow afternoon.”
Chloe sent me an uncertain glance. “Don’t you have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow?”
“I do,” I said. “We’ll just close the store for a few hours. It’s not the end of the world. It’s much more important for you to meet with the attorney.”
She seemed to see the wisdom in that, because she replied, “Okay,” and Calvin sent back a quick text. A moment later, his phone binged again.
“Tomorrow at two,” he said. “Alec is going to be here in Globe meeting with the tribal elders anyway, so he’ll see you after that. It saves you having to drive to Payson to meet with him, since his office is up there.”
Chloe’s bewildered expression might have been comical if the situation hadn’t been so serious. “Where’s Payson?”
“About an hour and a half north of Globe along Highway 188,” I said. “It’s a pretty drive. But still, much better for you to meet Alec here in town.”
With the matter apparently settled, Calvin picked up the remote and started the movie again.
I wanted to relax, but something inside wouldn’t quite let me. Yes, Chloe now had a lawyer.
However, I wanted to eliminate the reason for having one at all.
Just like the past couple of days, Calvin had to leave early to be at work at eight. Today, though, Chloe and I also needed to get an early start so we’d have plenty of time to get the Airbnb cleansed before heading over to the shop. We’d need to lock up a little before two, but that would still give us almost four hours of being open, and with the weekend approaching, business should be decent.
We’d driven to the house in separate cars, of course, since Chloe would be coming back here at the end of the day and not to Calvin’s and my place. As I parked at the curb, I found myself staring at the Airbnb, and its cheerful yellow paint and flowers just starting to come back to life in the garden beds.
It definitely didn’t look like the kind of place that had been the scene of a brutal murder only a couple of days before.
I pulled in a breath, then heaved myself out of the driver’s seat before going around to the cargo area of the Jeep so I could get out the bag of supplies I’d brought along. It wasn’t all that much, just some white candles and a few bundles of white sage that came directly from the San Ramon reservation, along with a couple of small bottles of moon water.
All I could do now was hope it would be enough.
Chloe met me on the front porch, her expression tense. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” she told me as she unlocked the door.
I tilted my head at her. “I thought you said you’d done cleansings for friends of yours.”
A dismissive hand wave, and she said, “That’s not the same. It’s not like I was dealing with a murder or something.”
Well, she had a point there.
“The principles are basically the same,” I said.
She still looked dubious, but rather than reply, she pushed the door inward and walked into the house, chin now up in the attitude I now recognized as her way of pushing herself forward even when she wasn’t sure of the outcome.
