Read Online Blackening Song by Aimée & David Thurlo - Free Book Online Page A

the darkness. Eugene’s death had left her feeling so lost! Yet working through that time of pain, she’d found a new direction for her life, and strength she’d never thought she had. Something good had sprung from the bitter ashes. She hoped her mother would eventually be able to put her own life back together again, but she held little hope thatanything positive would come from her father’s death.
    Blalock cursed as the pickup bounced in and out of a particularly nasty hole. “So much for the suspension.”
    “Slow down or we’ll end up walking.”
    He eased off the accelerator. “Tell me something. If your brother is so traditional, why does he have an ordinary name like Clifford? And why the hell doesn’t anyone ever call him Cliff? In fact,one thing I’ve noticed around here is that people may use nicknames, but they never shorten a proper name.”
    “Names are believed to have power. Why shorten them? In fact, that’s why so many have nicknames. You avoid using a name whenever you can.”
    “But why ‘Clifford’?” he insisted.
    “That’s his legal name. War names are secret and are considered to have a special power of their own. Using Cliffordin public makes life easier.”
    Blalock lapsed into thought as the miles stretched out. “This is the worst post I’ve ever had,” he commented at last. “To make things even worse, I get the idea that they’ve never thought much of the feds around here.”
    “That’s true,” Ella admitted. “My father-in-law was really annoyed when I joined the bureau. But let’s face it, very few local authorities welcomeFBI agents with open arms, regardless of the community.”
    “It’s more than that. I’m also a white man, or as Clah says, an ‘Anglo.’”
    “That’s certainly one factor working against you,” she conceded.
    Blalock leaned forward as they came to a low spot crisscrossed with deeply cut channels. “Keep an eye out, will ya? I don’t want to drive headlong into one of these arroyos.”
    Ella strained to seeahead. The moon had gone behind the clouds, leaving them surrounded by thick blackness. The headlights sliced narrow, momentary paths through it, but the darkness eventually won, sealing itself as they passed.
    The cry of an owl filled the night, unnerving her. “To a traditional Navajo that signifies death,” she muttered.
    “Only if you happen to be a mouse,” Blalock countered.
    She consideredtelling him about the animal she’d seen earlier, and the truck that had come from nowhere and disappeared. Some people would claim that run-in had supernatural implications, but Ella just wondered how the stunt had been pulled off.
    She was weighing what, if anything, to tell him when the distinctive crack of a rifle shot shattered the stillness of the night. Simultaneously the windshield floweredinto a spiderweb pattern, a nickel-sized hole in the center.
    Blalock uttered a single expletive, then swerved and braked suddenly, slamming them against their seat belts. Throwing open their doors, they both dove into the damp cover of a stand of tall brush.
    Ella, pistol in hand, peered out carefully and noted the bullet had gone clear through the cab and out the rear window. “Did you see whereit came from?”
    “No. But he can’t be too far away. The sound reached us about the same time as the bullet did.”
    She looked into the blackness without much hope of seeing anyone. “Well, at least the vehicle isn’t disabled.”
    “We’re damn lucky.” He peered into the darkness, muttered a curse. “I can’t see anything. I’m calling this in and getting my rifle. There’s a nightscope on it.”
    “Turn offthe dome light first.”
    “I’m not a rookie, Clah.”
    As Blalock carefully made his way into the truck, Ella sharpened her senses. The moonlight filtering through the clouds was barely enough to allow her to make out even the largest obstacles around them. She listened carefully for any sounds that didn’t belong, but all she