his hat, revealing thick, wavy blond hair. “I don’t think so. She said something about a function at the college. I can tell her you came by, Mr….”
Hawke took the man’s outstretched hand and shook it. “Hawke Lonechief. I don’t think that’ll be necessary. We’re going to the same function. I’ll catch her there.” At least, he hoped they were, and he could put an end to the woman’s pipe dream once and for all. He definitely was going to have a word with Zach about putting such a foolish idea into Kit’s head.
Since his cousin lived across town from Kit’s, Hawke had some time to plot his strategy. He really had no way of stopping anyone from going into that maze of canyons if that person was determined—like Kit—but he was sure going to try with her. He wondered if she even owned a pair of hiking boots. She had amateur written all over her face. Even if he hadn’t known exactly the hazards of the tangle of sheer cliffs, pockmarked land, treacherous escarpments that led to Desolation, not to mention the dangers in the canyon itself, he still would have discouraged her.
He wished he’d discouraged Pamela. But his wife had wanted an adventure—something risky and challenging. And he’d agreed, wanting to please her after the fight they’d had about living in New York City.
If only he had remembered what Gus had said about the canyon, with its blood-red walls when the sunlight struck it just right. If only—
Hawke shoved the thought from his mind, along with the vision of his wife the last moment he’d seen her alive. Her smile would haunt him forever. As would her scream as she plunged down to the bottom of the jagged, rocky ravine below.
Twenty minutes later he pulled in front of Zach’s house and noticed the red Honda sitting in the driveway. For a few seconds he considered leaving and grabbing dinner somewhere else before the ceremony. But he’d never run from a problem before, and this would be a good time to have that little conversation with the good professor.
His long strides quickly chewed up the space between his Jeep and the porch. When Zach opened the front door to his knock, Hawke entered, surveying the entry hall and spacious room off to the side.
“Where is she?” Hawke asked, stopping in the middle of the living area.
“Who?”
Amusement flickered in Zach’s eyes, producing a swell of anger in Hawke. “You know good and well who I’m talking about. Kit Sinclair.”
“I’m right here.”
The voice, husky for a woman, sounded behind him. Hawke pivoted toward her. She stood just inside the living room with a brown leather couch between them. “We need to talk about Lester Running Bear.”
“I’ll leave you two alone.” Zach hurried toward the French doors that led out onto the deck.
“No, we don’t,” Kit said when the click of the door closing announced they were by themselves. “Lester has agreed to be my guide. You wouldn’t, so it’s none of your business.”
“It’s my business when you’re engaging a man who is rarely sober for longer than a day and can’t find his way out of a building with a well-lit exit sign.”
Blinking, she looked away. When she reestablished eye contact with him, her neutral expression hid her earlier surprise. “You gave up that right when you turned me down.”
“Have you talked to Lester today?”
“What have you done?” She covered the few feet to the sofa and grasped its back.
“Convinced him not to take you.”
Glaring at him, Kit opened her mouth but snapped it closed before saying anything. She sucked in a soothing breath. “Do you make it a practice to interfere with someone’s life like that?”
“Yes, when that someone ignores my advice.” He circled behind the sofa and stopped just two feet short of her.
Kit plastered herself against the back of the couch, her gaze flittering from one side of him to the other. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I’m going to that canyon with or without your help.”
“Lady, there is no one else, so make it easy on yourself and give the idea up.”
“You mean make it easy on you.” Lifting her chin, she stabbed him with a withering look. “I’ll find someone else, and if not, then I’ll go by myself.”
“Then I’ll arrest you.”
“On what grounds?”
“Jaywalking. I’ll come up with something.”
“I don’t know what happened to your wife in Desolation Canyon, but I am not her.”
He closed the space between them. Hissing in a breath, Kit went rigid, leaning back so far she could easily topple over the sofa with the slightest movement. Through clenched teeth, he muttered, “Don’t you ever bring my wife up again.”
Her chin went up another notch. “Oh, I see. It’s okay if you play unfair, but not me.”
He thrust his face close to hers. Panic flared in her eyes, but he didn’t back down. Too much was at stake. “This isn’t a game. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
She brought her hands up and fisted them against his chest, then shoved him back a few feet. Scurrying to the side, she rounded the couch. “I’m very aware of the stakes. My career is on the line.”
“So you would risk your life for your career?”
“Life is a risk.” She shrugged, all the earlier tension evaporating. “What if you and Zach hadn’t taken a chance last year? You all would never have found the Aztec codices. He can write his own ticket anywhere now because of that discovery.”
Her words threw him back four years to his last argument with Pamela. She’d practically said that very same thing to him. She’d wanted him to take a big corporate fraud case that he’d wanted nothing to do with. In fact, he’d brought her to New Mexico in the hopes of convincing her to relocate here. If they had stayed in New York, she would be alive today. He would have to live with that the rest of his life.
“This isn’t about Zach or me. It’s about you.” Balling his hands at his sides, he fought to keep his temper in check, but it boiled in his stomach.
“You are not my keeper. My work is very important to me, but I assure you I won’t take unnecessary risks.”
There was nothing reassuring about what she said. His gut twisted into a huge knot. “Do you even know what an unnecessary risk is?”
“I’m a highly educated woman. I’ve lived in New Mexico for half my life.” She pulled herself up tall.
“So you’ve hiked in places like Desolation Canyon?”
“Well, not exactly. If I had, I wouldn’t need you.”
Need you. Those words stuck terror into his heart. “Where have you hiked?”
“In Chaco, Mesa Verde.”
He
